Corsair HS1 USB Gaming Headset Review @ [H]

young boy said:
So you're agreeing with what Kett says?

Anyway, kett made a good statement.

The passion and love for a particular hobby, and how much you are willing to sacrifice in order to obtain the best equipment you can afford should be a more appropriate way to determine if someone is an enthusiast.

Consider this: If you're poor (not targeting at anyone), you cannot be qualified to be an enthusiast. That makes no sense. Conversely, if you're rich, you can spend thousands on equipment on impulse. After purchasing it, you never use it again. Does that mean the rich is more of an enthusiast?



Don't forget that the corsair has a sound card which supports Dolby headphones. If you want to achieve the same effect with an audio technica AD700, you'll have to buy a sound card that supports CMSS or dolby headphones. That'll add some more money to the AD700 solution.
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It looks that way to me. And it looks like you agree with both of us.

What if you already have a sound card that supports CMSS and dolby headphones -- then there's no extra expense for the AD700's.
 
Curious142 said:
It looks that way to me. And it looks like you agree with both of us.

What if you already have a sound card that supports CMSS and dolby headphones -- then there's no extra expense for the AD700's.
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For some reason I don't think that is a terribly large market. Especially when compared to the millions of people without soundcards. I really hate that "well if they already own X product" argument when its used for a niche product. It really doesn't help the point. In 99% of the cases if people want that kind of set up they will need to buy both things. That 1% is more of an exception.

PS: Yes I did pull the percentages out of thin air, but they're quite likely close enough.
 
So, for the last time: How do these compare to the Logitech G35?
 
Derangel said:
For some reason I don't think that is a terribly large market. Especially when compared to the millions of people without soundcards. I really hate that "well if they already own X product" argument when its used for a niche product. It really doesn't help the point. In 99% of the cases if people want that kind of set up they will need to buy both things. That 1% is more of an exception.

PS: Yes I did pull the percentages out of thin air, but they're quite likely close enough.
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For some reason I find it difficult to believe that millions of people don't have a sound card in their pc's. Whether or not the card has CMSS and dolby capability is another matter. And besides that all I said was "if" a person has a card that supports CMSS and dolby. If it's a "niche" product, and if the situation drives you to hatred, so be it.
 
As I said earlier in the thread, a buyer of those headphones takes the same software configuration and sound signature with him no matter what computer he uses them on. So if you have onboard that you dislike for whatever reason, you can use the Corsair for headphone gaming and movies, etc. and you can simply default back in the control panel to your sound card or onboard sound card when you are done.

I think that is a great feature and it adds to the product's flexibility. It may not be better than a $200 sound card and a $100 pair of headphones that you already have, but for new buyers I think it is excellent.

Thanks to everyone in this thread for all of the comments so far. Those comments help us to learn more about what buyers are looking for.
 
EarlKeim said:
I think that is a great feature and it adds to the product's flexibility. It may not be better than a $200 sound card and a $100 pair of headphones that you already have, but for new buyers I think it is excellent.
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So an auzentech forte + AD700 would beat the corsair?
 
I have not hear much about Auzentech lately.. are they still around anymore in North America?
 
well in 5.1 mode, the Corsair headset sounded better with movies and games than I ever thought possible. I did not detect the usual lacking downmix that a user may get when playing a surround movie on a 2.0 set of headphones.
 
Azureth said:
So, for the last time: How do these compare to the Logitech G35?
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The G35 mic seems to do better noise cancelling, and the controls on the headset can be handy, but I find them more gimmicky then anything. The HS1 is more comfortable and has better sound, considerably better sound.

That and Im very pleased with the cabling.
 
Tak/Scan said:
I have not hear much about Auzentech lately.. are they still around anymore in North America?
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Newegg, amazon and some of the more popular online stores no longer sell their products, which is a pity :(. They sell quite decent sound cards.

So I guess you're right, they are no longer in North America.
 
So I just bought them. So the consensus is you should leave it at 5.1 instead of 7.1? And you need to change it in both the games and the software?
 
Well, I got it and am very happy with it. I just left it at 7.1 with everything on and that's how I'll keep it no matter what I do, I'm too lazy to change it for music, movies, games, etc.

BTW, what do you guys do with your volume control switcher? It won't exactly stay on the desk but I don't like it hanging on the floor either, holding it gets tiresome.
 
Mine stays on my desk just fine, but I added a spare wire clip just above it so if I want to just clip it to my shirt or something I can.
 
Folks, I appologize if this has been covered in another post but I wasn't able to find where. I posted this in Corsair's forum and no answers after almost a week.

Any idea where can I find a good test file to demonstrate the 5.1 and 7.1 capabilities of this headset and also a good file that I can use to optimize the settings?

I've Googled and primarily find youtube files for 5.1 but those are too short and really don't have good sound.

I just got the headset this week and so far I like it, but I really want to see its capabilities and want to be able to show it off to my friends.

BTW, the reviews and comments in this forum were the main reason I bought this headset.
 
spike99 said:
Sorry to dissapoint ... but a review came up on anandtech.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3989/corsair-hs1-gaming-headset

It doesn't fare well for Corsair USB headset. It needs more cow bells !!! LOL
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I wouldnt say the review dissapoints. Audio reviews are hard to gauge because its all about opinion with little to no objective comparison. H and anandtech are not your audio specialists and again, both reviews were based on the reviewers opinions. anandtech's had little reference to comparison. The review was very nagativly written, instead of comparing to similar priced products, he would make vague comparisons to non-specific pocket change headphones and such.

I purchased my HS1 not because of the reviews, but because of the comments by those who have had hands on with the product.

I recall long ago on HeadFi, someone asked several 'audiophiles' to review a set of cables or something, one had copper wiring and the other had a special copper/tungsten/gold mix or something like that. One said the copper was better, others said the special one was drastically better, and in the end, both cables were the same cheap set from radio shack.
With headphones, there is almost no quantitative way to grade one set against the other, and neither review did, but bother used opinions.
 
Well, if it was negatively written.. maybe it's because it needs more cowbells... :)
 
Well, if it was negatively written.. maybe it's because it needs more cowbells... :)

I purchased my HS1 not because of the reviews, but because of the comments by those who have had hands on with the product.
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So what you are saying is that reviewers don't have a hand with the product ?
 
A while back I had a USB headset... and after that... I'm really not a fan of USB headsets... I think going thru a sound card is much better.
 
spike99 said:
A while back I had a USB headset... and after that... I'm really not a fan of USB headsets... I think going thru a sound card is much better.
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Some USB headsets are downright garbage, thats true, but they have improved quite a lot.
 
Ugh... bass this, bass that... I fall into the audiophile category. If someone listens to their "music" with nothing but high bass all the time they should not be reviewing audio equipment. I've listened to music with everything from cheap earbuds to Sennheiser's best and I still have not found anything that tops out my AKG K240 Studio headphones for full range sound. Flat EQ, and everything from Gregorian chants to Mozart, Bach, Wagner, up to Judas Priest and Metallica all sound exactly as they should. I never have to fiddle with the EQ or volume, and all my games sound great. Now if only they did surround... ahh, well that's what sucks about being an audiophile I suppose.

Droc: get someone like myself who can hear from near subsonic into ultrasonic, has perfect pitch, and listens to a wide range of music, and I'll guarantee you'll have more concrete results. There are people in the industry that run mixerboards that can tell you right away the difference between one set of headphones and another.
 
Phoenix333 said:
Droc: get someone like myself who can hear from near subsonic into ultrasonic, has perfect pitch, and listens to a wide range of music, and I'll guarantee you'll have more concrete results. There are people in the industry that run mixerboards that can tell you right away the difference between one set of headphones and another.
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I agree. I run a cheap set of Sr225's, but have used many high end headphones and you can tell the difference between sound quality, but based on both these reviews, most notably the one by anadtech, they cant.
The anadtech reviewer didnt want to like the headphones from the start. Needs more features? they are headphones, what more features do you want?
 
Droc said:
Needs more features? they are headphones, what more features do you want?
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I'd like them to put ear massagers in there, and while they're at it, make it heated so I can play on my laptop outside when its brisk. And while we're at it, make it order me a pizza or something. /sarcasm
 
can anyone compare these to an Astro Mixamp?

Edit: Just ordered one 2nd day UPS. Should get here in time for Black Ops. I'll let you all know.
 
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As we said in our review, we liked the MixAmp in conjunction with third party headphones. The A40 headphones were just "okay," but overpriced compared to what you get from third party "audiophile" grade headphones.
 
EarlKeim said:
As we said in our review, we liked the MixAmp in conjunction with third party headphones. The A40 headphones were just "okay," but overpriced compared to what you get from third party "audiophile" grade headphones.
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I agree with that. I have a Mixamp and it worked well with my old Turtle Beach and my ATH-AD700s. I'm just curious how the HS1 and Mixamp's surround sound feature compare to each other's.
 
In movies they were very close. I feel the Corsair though, did what no other headset has ever done. It can replay a 5.1 movie soundtrack without it making it sound up, down, and upsampled to death. Mission Impossible was absolutely amazing. Instead of just getting the 2.0 mix, I used the 5.1 choice and had the absolute best headphone/movie experience yet. Kickass was simply amazing. I have tried many other movies since, and I have yet to find any that this headset cannot handle well. Hancock is a joy to listen to and is a "must hear" in my book.

People with laptops must be used to compromising when it comes to "good sound" choices. But as I have said many times before, this headset lets a user take the same sound signature to every computer he uses.

The Astro MixAmp was very similar in this regard, but it was always dependent on the headphones that it was paired with.
 
Okay, this may sound odd, but does this make anyone elses head and/or ears itch? For some reason it makes my head and ears itch.
 
Azureth said:
Okay, this may sound odd, but does this make anyone elses head and/or ears itch? For some reason it makes my head and ears itch.
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I do get itchy too. I guess it's the bacteria or some other microorganisms that is causing this sensation. :p

When I wipe the ear-pads with a wet cloth and sun it (for a while), I no longer itch.
 
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