The Corsair HS65 Surround comes to us in a compact box in the brand’s colors (yellow and black) including the headphones with a cable (integrated, so it won’t be possible to change it simply if it were to deteriorate) measuring 183 centimeters and a 3.5 millimeter mini jack connector, as well as the USB-A dongle integrating a sound card and a 3.5 mm mini jack port.
The helmet is quite well finished, but price content obliges, almost all the elements are plastic (with a soft, satin and smooth coating, close to the touch of the soft touch), whether it is the joints, the grids on the headphones, the button managing the volume, the headband (only the thin headband for adjusting the spacing is in aluminum covered with a layer of black and fitted with a central rubber guide), or in imitation leather for the pads (with synthetic fiber for the rubber part). contact with the skin) and the lower part of the headband.
On the technical sheet side, theThe Corsair HS65 Surround weighs 283 grams on our scale, features two 50-millimeter speakers (with a frequency response of 20Hz to 20,000Hz and an impedance of 32 Ohms to 1 kHz depending on the manufacturer), a boom microphone (with mute by raising the boom, an impedance of 2.2k Ohms and a response in frequency from 100 Hz to 10,000 Hz, again according to Corsair), Sonarworks SoundID technology allowing rendering to be adapted by creating a personalized profile for the user (we will come back to this), offers extended compatibility (Mac, PC, PS5/ PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and other devices equipped with the appropriate output) thanks to its wired connection in mini jack 3.5 millimeters and is distinguished by the presence of a supplied mini jack to USB adapter allowing you to enjoy Dolby Audio 7.1 Surround on Mac and PC thanks to an integrated sound card.
The helmet only has a rotary knob to manage the volume, the mute function engaging when the boom microphone is raised. Everything else is handled via iCue software (it supports all Corsair peripherals) once the USB dongle is plugged in, with a panel Device Settings
offering the possibility to activate or deactivate voice commands announcing the various changes of settings in the headphones (in English), to opt for a boost for the microphone, or to change the color of the headphones (white or black) so that the software reflects the color of your helmet.
A second panel Settings
(accessible via the cog-shaped icon at the top right of the interface) gives access to the choice of interface language (voice commands remain in English for the moment, whatever your choice), the possibility of launching or not the program at startupupdates, the log recording function collecting several parameters such as the temperature of the Mac’s SoC, the GPU part, high-performance and efficient cores, all saved in a dated file in . csv which will be saved in a location of your choice (it will be possible to manually start and stop recording or set a duration), and activate predefined integrations for software or games.
The main interface will allow you to choose one of the 5 equalizer presets (Pure Direct, Movie Theater, FPS Competition, Clear Chat and Bass Boost), toe customize the rendering with a 10-band equalizeradjust microphone level, noise reduction, and mute (in addition to muting by raising the mic), and choose between stereo rendering and Dolby Audio. Currently, you have to go through the Windows version (photo below) to see the SoundID setting appear, allowing you to set up a personalized profile by choosing between two versions of several extracts. Functionality (which is not hair-raising either, but which may however guide some users in order to refine their settings according to their taste and their hearing abilities) as well as the use of SoundID profiles when the headphones broadcast in Dolby Audio 7.1 will arrive on Mac via an update of the iCue software in the near future
.
For a gaming headset, moreover at this price, the Corsair H65 Surround is doing well, with a rather satisfactory rendering, without this excessive emphasis on the bass that is too often found on this type of device, particularly at entry level. Listening benefits from this with bass still very present and rather controlled, a slightly pronounced dip in the mids around 1.8 kHz, and a small peak in the upper mids between 4 and 5 kHz. For their part, the highs remain defined without too much shine, allowing you not to tire over long sessions. Overall, the dynamics are nice for this kind of headset, and the speakers respond well to EQ, allowing bass lovers
to have fun. The headphones can therefore also be used to listen to music (if you are not too demanding, a good headset will obviously do much better). The microphone allowed our interlocutors to enjoy a clear voice (but the noise reduction seemed to us to be ineffective).
On the side of listening to Dolby Audio on Mac, iYou will have to remember to activate the appropriate parameter within iCue as well as in Apple Music (Preferences
then Lecture
setting Dolby Atmos
et Always on
) and you can check the breadth of the surround audio with the playlist Functional Testing from Dolby Labs (which will only play if the correct settings are enabled, the Dolby icon will then appear in the playback controls, otherwise an announcement in English will tell you). The surround rendering is then effective, but with a really reduced amplitude, while implying a small lack of sharpness, as if a slight reverberation had been activated. Surround is more interesting in game (tested on PC), with the possibility of localizing a sound (for example a helicopter, movements, or gunshots) in space, but obviously do not expect to have the rendering and the precision of a 5.1 or 7.1 system with the right speakers.
• The Corsair H65 Surround black headset at €89.99
• The Corsair H65 Surround white headset at €89.99
{“minus”:”Cable not replaceablenAmplitude of surround sound”,”featured”:”false”,”price”:” 89,99€“,”overallGrade”:”7″,”id”:”x7464r”,”title”:”Corsair H65 Surround”,”plus”:”Finish for the pricenComfortableniCue completenUSB dongle for surroundnMicrophone efficient”,”content”:”At €89.99, the Corsair H65 Surround is an interesting gaming headset, which will be the player’s companion on many platforms thanks to the mini jack connection and the USB dongle also allowing you to taste the joys of surround. The iCue software is complete (SoundID will be available later on Mac) and the overall rendering quite satisfactory for the price.”}