Corsair started their Vengeance series to allow them to create specific products designed for PC gaming. This currently includes memory kits, gaming mice, mechanical keyboards, and gaming headsets. Today I will be taking a close look at the Corsair Vengeance 1500 Gaming Headset which is the middle child in the company’s headset line. Those of you who have read my previous articles know that I live for the bang-for-your-buck items. So let’s just see what kind of “bang” one gets out of their “buck” with a Corsair Vengeance headset.
Features and Specifications
The Vengeance 1500 Gaming Headset has the unfortunate position of being the middle child of the product line, wedged in between a less expensive 1300 model and the top end 2000 model (previously reviewed by Eric) which is wireless. This means the 1500 will need to standout even more in three areas that I will heavily judge it on: Quality, comfort, and audio performance. Touching on audio performance first, the Vengeance 1500 includes both the speaker output and the microphone input.
The Vengeance 1500 are a 5.1 surround sound headset but do support 7.1 output via software control provided by Dolby. The audio is project through two 50 mm drivers in a recessed oval baffle, which is fitted into a circumaural ear cup. This produces has the potential to produce the most accurate audio possible from the 32 Ohm impedance speakers. The 20 Hz to 20 kHz audio features Dolby Prologic II and is driven by the CM6302 codec from C-Media Electronics.
The microphone is unidirectional and responds from 100 Hz to 10 kHz with about a 2.2K Ohm impedance. This provides some level of noise-cancellation as background noise is largely missed or not close enough to register as an input. This is adjustable via software to match an individual’s vocal register and/or the environment.
It’s not enough to just provide HD quality audio like a set of speakers. Headsets need to do the same while being also being comfortable to wear. The Vengeance 1500’s circumaural ear cups have replaceable memory foam padding covered in cloth which has the ability to absorb perspiration and appear to be removable if needed to facilitate washing.
The ear cups are attached to swivel joints that conform to the shape of the user’s head as well. This provides both an optimal baffle location and improved comfort. The top of the headset is also wrapped in the same memory foam, but in a ventilated faux leather cover.
The Vengeance 1500 is made up of a variety of plastics, layered together to provide both a pleasing aesthetic appearance and strong construction, yet is also lightweight. The primary band does not flex back and forth, thanks to the two meaty re-enforcement tips at the height adjustment slides. The USB cable is an extremely flexible, and is wrapped in a soft mesh. A large 3 button volume controller is attached inline to the 9.8 feet (2.98 meters) long cable.
At a first glance, it’s a very nice package at the MSRP of $99.99US which can be found on sale as low as $81.99US if you look around.
What’s in the Box?
The box for the Vengeance 1500 is, in my opinion, loud. But that’s important when trying to stand out on the shelf. It demands attention and then teases you with a nice side view of the headset itself. Once opened however, there is not much to find beyond the headset itself sitting in a molded cardboard frame. If you look behind this you will find a stack of colored papers being the only other thing in the box.
The first page is a bright red paper that simply states to contact Corsair directly for technical support or an RMA. The yellow sheet takes the place of the driver CD by providing instructions on where to go to download and install audio drivers. Finally, the white booklet is the Vengeance 1500 user’s guide. Since these small pieces of paper replace the important manual, why was it so hard to find? I will come back to why after well get a good look at the headset.
A Closer Look at the Vengeance 1500 USB Headset
The Corsair Vengeance 1500 Gaming Headset looks great. The first thing that will grab your attention is the shiny sliver arms with the stamped Corsair logo. It gives the appearance of metal, but is clearly plastic once you touch it with your hand. It has what appears to be a silicone coating to prevent scratching and makes restoring the shine easy with just a damp towel.
The ear cups themselves are very large oval shapes with a micro-grit texture and matte black color, surrounded by a glossy black plastic band. This is then finished with a Corsair blue band. The mic arm is coated in durable soft foam with a silver tip. The tip is the same material and design as the headset arms. The arm itself is flexible and can be curved though I found this to be largely unneeded thanks to the great placement of the mic boom.
The headband is vented black faux-leather with Corsair blue stitching. This is a nice accent and tells me the designers paid a lot of attention to detail. The overall look is great with plenty of contrast and good material choices. Now lets install the software and look at the audio control panel.
Setup and Software
The Setup process is very easy and straight forward. You simply go to the download section of the Corsair Vengeance 1500 Gaming Headset product page here, download the driver/software, then start it like any other installer. During the process, as with most USB drivers, you will be asked to plug-in the headset. Now you are done as a system restart is not necessary because the software is merely installing alternate audio drivers. When you are using your Corsair Headset, you are not using your computer’s default audio codecs.
The audio codec is C-Media’s CM6302 designed for USB 1.1 devices, but does support USB 2.0. When you plug-in the Corsair Vengeance 1500, it will initialize and switch over to its own driver. The audio processing for 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound is provided by Dolby Prologic II. In addition you can find preset audio settings for MMO games, FPS games, music, and others.
The control panel is simple and straight forward. There are no sliding panels, different pages, or pop-ups. In addition, only the options that apply to the mode selected can be seen in the bottom right. This cuts down on clutter and does not overwhelm users with dozens of options they may not fully understand.
The latest version (1.1 as of this writing) of the drivers for the Corsair Vengeance 1500 comes with Dolby Home Theater 4. I find the inclusion of this software redundant as it offers the same options you get from the software Corsair provided. In addition, it creates a conflict that prevents the mic from initializing when first connected. If you find the Dolby Home Theater software to be useful, then by all means use it. I personally recommend that you simply remove it after you install the drivers.
The default setting is “Bypass” which is straight 2.0 stereo with no audio processing and has no additional options checked. This is a good starting point for you to evaluate all the other settings against. The second Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound allows you to adjust the distance away from the virtual speakers. When active you can change the environment which changes the default distance used in simulation calculation for audio. The final mode is clearly labelled 7.1 Virtual Surround sound. This mode gives you full control over the location of each virtual speaker.
Let’s move on and see how these things rate when it comes to important things like comfort and audio quality!
Performance and Daily Use
Now that you have a clear grasp of Vengeance 1500 Gaming Headset, we will look at how well they perform. I am sorry to say I could not find a way to test the performance of a USB headset, so I will be playing this by ear.
The key to the Vengeance 1500 performing well is selecting the correct mode and preset. I found the Bypass mode is best for Skype, TeamSpeak, or any time you are just talking to friends. The stereo output keeps everything in the immediate foreground so the person or people you are talking with can be clearly heard. This is not a good choice for movies, listening to music, or gaming as the sound is muddled into just two channels.
When you are listening to music, playing your favorite game, or watching a movie on your PC then Dolby Digital Mode is the best option. The 5.1 is best left at the “Studio” distance and then you can use the presets to adjust to what you are doing. If the sound is not to your liking, then you can create and name your own audio presets. The Dolby based audio processing does a great job simulating surround sound, but struggles with audio coming from the rear.
The Vengeance 1500 only has two speakers so it suffers from a positional flaw since the audio can’t really change location. This means audio that is supposed to be behind you, does not sound any different from audio directly in front of you. This can be a little disorienting at first, but you will adjust to it within a few minutes as you can clearly see nothing is in front of you. It also helps that this only applies to gaming situations.
The final 7.1 Virtual Surround Sound mode, I find to be useless. The audio does not sound any different from the Dolby Digital mode unless you change the location of the virtual speakers. This kind of audio tuning is designed for real speakers in a real room since ideal placement is often not possible. Since these speakers are virtual, their location is already ideal and does not need to be corrected.
I personally prefer circumaural ear cups since it allows for large amounts of padding just like the ones on the Vengeance 1500. This helps with comfort while providing great audio reproduction. The two swivel joints, memory foam, and angled arms are all designed to maximize comfort for the user. You will never get to a point where you forget you are wearing the Corsair Vengeance 1500 due to the weight though, but by no means are they heavy. But the weight does ensure a well constructed feel.
I normally never spend more than 2 hours at my PC without a break, but I did wear the headset for at least 4.5 hours on at least three different occasions. This seems to be the time frame when perspiration does become noticeable. Similar headsets will clock in around 1.75 hours when I first notice the perspiration so they are very good in the comfort department. In addition, I was deliberately waiting for this to happen and was fairly pleased with the result.
Final Thoughts
The Corsair Vengeance 1500 Gaming Headset comes as no surprise for being great for gaming. One of the weakness of 3.5 mm headsets is it often is only two or three channels of input. The V1500 using USB allows for audio input channels up to a full 7.1 for more a more full sound; however, I personal do not perceive a difference above the 5.1 surround sound setting. To me this is the difference between what the hardware is designed for, and what the software is capable of.
It is clear that this headset was designed for 5.1 surround sound. I think the inclusion of the 7.1 options in the control panel is due to the same panel being used for all three of the Corsair Vengeance headsets. Or it was just left in as a marketing gimmick. But even so, I spent more than my normal threshold of time in these and the comfort provided is excellent.
Corsair avoids the failings of other brands in this price range by not using overly complex software or lots of smaller speakers which often cripples bass frequencies and overall musical performance. Instead, the Vengeance 1500 headset is over-engineered to provide the most comfort and best audio experience possible from the hardware standpoint.
At an MSRP of $99.99, you can’t go wrong with a pair of these. And when they are on sale, they get my nod as a bang-for-your-buck solution for gaming and any other audio you want to enjoy in front of the PC. Especially when you compare it to the top end Vengeance 2000 version which gives you similar audio quality and wireless at $149.99 US. However, I’ll take the wires and the same sound quality at a cheaper price any time.
Pros:
- Very comfortable design
- Minimizes perspiration
- Solid 5.1 surround sound performance
- Extremely long cable (9.8 feet)
- Attention to detail in design
Cons:
- Virtual 7.1 audio an unnecessary bullet point
- Trouble with rear center audio reproduction
Overall Rating: 9.0 / 10.0
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