Featuring 50mm drivers and a distinctive, angular design, the VOID Surround headset uses DOLBY Surround with the aim to provide gamers with ‘Legendary audio’ and ultimate comfort.
Product on Review: Corsair VOID Surround
Manufacturer & Sponsor: Corsair
Street Price: US: $69.99, UK: £69.99 (Introductory price $59/£59)
It was a while ago now since we sampled an audio product from Corsair and in that time, much has changed in the mid-range market. Though much has changed with the Corsair line of headsets too. Taking the helm of their current audio ship is the VOID headset, and comes in the many flavours to fill all parts of the market. Ranging from a stereo version to a wireless RGB version, the latest release we have with us today falls into the mid-range USB ‘virtual 7.1’ category.
Other than its sleek angular design, to capture the attention of gamers, Corsair have shipped the VOID Surround with USB audio processor that provides some tasty DOLBY Surround. To help deliver this experience it has 50mm neodymium drivers that promise a strong bassy punch and has a noise reducing boom microphone for that vital communication in game. As a bonus, it is compatible with both the Xbox ONE and the PS4 out the box as it uses a 4pole jack. To sweeten the deal that bit more, Corsair have released the VOID Surround at a reduced launch price of £59 for the first two weeks.
Overview by Corsair
Purpose built for legendary audio, ultimate comfort, and universal compatibility, the Corsair Gaming VOID Surround Headset features a mobile connector that works with PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and mobile devices. The included USB Dolby 7.1 sound card unlocks genuine Dolby 7.1 surround for a supercharged experience on your PC.
Technical Specifications
Headset
Dolby Headphone 7.1 positional audio
Frequency Response: 20Hz to 20kHz
Impedance: 32 Ohms @ 1kHz
Sensitivity: 107dB (+/-3dB)
Drivers: 50 mm
Connector: USB Type A
Connector: 4-pole 3.5mm min-jack
Microphone
Type: Unidirectional noise-cancelling condenser with adjustable, rotating boom
Impedance: 2.2k Ohms
Frequency Response: 100Hz to 10kHz
Sensitivity: -38dB (+/-3dB)
Dolby Headphone 7.1 positional audio
Frequency Response: 20Hz to 20kHz
Impedance: 32 Ohms @ 1kHz
Sensitivity: 107dB (+/-3dB)
Drivers: 50 mm
Connector: USB Type A
Connector: 4-pole 3.5mm min-jack
Microphone
Type: Unidirectional noise-cancelling condenser with adjustable, rotating boom
Impedance: 2.2k Ohms
Frequency Response: 100Hz to 10kHz
Sensitivity: -38dB (+/-3dB)
Packaging & First Look
The packaging is sleek, using the black and yellow colours previously associated with Corsair Gaming. Next to the image of the product, there is a list of features, ensuring you know what to expect.
At the back there is information about the product as well as its technical specifications.
Included inside the box is the usual paperwork such as the user guide and warranty information, but also a small USB dongle.
The dongle is a small audio processor that provides the DOLBY Surround audio processing.
The Corsair VOID surround headset, comes in black and redd and has an attached boom microphone. The cable is hardlined and sports a 4 pole jack for universal connectivity across mobiles, consoles and PC.
Closer Look
The red and black colour is attractive and the glossy sides with the Corsair logo adds a touch of class. The headset can fold flat due to the rotation and swivel of the earcups.
The earcups are covered with a soft microfibre fabric that are filled with memory foam to help ensure comfort. The earcup size is a strange shape but look as though they will provide enough space for your ears.
The headband has the same fabric as the earcups and is also padded using memory foam. The headband has an adjustable size, having long plastic rails that follow the shape of the headband itself. This is an interesting design as it limits the flexibility of the headband.
On the business side of the VOID Surround, you will find the microphone mute as well as a volume dial.
Software
The VOID Surround uses the Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) and is comparatively straight forward, We get given microphone and sidetone volume controls, enable DOLBY icon and a selection of preset equaliser options. If needed, there is an equaliser tab which allows manual control to suit your own preference. In our testing we found that we preferred to curb the bass a little, which helped balance the tones, however, the majority of the testing is done at default settings unless otherwise stated.
Performance Testing
Setup, Design & ObservationsGetting the headset setup and working is fairly simple, plug the jack into the dongle, plug the dongle into a free USB port. The headset works without the system drivers, though to get the most out of it, including the DOLBY Surround, you will need to download the driver software. Once installed, there is a side tone option for those that like to hear themselves when they speak, as well as the ability to enable the DOLBY Surround.
The headset itself is formed in a peculiar way, and doesn’t provide much flexibility in the headband. Though after adjusting the size a little, the initially strong grip strength subsided and became very comfortable. After use for most the day, I did find that they became very warm and while didn’t cause any ear crush, comfort may be compromised on a hot summers day. The earcups don’t do a great job of blocking external noise, and so there is a fair amount of noise leakage too, though for gamers this isn’t likely going to be a big issue.
The mute button feels nice to push, but is a little difficult to find at first, maybe it could do with a tactile bump for easier location, though once you are used to it, it isn’t a problem. The volume dial is, on the other hand, easy to find, but sounds/feels rather cheap as you can hear a hollow plasticky noise when you use it.
Multimedia
Listening to some familiar electronic music, it was instantly clear that the bass was very powerful, like an omnipresent MUURRRRRRR, with every note. The upper mids were nowhere to be seen (heard). To counter this, I simply entered the equaliser in the CUE, and to my surprise, I realised that there were various equaliser modes in use by default and the audio balanced itself to a more neutral audio signature. Once I had done this, the bass was punchy and enjoyable while the mid-high end was clear and precise.
Playing CS:GO the DOLBY Surround makes a huge difference in giving intuitive spatial awareness, though the gunshots seem a little too open sounding. Though if you use the FPS preset EQ the bass really adds that missing kick.
Microphone
The microphone is very sensitive and loud but actually, once you turn down the sensitivity, I believe that the VOID headset has one of the best noise reducing microphones I have used.
Conclusion
The Corsair VOID Surround is quite a surprise in regards to its gaming performance. Delivering top quality DOLBY Surround in an affordable and comfortable shell. The 50mm drivers give a warm and powerful experience that was enjoyable in gaming and music listening, though it is worth adjusting the audio signature to taste in the equaliser.
There are a few considerations to bare in mind with the VOID Surround, one is that overtime it does get rather warm, so hot and sweaty summer days may be detrimental to its comfort, which is otherwise falling in the satisfactory-good level. The other consideration is that, without tweaking the audio in the equaliser, the audio is rather boomy, and muddy with little high end to note. This however is a superficial oversight considering that the tools to make the adjustments are available and it makes such a difference.
Fans of virtual 7.1 surround may have been looking for a cheaper headset than the ultra premium offerings that we often see with DOLBY Surround, however, considering that for the next two weeks (at time of writing) it is available at just £59, this is one Surround headset that is an absolute steal. At it’s standard pricing it remains relatively competitive but will have to contend with a very strong market. This however, doesn’t stop the VOID Surround from getting our gold.
The Corsair VOID Surround gives an exceptional virtual surround experience at a competitive price point.
Pros.
+ High quality noise reducing microphone
+ Comfortable
+ Good gaming audio
+ Decent virtual surround performance
Cons.
– Gets a little warm
– Bass needs balancing in the EQ
+ High quality noise reducing microphone
+ Comfortable
+ Good gaming audio
+ Decent virtual surround performance
Cons.
– Gets a little warm
– Bass needs balancing in the EQ
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.
