Corsair HS1A Gaming Headset Review

A Closer Look At The Corsair HS1A Headset

Now that we know what the packaging looks like, let’s get down to the good stuff. Let’s punish this headset and see what’s left after we get done. Taking a quick look at the Corsair HS1A Headset will let you know that this is one buff headset. It is clearly made to withstand some punishment. But along with it being rugged, it is actually quite comfortable to wear even for extended gaming sessions, or if you just absolutely have to watch the entire Lord of The Rings Trilogy in the same day. The longest gaming session I had using the Corsair HS1A Headset was around 3 hours. After about 10 minutes I didn’t even know it was still on my head.

One thing that I really wanted to look at with this headset was just how much noise was kept out due to the design of the ear cups. So to test this I put the headset on with noting going through it and I played my drums for a bit. I have to say that the headset did keep quite a bit of the outside noise out. If you have ever had the pleasure of being in the same room with an acoustic drum set then you know that it’s LOUD. One of the features that I really liked about the Corsair HS1A Headset was the design of the chassis. You are able to swivel both ear cups 90 degrees and you can fold them up as well with the joint right above the ear cups. This is handy for me because I go to LAN parties and with the ability to flatten my headset I have that much more room in bag for other things. Speaking of the ear cups, Corsair has included two types of ear pads for the Corsair HS1A Headset: the set that comes installed is made of micro fiber and the extra set is made of fake leather. Corsair included the fake leather ear pads to help provide better bass response due to them having a better seal than the microfiber set. I prefer the micro fiber because it seems to be a lot softer than the fake leather, but both are quite comfortable.

Looking at the inside of the ear cups we can see the nice over sized ear cups that house the 50mm drivers that supply all of the sound to the Corsair HS1A Headset. The ear cups fit nicely over my entire ear and did not touch any part of my ear; it is completely encompassed by the ear cup. This is no small feat because I have a giant head. So for this headset to fit comfortably over my ears is a huge plus for me. The headband is padded quite nicely as well and did not give me headache or any kind of soreness during long movies or gaming sessions. As I mentioned before, after a short time I actually forgot I was wearing a headset. The headset is connected to a braided 11′ cord with your standard 1/8″ pink and green jacks.

For all of my testing I employed the usual materials. For gaming I played Left 4 Dead 2 and Borderlands, for the movie portion of the testing I actually went with music and decided to use the movie Rock Star, and for the music I used lots of Soundgarden, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Shadows Fall. For my gaming and movie sessions I set my on board Realtek ALC889 audio to 7.1 surround and went into battle. Even though this is a stereo headset the simulated surround actually sounded really good. I was able to locate an enemy’s position quite easily and could tell clearly if they were in front of or behind me. All of my teammates said the mic sounded loud and clear. The back half of the mic is really flexible and can be rotated up and down; this allows you to position it where you like it very well.

Another thing that comes in quite handy during a game or a movie is the ability to change the volume on the fly. Here we can see the in line volume controller. This is made of some kind of rubberized plastic or something of the sort. It has a volume control dial on the side as well as a mute switch right on the front. Down near the bottom of the controller you can see the Corsair logo proudly displayed. Speaking of movies, the headset performed really well despite the fact that the Corsair HS1A Headset seems to have very little bass to it. I did some reading and Corsair says that they did this so that you could choose the level of bass that you needed depending on what you were using the headset for. I think they left a little too much out, though, because no matter how much I increased the bass in my equalizer it didn’t seem to help. For me it made the movie seem a little flat, but as I mentioned before, audio is very subjective. Now I know you are probably thinking that I am the kind of guy who likes a lot of bass. Truth be told, I don’t really like a lot of bass but I do like it to be present in the music I listen to and the movies I watch. Even with the fake leather ear pads that were provided for better bass response there was little change in the level of bass. For games it is much easier to tolerate a lot of treble because it makes positional audio very crisp and easy to follow.

Now let’s move on to the music. This is the only spot on this review that I was disappointed. When I heard that the Corsair HS1A Headset had 50mm drivers I really thought there was going to be the potential to have some nice thumping bass. Unfortunately, that is not the case. As I mentioned above, Corsair left out bass enhancements so that you are able to adjust the bass to your liking, but no matter how high I turn it up it just doesn’t hit. I listened to a variety of music. Even the RHCP, who don’t need any help in the thumping bass department, were tinny and ear piercing. I really wish Corsair would have pumped up the bass just a little more. If it had just a little more oompfh I would have given this headset the Editors Choice Award.

Hey look at those chocolate donuts. Oh, wait; those are actually the fake leather ear pads that are included with the Corsair HS1A Headset. Switching out the ear pads is a lot easier on the Corsair HS1A Headset than it is some other headsets or headphones for that matter. I was able to change them out in less than two minutes. All you have to do is pull off the set that is installed and then just guide the flap on the back of the pad into the groove on the headset and you are done.