The Corsair VIRTUOSO PRO are wired, open-back gaming headphones designed with streamers and gamers in mind. They're the first headphones from this manufacturer to feature 50mm graphene drivers, which the manufacturer advertises as lightweight and capable of producing a deep, immersive sound. They have a unique design, whereby the flexible boom mic is attached directly to the cable, rather than to the headphones. That said, the cable is detachable, and an alternative cable without a mic is provided for those who prefer a more casual look.
Our Verdict
The Corsair VIRTUOSO PRO aren't meant for sports and fitness use. Their wired design means it's very easy to snag the cable while in motion. Additionally, you can damage the headphones by allowing sweat or dust to get into their grilles. They're bulky and can easily fall off your head during moderate exercise.
- Comfortable fit.
- Poor noise isolation performance.
- Bulky, not very portable design.
- Leak a lot of audio.
The Corsair VIRTUOSO PRO aren't great for travel. They're not designed with portability in mind, so their cumbersome, wired design isn't well-suited to journeys. Although they have a comfortable fit, their open-back design provides minimal isolation against ambient noise. They'll also leak a lot of audio, which can be annoying for other people when you're using them in a public place.
- Sturdy build quality.
- Poor noise isolation performance.
- Bulky, not very portable design.
- Leak a lot of audio.
The Corsair VIRTUOSO PRO are passable for office use. Due to their open-back design, they struggle to isolate you from background noise, such as office chatter, and others around you will hear what you're listening to, even at moderate listening volumes. They're comfortable enough for long days at the office, and their excellent mic recording quality is well-suited to conference calls, provided you're in a controlled environment.
- Great mic recording quality.
- Comfortable fit.
- Poor noise isolation performance.
- Leak a lot of audio.
The Corsair VIRTUOSO PRO are wired headphones that you can't use wirelessly.
The Corsair VIRTUOSO PRO are good for wired gaming. They have low wired connection latency, and they're comfortable enough to be worn for marathon gaming sessions. Their excellent mid-range accuracy brings out all the nuance in in-game dialogue, and their open design helps make gameplay sound as though it's all around you rather than just in front of you. They also come with two swappable cables, one with a microphone and one without, to cater to all your gaming needs. However, their underemphasized bass response means that low-frequency sounds, such as explosions, won't be as cinematic or convincing as those of closed-back alternatives.
- Immersive passive soundstage.
- Great mic recording quality.
- Comfortable fit.
- Poor noise isolation performance.
The Corsair VIRTUOSO PRO have very good audio reproduction accuracy. Objective performance in harmonic distortion and stereo matching is solid, with no issues that affect regular use. While group delay scores poorly due to fluctuations in the bass range, the resulting frequency response changes from the indicated phase shifts in the affected region aren't very noticeable in practice. Due to their open design, the headphones lack in sub-bass, though they compensate by increasing the mid- and high-bass, resulting in a perceived warm sound signature. Their frequency response also deviates minimally from this sound, and the headphones interact naturally with your pinna, closely mirroring the PRTF of our reference stereo speaker setup.
The Corsair VIRTUOSO PRO aren't meant to isolate you from noise. Their open design allows audio through and out of the headphones, so you'll notice your PC fans whirring just as a neighbor will notice your game audio bleeding from your headphones.
The Corsair VIRTUOSO PRO have a very good microphone system. It reproduces your voice clearly and without excessive coloration. In noisier environments, your voice remains audible over background noise, but the mic also picks up everything going on in the background. There's also a hissing noise floor, which may be annoying if you aren't running any software-level processing.
The Corsair VIRTUOSO PRO have excellent frequency response consistency. Most people's perceived sound will closely resemble our frequency response measurements, as these headphones deliver audio in a similar way between reseats and differing individuals' head shapes and characteristics.
Performance Usages
Changelog
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Updated Jan 08, 2026:
This review has been updated to Test Bench 2.0, which adds the following tests: Stereo Mismatch, Group Delay, Cumulative Spectral Decay, PRTF, Harmonic Distortion, and Electrical Aspects. We've added new performance usages and updated the text throughout the Sound tests and side-by-sides.
- Updated Dec 15, 2025: We've converted this review to Test Bench 2.1, which features minor updates to our sound tests.
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Updated Jul 29, 2025:
We've updated the Sound Profile box with a link to a downloadable folder of EQ settings that will help you match these headphones' frequency response to different target curves available in our Graph Tool.
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Updated Jan 21, 2025:
Several Sound tests have been updated following Test Bench 1.8. There have also been text changes made throughout the review, including to the usages and product comparisons to match these results.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Corsair VIRTUOSO PRO are available in two color variants: 'Carbon' and 'White'. You can see the label. We tested the 'Carbon' variant, but we expect other variants to perform similarly. If you encounter another variant, please let us know in the comments, and we'll update our review.
Popular Headphones Comparisons
The Corsair VIRTUOSO PRO are the manufacturer's first pair of wired, open-back gaming headphones. They're unique within Corsair's gaming headset lineup in that they feature a mic attached to a detachable cable instead of the non-detachable mic on the Corsair HS60. They're comparable in design to the Drop + Sennheiser/EPOS PC38X, but the Corsair are lighter and have a more immersive soundstage. The Drop + Sennheiser are more comfortable, though.
Check out our recommendations for the best gaming headphones, the best headsets for PS5, and the best headsets for Xbox Series X|S.
The Corsair VIRTUOSO PRO and the Drop + Sennheiser/EPOS PC38X have similar strengths, and your choice will depend on personal preference. Both are open-back, wired headphones designed with gaming use in mind. The Corsair have a bassier sound signature, which some might prefer, but the Drop + Sennheiser are more comfortable and have better mic recording quality. Both feature non-detachable boom mics, but the Corsair's mic is attached to a cable, which can easily be swapped out for a mic-less one for a more casual look.
The Beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO aren't designed specifically for gaming like the Corsair VIRTUOSO PRO are, but they're still a good choice for wired gaming. They're comfortable and more sturdily built than the Corsair and offer a lower bass extension. However, if you need a microphone to communicate with your teammates, you'll want to opt for the Corsair and their high-quality microphone. That said, if you prefer the sound profile of the Beyerdynamic but need to use a mic, you can always pick up a standalone microphone to pair it with.
The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro are better overall wired gaming headphones than the Corsair VIRTUOSO PRO. Thanks to their GameDAC, you can plug them in and access a host of sound customization options, including channel mixing and graphic EQ. They also have better controls. That said, the open-back nature of the Corsair may be preferable to some for pinpointing the location of audio cues like footsteps. It's also much easier to achieve a consistent sound across multiple gaming sessions, as a perfect seal isn't required to ensure accurate bass delivery.
The Turtle Beach Atlas Air and the Corsair VIRTUOSO PRO are both open-back gaming headphones. The Corsair produce audio more closely resembles speaker-like pinna interaction, and deliver audio more consistently from wear to wear. On the other hand, the Turtle Beach can connect to your PC and PlayStation wirelessly, have a better microphone, and come with a companion app to tweak their sound to your liking.
Our How We Test Headphones article takes you behind the scenes in our lab. You'll learn how we choose and purchase products and dive into the details of our review philosophy, from testing and scoring to writing and editing.
You can also discover how we produce recommendations like this one so that you can find the best headphones (or earbuds!) for your needs.
Test Results
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