CORSAIR - VIRTUOSO RGB SE Wireless 7.1 Surround Sound Gaming Over-the-Ear Headset for PC/Mac, Game Consoles, and Mobile - Espresso

This headset is built beautifully, although out of the box I did not like its stock sound signature. The pads were also uncomfortable after some hours of use. To remedy these issues, I downloaded and installed Equalizer APO and Peace APO, and found a parametric EQ for the Corsair Virtuoso (search for jaakkopasanen AutoEQ) to equalize their sound. I replaced the pads with Brainwavz Sheepskin Leather circle pads. The stock pads will need to be peeled off their ring adapters which comes off with a clockwise twist. You also need to trim around the tabs on the adapters so the leather doesn't cover them and it locks back into place. With these changes, I fell in love with this headset and it's become my daily driver. If you want good sound out of the box without EQ and comfort without modding, there are other options to consider but with these tweaks they're worth it - especially with their outstanding build quality.

This Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless headset looks amazing. From opening the box, how everything is so neatly encased, the brushed gunmetal look of the headset, braided wires with aluminum accents, the soft leather-like earcups and headband and the quilted looking carrying bag, just looks like luxury. They feel sturdy, even with a bit of resistance to rotating the earcups a full 180 degrees and the metal volume knob. The earcups are large in size, but not so much in depth. With the material and the pressure they add a fair bit of passive noise isolation allowing you to hear every sound without so much outside, unless you have the microphone and sidetone turned up. You can use these wirelessly with the included dongle or wired USB with PC and PS4 or you can use it wired with the included 3.5mm cable on pretty much anything else. Sound quality wise these can hit the full range of sound with good clarity. However, I found it a little lacking on deep bass as I could hear it, just not feel it like some other headsets. The biggest issue I have though is the sound quality while wireless. No matter how close I was to the wireless dongle I could hear the compression difference in audio. It was really obvious when listening to something that played the full range of highs and lows and it sounded like part of the sound was being dropped out. Something I would expect if I was hitting the 60 ft range, not 1-8ft in direct line of site. I tried it on different computers and the PS4 and it is obviously the wireless connection just has too much compression to keep quality sound. The other issue I have is that none of the advanced features work unless you have the iCue application installed and running. Like the EQ settings, the 7.1 surround or the RGB lighting settings, nothing other than the microphone settings are saved to the headset. As soon as the application is closed everything about the headset returns to default. This means that you can’t take the headset to another PC and keep your customization unless the iCue application is installed on that PC and not on the PS4. The EQ settings aren’t all that great either as the changes, even at the extreme ends, don’t sound all that effective. As for the 7.1 surround settings, it appears to be using something like Dolby Pro-Logic virtualization without using the Dolby name. This however leads to some sounds not being properly represented such as a sound only in one ear can now slightly be heard in the other ear. I found using Dolby Atmos for headphones on my Windows PC still worked nicely. As for battery life they claim up to 20 hours and with the auto power off after 10 minutes by default, configured in iCue, I was able to have several play sessions over 3 days before needing a recharge. However, if in a pinch you can always revert back to wired mode just without enhancements on 3.5mm. The odd thing is, there is no isolation between 3.5mm wired and wireless mode, so you can have an interesting mix of two inputs. Overall, the headset is nice and fairly comfortable with decent sound quality while wired, but the main feature of wireless falls short and all the other customizations only work with the app running.

So I've had this headset for about a month (but I recently exchanged my espresso one for a gunmetal one) and the experience has been great. I have just a few things that come to mind about this headset. 1. The mic on the SE is actually better than the non-SE one. That one YouTube video claiming otherwise is older and, I should mention, the only review that claims the cheaper headset has the better mic. Other reviews put the SE mic as better. Corsair has also since updated the FW to fix any issues with the SE mic. 2. I have big ears, and they stick out like Dumbo's. That being said, the ear cushions are only uncomfortable for the first day or so. I've owned two of these headsets and it's been the same experience for both. The first day is kinda painful, but after that the cushions are very comfortable. My ears still touch the inside fabric of the speakers but it feels fine. I found some thick replacement pads made specifically for the Virtuoso's online for 30 bucks from that one online retailer everyone knows, if it still an issue for some people. I sit in front of my PC for more hours a day than I sleep, and my ears are comfortable throughout the whole day. 3. The audio quality is fine. I looked up some EQ settings online and found some on Reddit that make these sound amazing (to me). The audio quality on these are pretty impressive considering it is RF. Surround 7.1 is meh, it works but it muffles the quality a wee bit. For best audio quality, stick to stereo. When connected via 3.5mm, these sound absolutely amazing. The EQ settings will still help, but they sound great regardless. When connected via USB-C, they are hit-or-miss. Connected to my phone (OnePlus 7 Pro), the quality is noticeably worse than 3.5mm, but they sound better when connected to my PC and the sound settings set to 24bit. NOTE: If they sound a bit quiet when connected to a phone, use the volume wheel on the headset to raise the volume. The phone might say it is at max volume, but the actually go a lot higher using the wheel. 4. Range is meh, can't go all that far with it. Bluetooth headsets might get better range tbh. The headset is heavy, hold on to them tightly if bending down to pick something up. Battery life isn't great. I can use em for two days in a row without charging which is OK, but it could be better. You can turn off all the RGB to help though. Other than that, not much else to say. One thing I noticed coming from the espresso to the gunmetal one is that, on the espresso, the whole earcup is bare aluminum while on the gunmetal, the part around the buttons and ports has a soft powder-like coating on it. Also I wish the mic RGB could be controlled. It is definitely able to be customized but iCUE does not allow it.

If you think you are seeing dejavu in the Pics, you are not. What you are seeing are both the Left and the Right Ear Cups not attached because the plastic clips that hold them in place have broken. I stream on a daily basis and have taken care of these headsets because of the $220 price tag at launch. What is ironic is that both sides of the clips broke withing days of each other. (06/14/2020 and 06/17/2020). I have now put electric tap around to hold them in place while they replenish the stock soon. In all honesty, i would rather get the Logitec PRO X instead. PROS of Corsair Virtuoso SE: -The Metal finish on the outer earcups is fantastic. -The headbands feels sturdy and won't break easily. -The adjustable headband and joints are aluminum and not plastic! - The microphone is the best one out of all the gaming headsets and lights up when its active or mute. - USB Type-C connector with your standard 3.5mm headphone jack. -USB-C and 3.5mm Cables have a premium finish -Premium Carrying Pouch - You can use these as your everyday headset since they dont look tacky like other "gaming" headsets. - Over the ear cups if your ears are small or medium. Larger ears will have a problem. - Volume control rocker on the headset - Pretty good acoustics except for the bass. - Wake-up device upon picking up. Now lets get into the CONs about these headsets: -Battery Life is atrocious on these headsets. Mine have never been able to hold the 24hr charge that Corsair claims. And this is with the RGB off. I usually get about 16hrs on average, probably less. - 60ft off Wireless Range? More like 15ft of wireless Range. They start to cut out at about 15-20ft. -The Bass could have been better. These really lack bass in them. Compared to the Logitech G935, the bass in these fall completely flat. Even if you tweak the sound settings in iCUE, they still fall short of what could have been. -iCUE: The software supporting these headsets could be much better and that is Corsair's fault. Their default sound profile needs much work in them. I found that buying the Dolby Atmos software in the Windows Store is the best way of getting a good sound profile out of these. -iCUE: Again? Do not profile switch rapidly in iCUE for your different keybindings. Doing this will cause your audio to crash since iCUE has to read each profile's audio every time it is switched. Even if you have the same audio profile, rapidly switching will cause iCUE to crash along with the audio. -RGB could have been much brighter on these headsets. -Can't turn off RGB when charging. The Corsair logo on the sides light up blue and cannot be turned off when charging overnight. -Headset band can get uncomfortable at times at random as well. -Lately, the dongle has started to cut out as well. Not surprised with their "slip stream" technology. -Placement of 3.5MM jack and USB-C on headset could have been switched around for better placement. -NO BLUETOOTH Capabilities for this price premium. - Conclusion: If you have money burning in your pocket and you want a good looking pair of headsets that are not for gaming but for style and you don't mind having the 3.5mm jack flopping around then sure Buy these. If you want a headset for gaming and get something else like the Logitech PRO X that cost way less than these.

Great headset! I low how comfy they get. At first they were a little stiff, but after some use, they kind of softened up (kind of like a break in time). The ear pads are leatherette and are very comfy, they are a little small though, if you have big ear lobes, they may touch the internal rim of the pads (mine wont touch the drivers at all, just the rims). I like the many ways to connect them, either wired or wireless. You can connect them to a PC (the best way, as you get surround, high resolution audio) or you can use them with a PS4 or mobile device via the 3.5 mm jack. If you want the best quality audio, I will recommend to use them wired with a PC, this will give you 8 channel surround, 96hz, 24 bit audio. If you use the wireless dongle, while great, you getjust 48hz, 16 bit. You must install Corsair's iCue program to be able to tweak profiles, lightning, surround sound, update the firmware (there was one upon install, highly recommend to do so, as fixes bugs). There a few bugs, like surround sounds like being underwater, not being able to use windows Dolby Atmos etc (good thing Corsair is aware of these, and a rep is actively responding in Corsair's forums, so they are actively working on squashing the bugs). While they are, I recommend to plug them wired, and just leave the surround off (they default to 8 channel 96hz, 24 bit naturally, so you still get great surround sound), don't enable the surround function on icue, leave it on stereo. I do hope that dolby atmos compatibility is brought up soon to enjoy games that support the windows one. I have the license so would love to use it with them Apart from that, the quality of construction is outstanding, full brushed metal, the pads swivel to have them off on your neck and the rgb lighting is not obnoxious. They also include a high quality magnetic carrying pouch! Highly recommend to anyone wanting high quality audio, these are now my favorite ones!

The Corsair Virtuoso RGB SE Wireless 7.1 Surround Sound Headset is the best headset I owned. It's built very solid, has a nice look to it and the sound is incredibly crystal clear for music and gaming. The microphone is broadcast quality and everyone can hear me clearly through it. Best feature is the Slipstream! Multiple devices setup to one dongle! Defiantly recommend this for anyone looking for a nice headset and wants to splurge for themselves. You won't regret it!

Ill start with the microphone quality, amazing. One of the best mics I've heard from ANY gaming headset, I'm sure there are some that could go against it in terms of quality but really really nice microphone. The side tone is a really good touch also better than most headsets I've tried that offer side tone. The sound quality of the headset themselves out of the box was pretty bad not gonna lie. I spent the first 2 weeks trying to narrow down a good preset.

The Virtuoso headphones are amazingly comfortable and easy to setup. Even the USB adapter synchs to the headset super fast. These are some designer looking headphones with beautifully etched metals and the materials for the headphones are better than leather. The quilted pouch that it comes with is great and easy to add to my carry on for travel. To secure it closed the bag has magnetic clasps so it saves space. There is an included auxiliary cord but when I plugged it in to another gaming system aside from my PS 4 the microphone didn’t work. For someone like myself who likes to tailor their headphones to the keyboard and game, you are able to adjust the colors on the headphones! I’ve already had some compliments from friends and family about how the aesthetic of the headphones resembles a sculpted piece of art.