Corsair Virtuoso Pro review – Open headset with the qualities of good stereo headphones

1 - Introduction, accessories and technical data 2 - Unboxing, opics, haptics and connectivity 3 - Material analysis 4 - Measuring and frequency response 5 - Subjective sound check and conclusion

Subjective sound check

After all the technical details, we finally come to the most important thing: How does the headset actually sound? Let’s continue where it hurts a little more: the individual hearing test. The headset has been diligently recorded, so this argument is no longer applicable. I used my Tidal playlist with classical, jazz, rock, electronic music and various vocals (soul, choir music) as well as some gaming, of course.

Bass range

Music: The open headset does not fail in the subcontraoctave and offers sufficient volume. The drivers do not tend to resonate. The Virtuoso Pro is not a booming bass bomber, but offers a pitch-black bass foundation with enormous reserves in level stability. That’s really good for open-back headphones.

Gaming: For gaming, the grenades could boom a little more massively, but you can still hear everything above the mids without the top end being pushed away by the bass, even if you adjust the level on the equalizer. The differentiation of the individual sound layers and frequency ranges is excellent. There may be a lack of volume in some areas, but the above-average precision provides a good balance. In short: not an annoying bass bomber for the TikTok generation, but the target group will certainly like it that way.

Music: This range appears confident and is perfectly fine. The male vocals are modeled quite voluminously and are slightly above a purely neutral fundamental. The instruments are also very cleanly connected, which may not sound completely compatible with the masses per se, but is still wonderfully neutral. You might not like it if you’re not used to it, but I definitely like it.

Gaming: The only slight bathtub orientation is quite successful, because even male voices get a not too strong foundation here. So you can leave it as it is.

Midrange

Music: Now it almost becomes cool because the mids disappear somewhat from around 200 Hz. Many details of the fundamental frequencies move slightly away from the original, but it is still acceptable. Of course, you can even like that, but this style of play is perhaps a little too flat for most people. Female vocals still sound very confident in the foundation, but somewhat flatter than the overemphasized male vocals.

Gaming: The female vocals are still easy to understand but without any dominance in the foundation. The fundamental range is balanced and almost neutral, which doesn’t take revenge when gaming because you don’t lose any details. The resolution of the drivers is simply good, allowing everything to be reproduced accurately. You can confidently leave it that way.

Music: There is a slight dip at around 1 KHz, only to then increase enormously again from 2 KHz, which is somewhat detrimental to the differentiated reproduction in this range and results in a picture of misunderstood neutrality. Despite all this, the soundstage is still incredibly wide and the subjectively perceived quality of the spatial resolution here is above average. High levels with many sources playing together are no problem despite the peak, but localization gains immensely if the range around 1 KHz is raised slightly and everything above that is lowered a little.

Gaming: Here, the level is not quite as critical and much is as a certain group of gamers would certainly like it to be. However, the localization of the sound sources is significantly better after the aforementioned intervention with the equalizer, although it is already above average even without help.

High frequency range

Music: The quality of the reproduction is good, but still a little treble-heavy. It is based on the sometimes restrained mid-range and the concise upper mid-range, which balances the whole thing out somewhat. The speech intelligibility and the quality of the vocals in terms of recognition are quite good and it always gets much better when you reduce this area a little on the EQ. A matter of taste, as always.

Gaming: Exactly the same applies here, the result is also completely acceptable for gaming. However, some peaks are annoying. Well, that’s what the EQ is for.

Music and gaming: The treble is brilliant and can be left as it is for the time being. Sibilants and blow-out noises are present, but not too prominent, and there’s no metallic or overbearing tendency. There is also no icy treble air. In terms of sound, the headset is therefore right on trend.

Summary and conclusion

Where should I classify the whole thing now? For a current street price of 160 euros, the Corsair Virtuoso Pro is a very good open alternative to the intentionally youthful and hip products. Especially as the materials used are significantly better than the usual plastic bombers. Yes, you could certainly convert a good pair of hi-fi headphones with a microphone into a headset, but then you end up with a similar or even higher price if you want the microphone to be any good. The price is not low, but it’s not too steep either. You just have to be able and willing to afford it. And it fits really well, remaining airy and unobtrusive.

Let’s start with the microphone. Plosive sounds will turn the microphone into a pop monster, so you really have to twist the gooseneck so that you don’t talk directly into the small opening. The sensitivity is okay, but the overall level could be a little higher. But even if you adjust the level externally, there is very little noise. And you can leave it that way. The microphone is better than you might think and if you can, you can use the EQ and simply close it off below 125 Hz.

In terms of sound, the headset is on top of its game, with the pitch-black, dry and very well contoured bass being quite impressive. The mids are ok up to the upper registers, even if I don’t particularly like the peak at 3 KHz. However, you can make some adjustments here and get very close to the ideal Harman curve. In any case, the nimble drivers with excellent transient and response behavior are impressive. This is really good for this price range.

The level stability is above average, but you won’t enjoy the onboard sound of the mainboards, as everything sounds dull and far too weak. With a little more drive, a real flight of fancy takes off and there’s not a dry eye in the house. Neither will your ears, by the way. For an open headset, the overall performance in this price range is worth an award. Which brings me back to the intro and closes the circle. I didn’t really have much to complain about this time. That’s a good thing.

Incidentally, there are competitors who elegantly resist such a test by measuring the parameters and testing the material. However, I have no desire to clarify this externally, but I am not in a position (or willing) to buy all these headsets myself. If anyone owns headsets such as the newer MMX 100 and MMX 150 from Beyerdynamic or models from Teufel and would like to make them available for a real, influencer-free test, please contact me. Thank you!