Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless SE Headset Review

Performance

First things first, the fit and finish. Corsair has a lot of little details in the ergonomics here, which all add up to a pretty comfortable fit. The padding is plentiful but has more of an air cushion feel over your ears. It’s as good as memory foam and synthetic leather can get really. The headband is a little hard-wearing for my liking. However, it’s a brand new headset, and these things often take a bit longer to break-in.

Those drivers are packing some serious punch. The ear cups snug fit really helps tighten up the sound, locking it in, and locking out a really good amount of ambient noise. Hi-Res audio lovers can rejoice too, with their fantastic response rate, you get incredibly clear and balanced audio from them too. 24bit-96kH is supported. You can EQ the nuts off them if you want to make them real boneshakers too, which is great fun for gaming. Plus the various movie, gaming, and boost modes preset are ready for you to tinker with too.

Surround Sound

There’s some variance to the features though. Such as the virtual surround 7.1 mode is enabled in USB mode via the iCUE software. Fortunately, it works really damn well too. It easily kept up with the surround processing of the Creative Super XFi amplifier I use via 3.5mm on a daily basis. Honestly, if you do run a dedicated headphone amp, it’s well suited to it.

If you wanted surround in wireless mode, fear not. For gaming, and most movies that aren’t in a Hi-Res format the Slipstream wireless mode is phenomenal. The sound quality is arguably just as good in wireless, and few people will know the difference if you’re not already a Hi-res enthusiast. I used Dolby Atmos for Headphones in the wireless mode and I think it sounded incredible. With a range of 60ft, Intelligent Frequency Shift, and ultra-low (1ms or less) latency, it’s the market leader for wireless tech that I know of.

Wired, Wireless, Other Wired

So, the Virtuoso really isn’t just a jack of all trades and a master of none. It’s got strong benefits to each mode and you’ll be left grinning from the performance in any of them. Even the stock 3.5mm cable delivered superb results hooked up to my Samsung S9+ and the Xbox One controller. One headset to rule them all.

Microphone

The microphone is in another league too. If you’re a streamer, content creator, or just like doing voice over work for your videos, it’s more than up to the task. Perhaps not quite on the same level as a big desktop solution. However, compared to your typical £200+ gaming headsets, it leaves them in its dust. It has a fantastic range to it, no distortion, and is a joy for you and your teammates. Thankfully, you can add sidetone monitoring too, so you can monitor your own levels while using it.