- Hours of gaming with maximum comfort, thanks to its pads made of memory foam and covered in synthetic leather. The earmuff design is meshed for breathability, and the headband is adjustable with a robust yet lightweight construction, with a total weight of 282 grams.
- Great audio optimized for gaming; Its 50mm neodymium magnet speakers have been optimized for gaming, providing excellent audio quality in the range of sounds that gamers need on the battlefield. In addition, they support Tempest 3D audio on the PS5.
- surround sound Dolby Audio 7.1 on PC and Mac, thanks to the included USB adapter.
- Technology Sonarworks SoundID for more precise control of audio preferences.
- Omnidirectional microphone that accurately captures all commands. The rod is foldable and has a function of car silence when uploading it
- Certificates for Discord.
- Multi-platform compatibility, thanks to the possibility of using them via USB or 3.5 mm minijack.
- Simple access controls, located on the earmuffs.
Unboxing and external analysis
As is customary for CORSAIR peripherals, these headsets come packaged in a soft cardboard box dominated by black and yellow. On the front face we can see an image of the product accompanied by the brand and model, as well as a summary of its main characteristics.
On the back of the packaging, what we have is a small sketch indicating the main parts of the product, as well as a summary of its characteristics in the lower area. On one of the sides we again have a summary of its main characteristics on the one hand, and its complete technical specifications on the other.
What has changed in this product compared to others is that, instead of having a harder cardboard structure inside to enclose the device, it is enclosed in an “egg cup” type cardboard structure.
Before looking at the headphones, let’s see what extras it comes with. On the one hand we have the usual user guide, along with the also usual pamphlets on the guarantee and safety.
We also have the external adapter that will help us connect the headphones to PC and Mac and enjoy their surround sound. It is an external sound card with a USB 2.0 connection to which we can connect the 3.5 mm combo minijack that the standard headphones have.
Now yes, here you have the CORSAIR HS65 Surround already out of its packaging. At first glance we can already see that CORSAIR has considerably modified its exterior design compared to the rest of the brand’s headphones, especially in the outer area of the earmuffs where there is an opaque mesh with the brand’s logo, in the upper area. making it asymmetric.
It can be seen with the naked eye that the earmuffs are not round like in the VIRTUOSO family or polygonal like in the VOID, but rather we have a rectangular oval.
In these headphones, CORSAIR has opted for an extendable headband design to adapt to different head sizes. The earmuffs are attached to the headband by means of a rotary hook that allows the earmuffs to rotate almost completely, also with the aim of adapting them to any shape and size of head.
In the following image you can see what we have just told you: the earmuffs can be rotated 90 degrees each.
In the upper area of the headband we find a large memory foam insert covered in leatherette, something that will help us not to feel the weight of the headphones on the top of the head. In the outer area, we simply have the name of the brand.
The earmuffs are very wide, allowing us to have the ear completely inside. We are again faced with a viscoelastic foam covered in a hybrid way, we could say, since the outer part is made of synthetic leather to isolate noise but the inner area is made of a very soft synthetic fabric (which will be the one that makes contact with the skin) and that allows perspiration.
Here you can see in more detail the interior material.
In the following image we can see, in addition to the detail of the model name on the hook, that the foam of the earmuffs has a considerable thickness.
In these HS65 Surround the microphone rod is rubberized and flexible, being able to easily bend it with your fingers to adapt it to the position you want. In addition, in the upper area it has a small stop, and when it is exceeded, the automatic microphone mute will be activated (in other words, fully raising the rod will mute the microphone, but only when fully raising it and exceeding that small stop).
In addition to the microphone, in the left earphone we find both the cable outlet and an analog volume wheel (it has stops at the minimum and maximum, it does not have infinite rotation like the digital ones).
The cable is rubberized (but not meshed with nylon thread) and ends in a 3.5 mm combo minijack stereo connector, which with a single connector serves both the headphones and the microphone. This makes the CORSAIR HS65 Surround compatible with virtually any audio source, but be careful because it does not come with an adapter to separate the headphone and microphone connection, which means that if we connect it to a device that only has a headphone output, the microphone will not work.
Here’s how the headphones look on (on a mannequin), and you can perfectly see how the memory foam inside the earmuffs adapts perfectly to the contours of the head.
Here you can see it more closely. This allows better insulation from outside noise, but also greater comfort because, as the foam is so soft, the earmuffs do not overly squeeze the head and, furthermore, they do so regularly (and not more in one place than in another, causing discomfort). This is undoubtedly a success of CORSAIR.
For the rest, the headphones seem quite comfortable a priori, although it is true that users with small ears may “be large”, since as you can see they are quite generous in size.
Having seen the headphones, we are going to proceed to put them to the test to see if they are really comfortable and, above all, if their performance is as expected.
CORSAIR HS65 Surround tests and performance
Like practically all the brand’s products, we will be able to see and modify its configuration using its unified software, iCUE. Of course, in this case the software will only detect the HS65 Surround if we have connected them using the USB adapter, since if we connect them with the analog minijack connector, the system will detect it as a normal stereo device.
When pressing on the device, the first thing we come across is the equalization configuration, where we can modify the behavior of the headphones with the different frequencies. Several settings are pre-configured from the factory, and we can select them directly.
One of the great novelties of these HS65 Surround is the addition of SoundID technology, and this can be configured in the second tab. As soon as you click on it, the wizard will appear on the screen that will guide us through the customization process.
Here we will have to select an audio track (it does not matter which one) and we will have to select the options that, according to our tastes, sound better to us.
Once the configuration process is finished, the software will take care of automatically creating a personalized audio profile for us according to the preferences that we have been selecting.
Finally, as always we have the option of modifying the amplification of the microphone, as well as the possibility of selecting if we want to activate the voice commands (basically a voice that tells us by word when we modify some setting) and the color that we want to be shown in iCUE for headphones (white or black).
Once the headphones are configured to our liking, we start to really test them, and the first thing we want to talk about is their ergonomics.
As we already predicted seeing how they fit the mannequin, the CORSAIR HS65 Surround have been very, very comfortable for us, since they weigh quite little and fit perfectly both to the contour and to the size of the head and ears, so which are undoubtedly headphones that we can wear for hours and hours without suffering fatigue or discomfort. In addition, the hybrid material of the earmuffs is much appreciated, and on these dates when the heat is already beginning to tighten, they do not generate sweating.
In terms of audio quality, the HS65 Surround are very rich in nuances in medium and high tones, with bass that, without being spectacular, are adequate and quite resounding, which means that, especially playing and watching movies, the audio experience is excellent. Yes, it is true that these headphones are far from the quality that a Hi-Res or professional product can give us, but with everything, their audio quality is well above the average of what we usually find in products of this price and spectrum.
It is quite likely that this feeling that they “sound better” than normal has a lot to do with the SoundID customization that we explained to you a moment ago, and that is that, after all, when we say that something sounds good, it is still a subjective opinion, since this depends a lot on the user.
Now, when we activate the surround sound, the usual thing happens a bit, and since it is a virtual emulation (since the headphones, after all, only have one speaker in each ear cup and not a real system 7.1) depends a lot on the environment in which we are using it. For example, to listen to music it is highly recommended to deactivate this functionality because what we get is to lose many nuances and create a “cathedral” effect, but if we use it specifically in games, we do get a quite successful surround sound environment, giving us the feeling sound position, which at the end and is what is sought.
Conclusion and verdict
CORSAIR’s sound experience is proving that every time they release a new product, it’s better than the last. These HS65 Surround are one of the most comfortable headphones that can be bought today, and although their price is a little higher than average for the range in which they are included (they are still mid-range headphones when after all, at least for technical specifications), it must be said that the improvements they present are something worth paying for, since the difference in comfort and quality with respect to cheaper headphones is substantial.
The MSRP of these headphones is €89.99, €20 more than the HS60 Pro range for example, but the ergonomic and audio quality improvements are worth it, and for these reasons we believe it deserves our Gold award, as well as our recommendation for its design.
