Page 2 - Physical Look - Hardware
Similar to other recent gaming headsets I have reviewed, the Corsair Gaming HS60 Surround takes a conservative approach to things when it comes to design, making it suitable for both gaming sessions and casual music listening. While there are some elements that are a tell-tale sign this is not from a standard audio brand, including the Corsair logo on each ear and the Corsair imprint on the top of the band, the headset looks pretty clean. Compared to the HS50 Stereo, the headset actually looks almost the same. Our headset comes in a mostly black color with some white elements as you will see later on. There is also a full black version if you so desire. The majority of the headset is made out of plastic with a matte surface, though there are some glossy elements too. Metal can also be found around the headset, including the arms holding the ear cups in place and the headband frame internally. Otherwise, we can see leatherette, including areas around the entire headband, the padding underneath, and the padding of the earphones. The whole HS60 also feels quite solid and light at the same time without making any unexpected creaking noises when adjusting it.
At the bottom of the left cup, we have a single four-pole 3.5mm gold plated audio plug. As such, users can take the Corsair Gaming HS60 Surround immediately out of the box and plug it into most portable electronic devices like tablets or phones without needing any additional adapters. This also allows the headset to be plugged into consoles such as the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or Nintendo Switch, though you may need an adapter for the Microsoft console. The plug itself is wrapped in a smooth black rubber end and is pretty easy to grip. A small Corsair logo can be found on the plug. The rubber cable holding it in place is approximately 1.8m in length. It feels pretty durable, but I found it would sometimes catch on things like clothing. It is not a huge deal, but this could cause unnecessary stress on the cable over time. The cable is permanently attached to the left ear cup of the HS60. I think for most users, this is an appropriate length for the cable, especially as it is meant to be used for more than just PC gaming.
Moving up the cable, the next thing we come to are the two ear cups on the Corsair Gaming HS60 Surround. Much like we have seen recently, we have a memory foam earmuff covered by leatherette. I will say while the headset is pretty comfortable at this point, I did find the cushion of the ears to not be as great as some other headsets, such as the Kingston HyperX Cloud Stinger. I would have liked to see plushier foam here or an increased thickness in the muffs. The oval shape conforms naturally to a person's ear and the whole cup should be big enough to fit over most ear sizes. A thin mesh lining rests inside to ensure your ear does not touch the plastic underneath. Speaking of which, the drivers inside each ear cup are 50mm neodymium drivers. They feature a frequency response of 20Hz to 20kHz, covering the audible frequency spectrum for humans. Rated impedance of the unit is 32 ohms with a sensitivity of 111dB. These specifications are all the same as the HS50 Stereo, making me believe these are the same headset, though I cannot necessarily confirm this fact. Either way, we will see how all of this plays into the audio reproduction later on.
The ears themselves are pretty flexible with the capability to tilt these cups back and forth. They do not move very easily, but they should move enough to conform to the shape of your ears. Unfortunately, there is no rotation on these ear cups, which means resting the Corsair Gaming HS60 Surround on your neck may restrict your head movement. I personally did not find this to be an issue. Otherwise, the outer sides of the HS60’s ear cups have a metal grille with Corsair's sails logo in the middle.
At the top of the headset, we have the leatherette headband with a white stitched pattern for some aesthetics. I have to say it makes for an eye-catching design choice and creates a bubble-like surface with individual pockets. Inside this headband cushion is memory foam, which feels similar to the foam used on the ears. As we already mentioned, the outer band is wrapped in leatherette with a Corsair imprint for a clean way for branding. Down the side is where you will see the extending arms with an internal metal band to keep the headset sturdy. The frame is notched and marked with numbers so users can remember how much they need to extend the headset for a comfortable fit. There is enough resistance on the arms to prevent the cups from flying out whenever. As for how far the headset expands out, the Corsair Gaming HS60 Surround should fit most heads. While I personally have a pretty large head, I did not find I needed to extend the HS60 out fully it to fit comfortably on my head, though your mileage may vary.
In terms of overall comfort, I have to say the Corsair Gaming HS60 Surround feels pretty good, but it is not the most comfortable headset I have worn either. It is really hard to beat some of the competition out there, but I think the Corsair Gaming HS60 Surround does a decent job in this department. As a glasses wearer, I did not find a whole lot of fatigue wearing this headset; something that is not true for a lot of headsets. At a weight of 275g, this headset feels pretty light overall, though its clamping force on my head feels higher due to its less plushy ear cups.
As we have mentioned, the left ear cup connects the headset to your preferred choice of audio, but it also connects and holds a few other things. The first thing I want to point out is the right most dial, which is the volume dial for the headset. Positive and negative indicators are printed on the headset to show which way the dial goes to increase or decrease the volume. The dial is pretty sensitive and loose, making volume adjustments fast. On the other hand, I would have liked to see a bit more resistance in the dial, as I found I would accidentally change the volume just by brushing my hand by it. Next to this dial is a push button, which allows you to mute the microphone. The button stays depressed when it is muted. Finally, we have the detachable microphone. This microphone is a unidirectional one with a frequency response of 100Hz to 10kHz. Besides the fact it is removable, I really like how flexible the microphone is. Not only can it swing in many directions, it also stays in place. According to Corsair, the whole headset is Discord Certified, which means the microphone and audio has been tested for communication and sound. Of course, we will see what that means in real life on our next page.
As the Corsair Gaming HS60 Surround looks to be the same physical headset as the previous HS50 Stereo, one thing that is new is the inclusion of a 3.5mm to USB sound card. It does not have anything else on it, other than the Corsair logo and a 3.5mm opening for the headset. On the other end is a silver USB plug, which is fine since USB is a digital connection. With this in mind, you might be wondering why you should consider the HS60 Surround when the HS50 is still available. To respond, I will say a USB sound card guarantees a consistent sound quality, which is something you cannot claim across multiple machines with analog input. This is quite useful, especially if your gaming setup is on a more budget system or in laptops, where the audio output on these computers are not necessarily the highest of quality. Thus, I think there is value to having this accessory, even if you do not plan on activating the virtual 7.1 surround sound.
Corsair packages their CUE or Corsair Utility Engine software with the Corsair Gaming HS60 Surround, which is the same utility that works with all of the other Corsair products. While I wait the day for a unified software experience across multiple manufacturers, CUE is a pretty good application on its own. For the HS60 specifically, as it does not have any lighting effects, there are three main things you can do with this utility. For one, you can set the equalizer effects. Corsair does have several presets, but you can also set your own ones too. Secondly, you can set the volume of the microphone here, or mute it altogether. Finally, you can change the output between the default stereo or the virtual 7.1 surround sound. We will see how this works later in our audio analysis. However, it should be noted this utility only works when you use the included USB sound card, or else the headset will not be recognized as connected to your computer.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Subjective Audio Analysis
4. Conclusion
