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Corsair HS80 review – crisp communication and fuzzy mids

Corsair HS80 review – crisp communication and fuzzy mids

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The Corsair HS80 is a wireless gaming headset with RGB, spatial audio with an MSRP of $149.99 / £139.99 – not quite up to the high-end heights of the Corsair Virtuoso XT, but far from a budget option.

Without a doubt, the HS80’s specialty is gaming. Designed to deliver the most accurate spatial audio experience with Dolby Atmos, the headset’s 50mm drivers handle a respectable 20Hz-40kHz frequency response. On the face of it, this will help you identify every goblin/gunner/gelatinous blob that scuffles around your perimeter and avoid being shot in the head, or at least determine where you got shot from.

However, the HS80 is not an all-rounder. There are several issues to consider, including the HS80’s sound configuration and limited connectivity options. The HS80 offers only two ways to connect: 24-bit 96kHz USB wired and 24-bit 48kHz wireless via a USB dongle. The wireless range is advertised as 60 feet, but it’s presumably unobstructed; in my small apartment, it started disappearing when I left the room and walked down the hallway. It’s decent, but nothing impressive. There’s no Bluetooth, so it won’t play with your phone, although the HS80 is compatible with game consoles and Macs.

My least favorite thing about the HS80 so far is its sound profile. Out of the box, without any custom sound profiles or equalization, it sounds disappointingly muddy, with too much low-mid frequency—it sounds like I’m listening to music in the next room. By contrast, switching to my custom EQ preset felt like opening a door and walking into a room. The differences were so pronounced that on a few occasions the Corsair iCUE software reverted to the default profile on startup, which caused quite a bit of confusion before I realized my settings weren’t in place.

Corsair HS80 Corsair HS70 SteelSeries Arctis 7P Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless XT
driver 50mm 50mm 40mm 50mm
frequency
Reply
20Hz – 40kHz 20Hz – 20kHz 20Hz – 20kHz 20Hz – 40kHz
connectivity Wireless | Wired Wireless | Wired Wireless | Wired hybrid
Battery Life up to 20 hours up to 16 hours up to 24 hours up to 15 hours
microphone response 100Hz – 10kHz 100Hz – 10kHz 100Hz – 6.5kHz 100Hz – 10kHz
weight 367 grams 314 grams 422 grams up to 382 g
Price $149.99 | $139.99 $179.99 | £99.99 $149.99 | $174.99 $249.99 | £249.99

To be fair, the native settings are undoubtedly designed to prioritize sound clarity while gaming over a balanced music listening profile – sure enough, the “Game” preset was applied (and “Performance Mode” enabled) in Dolby Access ), I can easily identify directional sounds. Of course this is a gaming headset review for a gaming site, so putting the game on the HS80 on a dock isn’t exactly a crime, but more specifically it’s balanced in terms of utility so you can hear enemies sneaking up You, not for aesthetics, bring out the best in your game’s soundtrack.

Fortunately, the aforementioned EQ tools can correct the balance if you wish. iCUE comes with a ten-band equalizer; the default presets aren’t great, but the equalizer is easy to modify because it clearly shows the +-dB of each band, and you can hear the results right away. Alas, you’ll need to install Dolby Access software to use Atmos.

With Atmos applied, you can’t use iCUE’s EQ, you have to use Access – its default presets are worse for music, and the EQ doesn’t adjust the sound in real-time, requiring you to configure it and click “Apply” to reload the audio renderer each time. It’s a bit of a nightmare when it comes to fine-tuning your sound, as you don’t get instant feedback to help you figure out where the levels should be.

So it’s easier to find out your EQ preferences in iCUE and then copy them in Access. As a starting point, we recommend that you cut the low-mids by about 3-4dB at 250Hz and 500Hz, boost the highs by about 1-2dB starting at 2kHz, and then add extra bass and treble to suit taste. Equalizers are largely a matter of personal preference and can be a difficult tool to use if you’re new to it, so unfortunately getting the best sound out of the HS80 is critical.

The iCUE software also includes options to turn off the headset’s voice prompts (which I find a little annoying, but they might be useful to others), set an auto-off timer, and customize RGB. The lighting of the HS80 consists of an illuminated logo on each side, so the overall effect is minimal and understated. You can also turn off RGB entirely, which I chose to do to preserve battery life on the HS80.

My experience with the HS80 wireless battery life has been mixed. Ads are posted at 20 hours, and sometimes freezes at less than 10 hours with RGB on, which is disappointing – and since I turned voice prompts off, it took me a while to realize I thought I was in a Discord call The natural calm is just that I can’t hear anything through the dead headphones.

The HS80 doesn’t charge quickly, but can be used while charging, plugged in via USB. Switching between wired and wireless is a little tedious. You’ll need to turn the headset off, then plug it in and turn it back on, which can cause some damage mid-game. Wireless sound quality is excellent, almost indistinguishable from wired. The quality of the wired mic is excellent, with multiple compliments, and while it’s (understandably) not as clear in wireless mode, it’s still the best wireless mic I’ve ever used, and it rivals a desktop gaming mic.

The mic isn’t removable, but the HS80 isn’t a headphone you can take with you (which would be difficult, anyway, due to the HS80’s limited connectivity options). You can mute the mic by raising your arm, and when the mic is lowered and active, the helpful light on the end changes from red to white; the combination of these two features means accidentally broadcasting yourself at an untimely moment is nearly impossible of. Thank you, pirate ship.

You can bend the mic arm to bend towards your face, a feature I haven’t noticed for weeks (look, I don’t have a habit of twisting my tech hard) but thanks a lot for letting you out of your way Find the perfect spot as close to your mouth as possible.

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Sidetone is an option in iCUE if you want to hear yourself through the mic, but in my experience it’s not necessary because the HS80 doesn’t have much isolation – you can still hear everything going on in the room you and Anyone nearby can hear the leak. It’s not a problem for me, but definitely a matter of personal preference.

A lack of isolation is to be expected, as instead of wrapping tightly around your ears, the HS80 gently cushions them with cloth-covered large plush memory foam pads. That means the earphones overall look a bit bulky and roomy, but are sure to be comfortable to wear for hours on end without being uncomfortable (at least not in winter). The “floating” headband design ensures a flexible yet snug fit, and I’m happy to report that it hasn’t fallen off my head (yet).

It’s worth mentioning that the first test unit I received ran into an issue – after using it in wireless mode for a while, the connection would start dropping intermittently and eventually stop working entirely. This could be a hardware issue as our replacement headphones worked fine without any glitches.

So if you’re looking for a wireless headset for competitive gaming sessions over voice chat, the HS80 ticks the box, with a few caveats. Either it’s all work or it’s all fun, as you can’t get a full day out of either; you won’t be able to get too far from your gaming PC considering that the headset’s signal doesn’t stretch as well as the competition; if you’re interested in music If you are bothered, you need to adjust the EQ settings for an even sound. But once done, the HS80 sounds great, is comfortable to wear, and most importantly, makes your voice sound clear.

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Kirsten Bennett
Kirsten is a passionate writer who loves games, and one day he decided to combine the two. She is now professionally writing niche articles about Consoles and hardware .