- Hours of play with maximum comfort, thanks to its memory foam cushions and covered with synthetic leather. The earmuff design is mesh for breathability, and the headband is adjustable with a sturdy yet lightweight construction, with an overall weight of 282 grams.
- Great sound optimized for gaming; Its 50mm neodymium magnet drivers have been optimized for gaming, delivering excellent audio quality across the range of sounds gamers need on the battlefield. Moreover, 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 finer control of audio preferences.
- Omnidirectional microphone that accurately picks up all commands. The rod is foldable and has a function of silence of the car when downloading
- Certificates for Discord.
- Cross-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 are packaged in a soft cardboard box, predominantly black and yellow. On the front 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 we have a small sketch indicating the main parts of the product, as well as a summary of its characteristics in the lower area. On one side we again have a summary of its main features 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 we look at the headphones, let’s see what extras they come with. On the one hand, we have the usual user manual, along with the equally usual warranty and safety brochures.
We also have the external adapter that will help us connect the headphones to the 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 3.5mm mini combo jack that standard headphones have.
Now yes, here you have the CORSAIR HS65 Surround already out of the box. At first glance we can already see that CORSAIR has changed its exterior design a little compared to the rest of the brand’s earphones, especially in the outer area of the earmuffs where there is an opaque mesh with the brand’s logo, in the upper part making it asymmetrical.
We can see 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 a stretchy headband design to accommodate different head sizes. The earmuffs are attached to the headband by means of a rotating hook that allows the earmuffs to rotate almost completely, also with the aim of adapting them to any head shape and size.
In the following picture you can see what we just told you: the earmuffs can be rotated 90 degrees each.
In the upper part of the headband we find a large memory foam insert covered in leatherette, which will help us not to feel the weight of the earphones on top of the head. In the outer area we simply have the brand name.
The earmuffs are very wide, which allows us to have the ear completely inside. We are again faced with viscoelastic foam covered in a hybrid way, we could say, since the outer part is in synthetic leather to isolate noise but the inner area is in very soft synthetic fabric (which will be the one that makes contact with the skin) and which allows perspiration.
Here you can see the interior material in more detail.
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 be easily bent with the fingers to adapt it to the desired position. In addition, in the upper area there is a small stop, and when exceeded, the automatic microphone mute will be activated (in other words, raising the rod completely will mute the microphone, but only when it will lift it all the way up and past that little stop).
In addition to the microphone, in the left earpiece we find both the cable output and an analog volume wheel (it has minimum and maximum stops, it does not have infinite rotation like the digital ones).
The cable is rubberized (but not meshed with nylon thread) and terminates in a 3.5mm combo minijack stereo connector, which with a single connector serves both headphones and microphone. This makes the CORSAIR HS65 Surround compatible with virtually any audio source, but beware that 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 what the headphones look like (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 up close. This allows better insulation from outside noise, but also greater comfort because, the foam being very soft, the earmuffs do not compress the head too much and, moreover, they do so regularly (and not more in one place than to another, causing discomfort). It is unquestionably a success of CORSAIR.
For the rest, the headphones seem quite comfortable a priori, although it is true that users with small ears can “be big”, since as you can see they are quite generous in size.
After seeing the headphones, we will proceed to test them to see if they are really comfortable and, above all, if their performance meets our expectations.
CORSAIR HS65 Surround reviews and performance
Like almost all of the brand’s products, you can see and modify its configuration thanks to 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, because if we connect them with the analog minijack connector, the system will detect it as a normal stereo device .
Pressing on the device, the first thing we encounter is the equalization configuration, where we can modify the behavior of the headphones with the different frequencies. Several parameters are pre-configured at 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 is configurable 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) and we will have to select the options that according to our tastes suit us best.
Once the configuration process is complete, the software will take care of automatically creating a personalized audio profile for us based on the preferences we have selected.
Finally, as always, we have the possibility 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 certain parameters) and the color that we want to be displayed 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’ve already predicted from seeing how they fit on the dummy, the CORSAIR HS65 Surrounds have been very, very comfortable for us, as they weigh quite little and fit perfectly both the contour and the size of head and ears, therefore which are undoubtedly earphones that we can wear for hours and hours without suffering fatigue or discomfort. In addition, the hybrid material of the earmuffs is very appreciated, and on those dates when the heat is already beginning to tighten, they do not generate perspiration.
In terms of audio quality, the HS65 Surround are very rich in nuance in the mids and highs, with bass that, while not spectacular, is adequate and resounding enough, which means that, especially when gaming 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 offer us, but nevertheless, their audio quality is well above the average of what we usually find in products of this price and this spectrum.
Chances are that this feeling that they “sound better” than normal has a lot to do with the SoundID customization we were explaining to you a moment ago, and that is that after all, when we say that some thing sounds good, that’s still a subjective opinion, because a lot depends on the user.
Now when we turn on surround sound the usual thing kinda happens, and since this is a virtual emulation (since headphones, after all, only have one speaker in each earbud and not a real 7.1 system) depends a lot on the environment in which we use it. For example, for listening to music, it is strongly recommended to disable this feature because what we get is to lose many nuances and create a “cathedral” effect, but if we use it specifically in games, we get a fairly successful surround sound environment , giving us the sensation sound position, which in the end and is what is sought.
Conclusion and judgment
CORSAIR’s sound experience proves that every time they release a new product, it’s better than the last. These HS65 Surround are some of the most comfortable headphones money can buy today, and although priced a little higher than average for the range they come in (they’re still mid-range headphones range when after all, at least for the technical aspects specifications), it must be said that the improvements they present are worth paying for, since the difference in comfort and quality compared to cheaper headphones is substantial.
The MSRP for these headphones is $89.99, which is $20 more than the HS60 Pro range for example, but the ergonomic and audio quality improvements are worth it, and for these reasons we think it deserves our gold medal, as well as our recommendation for its design.
