Corsair Gaming Inc., as the company is more formally known, has long been the brand of choice for RAM in a gaming battle station, as well as its many other items - SSDs, USB sticks, keyboards, mice, speakers, and more - including headphones.
Corsair's newest headphones are the Virtuoso RGB wireless XT, which raises the standard for headsets everywhere. It sounds good, looks good, and feels good. This is a headset you need to experience.
While the first thing you think of when it comes to headsets is audio, the immediate presentation is stunning. Opening the Virtuoso’s box for the first time is an experience in itself, revealing a lightweight aluminium headset with premium memory foam earpads, and a cross-stitched and padded carry pouch sealed with a magnetic clasp. The headband and earpads are comfortable and conform to the shape of your head with ratcheted extensions so you can always expand or collapse the headband to the right place. This all combines to allow you to play for hours on end without your ears getting sore or hot. It is a delight to wear.
Of course, while we speak of it being for gamers, you can use the headset for your remote working Microsoft Teams, or Zoom, or Google Meet, or AWS Chime, or whatever it may be, meetings, and you can use it for music, podcasts, and anything else you desire. It’s a headset that brings superb vocal clarity from its detachable and flexible 9.5mm omnidirectional broadcast-grade microphone, and crisp, immersive Dolby Atmos audio.
Gamers, however, will most certainly enjoy its RGB lighting on the Corsair logo on each earpad. This can be programmed and configured through Corsair’s iCUE software 4+ for Windows (note Corsair provides downloads for both v3 and v4 of this software, but the headset is supported in version 4 only) which, if you have other Corsair items, will similarly allow you to program their RGB lighting. You can have your mouse and keyboard and case lights and headset all pulsing in sync or doing quite different lighting effects if you wish.
Additionally, you can connect to virtually any device. The Virtuoso RGB wireless XT supports simultaneous 24bit/48KHz Slipstream wireless and Qualcomm aptX HD Bluetooth, and despite the ‘wireless’ name, also provides wired connections through a 3.5mm audio jack and USB. The headset has a USB-C socket and the box includes a USB-A to USB-C cable. You can thus use it with your PC, MacBook, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, phone, tablet, or whatever else you might like. When operating wirelessly you have 15 hours of battery life and 18 metres (60 foot) range.
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The headset includes a matched pair of precisely-tuned 50mm high-density neodymium speaker drivers for impeccable sound with a frequency range of 20Hz-40,000Hz, double that of typical gaming headsets.
PC users also gain Dolby Atmos three dimensional sound, allowing you to easily pinpoint where your opponents are. This comes via the Poly Atmos App, a free download from the Microsoft Store. However, it also supports PlayStation 5’s 3D audio, and Windows Sonic.
The microphone is conveniently flexible to help you angle it the best way for your face, with a mute on/off button. It’s also detachable so you can remove it entirely if you’re not in a talking mood. The inline 3.5mm controller also provides volume and mute controls.
The lithium-ion battery life is preserved with an accelerometer-based smart sleep/wake function.
iTWire has been using the Corsair Virtuoso RGB wireless XT and it genuinely is a superior audio experience, that is comfortable and crisp and genuinely makes you want to find more reasons to use it. Be warned though, the sound is so immersive I jumped out of my chair in fright on more than one occasion when I suddenly realised one of my children was next to me, talking to me. The game or music I was listening to was so encompassing I was entirely oblivious to what was happening around me in real life.
Other great features that go beyond a typical gaming headset include the ability to connect simultaneously to a wireless and Bluetooth source, the easily discerned buttons and sockets, the expanded set of Bluetooth codecs, the flexibility of the microphone, and its go-anywhere use-anywhere connectivity to work with whatever devices you have. In short, this is a magnificent gaming headset and well worth trying out.
You can buy the Corsair Virtuoso RGB wireless XT for between $449 and $549.
Precise specifications are:
- Headphones - 20Hz - 40KHz frequency response, 32 Ohms @ 2.5KHz impedance, 109db (± 3dB) sensitivity, custom 50mm neodymium matched-pair drivers
- Microphone - omnidirectional broadcast-grade, 2.0k Ohms impedance, 100Hz - 10kHz frequency response, -42dB (± 2 dB) sensitivity.
- Wireless - 2.4GHz wireless with 18m range, Bluetooth wireless with 9m range, Bluetooth 5 radio, Bluetooth profiles A2DP, HFP, HSP
- 1.8m USB-A to USB-C cable, 1.5m 3.5mm inline controller, 170mm x 100mm x 195mm, 382g weight, two-year warranty
- Up to 15 hours battery life, Lithium polymer, 1500mAh, 27.5g. 3.7V, 5.55Wh, 56.0mm x 41.7mm x 5.4mm
- Storage pouch and wireless USB adapter included
