Usage & Testing
Once you have the drivers and software installed you can go ahead and turn on the headset. To do this just simply press the large button on the right earcup. This will turn on the headset and connect it to the USB wireless adapter. Each time I turned the headset on I never had a connection issue. If you want to disconnect and turn the headset off all you have to do is hold and press that same button again. Make sure you do this when you are done using the headset because if you leave them on all night they will most likely be dead in the morning.
The headset is very easy to charge. You just connect the supplied USB cable to your headset and then to a USB power source. There is a small LED illumination around the charging port to let you know when the headset is fully charged. There is no indication that the headset is low on battery only an audible beep in the headset that lets you know it is about to die.
Corsair does supply you with their own driver and software that is available for download on their website. Just like the Vengeance 1500 Corsair puts everything on 1 screen so it is easy to find and change settings.
Starting on the left you have a large Bypass button. This button bypasses and filtering or processing and gives you pure 2 channel audio. Below that you have your control levels for your volume and microphone. Moving over to the right, on the bottom you have your 3 different surround modes: Studio, Cinema and Hall. Above that you have your equalizer, which has 8 different profiles as well as a default one.
There were a few things that were missing when compared to the driver / software for the Vengeance 1500. First Dolby Headphone surround virtualization and Pro Logic IIx are gone. I was actually curious about this since on the 1500 product page you see Dolby Headphone advertised and on the 2000 product page there is no mention of it. Also on the 1500 you were able to control the left / right balance and microphone loopback, that is all gone. The microphone loopback is now permanent, although in my testing with the microphone it is not annoying at all. Another thing that I did not like was that within Windows I was unable to change the speaker count in the audio control panel. I can see why Corsair would disable to configure button, many USB headsets do this. But those headsets normally have their output settings to 7.1, Corsair has decided to leave the 2000 on stereo settings. This will factor into some games that do not have an audio selection screen. This will leave you playing the game in stereo and not surround sound. Finally you lose the 7.1 Virtual Speaker Shifter, which allowed you to position the 7 speakers to your liking.
Sound Quality
Ok so let’s do some gaming, that is what this headset is made for of course. I played quite a few games actually some included: Team Fortress 2, PAYDAY: The Heist, Orcs Must Die! and Battlefield 4. Now depending on the game you are playing you will be able to play in 5.1 / 7.1 or plain old stereo. In my experience with the headset if the game has an audio settings page it will allow you to select 7.1. If it does not you are stuck playing the game in plain old stereo. When I was able to play a game in 7.1 surround it was great. I ended up using the FPS Gaming EQ setting for all my games and it was the perfect fit. Everything sounded crisp and clear and I did some tests to see if I could actually tell where things were coming from. I would throw a grenade and see if I could tell where the explosion was coming from. Also I would have someone shoot from different areas and try and pinpoint where they were at with my eyes closed. I did experiment with the different room sizes and I found that using the “Cinema” setting worked best for gaming.
Of course I listened to music and watched a few movies using the Vengeance 2000 as well. Movies were instantly made better when surround sound was enabled. It gave you the idea that you were actually there and that real action was happening around you. Interestingly enough I enjoyed watching movies using the “Studio” setting. The “Movies Mod-X” EQ setting is perfect for TV shows and Movies. I used VLC media player to watch most of the media that I tested with the headset and I was able to select both 5.1 and 7.1 audio.
I was quite surprised at how different audio could sound using the different EQ settings. I listened to everything from rap to trance using the headset and it all sounded great. The “Reference EQ” setting makes almost any track of any genre of music sound great, it is almost spot on! I found the “Audiophile” settings perfect for techno and other electronic music. I even listened to music in Bypass (Stereo) mode and the sound was good.
Microphone Quality
I have been using the microphone on the headset to make Skype calls, talk on ventrilo while gaming and even in game voice-chat. Everyone that I talked to said my voice sounded clear and there was no background noise at all. One thing that was a little weird at first was the microphone loop back through the headset, meaning you can slightly hear yourself talking through the headset. Since I have been using this headset for a few weeks I actually like it. It causes me not to yell as much, because I can actually hear myself. I would have liked to be able to adjust the loop back volume though. Below you can check out audio samples from all of the recent headsets that we have reviewed.
Corsair Vengeance 2000
Logitech Wireless Headset F540
Sennheiser PC350
Comfort
This has to be one of the most comfortable headsets that I have used. In the past after a few hours of gaming if I was using a headset it would irritate my ears and I would have to take the headset off for 10-15 minutes. With the Vengeance 1500 I am able to play for hours without any issues. The fact that I can also walk away and use the bathroom and still listen to music is awesome.
