NOTE: Prolonged listening at high volumes may adversely affect your hearing. Take breaks between sessions and always begin with the volume at a low level before increasing. MICROPHONE CONTROL To keep its price down without compromising on performance, Corsair has used high-quality plastic with a nice soft matte finish for the earcups and headband, only using aluminum in the bones to reinforce the headset. If you’re worried about comfort, don’t. The memory foam leatherette ear pads and headband padding are not only plush and luxurious, but also breathable. I played Call of Duty:Warzone with 7.1-channel Dolby Surround enabled and the FPS Competition equalizer preset enabled, and I was able to get good positional audio cues without the bass of gunfire and explosions overwhelming the audio. I also chatted over Discord while playing, and swapping to the Clear Chat preset muffled the game audio a bit but brought out the voices of other players clearly. \ The Corsair HS65 Surround stands up well against competitors like the Razer Kraken V3 Hypersense and the HyperX Cloud Alpha. Many competing headsets offer options which you don’t really need, like detachable mics or the Kraken V3 Hypersense's haptic functionality. These options aren't high on the list of necessities with gamers, so why pay more for options you don’t need? The Corsair HS65 Surround may not be as feature-rich as others, but when it comes to gaming headsets, audio performance is king, and that’s where this headset truly shines. The headset supports Dolby Audio 7.1 surround sound for an even more immersive experience, but even on stereo, it delivers excellent sound quality in which all frequencies are represented beautifully and there’s decent sound imaging. On top of that, it’s pretty loud at its highest volume with only the slightest hint of distortion.

The 7.1 Surround Sound capability is accessible through Corsair's iCue software with Windows Spatial Sound active, found under the properties menu of your output device in Windows' sound settings.

With the HS65 WIRELESS, you can play and listen completely untethered, with 24 hours of battery life to continue gaming sessions without worrying about your headset’s lifespan. Additional Bluetooth ® enables mobile chat, phone calls, and gaming audio on even more devices. Thanks to an omni-directional mic that clearly captures your voice with nearly zero wireless lag, you can interact with games, and the people you play them with, as reliably as ever. Sadly, the Corsair HS65 Wireless’ sound quality isn’t as balanced as its wired counterpart’s. Its audio is very colored.

Thanks to its 3.5mm plug, the HS65 Surround is also compatible with consoles and older smartphones. I played Halo: Infinite with the headset connected to a controller, and the Xbox’s Series X’s Dolby Atmos for Headphones surround quality was nearly identical to what I heard using the USB dongle with the Windows version of the game on my PC. The CORSAIR HS65 WIRELESS and HS55 WIRELESS gaming headsets are available immediately from the CORSAIR webstore and the CORSAIR worldwide network of authorized retailers and distributors. Unfortunately, the newer HS55 Wireless isn’t quite as solid when it comes to the low end. In games like Control and Cyberpunk 2077, I’ve noticed that explosions and other sounds that require that rumble for maximum effect just don’t have it – unlike the older HS55 Wireless Core, which delivers enough of it to give you just a bit of that body-shaking immersion. When it comes to design, the HS65 opts for the simple yet still classically Corsair approach, obviously taking cues from some of the grievances customers have made about the HS60 Pro Surround. Instead of a detachable mic and a separate mute button, for example, it now comes with a flip-to-mute non-detachable mic, which makes its operation more effortless and intuitive. NOTE: The first time you use the CORSAIR HS65 WIRELESS headset on a PC, the operating system will automatically install a device driver. After the device driver is installed, we recommend you reboot your PC before use.SoundID is a cool feature if you’re asking me, and I’m excited to see what it can potentially become in the future, but for now I’d just try it out to see if it works for you if you happen to like everything else about this headset, but I wouldn’t consider the SoundID to be a selling point. At least not from my experience. Any media that was recorded and mixed for 7.1 Surround will play exceptionally well over the HS6 Surround. Thankfully, most games and shows presently record for 7.1 Surround Sound, but keep in mind that not all games or media are or have. With these older games and media, the headphones themselves won’t turn a game recorded in 5.1 surround into 7.1 surround, but it will still sound stunning. Something else that I’m not a fan of is the ear cup material. I know that this is highly subjective but I prefer fabric materials over leather(ette) options, and after wearing the HS65 for longer periods of time I felt my ears get a bit too warm for comfort. The padding is extremely luxurious, though: both on the headband and the ear cups there’s a generous amount of memory foam, resulting in a snug and comfy fit. If your head isn’t above the average in size and you don’t have anything against leatherette materials you’ll be absolutely fine when it comes to comfort, but for me personally this isn’t it.

Enable SoundID™ audio personalization. Requires USB Wireless Receiver to enable. The software’s built-in documentation explains how to use the HS65 WIRELESS’s features in greater detail. To mute the HS65, just swing the non-removable boom mic up to its stored position and it will be disabled. This should help prevent accidental embarrassing or annoyed comments from leaking into game sessions — if you choose to insult your gaming partner’s abilities, you’ll know you’re doing it. You’ll have to do a little sound tweaking to make the Corsair HS65 Wireless sound great, but it’s a pretty good proposition, especially for the price.For gaming, the imaging is certainly good enough, though the rather narrow soundstage doesn’t do the HS65 any favors. Still, I never felt like I was at a disadvantage when gaming, and when using the premade FPS EQ config (which dials down on the lower tones in favor of more important sounds in the higher register such as reloads and so on) I had no issues locating my enemies ingame. I won’t say that this is the best headset that I’ve experienced on either front (gaming and media consumption) but it most definitely punches above its price point if you’re asking me. Also launching today is the HS55 WIRELESS, delivering a lightweight fit at just 266g, low-latency wireless connection options, and long battery life. With Dolby ® Audio 7.1 surround sound, and superior all-day comfort, you can press play on great sound, free from wires. Finally, the third tab lets you toggle device settings. Among these three tabs, it’s the Equalizer you’ll likely be using the most. Corsair HS65 Surround – Performance While the low end on the newer HS55 Wireless is a bit disappointing, the inclusion of Dolby Audio 7.1 virtual surround sound more than makes up for it. When engaged, the soundstage is wider and more three-dimensional, making you feel like you’re right in the action. Turning on surround sound does soften the headset’s brightness a little bit, but that wider soundstage is worth it. And, even with it on, the sound imaging is still precise.

Utilize the USB adapter and toggle on the Dolby 7.1 surround sound feature in iCue, and suddenly, the soundscape is much wider and much more immersive without sounding artificial. Obviously, you’re not really getting a real 7.1 speaker system here, but the effect is as close to the real thing as you can get with a pair of headsets.With immersive sound and an unbelievably lightweight frame, the HS65 WIRELESS puts you in the game with wireless audio you can enjoy all day and all night. That’s something I appreciate as someone who’s tired of feeling her way through seemingly endless headphone buttons, never really knowing which switch is for what until I actually press it. Plus, when I’m wrapped up in a game, all I really care about is the mute function and adjusting the audio volume anyway. The metal headband is extendable, and you should be able to find a fit that accommodates both your ears and the top of your head. On the other hand, there are no discrete notches or numbers, so finding a good fit requires a lot of trial and error — doubly so, if you ever lose your position by stashing the device in a bag, or handing it off to a housemate. Corsair HS65 Wireless review: Performance In Corsair’s iCUE software you can select or create EQ profiles, though I really only found the FPS Competition profile to be of any use to me personally. All the other ones didn’t really offer anything meaningful over the profile(s) that I created myself but of course that’s mostly down to personal preferences. You can also use the aforementioned SoundID to create your own sound profile, and you can adjust the mic volume and sidetone volume.