Hello, this is the Provoked Prawn, and this is a video to compare two fantastic wireless
gaming headsets from Corsair, the Corsair HS80, which is the more affordable of the two
and offers wireless connectivity and a USB-C with high res audio, and the Corsair Virtuoso XT.
This is the flagship of Corsair's line-up of headsets, the most expensive of the two,
and a very premium looking device with some really nice features and specifications to it. This is a
video to compare the two and I've unboxed and reviewed them both separately and I'll link to
those videos in the description. I want to talk to you about the differences and the highlights of
each and which I prefer and the reasons why. Now the Corsair HS80 is an updated version to the HS70
and offers a number of really nice highlights. They include Dolby Atmos license include with
the headset, it also works using Slipstream Wireless dongle that you can see on the desk
and a USB-C connection on PC. This will work with both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5,
but you get the best audio on PC when plugged in using that USB-C cable as it will give you 24 bit
96 kilohertz high res audio. It has a flip to mute microphone, as you can see, and an interesting
design that looks very similar to SteelSeries headsets with that sort of headband at the top,
which moves with your head so you don't press your head up against the actual upper edge of the
headband, that is adjustable. And you will see a little bit of that on the inside and I'll show you
more of it later on. You'll see some RGB lighting on the Corsair logo on the outside and an LED ring
around the microphone. I'll show you the capture quality of that mic later on. Both these headsets
have fantastic capture quality on the mics that deliver a really good sound and a decent amount
of external noise cancellation. The Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless XT is the flagship device
and as you can see, there's a lot included in the box. You get a 3.5 mil cable, USB-C cable,
the wireless dongle, headset itself, a carrying case, and again, another Dolby Atmos license.
You'll notice the difference between them almost immediately. The Virtuoso XT looks a lot more
premium, also has a lot more metal going on in it and it has an interesting design set up to it with
a padded headband. And so that strap system, one thing that you will know is there are round ear
cups on the Virtuoso XT instead of the shaped ones on the HS80. And that is a big point of note for
me because the comfort of the HS80 is superior. You will see that there are faux leather memory
foam cushioned air cups on this XT though, and that allows you to block out a lot more external
noise and to focus on the game. This headset t0o offers ninety six kilohertz, 24 bit audio
when plugged in on PC and forty eight kilohertz, 24 bit over the slipstream wireless connection as
well. The other point of interest about Virtuoso XT is it also has Bluetooth connectivity and that
delivers high res audio as well. It also comes with a broadcast quality microphone
that you can detach so you don't have to use it, but it delivers fantastic capture quality.
And again, I'll show you this later on. It also has a mic mute button on the microphone itself.
And you can press and hold that to turn side tone on and off so you can hear yourself inside
the headset, which is obviously important if you have faux leather air cups, there's a ring around
the end, lets you know when it's muted as well. And it's quite flexible. Corsair's microphones
on the Virtuoso line up have always been fantastic. And this one carries on that trend.
You see the number of different connectivity possibilities here, Bluetooth, wireless, USB-C
and a three point five mil connection. That obviously opens you up to be able to connect
to multiple different devices. But again, this headset really does best when plugged in on a PC
using IQ Dolby Atmos and just a wired connection to give you that high res audio and make the most
of the headset itself. However, it's nice to have that flexibility. And one of the best things about
this headset is the fact that it has the Bluetooth connectivity as well. So that means you can
connect to your phone while also plugged into your PC or using a wireless connection to play games so
you can listen to music and sound from games at the same time as well. And I'll talk you a bit
more about that later on because it also becomes interesting in other ways. It uses Corsair's
slipstream wireless dongle here, which you see is exactly the same to the one with the HS80, gives
you a good solid connection to the PC and it's a plug and play set up. So it's really easy to use.
You also get a really good audio out of this, in my mind, both headsets deliver fantastic audio
and good positional sound when used with the Dolby Atmos license, which is included in the box,
just need to download Dolby Access and Corsair's IQ software and then it'll automatically be
recognized and then you can make some tweaks. I showed this off in the review
if you're interested, you get a nice braided USB-C cable, which does a good job of connecting and a
really nice looking bit of kit as well. Now a bit about the design of the headband on the HS80. I
already said this is quite similar to SteelSeries. You'll see it has a strap system basically that
sits on top of your head and that stops you putting pressure on the top of your head from
the plastic at the top. I did note in my review that it isn't terribly large, though. So if you
do have a massive head, you might find that problematic. However, it can be adjusted. You
see on the inside of the main upper headband, there are a couple of Velcro attachment straps
part of the system. Basically, you can loosen and tighten these and then adjust them into a position
to give you a better fit. I found that I had to extend these so that was as long as possible
and it was still ended up being a little bit uncomfortable and had to pull it down a little
bit occasionally, however, I have found this to certainly be the most comfortable of the two
and one of the most comfortable headsets I've tried in recent times, the ear cups
are fantastically designed as well. It has a cloth design ear cup to it with memory foam cushioning,
but also is just superbly comfortable. It's worth noting here that you can see that it's
not possible to remove the ear cups so they don't come off. However, I don't think you want to swap
them out. You'll notice they're more ear shaped than the virtuoso instead of being round they
are proper shape, so it's much more comfortable for you, I find the roomier, deeper and larger,
but also, more importantly, they have a much softer finish to them, which delivers
a lot more comfortable wear over the day and is easier to wear for both gaming and working and
whatever else you're doing. You can wear this for hours and hours and hours, which is great.
On the external side, you also see the Corsair logo is RGB and you can change that lighting
within the software. You can get up to 20 hours of battery life. Obviously, turning that RGB lighting
off or down will improve that and how much battery you're getting out of it. The Corsair Virtuoso XT
also has RGB on the Corsair logo. And again, you can adjust the brightness and the color
of this within the software is a little more subtle, although you can see it on the brushed
aluminum finish. But if you don't have it turned on, it really doesn't stand out very much so
the XT is definitely the better looking headset that could be used as headphones.
You'll note the ear cups have a nice bit of twist and turn until in them. So they're really easy to
adjust to sit nicely on your head. But the main gripe I have with them is the design
of the ear cups. It has however got a really good clamping force and so it sits nicely on the noggin
and is good to wear in terms of not flying off when you move your head and also just sitting
nicely over the ears to block out external noise and to deliver a really good sound, the headband
is also nicely extendable and as you'll see, a really good build quality to it, nice, solid use
of metal and a really nice overall aesthetic. Because the microphones removable it also means
that you can use these headphones outside the house and because you have a 3.5 mil connection
and the Bluetooth on offer, you also have a lot more in terms of connectivity. Now, more on the
ear cups I said these are round and you'll note the memory foam cushioning on them is quite plush,
has a nice faux leather finish to it, which it blocks out a lot of external noise. My
main complaint about these, is that they're too shallow and also not large enough, which means
that they just squash the ears over time. The good news is, though, that they can be removed.
You can see they simply twist off so you can twist them off and potentially purchase some aftermarket
ear cups, which might deliver a better quality. But unfortunately, because of that round design,
I just feel like they're not comfortable enough. Some people in the comments have said the same,
others have said that they found them fine. So it's really going to depend on the size
and shape of your ears if your ears stick out a little bit or if they're just on the large side,
you'll definitely going to find this headset problem. I found pressure on my ears from
the drivers pushing against them and also just the cups not being large enough. However, the
cushioning, as you can see, is fantastic and they do do a good job of blocking out external sound
and letting you focus on the game. Large drivers deliver a great range of audio
and also you've got the benefit of 96 kilohertz, 24 bit audio when plugged in and also the hi
res audio via Bluetooth, which means that you can listen to Tidal and things like that and
make the most of that high res delivery. On the head, though headset certainly looks fantastic,
it's probably the better looking of the two. But this is going to be a personal preference and
opinion thing. However, I would recommend the HS80 as well because it is a very affordable headset
and it's still a good looking one, too. It's not too garish. Corsair I said this is inspired
by their Void line up. In my mind, this is far less gamer-y than previous headsets and it is
still a fantastic build kit. Now it doesn't offer Bluetooth or 3.5 mil connection, just
USB-C connection or the wireless connection, but you do get a great sound out of it. You'll
see the difference between the two in terms of the controls on the headset. For example, the Virtuoso
XT obviously has a lot more holes in terms of ports for plugging in things. It also has a lot
more controls. You have a button to switch between wired and wireless mode, there's a volume control
wheel here, which is a very satisfying thing to use. But also more importantly and interestingly,
there's a Bluetooth button and the Bluetooth volume control separately lower down on that
ear cup. And that is interesting because press and hold that button to pair with a Bluetooth
device. But you can also adjust the volume of the Bluetooth independently from the other volumes on
the headset. So that means you could have your phone, music, whatever at one level and then
your game audio at a different level, and you can adjust them independently. The controls
there also are multifunctional, which means that you can use them for things like skipping music,
pausing, playing, accepting calls and things like that. So obviously you can take calls on
your phone because it has a Bluetooth connectivity and it will use the microphone for that. So what
you can see is that the Virtuoso XT is a lot more flexible than the HS80, a lot more connectivity
and a lot more controls on it. The HS80 basically only has a volume control and the power button,
although the power button can also be pressed to change between equalizer settings to
change EQ settings and the Virtuoso XT has EQ settings within Corsair's IQ software as well
that I will show you in the review if you click through and watch that
and you can change Dolby Atmos settings too, both of them are quite flexible in that way. Both
deliver quite a similar sound in my mind. And so the HS80 is the more affordable of
the two and yet delivers a fantastic fit, great comfort and a good all round set up
while the Virtuoso XT has a lot more on offer but isn't anywhere near as comfortable in my mind.
And here I am with the Corsair HS80 in wired mode on the head, and see what it looks like there.
And this is the capture quality of the microphone in that mode as well, which is really, really
good. You'll note the indicator in the end that is white when it's in use and if you flip it up.
It goes red and you also get an audible cue in the headset to let you know that it's muted and
the feedback is off. So there is some side tone through the microphone
and you can adjust the levels within Corsair's IQ software as well. I don't find it to be terribly
loud, the side tone, unless you move the microphone really close to your mouth,
which you can't really do because it just springs back out. It's quite springy.
So it's not easy to adjust in, however, at this range, it doesn't pick up pops very easily. So
that's obviously fantastic. I'll show you what the capture quality of microphones like while
I'm typing. I'm just typing in the background now. And you can see it does a good job of
blocking external noise from what I've seen and heard. And more importantly, it does capture
really good quality, really good microphone, good price point and all around fantastic.
Here I am now with the Corsair Virtuoso XT, with the unplugged in wireless mode.
And this is the microphone quality when I sit in that mode and as you can see,
it captures some fantastic broadcast quality audio without much of a problem.
It delivers really great sound. Now I am going to type on the keyboard in the background and
the fans from my PC are running at high speed at the moment. So you'll see if you can pick
up any of that. But I have noticed that it blocks out a fair amount of external noise
and still delivers a really good capture quality, it is fantastic. You can press and hold the mute
button on the other side to turn side tone on and off and you can adjust the levels of the mic
and the side tone within Corsair's IQ software. It's off as default, so you can't hear yourself.
And because of the padding on the ear cups it actually blocks out a lot of the external noise
from surrounding environment. And so you really do need it on to be able to hear yourself clearly
I feel like. But the levels of it are good enough. It delivers fantastic quality of
audio capture. There's a little bit of it still picks up a - little bit of mouth wind,
but the overall quality is very good. This has been The Provoked Prawn. Hope you found this video
useful. Let me know in the comments if you've got any questions. Thanks for watching. This has been
The Provoked Prawn, hope you found this video useful, interesting, hilarious or otherwise,
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