You can use iCUE to customize the lighting of your headset, configure custom equalizer settings, select from pre-tuned audio profiles, control the sidetone, and more. title=More%20Expert%20Tech%20Roundups&type=articles%2Cvideos&tags=tech-roundup&count=4&columnCount=4&theme=article New features: AAX for Pro Tools, Auto channel mapping, Solo/Mute while cancelling previous solo/mute in Matrix (Shift+Solo/Mute), more headphone models for HPC EQ. Your VIRTUOSO headset provides 7.1 surround sound to help make your gaming experience more immersive. The microphone also performed well---better than the mic in a gaming headset has any right to be. I tested it in-game in Fortnight as well as in Skype and to record some podcast audio. The audio was great in game, with no complaints from anyone about audio quality, but the better test was when recording audio in Skype and Audacity. The audio quality was so good that it compared favorably with the audio from my Blue Yeti.

If you’re spending more than two bills for headphones, odds are good that you’re going to use them for more than just gaming---they’ll probably stay on your head for many hours a day, for music, movies, or just to chat. To assess these cans, I played a handful of games, including Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus on the PC and God of War on the PS4, along with music and some Netflix.I also like how step 2 is "Connect the Receiver", even though you can't open that window without the receiver present. Shouldn't step 1 be "disconnect the receiver" then? What differentiates the Virtuoso from the rest of Corsair’s lineup, though, are the high-end aspirations of the audio components themselves. The 50mm neodymium speaker drivers are welcome, but at this price range, they’re table stakes. There are plenty of less expensive headphones with the same drivers. That said, the headphones boast a very generous dynamic range of 20Hz to 40,000Hz. That reaches much further into the high end than the typical gaming headsets, which often emphasize bass response to the exclusion of all else. And it features virtual 7.1 surround sound for PC gaming, which you can toggle from the desktop software. Also, the range of Corsair's Slipstream 2.4 GHz tech doesn't seem to be quite as far as Logitech's competing Lightspeed alternative. At least in my apartment, the Virtuoso XT's audio would cut out consistently once I moved about three rooms away from the PC with the transceiver (with doors open between all rooms). With the Logitech G Pro X Lightspeed Wireless, I could consistently venture an extra room away before its audio became unstable. The microphone is removable, so you can get it completely out of the way when you don’t need it. The stem is flexible, but since it’s sheathed in rubber, it has a slight tendency not to hold its shape, unless you don’t bend it very far. It has a 9.5 mm omnidirectional mic, and there’s a mute button built into the base where it plugs into the headset. A gorgeous ring around the mic glows red or green, making it easy to tell in your peripheral vision if you’re live or muted -- another nice detail.

In terms of industrial design and manufacturing, the Virtuoso RGB Wireless XT is effectively the same as the previous SE model. The earcups are light aluminum with a classy silver look, accented by an RGB-lit Corsair logo in the center. The earpads and headband are padded with memory foam and supple leatherette material. The latter looks and feels great, though I do wonder how it will wear--especially as there's no mention of the pads being replaceable. Turned off, you’d never notice, but the sides of the earcups feature RGB LEDs in the shape of the Corsair “sails” logo---the LEDs are invisible thanks to micro-perforations in the aluminum face. It’s not super bright, and the logo takes up a relatively small portion of the earcup; it’s tasteful, fitting in with the overall adult aesthetic of the headphones.Having tried the "Pair" button in the Dongle tab - you're prompted to plug the USB in from the headset into your system and reassured that "Pairing will start soon"... but it never does. Dual wireless connectivity does help alleviate those problems since you can just switch audio output to the device utilizing Bluetooth. All that said, not everything is excellent here. The rated battery life is just 15 hours, 5 hours less than the previous model. Corsair says, though, that the dual connectivity feature leads to the shorter battery life rating, and that you should still get about 20 hours of runtime if you're just connected to one device.