Corsair HS35 Stereo Headset Review
Using the Headset
The first thing you notice when putting on the headset is that the ear cushions are quite warm. Pleather tends to stay cooler for longer, whereas the material is cosy from the moment you put the headset on your head. Being winter at the time of testing, that was nice at first. However, it quickly become hot, and we couldn’t see someone using this headset for six hours or more at a time. The ear cups block out a fair but of ambient noise thanks to the closed design, although not everything. That being said, with the volume turned up a bit there’s very little that you will hear.
The headband is adjustable, although we found that the tightest fitting was fine. This is seldom the case, with most headsets being designed with the ability to fit a child’s head. If your head is smaller than normal it might not provide the most comfortable fit. Something very nice was that there was minimal creaking from the plastic while wearing the headset.
When it comes to volume, the Corsair HS35 has plenty. For the most part, this comes with very little distortion, with detectable distortion only happening at around 65% volume and becoming unpleasant all the way up at 85%. Turning the volume down on the headset a smidge and upping volume from Windows got a higher perceived volume without distortion, although this is likely placebo.
The bass was quite hard hitting, especially when bass boost was turned up on the Creative Sound Blaster Zx control panel. Leaving the levels flat for the sake of determining the frequency response of the headset revealed that highs are incredibly loud. This makes for tiring long-term listening, but pulling back the 4,000 Hz slider to -6dB fixed this. That means it isn’t a critical issue, but something that needs to be noted nonetheless. It should also be noted that higher frequencies are where hearing damage occurs, so getting the volume to a level which is acceptable for all frequencies could be dangerous.
The sound quality was above average, with most notes being crystal clear if not a little over pronounced. The bass isn’t the tightest, and can get muddy at times. One needs to remember that these are Corsair’s budget offering, so you shouldn’t set your standards based on high-end offerings.
