Page 2 - Physical Look - Hardware
The Corsair HS80 RGB Wireless definitely has a quality feel to it with the materials it is made out of. Most of it is plastic, but it does not have the creak and crack of cheap plastic to it. This is because the connection between the headband and the ear cups is metal. Furthermore, the headband also has a soft rubber-like feel, which adds to the perceived build quality. Unfortunately, the earcups are a bit of a fingerprint magnet, but with this on your head, you will not see it much.
One of the big surprises for me was the material chosen to cover the ear cushions. It is not the usual leather, rather more like a cloth covering. It is soft and comfortable to wear, but the first thing I noticed was how warm it felt. It is quite hot currently in Calgary, and the cloth covering certainly did not help. Surprisingly, it is much warmer than a leather pair, and leather units are not exactly known for good ventilation. These covers are also not removable, so changing them down the line is not possible. On the sound end, it does not provide the same seal that a leather earcup provides. Sound isolation is lacking due to it. However, the cushions are comfortable and provide a nice fit. As well, the earcups swivel quite easily, making them capable of folding away on your shoulders when the headset sits around your neck.
The headband for the Corsair HS80 RGB Wireless can be adjusted to fit different sized heads. In the picture above, you can see a small green line, which indicates where you can move the headband to be either tighter or looser. I find that this style of headband often hugs the top of your ear tighter than the bottom. I attempted to change the headband to different levels to compensate, but the same issue persists. It is not too noticeable, and your mileage may vary depending on your preference. However, the headband is well-made, and the adjustability should work well for many different users.
The inside of the headband has a leather section where it makes contact with your head. It is slightly cushioned, adding to the comfort of the Corsair HS80 RGB Wireless. The headphones are a bit heavy though. If you move around or stand up, you can feel the headphones bouncing on your head. As well, it is constantly shifting around. After gaming for a while, I had to constantly readjust where the earcups sit so they would fit properly. The headphones are comfortable overall, but these small nuisances are slightly frustrating.
The technical specifications for the Corsair HS80 RGB Wireless are what you would expect in its intended market. There are 50mm neodymium drivers with the frequency response rated at 20 Hz to 40 kHz, sensitivity of 116 dB, and support for Dolby Atmos. The impedance comes in at 32Ω. When connected wirelessly, audio plays at 24-bit/48kHz. The sampling rate increases to 96kHz via wired USB. The Corsair HS80 RGB Wireless, as its name suggests, is a wireless headset and so also has some batteries located inside. The batteries are one culprit for the added weight, but are rated for up to 20 hours of use. It takes a lot of power to drive a good headset, but it is still far lower compared to the latest models like the Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 2 MAX, tested at over 108 hours, and the Stealth 700 Gen 2 MAX, tested at almost 47 hours. If you want to say the other headsets do not have RGB LEDs, that is a fair point, but the 20 hours figure is stretch even with the RGB LEDs off, which you will see on the next page. The wireless capability is rated for up to 60 ft range. We will have to see how it goes on the next page. Other than the battery life, the technical specifications of the Corsair HS80 RGB Wireless looks pretty good, but we will have to put them to the test on the next page.
In the above picture, you can see all the available on-ear controls for the Corsair HS80 RGB Wireless. There is a power button and a scroll wheel to control volume. The button and the wheel are made of metal, which definitely adds a quality feel to them. The scroll wheel easily and satisfyingly clicks to indicate it is actuated. Even though it is convenient to change settings right on the headset, I honestly barely used it. Holding down the power button either turns the headset on or off, and it quickly connects to whichever device the USB receiver is plugged into. After connecting, a voice will announce "Mic off" regardless of if the microphone is in the down or up position. One feature the Corsair HS80 RGB Wireless has is that whenever the microphone is moved up, the microphone will automatically mute itself, while moving it into the down position will turn it back on. This is a very useful feature, but as I said, when turning the headset on, the microphone will always be off right away regardless of its position. The microphone itself is an omni-directional microphone with a frequency response of 100 Hz to 10 kHz. The impedance comes in at 2.2kΩ, while the sensitivity is -40 db. The microphone swivels up and down on an arm with very little flexibility in other ways. It cannot be moved closer or further away from your mouth, and you just have to be okay with wherever the microphone lands after you have the headset on. At least for me, it was in a great position, and we will demonstrate its effectiveness on the next page.
The Corsair HS80 RGB Wireless uses the iCUE software from Corsair. It was easy to find and download. I had no trouble being able to get to the software and opening it up. The software itself is fairly straightforward. The main page provides an overview of all the Corsair components plugged into your computer, so you can adjust them one by one. What is also nice is that USB receivers also show up on this page, helping you to know where the issue are if you need to do any troubleshooting.
After selecting the Corsair HS80 RGB Wireless on the main page, you are brought to an area where you can customize the onboard RGB LEDs, which, in this case, is the Corsair logo on the earcups. You can find your standard lighting effects to customize the logo and adjust the colors. Also in the software is the ability to adjust the equalizer. There are a few presets, and I recommend the Pure Direct one. It is the most balanced, but you can customize it to fit your needs. There are other options as well, which either boost the bass, treble, or midrange. There are device settings you can adjust, like having the battery bar in your icon tray, boosting the microphone, or adjusting how long it takes for the headphones turn off due to inactivity. The software is extensive, easy to use, and provides enough customization to make it worthwhile.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Subjective Audio Analysis
4. Conclusion
