Closer Examination

I couldn't blame you for not being able to tell the difference between the Immersa and the Immersa Pro just by looking at them. They're not identical visually, but the differences come down to just a couple of details. That's not a bad thing either, as the Immersa - as well as the Immersa Pro – both manage to look distinctive and completely unlike other headsets without going overboard with their aesthetics. I'll reiterate some of the things I wrote about in the original Immersa review, but will comment on the changes as well.


The most striking aspect of the Immersa, the one that's definitely going to grab your attention first, are the truly massive ear cups. They're both wide - we're talking 100-millimeters here - and ridiculously fat. Try putting two thumbs next to each other; that's the approximate width of the cushion on each ear cup. When I first saw them, an image of MrSpeakers' Alpha Dogs, a high-end modification of Fostex's T50RP audiophile hi-fi headphones, immediately came to mind. That's a good thing, too, because it speaks volumes on the feeling of luxury I had when I first started to examine the Immersa Pro.


The outer side of the ear cups is perforated, which is usually an indication of an open-back design, something you don't normally find in a gaming headset. However, the metal mesh is there for decorative purposes only because the ear cups are completely closed underneath.


Each ear cup has a metal ring protruding out of its center. The right ring functions as a volume dial and the left one is a microphone mute switch. The surface of both is rugged to make them easier to turn. I like the fact that the controls are placed on the ear cups instead of an in-line remote control. However, the Cougar's implementation leaves a bit to be desired. The volume wheel should be way easier and smoother to turn than it is. There was no need to make it as rigid because there's no chance you'll turn it (or even touch it) by accident - it's sitting next to your ears, after all. Even when you pick up the Immersa Pro with your hands and put it down on the table, you still don't come anywhere near to touching the volume dial. It's possible to make fine adjustments to the volume level though, so you at least don't have to worry about that.


As for the microphone mute wheel, it has a very short range of motion because it only works as an on/off switch, and a satisfying "click" will inform you of when you've muted the microphone. There's a chance you'll miss the "click" if you're playing a loud game or listening to music, but fear not, an orange LED inside the microphone's head will also tell you that the microphone itself is muted.


Surrounding the volume dial and the microphone mute switch are two transparent rings equipped with RGB LEDs. You can change their color in the Cougar UIX System, which I'll cover a bit later in the review. Although the purpose of RGB LEDs on a gaming headset continues to escape me, I have to admit that this is one of the subtler and nicer implementations of it, even though the colors aren't particularly vivid or bright. Take a look at the various colors and effects in my video:


You can also check out Cougar's very own video where the RGB effects can be seen:



The left ear cup contains the retractable microphone, which can be pulled out and pushed back in with a single movement of the hand. It doesn't even matter if it was bent in a certain way - once you start pushing it back in, it uses the hole through which it protrudes to automatically straighten itself out and hide away from sight. The microphone can be freely bent in all directions, which makes pointing it directly towards the mouth a breeze. Its head is shaped cylindrically and doesn't have any clear markings that would point you to the side of the microphone you're supposed to talk into. Sure, one side of the microphone head has a single hole, and on the other opposite it are three, but there's no chance you can feel that distinction under your fingers unless you're an expert Braille reader. However, the microphone doesn't seem to be too fussed about its exact positioning. You can simply pull it out, bend it towards your mouth, and start talking.


The cable comes out of the left ear cup. It's 2 meters long, braided and terminates in a Mini-USB connector.


The aforementioned Mini-USB connector can be plugged into the supplied TRRS adapter you'll need to use if you want to use the headset with a mobile device, console or anything else other than your PC or the USB sound card. The puck-shaped sound card dangles from a 15-centimeter-long USB cable, which is quite odd. If you plug it directly into the motherboard or the front-panel USB ports, it will inevitably dangle from your case, which is aesthetically obtrusive. The only case in which its implementation makes some sense is when connecting it to a laptop because the "puck" will then simply sit on the table. The sound card offers no buttons or dials, which is yet another reason why I think a more traditional shape, like that of a USB memory stick, would have worked better.