WEBVTT 00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:06.080 In my unboxing of the Corsair HS1, which 00:00:03.840 --> 00:00:10.160 uh was no small challenge getting it out of the box, I did promise more of an 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:13.360 in-depth look at this particular headset. So, the first thing I want to 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:17.119 touch on, you've already seen the unboxing, I hope. If you hadn't, then uh 00:00:15.360 --> 00:00:20.480 go watch it now. But the first thing I want to touch on is the overall comfort 00:00:18.560 --> 00:00:26.160 of this headset. Even when using it for an extended period of time with earrings 00:00:23.119 --> 00:00:29.119 or I had a friend who has pretty large 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:32.719 uh really long ears. So, even if you have irregularly shaped ears or 00:00:30.720 --> 00:00:37.760 earrings, they're extremely comfortable to wear for a long period of time 00:00:34.399 --> 00:00:39.840 because the ear pads are so big. Also, 00:00:37.760 --> 00:00:44.320 at the top of the headset, it's quite puffy and padded, and it is completely 00:00:42.160 --> 00:00:49.920 adjustable for a variety of different head sizes. And really, you know what? 00:00:47.360 --> 00:00:53.440 Comfort is probably the first thing that was on Corsair's list when they were 00:00:51.920 --> 00:01:01.520 designing this headset because it should fit almost anyone very, very comfortably 00:00:57.440 --> 00:01:03.199 for extended periods of time. 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:07.680 Another thing I want to touch on is the overall build quality of the HS1. You 00:01:05.199 --> 00:01:11.040 can see Corsair starts with a very nicely braided cable that's going to be 00:01:09.360 --> 00:01:14.400 snagree. you're not going to have any trouble with it getting caught on things 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:19.200 and you shouldn't have any trouble even if actually I have a couple cats as some 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:23.600 of my viewers may or may not know and I found that with braided cables such as 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:27.520 this one they have a lot less success chewing through them quickly than with 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:32.960 the non-braided cables that were on a pair of Sennheiser PC 350s rest in peace 00:01:30.720 --> 00:01:37.759 that no longer function due to a broken cord. Now this works extremely well when 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:41.040 the microphone is on. The lights behind the buttons are actually blue. And when 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:45.680 your microphone is off, the lights are orange, which is a great feature because 00:01:43.119 --> 00:01:49.119 for a gamer, you can quickly glance, oh, did I hit my microphone button? When no 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:53.200 one can hear you. And you can see without actually fumbling around with 00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:58.079 anything whether your microphone is off. Moving our way up, we have more braided 00:01:54.960 --> 00:02:00.880 cable. We have a very robust uh place 00:01:58.079 --> 00:02:06.240 where it joins the left earphone. And then we have some incredibly strong 00:02:04.320 --> 00:02:12.879 feeling hinges here. So, these are capable of folding down like this for 00:02:08.479 --> 00:02:14.720 travel. They're capable of rotating 00:02:12.879 --> 00:02:17.440 a great degree in either direction. Well, only a great degree in this 00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:21.440 direction and then just a little bit in the other direction. You can see that 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:27.040 while they have metal caps on them, they're actually large plastic uh ball 00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:33.360 and socket joints just like that, just like your shoulder. Okay? And those feel 00:02:29.760 --> 00:02:34.879 very robust. There's pretty much no 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:39.680 likelihood that those would be damaged in the useful lifetime of this uh of a 00:02:37.519 --> 00:02:44.160 product like this. And moving up the product, we've got the 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:48.959 pleathery covering that's over the top of the headband, which is once again 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:52.800 well stitched. It doesn't look like it's going to come apart in any way. Overall, 00:02:51.040 --> 00:03:00.120 the build quality is such that I would feel confident dropping them on the 00:02:55.120 --> 00:03:00.120 floor and they will still work. 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:07.560 I did run and test that. They do still work in case anyone was wondering. 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:13.920 Software-wise, the HS1 is a USBon 00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:19.120 headset, which might be a bit of a deterrent for some people because you 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:23.120 are going to be limited by the chipset Corsair is using in the headset itself. 00:03:21.040 --> 00:03:26.879 You can't go ahead and plug it into a dedicated headphone amp or into an audio 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:31.519 receiver, which is what I normally do with headsets. And you are going to be 00:03:29.440 --> 00:03:35.280 limited to the audio software that Corsair uses. You can't go and just 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:40.000 switch your sound card. There's a built-in sound card, but that can be 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:43.599 very convenient for people like laptop users where you're stuck with what is 00:03:41.760 --> 00:03:48.400 usually a terrible onboard audio solution and anything is an upgrade. So, 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:54.560 something like a USB headset that is powered and run off the USB port and off 00:03:51.440 --> 00:03:56.080 an integrated audio chipset is very much 00:03:54.560 --> 00:03:59.840 preferable. Microphone recording quality was 00:03:57.760 --> 00:04:03.200 excellent. And I did play around with their voice effects feature, which 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:06.879 suggests that you modify your voice to amuse or terrify your friends when 00:04:05.200 --> 00:04:09.920 playing games or making Skype calls. And the uh the high setting wasn't actually 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:14.319 all that amusing. It was just kind of chipmunky. But the low setting was 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:18.239 pretty creepy and uh my voice sounded very different, very, very creepy. So, 00:04:16.239 --> 00:04:21.919 the microphone is definitely a big plus on this headset. Now, let's get into the 00:04:20.320 --> 00:04:26.160 audio quality a little bit. For games, it was terrific. I was able to pinpoint 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:32.960 footsteps, which is the most important thing for any serious FPS gamer. And 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:37.360 what I found too was that the bass is not overwhelming. So, if there's an 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:42.960 explosion nearby or some other kind of deep noise, it's not going to completely 00:04:40.400 --> 00:04:47.280 overdo itself and drown out everything else. But what that also means is that 00:04:45.520 --> 00:04:53.120 it's at a bit of a disadvantage for music. I found that the onboard chipset 00:04:50.479 --> 00:04:58.320 didn't do the greatest job of maintaining a level volume throughout 00:04:55.520 --> 00:05:04.479 the highs, mids, and lows of a music track. And it also didn't really reach a 00:05:01.440 --> 00:05:06.320 desirable loudness level on some tracks, 00:05:04.479 --> 00:05:10.160 but with others, by the time I turned the volume up to the max, it was pretty 00:05:08.080 --> 00:05:13.199 much unbearable to listen to. So, there was a little bit of inconsistency to it, 00:05:11.919 --> 00:05:18.880 but I think that's the kind of thing that can be addressed with driver 00:05:15.280 --> 00:05:21.280 updates. Overall, it does what it's 00:05:18.880 --> 00:05:25.520 advertised to do. It's great for gaming. You have the convenience of being able 00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:30.400 to plug in by USB to any computer and get a consistent audio experience, which 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:35.120 is something that you can't get if you're using onboard audio on a 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:37.199 motherboard or especially on a laptop 00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:43.120 where most of the audio solutions are frankly just terrible. 00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:47.520 So, in conclusion, the HS1 does exactly what it's advertised to do. It performs 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:51.680 very well for games. It has lots of great convenient features that are 00:05:49.039 --> 00:05:56.639 optimized, you guessed it, for gamers, such as the color changing uh volume 00:05:54.240 --> 00:06:02.160 buttons, the USB port, the excellent mic. It's very wellb built, which is 00:05:59.039 --> 00:06:04.000 again a great feature for gamers who are 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:09.840 Yeah. Yeah. They're likely to drop their headset or spill Pepsi on it or whatever 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:13.840 else can possibly happen. I wouldn't expect it to damage the HS1 in the 00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:17.919 slightest. Overall, Corsair's put together a pretty good package here, and 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:23.360 I just want to give them a big thanks for sending the HS1 for my unboxing and 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:28.720 review pleasure and your watching pleasure. Thank you for checking out my 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:30.880 video review, I suppose, of the HS1. And 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:33.520 don't forget to subscribe to Lionus Tech Tips.