Corsair Vengeance 1500 review

Design and build quality Vengeance 1500 features a circumaural design which fits nice over each ear. Sticking to a  functional design, it  looks premium and tasteful thanks to the chrome accents and glossy and matte black plastic body. In spite of the plastic construction, it has a sturdy build quality. Corsair logo is embossed subtly over either ear, giving the brand a confident aura as well as sleek look. The over-sized ear pads have velvety material, though comfortable they tend to catch dust easily. The ear pads can also be folded 90 degree with the fabric side in, comfortable when you hang it around your neck. The adjustable headband with faux leather material is well padded and rests comfortably on head. The microphone can be retracted and when not in use pushed conveniently up to the side. The in-line remote is simple and functional featuring plus and minus volume buttons and a microphone mute button. There are two blue illuminated rings, which turns red when mic is muted.

Drivers

The clear giveaway that Corsair is serious about delivering a premium product is the massive 50mm drivers nested in the earpads instead of the more common sub-40 mm drivers usually used. It  provides accurate and detailed sound reproduction, keeps the distortions to minimum and gives clear audio.

 Driver software control panel

Vengeance 1500 works butter smooth even without having to install the driver software but it would be good to download the Corsair driver software from their website and fiddle around with the headset control panel for more customized options. The control panel is simple and straightforward. There are three sections – main, equalizer on the left and on the right you have the surround sound processing setup. The main section has the basic volume and mic adjustments while the equalizer section below features a 10-band equalizer function with several gaming oriented presets. Move to the right half, the bypass section which will be your default setting sends the audio waves directly to the stereo cups while the next option Dolby gives 5.1 emulation in stereo headphones. It has three set of ‘audio room’ options to choose like studio, cinema and hall. The third option is 7.1 Virtual Speaker shifter which emulates the audio to a 7.1 processing mode. It also has set of options to ‘position’ the speakers for better audio output. For experiencing the 7.1 processing one of course need 7.1 compatible games and compatible audio media files in case you are listening to music or watching a movie.

Performance

I immersed myself playing hours of games, listened to my collection of  music and took time to watch a couple of movies. So how does Corsair Vengeance 1500 rate in my usage? Pretty high, both as a gaming peripheral and as a audiophile headphone. The build quality is good. On long hours of usage, it is soft on ears but it also rests a bit heavy on head. Though I had no issues over extended hours of usage, my friend did have to take a break in between. The audio output is pretty good, though the positional awareness during multiplayer games were bit confusing for a serious gamer, the audio range is pretty impressive. The surround sound experience is impressive at dolby but that can’t be said the same with 7.1 sound processing. It is good but does not deliver the accurate positioning but then one has also has to consider the headset only emulates the 7.1 speaker processing. So it can be excused considering the audio delivery and the range is pretty good stuff. For music experience and with few tweaking of the equalizer, the output is premium enough. It also has to be noted that the Vengeance 1500 digital amplifier can be cranked up high without being noisy on your ears. In fact you can hear it couple of feet away from the headset on high volume but still without discomforting your ear.

Conclusion

Overall Corsair Vengeance 1500 proves to be a able and strong performer. With a good build quality, premium look and delivering full and good audio range and comfortable on ears, Vengeance 1500 is both a good gaming headset to have a look as well as gives overall immersive experience for audiophiles. [pros]

• Good build quality
• 50 mm driver
• Superb audio quality
• Volume can be cranked up without distortion and discomfort
• Braided cable feels more durable

[/pros] [cons]

• 7.1 surround processing is not up to the mark
• Fabric ear muff  needs more care

[/cons]]]>