You probably know Corsair best for its memory products, power supplies, and SSDs. But now the company is jumping into the crowded headset market with an unassuming entry that’s both affordable and capable of offering great sound quality.
Corsair isn’t the first company that jumps to mind when it comes to audio, but the Fremont, California company aims to change that with the release of its HS1 USB gaming headset.
You might think that motherboards or graphics cards would be a logical next move, given the company's forays into PC cases and power supplies, coupled with the manufacturing experience gained from its bread-and-butter memory products. But motherboards and graphics cards force tight margins and high support costs. Given VP of marketing Jim Carlton’s roots in Creative Labs and Logitech, it’s probably not a big surprise that Corsair is moving into the audio space, though. Still, there are a ton of good headsets on the market. So, Corsair decided to focus on two things: price and audio quality.
The result is a headset that won’t (pardon the pun) turn any heads for its looks, but will please your ears your wallet. The HS1 offers 50 mm drivers built into fully circumaural, close-backed cups. Completely surrounding the ear and closing the backs made the challenge of designing this headset a little easier, while simultaneously masking outside noises better than cups that partially cover the ears. The boom microphone is of the now-common noise cancelling variety, and rotates out of the way.
The inline volume control is quite large, and easy to find in the dark. The controls couldn’t be simpler: microphone mute and large, tactile buttons for increasing or decreasing volume.
Building headphones, much less a complete headset, using 50 mm drivers can result in a heavy unit with the potential to be fatiguing over long periods. The padded headrest is comfortable enough, but the cups are what set this headset apart. The ear pads are made of cloth-covered memory foam, which is easily user-replaceable. Corsair says it will be offering replacement pads directly from its Web site.
We wore the HS1 for extended listening periods (six hours in one case), and it proved to be one of the most comfortable headsets we’ve ever worn. Of the three headsets mentioned in this review, Corsair's was the only unit that didn’t actually rest on part of an ear, which made it more comfortable right out to the box.




I only see general pictures of the headphones...
this is not the quality review i'm used to see from tom's...
total disappointment, but still interested in the headphone.
I'd say for its price of $100, this headset is a great value. For comparison, the MSRP for the Sennheiser PC 350 is $250, while it can be found online starting at $125.
i dont think there's hardly any people who can hear above 20kHz (or below 20Hz). i remember we tried it in a science lesson at school, out of a class of about 30, there was only me and one other person who could hear a tone upto just over 18kHz.
I've always been under the impression 20Hz - 20kHz is the full range of human hearing. anything above or below that is pointless measuring, and of no use what so ever.
Anyway, this headset looks good. i've never done gaming with a proper headset before, and am rather tempted by this one.
I only see general pictures of the headphones...
this is not the quality review i'm used to see from tom's...
total disappointment, but still interested in the headphone.
Only good/interesting/informative part of this "review."
best headset i've tried is the original fatal1ty usb headset from creative. could it be better? yes...but haven't see anyone else do better.
all the surround headsets suck...nothing but a gimmick.
Do wish they were compatible with my 360, so I wouldn't have to keep using a sub-par headset when playing console exclusive games, but c'est la vie, I suppose.
All simulated headphones, regardless of the quality are simply just inferior alternatives.
The HPA2 is cheaper too.
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Get a microphone and tape on it.
They get the job done though... I'd give the megaledons a 4/5 stars.