Corsair Virtuoso Max Review – Heavy Is This Audio Crown
[summaraize]
Corsair is a large hardware manufacturer, one of a handful of established, trustworthy brands gamers turn to when the time comes to buy new computer and gaming accessories. Their Virtuoso line of headphones represents the company’s premiere audio experience, the latest of which is the Virtuoso Max. We’ve spent plenty of time with this premium headset, and our review will help you determine if it’s worth the $329.99 MSRP.
It’s All Here
In the box is everything you need to get started. Upon opening the box, you’ll be greeted by a black hard travel case, which zips up and feels very sturdy, and immediately impresses. This is one headphone that will travel very well. The USB transceiver dongle is located under the headphones, and elsewhere you’ll find the braided USB-A to USB-C charging/update cable, which also has a premium feel to it, and matches the headphones’ color – in our case, we received the silver unit.
If the Virtuoso Max could be described in just a few words, it’d be understated luxury. In the case of the silver-colored headset, Its metal frame feels very sturdy, and it’s also incredibly flexible to boot. The metal is cold to the touch, and the end of each arm of the headphones has a shiny metal Corsair logo at the yoke. The included boom mic can be attached to the left earcup, which consists of a mute button, though there are also built-in mics that work well enough most of the time. An LED at the tip indicates when the mic is muted. Both earcups are divided into three sections on their sides, which have a strip of diffuse RGB lights which can be customized via Corsair’s iCUE software on Windows and Mac. Memory foam lines the top of the headset, as well as the cups, however those cups have a pretty thin amount of foam, so the overall feeling is a hard earcup.
Clamping Might Be a Bit Too Strong
Functionally, the body of the Virtuoso Max expands to accommodate larger heads or use with VR headsets, and the cups rotate inwards to allow you to rest the headphones more comfortably on your shoulders. Outside of that, these are still relatively large headphones. At 417 grams in weight (about .91 pounds), it’s around the same weight as the similarly-priced (and equally large) Audeze Maxwell, but unlike that headset which included an adjustable inner strap that helped to distribute the weight a bit more evenly over your head, the Virtuoso Max has nothing of the sort. For me, at least, this translated to limited listening session length before my head started to hurt a bit. The strong clamping force combined with the limited padding means that these headphones can be too tiring for too long. I can make it through an album or so before needing to adjust them. Though the effect of this might depend on your head size. Mine is abnormally large (as in, 99th percentile large), which can make the clamping force push back a bit harder, because the frame is being stretched more than usual.
At the very least, however, when you do remove the headset for a breather, one nifty feature immediately kicks in. Built-in gyroscopes can detect when you set the headphones down, and the RGB lights on the side light up briefly and power down to indicate the auto-shutoff timer has started and the headphones have entered a lower-power standby mode. While this doesn’t use any sort of proximity sensor like what can be found on higher-priced headsets such as the Apple Airpods Max, in practice, the effect is the same. I can’t recall a single time I removed the headset this feature didn’t kick in, and it’s a subtle and valuable way to extend the Virutoso Max’s already great 60-hour battery life.
Premium Controls, Great ANC
A good headset stays out of your way when you want to control your multimedia, and the Virtuoso Max does an excellent job of doing just that. Both earcups feature volume wheels – left for game audio, right for Bluetooth, with a textured aluminum build and frictionless movement that feels luxurious. The right earcup is where the playback controls live, on a single switch that you can slide forwards or backwards, along with pushing in like a button to send next/previous and play/pause commands respectively. A button above that switch can be programmed via the iCUE software to perform whatever function you’d like when pressed while holding it toggles between various noise cancelation options.
The noise-canceling tech onboard the Virtuoso Max is great. I’ve used it while vacuuming, for instance, and the vast majority of the whir of the appliance was largely removed from my music. Holding the multifunction button described earlier toggles between the three ANC modes – normal, noise canceling, and transparency. In keeping with the understated or refined motif of the rest of the headset, these modes are distinguished via a series of tones rather than voices as other headphones use. The tone for enabling transparency mode, a gentle whoosh that fades out into your surroundings, almost sounds like the ocean. It’s a little strange not being explicitly told which mode you’ve just enabled, but once you run through the modes it’ll become obvious which tone means what.
All of these features and pain points are only worth considering if the audio on the Virtuoso Max is worth a damn. Thankfully, that is the case. The 50mm graphene drivers can completely immerse you in whatever media you’re currently consuming. The diaphragms are made completely of graphene, as opposed to simply being graphene-coated. As a result, these drivers have a faster, tighter response compared to regular dynamic drivers, which can be heard in any song that has an abrupt stop to an instrument – there is less noticeable echo as the audio cuts off. An extended frequency response range of 20 Hz – 40 KHz ensures you hear more of your audio, and while that low-end’s floor isn’t as low as some other headsets in this price range, the bass is still very prevalent on the Virutoso Max.
Some Adjustment Needed
Indeed, out of the box, the bass is perhaps a bit too strong, at least for my liking. It’s a bit muddy. However, using Corsair’s iCUE software, and explicitly running through the included SoundID wizard helps to balance things according to your own hearing. It does make quite a difference. On the other hand, the equalizer presets built into the headphones feature varying degrees of treble and/or bass adjustments, so it’s likely you can get these to match your sound preferences. The Virtuoso Max is now my go-to headphone for “fun” listening, when I want some extra energy injected into my games, music, and movies. That same iCUE software also allows you to control the lighting, as expected.
Included with purchase of the Viruoso Max is a license for Dolby Atmos on Windows. The free Dolby Access app can be installed. Whenever the USB dongle is connected to your PC, the Atmos functionality automatically unlocks with a little logo that explains the license is in use. The Atmos software turns your headphones into a virtual surround sound system, with special processing that understands the way we hear things in the real world to make it sound as if noises are coming at you from all around. The effect is pretty believable, especially in VR games such as No Man’s Sky. Even something as simple as walking through a door can get your attention with its believability. For competitive games, it’s advantageous to know if those footsteps are above, below, behind, or in front of you, and Dolby Atmos helps to give you that information as you play.
For a headset so focused on audio quality, with large, graphene drivers, and 24-bit, 48-96 KHz playback options available on PCs, it’s disappointing that the Virtuoso Max doesn’t include ANY hi-res audio codec support on mobile. LDAC would’ve been the obvious inclusion for drivers that use such a nascent technology, but alas, not even AptX is supported. While not a deal-breaker for many of people, simply because most of us don’t listen to lossless audio, it is perplexing given the MSRP of this quality-focused high-end headset.
Will Work With Just About Anything
On the compatibility front, the Virtuoso Max should work with most of the devices you own. While there is no 3.5mm port, USB and Bluetooth options are probably enough to connect a gaming console simultaneously as a smartphone, tablet, or other device made within at least the last decade. Oddly, the headset can only have its firmware updated by hooking it up via USB to a computer, whereas many other headphones in this price level can update over the phone.
Which leads us to the final aspect to consider before pulling the trigger on buying headphones: what else is out there for around the exact cost? First and foremost, the excellent Audeze Maxwell comes in at $299.99 for the PlayStation edition, or $329.99 for the Xbox version which also includes a Dolby Atmos license. The 90mm planar magnetic drivers cannot be beaten when it comes to audio quality, though the Virtuoso Max’s graphene drivers do a nice enough job that for real-world listening. Plus, the Maxwells have no form of noise cancelation, which is arguably more critical for anyone planning on using them on public transportation, in an airport, etc. Razer also makes a top-end headset, the Kraken V4 Pro. However, they are priced at $399.99, and include additional hardware as a control hub. The drivers are also quite a bit smaller at 40mm, however they are made with bio-cellulose, and as they are THX-certified, no Dolby Atmos license is included. Finally, there’s Logitech’s Astro A50, now in its fifth generation. Priced at $299.99, these also sport smaller 40mm graphene drivers, with a standard response range of 20Hz – 20 KHz. It also relies on a base station, which allows for up to three connections in addition to simultaneous Bluetooth, however it’s intended for home/stationary use only. Except for the Audeze headset, the competitors don’t have as long of a battery life, and none look quite as sleek as the Virtuoso Max.
The Corsair VIRTUOSO MAX is an impressive headset that should work well as a daily driver for most of us. Simultaneous connectivity is so lovely to have, and in addition to multi-connection capabilities, I’m going to look out for the feature on any new headphones I might consider owning in the future. While the initial tuning of the 50mm graphene drivers might skew towards a muddy bass, running through the SoundID setup on the iCUE software on a PC, combined with custom EQ or Dolby Atmos via the Corsair-provided license, can all work together to produce a great sound signature most listeners will enjoy. The clamping force would be great if the padding supporting the headphones were thicker, but your experience may be better if you have a smaller head than me (odds are, you do). Active noise cancelation and subtle RGB lighting round out the package to ensure the Corsair VIRTUOSO MAX headphones are on your short list of premium headphones.
Score: 8.5/10
Pros:
- Large, innovative 50mm graphene drivers deliver fun, accurate audio
- Extended frequency response ensures you’ll hear everything
- Premium, understated design oozes style
- Simultaneous connectivity is great
- Active Noise Cancelation tech works wonders
- Great 60-hour battery life
Cons:
- Bass is a little too forward out of the box – tweaking EQ settings can easily fix this
- Updating firmware cannot be done over-the-air
- Clamping force might be too high for some – extended sessions might be a little uncomfortable
Corsair Virtuoso Max review unit was provided by the manufacturer. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.
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