Verdict

Pros

• Well-priced
• Great noise cancelling mic
• Decent looking

Cons

• Harsh trebles
• Not the most comfortable

What is the Corsair Vengeance 1500 headset?

It’s a 7.1 surround sound over-ear PC headset made by renowned PC component manufacturer Corsair. At around £80 they’re aimed at the mid-range gaming market.

Corsair Vengeance 1500 Design and Comfort

The Vengeance 1500 is made of chunky plastic. It’s decent-looking, for a headset, and the plastic arms attached to the ear-cups looks like brushed metal. It’s just an effect, but it’s quite convincing and makes this set look more expensive than they are. The headband is made of faux-leather covered foam while the ear-cups are covered in a soft velvety material.

The close-cup design means ears will get a little hot but it’s nothing a brief readjustment or removing them for a moment won’t fix. More of a problem is the fact that the velvety fabric is not as soft as on some other headsets we’ve tested, and the sponge on the ear-cups is not as firm as we like.

Because the Vengeance 1500 clasps the head quite tightly this means that our left ear was actually touching the speaker cover. It’s not too bad, but it does get a little annoying. It may not be an issue at all for those with smaller ears, but if your ears are more akin to Shrek’s you will probably want to look elsewhere.

Getting the right fit on your head takes a little time, particularly as it’s on the heavy side at 328g. For the first few hours we found ourselves constantly readjusting the headset because the top band felt awkward. We finally found a comfortable position for the Corsair Vengeance 1500 and happily played for hours without any discomfort.

Volume and mute controls are on the tangle-free weaved fabric cord, about 50cm from where it connects to the ear-cup. A blue LED flashes red when on mute and the positioning is good for quick access during gameplay.

So the Corsair Vengeance 1500 could be more a little more comfortable, but how does is sound?

Corsair Vengeance 1500 Sound Quality

There is a constant white-noise hiss when wearing the headset. This isn’t particularly audible during gameplay, but is a little distracting when there’s no other sound. Other than that the 7.1 surround sound is solid. Voices are a little trebly and separation between channels is a little closer than we’d like, but recognising the direction of a bullet or team-mate shout in Battlefield 4 is easy.

The city of Columbia in Bioshock: Infinite is brought pleasantly to life, with the sound of dripping water and the shouts of street peddlars providing a distinct audio landscape of your surroundings. 

Testing using our array of sample 7.1 sound files we found that sound is not as full as some of the best headsets on the market, such as the Sennheiser PC 363D, but then they are more than twice the price of the Corsair.

The closed design means that very little sound leaks out from the Vengeance 1500. In addition, even though it only passively cancels noise, very little external sound is audible from the outside world, making this headset ideal for use in rooms with other people watching TV or listening to music.

You’ll be better off investing in a solid pair of headphones rather than using the Corsair Vengeance 1500 to listen to music or watch movies. Dialogue and vocals, in particular, suffer from some tizziness with overemphasised eses, while bass is weak and, occasionally, distorted.

Corsair Vengeance 1500 Microphone Quality

The noise-cancelling mic sits on the end of a flexible boom. It performed very well in our Skype and gaming tests, with words sounding loud, clear and accurate.

Very little ambient noise is picked up and the person on the other side will only hear anything if it’s very loud. It was one of the best mics we tested in terms of noise cancelling and clarity so if you play in a noisy house then the Corsair Vengeance 1500 is a great choice.

Verdict

The Corsair Vengeance 1500 don’t quite reach the peaks of some of the best headsets on the market and take a little getting used to in terms of comfort, but they are reasonably priced and are a solid choice if you play in a noisy house.

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