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Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless SE

Inle

Inle

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Joined
Apr 6, 2017
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System Specs
System Name Efrafa
Processor Intel Core i7-5960X @ 4,3 GHz
Motherboard Asus X99 STRIX Gaming
Cooling NZXT Kraken X52
Memory G.Skill Ripjaws 4 32 GB
Video Card(s) Asus ROG STRIX GeForce GTX 1080 OC Edition
Storage ADATA SX8000 NVMe 512 GB + 5x Kingston HyperX Savage 512 GB
Display(s) Acer Predator XB271HU
Case Corsair Crystal 460X
Audio Device(s) Audiolab M-DAC
Power Supply Seasonic X-850
Mouse Logitech G900 Chaos Spectrum
Keyboard Cherry MX Board 6.0
Software Battlefield 1
Corsair's most expensive and luxurious gaming headset, the Virtuoso RGB Wireless SE, offers a couple of upgrades from the "regular" Virtuoso RGB Wireless, but also surprisingly falls behind in the microphone department.

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Last edited by a moderator:
@Inle The microphone jack is a type AB mini jack, whereas the plug, is a type B mini plug, which fits into a type AB mini jack. On the other hand, a type A mini plug, doesn't fit in a type B mini jack. Type AB and type A weren't all that common, which is why I'm guessing you're making a comment about it.
There's also a micro type AB jack and type A plug, but personally I've never seen those.

Based on your comments, I also take it you didn't test it with the 3.5mm jack? It sounds much, much better using that, than USB or wireless, so maybe give that a try?
 
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TheLostSwede said:
@Inle The microphone jack is a type AB mini jack, whereas the plug, is a type B mini plug, which fits into a type AB mini jack. On the other hand, a type A mini plug, doesn't fit in a type B mini jack. Type AB and type A weren't all that common, which is why I'm guessing you're making a comment about it.
There's also a micro type AB jack and type A plug, but personally I've never seen those.
Click to expand...

This is correct. It's super hard to plug in at first but becomes easier after a couple of tries. This wouldn't be my plug of choice though.

TheLostSwede said:
Based on your comments, I also take it you didn't test it with the 3.5mm jack? It sounds much, much better using that, than USB or wireless, so maybe give that a try?
Click to expand...

I did, but didn't get much into it in the review, as the performance in this case will be highly dependent on the quality of the source, as you're going around the electronics (DAC/amp) of the headset itself. I got worse results when I tried the analogue connection on an older motherboard and better ones when I plugged the headset into the EVGA NU Audio sound card - as expected :)
 
Inle said:
This is correct. It's super hard to plug in at first but becomes easier after a couple of tries. This wouldn't be my plug of choice though.

I did, but didn't get much into it in the review, as the performance in this case will be highly dependent on the quality of the source, as you're going around the electronics (DAC/amp) of the headset itself. I got worse results when I tried the analogue connection on an older motherboard and better ones when I plugged the headset into the EVGA NU Audio sound card - as expected :)
Click to expand...

Didn't have any problems at all with mine, might be some excessive plastic on your mic or the hole in the headphones that made it hard to insert?

Obviously yes, but the 3.5mm jack sounds better regardless of the source I've tried, be it my PC or my phone. We're not talking just a bit here, it's like night and day imho, hence why I think it might be something worth mentioning in the review. The sound is not only louder, but there's more bass and more highs, it's like it's an entirely different headset.
 
TheLostSwede said:
Didn't have any problems at all with mine, might be some excessive plastic on your mic or the hole in the headphones that made it hard to insert?
Click to expand...

No, no excessive plastic at all, it was the USB connector/plug that caused the issue (on the SE). The mic was easier to plug in on the regular Virtuoso. And it became easier to plug in on both headsets after I used them for a while.

TheLostSwede said:
Obviously yes, but the 3.5mm jack sounds better regardless of the source I've tried, be it my PC or my phone. We're not talking just a bit here, it's like night and day imho, hence why I think it might be something worth mentioning in the review. The sound is not only louder, but there's more bass and more highs, it's like it's an entirely different headset.
Click to expand...

Which phone did you try it on? It actually sounded thinner, weaker and generally worse on the Essential Phone and the OnePlus 7 Pro, which I used in my tests. I used the official USB-C to 3.5-mm adapter for the Essential Phone and a generic one for the 1+7P.
 
Inle said:
No, no excessive plastic at all, it was the USB connector/plug that caused the issue (on the SE). The mic was easier to plug in on the regular Virtuoso. And it became easier to plug in on both headsets after I used them for a while.

Which phone did you try it on? It actually sounded thinner, weaker and generally worse on the Essential Phone and the OnePlus 7 Pro, which I used in my tests. I used the official USB-C to 3.5-mm adapter for the Essential Phone and a generic one for the 1+7P.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, odd, oh well.

An old Nokia 8 which has a native headset jack. It sounds way better over the 3.5mm jack than over wireless if I connect the dongle to the phone using a USB A-C adapter. Same on my PC, 3.5mm jack sounds way better than either of the other two interfaces, regardless of it being music, video or games. Interestingly, if you plug in the 3.5mm jack and turn it to wireless mode, you get a slight boost in the volume. I guess the internal amp kicks in somehow.
 
The mic sounds quite good. Hope gaming headsets quality continues in this direction.
 
Ironically, Logitech bought Blue Microphone and their new headset with Blue mic sound crap compare to Corsair...
 
Just an update, the sound over the wireless connection has improved a lot with more recent firmwares and I'd say it's almost on par with using a wired connection.
 
TheLostSwede said:
Just an update, the sound over the wireless connection has improved a lot with more recent firmwares and I'd say it's almost on par with using a wired connection.
Click to expand...
Is this specifically with the SE version? I'm looking to get a new gaming headset since my Logitech G930's only have a 1-4 hour charge in them now (and this is with replacing the battery maybe 6 months ago). The Virtuoso set caught my eye so I'm very interested in the SE if it's where it should be for mic quality.
 
Warsaw said:
Is this specifically with the SE version? I'm looking to get a new gaming headset since my Logitech G930's only have a 1-4 hour charge in them now (and this is with replacing the battery maybe 6 months ago). The Virtuoso set caught my eye so I'm very interested in the SE if it's where it should be for mic quality.
Click to expand...
I would presume it applies to all models, as the main difference is the microphone and ear cup materials.
I'm very happy with them at this point, as Corsair has fixed all the issues I had concerns about.
Battery life is very good as well.
 
@TheLostSwede Thanks for the reply! Additionally is the mic still better on the regular set? Read through your hole article and that might hold me back from getting the SE.

Additionally is it possible to swap mics? So if I got the SE and had the "lower end" mic
 
Warsaw said:
@TheLostSwede Thanks for the reply! Additionally is the mic still better on the regular set? Read through your hole article and that might hold me back from getting the SE.

Additionally is it possible to swap mics? So if I got the SE and had the "lower end" mic
Click to expand...
I wouldn't know, as I don't have access to a regular set. I've not had any issues with mine.

They seem to use the same connector, not sure where you'd get the other mic from though.
 
Ok, maybe I'll see if Corsair would be willing to do something with it. Thanks for the info
 
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