Corsair Void USB headset review

Corsair knows a thing or two about audio. Take the fantastic SP2500 2.1 speaker system I reviewed all the way back in 2011 as an example – in many ways it is yet to be bettered by other PC speakers. This is partly why I was excited to try out the Void USB, a virtual surround sound gaming headset with an all-new design meant to compliment the Strafe keyboard range and Scimitar mouse.

With aggressive, angular circumaural ear cups, an all-black finish and RGB LEDs in each ear cup, the Void is an imposing headset, yet it isn’t absurdly large like many of its rivals. It’s predominantly made from plastic, with what feels like metal for the joins between headband and ear cups, but it manages to feel more premium than Roccat’s Kave XTD thanks to its surprisingly hefty 388g weight. The ear cups might completely surround your ears, but they don’t heat them up like the much more expensive Steelseries Siberia Elite.

The headband padding and ear cups use memory foam to create a very comfortable fit, with none of the pressure on your head I experienced with the Turtle Beach Ear Force Stealth 450. I’ve comfortably worn the Void all day, without feeling the need to take it off and give my ears some air. That does mean sound isolation isn’t perfect; I couldn’t use it at more than a quarter volume in the office, or my co-workers could hear my music, and I could still hear the sound of my mechanical keyboard when typing out this review. These are seriously loud headphones.

The boom microphone isn’t detachable, because Corsair has added what it calls InfoMic – a set of two LEDs on the end of the microphone that indicates sound mode and whether the mic is muted or not. It means there’s no need for an onscreen overlay to interrupt your games, and you don’t have to minimise to change audio settings either. Pressing in the volume dial toggles between five sound modes; Pure Direct, Bass Boost, FPS Competition, Clear Chat and Movie Theatre. Pressing and holding the button enables or disables Dolby virtual surround. Pressing and holding the mute button on the left ear cup will enable and disable microphone feedback, so you can hear your own voice when talking, and of course pressing it mutes and un-mutes the mic.

The colour then changes or flashes a number of times to indicate what mode has just been enabled. It’s just inside the periphery of your vision, and works brilliantly in the dark, although the LEDs aren’t incredibly bright so you may struggle to spot them in a particularly bright room.

A rubber cable tidy can pin the microphone back to the headband when you don’t need to use it. My Counter Strike teammates had no complaints about sound quality, with my voice being detected clearly, even with some background noise in the room. The mic is flexible, letting you move it closer or further away from your mouth as required.