Corsair HS1 Gaming Headset
by Dustin Sklavos on November 4, 2010 12:01 AM ESTConclusion: Needs More Cowbell
As Corsair's first gaming headset, the HS1 is a strong opening but there are some weak points Corsair needs to figure out. One of my biggest gripes may be one of the easiest to fix: put the drivers up on the Corsair site. It's a small request, but I barely keep CDs around anymore and getting the most out of the HS1 shouldn't involve having to store the CD in a safe place. Calibration out of the box isn't that hot either: the headset is capable of producing decent lows, but the way it's tuned when you plug it in obscures that and threatens to blow your eardrums with tinny highs.
On the plus side, the USB connector makes setup a cinch (as long as you have the CD) and you bypass any interference/static from onboard audio. That's good news for noisy (cheap) laptops and desktops, and it's also nice that you only need a single USB port and one wire instead of separate headphone and microphone jacks. (The downside is that if you have a nice audio card in your system, it goes to waste, so keep that in mind.) As a pure gaming headset, the HS1 also gets the job done. The biggest credit may actually be just how comfortable the HS1 is: Corsair clearly designed these to be worn for extended periods of time. Sound quality in games is excellent, though some may have better experience with the simulated positional audio than I did.
At the end of the day it's going to be a matter of whether or not you want to drop a crisp Franklin on a gaming headset. A lot of higher quality kit is floating around in the same price range, so Corsair isn't exactly gouging you with the HS1. The 50mm drivers—when properly tuned—can definitely produce sound that beats most speaker sets below its price range (as it should). The sound is also better than the $30-$50 headsets I've used, though that's like saying your car is better than a used Kia Spectra.
I think the real shame is that the HS1 isn't the same kind of homerun Corsair struck when they entered into the power supply and enclosure markets. It's not a bad product—certainly a solid one, actually—but it's not mind-blowing either, and it doesn't set a high water mark. Still, you can't discredit a piece of kit because it's merely good and not amazing. If you're in the market for a comfortable gaming headset and are willing to fiddle with it to get just the right sound quality, you could do a heck of a lot worse than the Corsair HS1.
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DigitalFreak - Thursday, November 4, 2010 - link
For the 24 hours that I had them, they were.... ok. Then one of the ear pieces fell off and I had to send them off for replacement. HardOCP gave them a glowing review for some reason.DigitalFreak - Thursday, November 4, 2010 - link
Dustin - You can download the drivers from here - http://www.corsair.com/software/hs1/HS1%20Setup.zi... Unfortunately the only way to find them is search their forums.... :-(WiredWired - Tuesday, November 9, 2010 - link
Don't need to search, they're on the sidebar (and have been there since October 20th). Still a good question as to why they're not on the website though.warisz00r - Thursday, November 4, 2010 - link
As it has been suggested by a poster here earlier, it makes much more sense to buy a cheap clip-on mic and spend the rest on a headphone that will sound miles better than these 'gaming headsets'. Sure you need to do quite a bit of research but at the end you'll get a much sweeter-sounding setup with an equally functional mic. For example, you can get a Shure SRH440 from your favourite American headphones retailer for about the same price the Corsair headset goes for in Newegg, and spare the chump change on a Zalman clip-on.Qasar - Thursday, November 4, 2010 - link
directly to the optical or coax output of a sound card...i have the Azuntech X-Meridian, being able to listen to DD or DTS 5.1 from my comp regardless of the stereo source ( games music ) is awesome.. just wish i could do the same with headphones late at night..
the only way i can do this right now, is via a home theater recevier with pre-outs, Zalmans 5.1 channel headphone amp (ZM-RSA ) and Zalmans 5.1 headphones ...
just need the reciever, and 5.1 headphone amp ..... which i am working on getting ...
yelped - Thursday, November 4, 2010 - link
You mentioned in the article that you didn't find any comfortable headphones with glasses; You could try Sennheiser HD-555s. Great SQ, great price, excellent build quality, and very comfortable, even with glasses; it just molds into it.Gonemad - Friday, November 5, 2010 - link
I had them for eons. From the moment I bought them, they didn´t have that vice-grip feel on the head at all. You can barely feel them on the head. They feel bulky and heavy on the hand, but your neck says otherwise, which comes as a lovely surprise. It's not like you would be turning the head a lot while gaming or anything hooked to a PC.I had yanked its cable more than often, and it didn´t fail so far, and its been... 7 years!?! I mean, they worked straight from the box even in Windows 98 *First Edition.* Just like Thrustmaster, they actually labeled the box with the warning "NO CD" inside. Simple and efficient plug'n'play by design.
If you are good, you can dodge bullets; but if you are REALLY good, you don´t need to. Ouch.
There is a "bass enhance" switch that shows up straight on the Windows tray, inside the volume control, and trust me, the bass gets so much boost it hurts, so I keep them off. It appears these guys make the DSP-400 up until this day, which apparently folds itself for storage or airplane usage, I don't really know, but the audio section is the same, I guess.
Only 3 buttons on the mid-cable rocker: volume and a mute for the mike. You know, the red bright led is there to show you that nobody will hear you, until you hit it again. When not speaking you cant just fold up the mike and enjoy some neighbours-quiet songs. Speaking of cables, this one is really long, suited even for back-plane desktop USB hookup. Just don't expect your original sound card to do anything while it is plugged back there.
They (plantronics) provide headphones of all sorts since 1961 (geez, I had to google that!!), they ought be good. It is not loud or fancy; it gets the job done, and the microphone rarely picks up your breathing; the position of the mike boom appears to have been thought for that purpose since day one, should you ever consider why it doesn´t flex much in any other direction besides the up-stay-away position and usage.
If you are just listening to music, go somewhere else, it isn´t for you, earbuds are more suited for that; but if any TeamSpeak, skype, or online chatting will be involved eventually, it is on the spot. Counter-Strike coupled with Teamspeak gets a whole new feel to it.
43st - Friday, November 5, 2010 - link
Why do hardware enthusiast websites review cheap headphones? Processor reviews are usually the latest and greatest on the market as well as GPU, storage, etc. Shouldn't you be reviewing audio hardware at the level of the HD800 instead?Gonemad - Friday, November 5, 2010 - link
After blowing the best part of $500 on a great GPU, a speedy SSD (er, storage), and a 7.1 audio system, you forgot that everybody is asleep and you can't have the amplifier as loud as you'd like, but you still want to hear it loud. Enter the budget headphones.Plus your brother stole your good headphones for his (insert fancy mp3 player here). Try that with a USB socket now! hehe...
Amart - Saturday, November 6, 2010 - link
Your Audio quality comparison is BOSE? I stopped reading.You shouldn't be writing audio reviews if you are ill-informed enough to use their products.
Please visit head-fi.org and take a long hard look at the sub $130 Headphone market.
BOSE is somewhere at the bottom. I'd rather listen to my $15 KSC 75 backups.
A good gaming Headphone to use with a clip-on Mic would be Audio Technica AD700 - less then $100, great soundstage (to read opponent positions), and good audio quality for the price.