The Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless SE are decent wireless gaming headphones. They have an understated and premium design that's a lot less flashy than many other gaming headsets, with subtle RGB Corsair logos on each ear cup. They feel quite well-built, but unfortunately aren't the most comfortable, and likely will cause some fatigue after long gaming marathons. On the upside, their wireless latency is great with their included USB dongle, and they can even be used wired by plugging them into the controller of either a PS4 or Xbox One. Their microphone performance is very good, though transmitted speech may lack some detail.
Note: We reviewed the SE variant, though we expect the performance to be very similar. The Corsair Virtuoso SE has more customization options for their RGB side-lighting, brushed metal aluminum on their ear cups, and a slightly larger microphone.
The Corsair Virtuoso are okay for mixed usage. Their slightly bulky and only decently comfortable design means they likely won't be great to use for commuting or travelling, despite having a detachable microphone. They also don't isolate much background noise due to their lack of ANC. Overall, these are best suited for gaming purposes.
The Corsair Virtuoso are alright for neutral listening. While their sound reproduction is fairly neutral, they have many peaks and dips and produce a somewhat muddy sound, with leads and vocals pushed to the back of the mix.
The Corsair Virtuoso are mediocre for commuting or traveling. They don't isolate background noise well, especially the low rumbles of engines, and may not be the most comfortable for people with moderately large heads. Like all gaming headphones, they are also quite large, though they do feature a removable microphone and have swivel ear cups, allowing them to fold flat.
The Corsair Virtuoso likely won't be suitable for sports. They aren't very portable due to their large design, and despite being fairly tight, they don't stay on the head too well. Their over-ear design means they also aren't the most breathable and will trap heat in the ear cups, causing you to sweat.
The Corsair Virtuoso are decent for office use. While they don't leak much audio, meaning you can crank up your music without bothering your co-workers, they aren't the most comfortable and may cause fatigue after a full work day. On the upside, despite not having ANC, they should likely do a decent job at blocking out background chatter.
The Corsair Virtuoso are satisfactory for wireless gaming. Their latency with the included USB dongle is great, and you shouldn't notice any delay issues whatsoever. Their microphone is also very good and your teammates should have no problem hearing and understanding you. Unfortunately, they aren't the most comfortable and likely will cause you discomfort during longer gaming marathons.
The Corsair Virtuoso are satisfactory for wired gaming. Their wired latency is almost identical to wireless, meaning these will work well for either use. They can be plugged into an Xbox One controller via the 1/8" TRRS cable, which makes them more versatile than previous Corsair gaming headsets. They can also be used wired while charging, which is good as they take four hours to charge.
Like most gaming headphones, the Corsair Virtuoso are decent for phone calls. Their boom microphone records and transmits speech very well, and does a very good job at separating your speech from background noise, such as subway trains. Unfortunately, they aren't the most portable, so they may not be great for taking phone calls on-the-go.
The Virtuoso are decently comfortable. While they have good padding, they're a bit heavy and may fit a bit tight on some people's heads. The cups are swappable but unfortunately don't come with other options included; luckily, their normal depth should be comfortable enough for most people. Overall, they should be comfortable enough for shorter gaming sessions, but may cause fatigue during longer marathons.
The control scheme is medicore and better-suited for gaming, as there is no music control from the headphones themselves. While the controls are easy to use, they lack many options and only give you volume and microphone control. The microphone wheel is a bit stiff and has an infinite scroll with audio cues indicating min/max volume.
The Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless SE have decently breathable pads but will still make your ears fairly warm and sweat more than usual, meaning they may not be ideal for sports or working out. They should be fine in more casual conditions, however, and should be suitable for gaming and listening to music if you take breaks from time to time.
Like most gaming headphones, the Virtuoso aren't very portable. The ear cups swivel a full 180 degrees which allows them to lay flat, and the microphone is detachable, but they don't fold into a more compact format. These gaming headphones will be good for keeping at home or sliding into a larger bag, but aren't ideal for travel or taking with you everywhere.
The Corsair Virtuoso has great build quality. They're made from good quality dense plastic, and the headband has a mix of metal as well. The SE model also have a brushed aluminum finish on the ear cups. Both the headband and ear cups are padded with a nice feeling faux-leather that gives them an all-around premium look and feel. These should be able to withstand a few accidental drops or bumps without sustaining too much damage.
The Virtuoso RGB Wireless are a bit tight on the head, though they still will likely fall off from bigger head movements. During gaming sessions they likely should stay quite stable, but they won't be ideal for sports. On the upside, they are wireless, meaning you don’t have to worry about a cable getting hooked on something, which could yank the headphones off your head.
The Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless SE have a fairly warm sound profile. They have a dip in low-mid which will push back lead instruments and some vocals, meaning they will sound quite dark and likely won't be the greatest choice for more vocal-centric music. It's worth noting that due to their middling frequency response consistency, you may experience differences in their sound profile depending on their fit.
The Virtuoso have mediocre frequency response consistency. Due to their fit, different people will likely hear slightly different sound profiles from these headphones, especially in the bass and treble regions. You may need to adjust their position on your head every time you put them on to ensure the best sound reproduction.
The treble accuracy of the Corsair Virtuoso is very good. They stay on or below the neutral target curve for the majority of this range, meaning cymbal and sibilants (S and T sounds) shouldn't sound too sharp or piercing. Some may also find that they lack a bit of detail.
The Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless SE have decent peaks/dips performance. They aren't the most balanced, with an over-emphasis in the high-bass range, an under-emphasis in low-mid, and another peak in high-mid to low-treble. This will push lead instruments and some vocals back in the mix, meaning they will sound quite dark. We also recorded quite a bit of mismatch in frequency response between the left and right channels in the mid-range, though this is only valid for our pair and will vary from unit to unit.
The imaging performance of the Virtuoso is very good. The group delay graph shows it's just under the audibility threshold, resulting in a tight bass and treble reproduction. Our pair did have a fair bit of frequency mismatch between the L/R drivers. While this test is only valid for our unit, others may experience similar results. Phase mismatch was good and objects (like footsteps) should be located accurately in the stereo image of these headphones.
The Virtuoso's soundstage is sub-par. Due to their closed-back design, the soundstage of these headphones will be perceived as small and located inside the listener's head. The PRTF graph also shows that the pinna interaction/activation is not very accurate.
The weighted harmonic distortion of the Virtuoso is decent. It's within good limits in the bass range, but rises in higher frequencies, which may make them sound a bit impure and harsh, although this likely won't be audible to most. On the upside, there isn't a big jump under heavier loads, which is good.
The noise isolation of the Virtuoso is sub-par. Due to their lack of active noise cancelling, they do a poor job at blocking out the low rumbles of bus or plane engines. However, they do an adequate job at isolating speech, and may help block out some background chatter if you game with other people in the room. Their treble range isolation, occupied by sharp S and T sounds, is very good, though this isn't generally as important.
These headphones have decent leakage performance. The significant portion of their leakage sits in the mid-range, which means that their leakage will sound fuller than that of in-ears and earbuds, but not as loud and full as open-back headphones. Also, since the overall level of the leakage is not very loud, it shouldn't be a concern unless you play loud music in a very quiet environment.
The recording quality of the microphone is quite impressive. The LFE is excellent and will result in speech sounding full-bodied, though the bump in low-bass may make it prone to pops and rumbling noises. The HFE is sub-par and while speech will still be intelligible, it'll likely lack detail.
The noise handling of the Corsair Virtuoso's microphone is very good. It can easily separate speech from ambient noise in most loud environments, and should even be able to handle extremely loud situations like subway stations and gaming competitions.
The Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless SE have very good 13-hour battery life, and even feature a customizable standby timer which will put your headphones into sleep mode after a specified amount of inactivity. They support passive playback through an included 1/8" audio cable, and can also be used while charging via their USB-C port, which is good as their charge time is very long at almost 4 hours.
The Corsair Utility Engine (now iCUE) offers different options depending on the headphones. With the Virtuoso, you get a good graphic equalizer, presets, as well as mic control and a simple surround sound option. They support 7.1 surround sound, though it doesn't specify whether this is Dolby or DTS. The app also allows you to set the sleep mode timer of the headphones. The settings are saved onto the wireless dongle meaning they will carry over if you plug it into different PCs or into your PS4. The RGB lighting has many customization options that can be set via the software, including displaying red when your battery percentage falls below a set level.
These headphones are a wireless headset but aren't Bluetooth compatible. You must use it with its dongle, or wired via USB.
They have very low latency with their USB dongle and you shouldn’t notice any delay while playing games or watching video content.
These headphones use a USB dongle to connect to your PS4 or PC. They have extremely low latency which shouldn't be noticeable, and offer decent range, which should have no problem reaching your couch or chair.
Update 12/02/2020: We've updated the USB Audio results from 'USB Type-A' to 'USB-C' to improve clarity. These headphones can receive audio when connected to a PC with a USB-C port. The scoring of this test hasn't changed.
These headphones can be used wired via USB-C or 1/8" TRRS cable. They can also be used with their USB wireless dongle. The included USB-C cable is 6.3 feet long, and the included TRRS cable is 5.1 feet long.
This headset will work with PC or PS4 both wireless with its dongle, or wired with any USB-C cable or 1/8" analog TRRS cable.
The Corsair Virtuoso RGB is a satisfactory gaming headset that has a premium look and feel, and has an impressive microphone. Unfortunately, it's sound reproduction isn't very well-balanced, and it may be uncomfortable for longer gaming sessions. See our recommendations for the best gaming headsets, the best PS4 headsets, and the best PC gaming headsets.
The SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless are better wireless gaming headphones than the Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless. The SteelSeries more comfortable and have much better controls on the headphones. Their sound reproduction is much more balanced and neutral with fewer peaks and dips which should improve the overall audio quality. Their microphone also performs better overall and handles background noise much better. However, they leak more sound and isolate background noise worse than the Corsair. The SteelSeries also support Bluetooth, which is rare for gaming headsets.
The SteelSeries Arctis 7 2019 Edition Wireless are better wireless gaming headphones than the Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless. They are more comfortable, have better controls, feel more stable on the head, and have a more balanced and neutral sound profile. They aren't as consistent among users, however, and some people may get inconsistent bass or treble response. Their microphone's recording quality isn't quite as good as the Corsair's, but it handles noisy environments much better and they have a much longer 24-hour battery life.
The Corsair Void PRO RGB Wireless are similar-performing wireless gaming headphones as the Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless. The Void are a bit more comfortable due to being less tight on the head. However, they are quite a bit bulkier, they also don't feel as well-built and don't isolate sound as well. The microphone on the Virtuoso has significantly better recording quality, though it doesn't handle very loud environments quite as well. Unlike the Virtuoso, the void can only be used wireless, meaning they don't work with the Xbox One.
The Corsair HS70 Wireless are slightly better wireless gaming headphones than the Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless. The HS70 are more comfortable, feel more stable on the head, have a much better-balanced sound profile, are much more consistent among various users and reseats, and have longer battery life. On the other hand, the Virtuoso have a better microphone, wired connectivity options, and block slightly more background noise.
The Astro A50 Gen 4 Wireless 2019 are much better wireless gaming headphones than the Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless. The Astro are much more comfortable and have a significantly more balanced and neutral sound profile. Their microphone records and transmits higher quality sound and handles background noises much better. Unfortunately, the Astro can't be used wired like the Corsair, meaning they won't work with Xbox One and can't be used during their 4.4-hour charge time. Also, unlike the Corsair, the Astro block out almost no background chatter and leak much more audio, meaning they aren't as well-suited for gaming with others in the room.
The ROCCAT Elo 7.1 Air Wireless and Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless SE each have their own advantages, and one may suit you better depending on your preferences. The ROCCAT have a better control scheme, a longer battery life, and companion software with more options. The Corsair are better-built, can be used on wired connection either via USB or with a 1/8" TRRS cable, and have lower non-Bluetooth wireless latency.
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Virtuoso RGB Wireless SE |
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Carbon Virtuoso RGB Wireless |
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White Virtuoso RGB Wireless |
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