Corsair HS80 Max Wireless review

Let’s begin off with a bang: the Corsair HS80 Max Wi-fi is the best-sounding gaming headset I’ve ever used. Though it’s clearly aimed toward a gamer viewers, with a precedence on in-game feels like footsteps and gunshots, it’s now my go-to listening gear for music and podcasts, too.

At $179.99, it’s on the more expensive finish of the headset spectrum, however I believe Corsair’s performed sufficient to warrant the value tag. In addition to sounding nice, the HS80 Max delivers on each different entrance, together with its design, microphone, and the iCue software program backing it up.

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It’s made clear enhancements over the first rate Corsair HS80, together with the addition of Bluetooth connectivity that immediately makes the HS80 Max a way more versatile piece of equipment. Let’s begin with the way it appears to be like.

Professionals:

• Glorious sound high quality
• iCue, accompanied by SoundId and Nvidia Broadcast, brings a brand new dimension to the headset
• Fashionable design

Cons:

• Higher price-to-performance ratio could be present in cheaper headsets

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Corsair HS80 Max Wi-fi design

The HS80 Max I’m reviewing boasts a glossy, pure white design, though there’s additionally a black model out there. I’m normally a sucker for black headsets, however there’s one thing I really like in regards to the contoured, space-age appears to be like of the white model.

I particularly recognize it when gaming headsets obey the model norms that common headphones are certain by. What makes gaming gear corporations assume that, simply because I’m a gamer, I wish to put on some blocky plastic monstrosity? With that in thoughts, the HS80 maintains that gaming headsets could be elegant whereas nonetheless clearly gaming headsets.

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There’s a restricted quantity of RGB on the surface of the ear cups – and even that’s an excessive amount of for my part (or not, because the case could also be), since I can’t even see the lights once I’m sporting the headset! – however the remainder of the design is trendy sufficient that I can rock it wherever. It’s a everlasting fixture whereas I’m gaming, after all, however you’ll additionally catch me sporting it spherical city, on walks, and on the health club. There’s not many gaming headsets that I’d do this with.

One draw back is the mic, which protrudes awkwardly from the left ear cup. Fortunately, you possibly can fold it out of the best way, according to the headscarf, and this additionally capabilities as a method of switching off the mic, which is a pleasant contact.

Elsewhere on the set, the sunshine grey, fabric ear pads and contoured edges soften what might in any other case have been an unfashionably angular design. The opposite profit of those ear pads is that they’re tremendous comfy, significantly better than leatherette ones for my part. That sense of consolation fortunately pervades the HS80 Max throughout the board.

Though these cans weigh a considerable 352g, you wouldn’t comprehend it from sporting them. The distribution of weight is firstclass, and I’ll fortunately put on them for hours throughout heavy gaming or writing periods with none signal of headphone fatigue.

Corsair HS80 Max Wi-fi efficiency

The sound profile of the HS80 max is improbable. The 50mm neodymium audio drivers ship high-fidelity sounds throughout a 20Hz-20,000Hz frequency vary, with booming bass, clear mids, and crisp treble. It excels with in-game audio, as anticipated, however may compete with mid-range, music-oriented headphones surprisingly properly. Whether or not it’s broadcasting teammates’ callouts, a conflict of swords in Baldur’s Gate 3, or Bach’s Cello Suites, the HS80 brings you wealthy sounds, with depth that may be tweaked in iCue based mostly in your listening preferences, one thing I’ll discuss later.

The principle factor I really like in regards to the HS80 Max is simply how full it sounds. The Dolby Atmos spatial audio it comes outfitted with on PC actually delivers. After all, that’s useful for a sweaty ladder session on Valorant, but it surely additionally signifies that music comes via actually properly as properly.

And these spectacular sounds could be delivered via a number of means. The first method of listening is thru a 2.4Ghz wi-fi receiver you can plug into your PC’s USB slot, which ensures a formidable 24bit/96kHz sound. Corsair claims this has a 50ft vary, and this is perhaps true in the event you’re in an infinite, open-plan banquet corridor, but it surely’s rather less via partitions. Nonetheless, it traveled from my PC on the primary flooring of my home to my yard via two partitions, which was ample for any use I might foresee.

As talked about above, the HS80 Max additionally presents Bluetooth connection, that means you should use it along with your cellphone, pill, or laptop computer. This can be a clear step up from the earlier iteration, which wasn’t Bluetooth-compatible. Sadly, the Bluetooth connection appears to have come on the expense of a regular wired connection, which is a disgrace for these of us seeking to protect battery life for no matter motive. I requested a consultant of Corsair why the corporate had taken that call for the HS80 Max, however they didn’t reply.

With reference to battery life, the HS80 Max can be improbable on that entrance. I’ve hardly heard the dreaded ‘battery low’ noise throughout my month with the headset. Chances are you’ll assume I’m a kind of individuals who diligently cost their wi-fi devices once they go to mattress, however that couldn’t be farther from the reality.

I’ve pinned down one motive for the HS80 Max’s superlative battery efficiency, other than a presumably giant capability: you possibly can set it to change itself off after numerous minutes of your selecting. I went for 10 minutes, which was by no means obtrusive, but additionally doubtless saved a number of cost. iCue additionally provides you the selection to show off the HS80 Max’s RGB lighting, one other determination which profit the battery. And that brings us properly to the subsequent part.

Corsair HS80 Max Wi-fi options

As talked about, iCue is Corsair’s glorious peripheral software program. It’s extra in-depth than most headset companion packages, and that’s a very good factor, particularly because it comes with tutorials on the way to use its extra esoteric options. iCue helps you to tinker along with your equipment to an impressively granular degree, even permitting you to customise the small RGB panels on the aspect of the set with totally different lighting profiles, or select from a sequence of instructions to assign to urgent within the quantity scroll wheel.

However the primary attraction is iCue’s vary of choices to tweak the HS80’s sound profile. The equalizer is a typical affair, providing a number of presets aimed toward gaming or listening to music, in addition to the choice to create your personal presets by tweaking how loudly totally different frequencies – starting from 32 to 16KHz – come via the cans. As I say, fairly customary stuff. The HS80 Max’s out-of-the-box profile is fairly balanced anyway, so my customized presets simply boosted the bass and treble a tiny bit.

What’s extra intriguing is the addition of SoundID. This complementary software program from Sonarworks is embedded into the iCue app, offering an alternative choice to the standard equalizer. It creates a SoundID profile by subjecting you to a sequence of sonic duties, like adjusting the amount in your left ear cup till you possibly can now not hear the noise coming via that aspect of the set. Then, it performs music and asks you to select from quite a lot of totally different presets on the idea of what you assume sounds greatest.

Basically, it’s figuring out how properly you possibly can choose up sound at quite a lot of frequencies and the way you instinctively like your music to return throughout and makes you a sound profile on that foundation. I used to be fairly proud of my SoundId profile, but it surely was a disgrace that you simply couldn’t tweak it or customise it any additional. I do are likely to have SoundID enabled, quite than utilizing the equalizer’s presets, although, which exhibits how a lot I charge it.

Final however not least, we come to the HS80 Max’s microphone. My first impression wasn’t superb, because the mic juts straight out from the left ear cup, and isn’t remotely malleable. I used to be a bit of involved this is able to translate into murkier comms, given the mic’s distance from my mouth, however this concern proved completely unfounded. The mic is actually strong, bringing via the total vary of my voice significantly better than most competitor merchandise. The bass in my voice got here via particularly properly within the recordings I did on Soundtrap to check the mic, and as somebody with a deeper voice, this was pleasing to notice. When taking part in with buddies, the mic facilitated crystal clear comms with out the necessity for software program help.

But it surely’s once I bought iCue concerned that the mic actually started to shine, and that’s because of the addition of Nvidia Broadcast. This non-compulsory add-on is a separate obtain, however one which I’d wholeheartedly advocate. Nvidia Broadcast makes use of AI (in some unknown trend) to ship cutting-edge noise and ‘room echo’ removing.

This tech actually is a recreation changer. I examined the mic out with Nvidia Broadcast’s settings enabled and disabled… And wow! It made an enormous distinction. This software program completely cuts out background noise, to the purpose of neutralizing the music coming from my cellphone on the desk in entrance of me whereas I’m speaking. It doesn’t simply dampen these irritating sounds down a bit: it cuts them out solely.

This, mixed with iCue’s varied choices for tweaking the drivers’ sound profile, makes iCue an easy advice in the event you’re going to fork out for the HS80 Max. The truth is, in the event you’re not downloading iCue, you’re lacking out on so much.

Is the Corsair HS80 Max value it?

I firmly consider the HS80 Max is a contender for greatest gaming headset. It’s an absolute workhorse of a product, delivering nice efficiency on all fronts with a battery that’ll final for days, all whereas staying comfy and trendy in your head. That’s to not point out iCue, a chunk of software program which is able to take these cans’ efficiency into the stratosphere.

The one actual draw back is the fee. Its $179.99 price ticket places it on the excessive finish of gaming headsets, however I genuinely assume it’s value it in the event you can spare the money. Clearly, in the event you’re on a strict price range, you’ll in all probability get higher efficiency per greenback elsewhere, however I don’t assume anybody who splashes out on an HS80 Max can be dissatisfied.