Sound Quality

Much like the "regular" Virtuoso RGB Wireless, the Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless SE uses a pair of large 50-millimeter dynamic speaker drivers. According to the specifications, they're factory-matched, which means someone tested them and made sure both drivers have a frequency response that's within a ±1 dB tolerance. The specs also claim they cover an exceptionally wide frequency range, digging as deep as 20 Hz and going as high as 40 kHz, which is far beyond what human ears are capable of hearing. That, along with 24-bit/96 kHz audio file support when used in USB mode, was more than enough to earn them the Hi-Res Audio badge. Both stereo and 7.1 Virtual Surround Sound modes are supported, although you can only use surround sound on the PC as it relies on the iCUE software driver.

The specs are quite impressive, and the overall sound quality of the Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless SE is very good too, with a small caveat: to get the most out of this headset, you have to play around with the system-wide equalizer. On the upside, that means you can make it sound really, really good, better than many other gaming headsets on the market, even some more expensive ones. The downside is obvious—if you're connecting the Virtuoso RGB Wireless SE to a platform other than a PC, you can't use Corsair iCUE to configure it, and that essentially locks you out of using the equalizer and making the headset perform the best it can.


The equalizer is needed to make the Virtuoso RGB Wireless SE sound more lively, energetic, and, most of all, open. Out of the box, it sounds mellow and slightly dull. It's extremely clean and quite loud—there's no chance you'll want more volume than the Virtuoso RGB Wireless SE can produce. However, there's no proper attack in the bass region, and the middle and upper frequencies are somewhat contracted. That makes in-game spatial positioning challenging. At times, I wasn't able to quickly figure out where the enemies are coming from in games where that's essential, such as Apex Legends and PUBG. Likewise, vocals and instruments in various music genres sounded like there's no air between them. Truth be told, you won't be able to make the bass exceptionally punchy even with the equalizer, as pushing the 32, 64, and 125 Hz sliders too far up results in finer low-end details getting muddied up, which is why I suggest you keep them at around the +3 dB mark (a quarter way up from their default middle position). On the other hand, raising the mid-range (500 Hz – 4 kHz) gain by around 3 dB and the high-range (8–16 kHz) gain by 4–6 dB breathes new life into the Virtuoso RGB Wireless SE.


After adjusting the EQ like that, the sound becomes brighter, more detailed and far more open. Vocals are more pronounced and much nicer to listen to, and you'll have a significantly easier time locating and tracking your in-game targets. The bass becomes weightier and richer, too. It's quite impressive to hear such small tweaks can make a massive difference in the overall listening experience. Don't get me wrong, the Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless SE sounds pretty good without any equalization, but it goes from good to downright excellent after equalization is applied. Just be careful not to go crazy with the middle and upper frequency sliders as that can and will introduce background hiss.

Another way to improve the sound quality of the Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless SE is to use the USB instead of wireless connection. That will make it sound richer and tighter across the board, and particularly in the bass region. The difference compared to wireless mode isn't massive (more improvement is still gained by using the equalizer), but it's definitely there.

The ear cushions form a good seal with the sides of the head, so the passive noise isolation is great. You shouldn't have any issues using this headset in a room you share with someone else as the other person won't be able to hear what's happening inside the ear cups.

7.1 Virtual Surround Sound

The Corsair Virtuoso RGB Wireless SE supports 7.1 Virtual Surround Sound. Most of my testing of the surround sound performance was done in Battlefield V, a game well-known for its superb audio production, and Apex Legends. I also tried it in a couple of single player game, such as Metro Exodus and What Remains of Edith Finch. The surround sound is toggled by pressing the appropriate button in the iCUE software driver, which means it's only available on PC.

I'd describe the virtual surround sound performance of the Virtuoso RGB Wireless SE as inoffensive and at times fun. The sound gets "stretched" to the left and right and becomes noticeably wider in the process. It loses a certain amount of naturality, especially in the upper frequencies, although it should be said that the bass stays present and no excessive reverb is added to the sound signature. I enjoyed using the 7.1 virtual surround sound in single-player games, where it helped with overall atmosphere and actively avoided using it in multiplayer shooters, where it caused quite a bit of confusion in terms of spatial positioning. For music, movies, and everything else, also stick to stereo mode.