Sound Quality

Much like other headsets from Corsair's HS lineup, the HS70 Bluetooth is equipped with a pair of 50-millimeter dynamic speaker drivers. Corsair tuned them with gaming in mind, and that's what they do best. Their sound signature is very bass-heavy, with a slightly recessed midrange and fairly smooth highs. This is exactly what most users like and strive for, and Corsair was undoubtedly aware of it. If you're after a neutral-sounding pair of headphones with as little coloration as possible, the HS70 Bluetooth definitely isn't what you're looking for.

Through its USB connection, the Corsair HS70 Bluetooth supports 24-bit/96 kHz playback. There's no annoying background hiss in any of its operating modes, and the headset gets more than loud enough regardless of the connectivity you're using. The bass, while thick, deep, and satisfyingly punchy in nature, isn't sluggish or sloppy, so it doesn't interfere with vocals, enemy footsteps, or anything else happening in the lower midrange. It also never becomes annoyingly boomy; a common pitfall of bass-heavy gaming headsets, Corsair successfully avoided it. While somewhat recessed, the midrange has satisfactory detail retrieval and enough presence to stay distinguishable in the mix. Higher frequencies sound inoffensive and aren't likely to cause ear fatigue. They're clean and pleasantly detailed.


The soundstage is surprisingly wide for a closed-back gaming headset—more than once was I under the impression I was hearing some minor detail outside of the game or song. A couple of times, I even took the headset off, thinking something was happening in my apartment only to realize it belonged to the song or game I was playing. Having said that, spatial positioning in stereo mode and when only using the flat sound profile, dubbed "Pure Direct," is mediocre. I was able to roughly estimate where my enemies were in games like Apex Legends and Battlefield V, but not with pinpointing accuracy. Luckily, this can be improved by switching to a more suitable sound profile, such as "FPS Competition," or playing with the equalizer; you want to boost the 250–4,000 Hz range, but don't overdo it. Another option for achieving better spatial awareness is to use surround sound, but we'll get to that in a moment.

While good for music and movies, games are where the HS70 Bluetooth really feels at home. Its meaty bass results in massive explosions and an exciting atmosphere in action-packed games, and the warmish overall sound signature won't leave you hanging in games which rely more on atmosphere and dialogue. All in all, this is a fun-sounding headset, cleverly tuned to cater to most gamers.

Windows Sonic for Headphones

Instead of implementing some low-quality virtual surround system, Corsair decided to lean on Windows Sonic for Headphones, which is an integral part of Windows 10. To activate it on the HS70 Bluetooth, go into your Windows settings > System > Sound, select the Corsair HS70 Bluetooth gaming headset, click on Device properties, and select "Windows Sonic for Headphones" in the Spatial sound menu. Or just right-click on the speaker icon in the system tray with the headset selected as your sound source and go to Spatial Sound > Windows Sonic for Headphones.

Activating Windows Sonic disables the equalizer in iCUE, which is fine as you'll be greeted by a pleasant, warmish, highly immersive sound. In games like Apex Legends and Battlefield V, Windows Sonic helped me with spatial positioning, but also made the whole experience that much more exciting. The sound becomes noticeably wider, both horizontally and vertically, without excessive reverb or significant loss of bass definition. Windows Sonic also pairs great with the Taction haptic bass technology, so definitely do give both a try—you'll undoubtedly enjoy it.