Corsair HS75 XB WIRELESS Headphones Review

The Corsair HS75 XB are wireless gaming headphones. They come with a boom microphone, which you can remove for a more casual look. Unlike the Corsair HS70 Wireless, they have silver metal grilles rather than black, which stands out. Also, their headband doesn't have white quilted stitching. Aside from the metal grilles, they have a satin-black plastic look.

The Corsair HS75 are very comfortable. They're lightweight, and they don't clamp very tightly on your head. The headband is padded, which feels plush and comfortable against your head. However, the ear cups don't have a very wide range of motion, which may make them uncomfortable for some listeners.

These headphones have mediocre controls. On the right ear cup, there's a power button and a Game/Chat control wheel for channel mixing. On the left ear cup, there's a Mute/Unmute button and a volume control wheel. However, the volume wheel doesn't have notches at min or max volume, so it's hard to know what volume you're listening at. Also, there's no way to know if the microphone is muted or unmuted when wearing the headset.

In addition to these controls, there are also four EQ presets that you can cycle through if you click the volume wheel: 'Flat', 'Bass Boost', 'Treble Boost', and 'Bass and Treble Boost'. There isn't any mention of these settings in the manual, though. The names of these presets also come from a Corsair representative who responded to a user question, so we can't validate these names. We noticed that the changes in frequency response between each EQ preset align with these names. Every click you do results in a tone, and each preset has a different number of tones so that you can tell them apart.

These headphones have inadequate portability. Like most over-ears, they're quite large and bulky. They don't fold into a more compact format, so they may not fit easily into your bag.

These headphones don't come with a case or a pouch.

The Corsair HS75 have an impressive build quality. The body is mostly made of plastic, and the yokes are made of a metal-like material. There's faux leather on the ear cups and a cloth lining inside the cups. Overall, the materials feel quite solid and durable. The boom microphone is detachable, and there's a plastic cap to cover the mic hole when it's not in use. However, the cloth lining in the ear cups seems like it could rip or get dirty easily.

The Corsair HS75 XB are decently stable. They should stay on your ears during casual listening sessions. However, they aren't intended to be worn during workouts, and they may fall off your head during higher-intensity workouts.

• Corsair HS75 XB
• Detachable boom microphone
• USB-C charging cable
• Small cover for the microphone hole
• Manuals

When set to the 'Flat' EQ preset, the Corsair HS75 XB have a bass-heavy sound profile. The extra boom, thump, and punch in the bass range help you feel the deep thump and rumble from action-packed scenes in your favorite games, but it may be overwhelming for some listeners. Audio also lacks some detail and airiness due to the underemphasized treble range. You can access an EQ in the Dolby Atmos app to customize their sound. There are also four EQ presets that you can access by clicking the volume wheel: Flat, 'Treble Boost', 'Bass Boost', and 'Bass and Treble Boost'. Note that while there's a deviation in the bass range between the 'Flat' EQ response and our original raw frequency response, this is likely due to inconsistencies in bass delivery. As they're also over-ear headphones, we measure the 600-900Hz frequency band on human ears instead of on our test rig as the head's ears are too rigid, which can affect the headphones' ability to create a good seal.

Some users have experienced a low buzzing noise from their unit's left driver. We connected our unit to the computer using the Xbox One dongle and didn't play audio for a minute. We noticed there was a low buzzing sound coming from the left driver. Using the game/chat mixer or unplugging the microphone doesn't affect this sound, which you still hear. However, the buzzing stops when you plug in the charging cable. Unfortunately, we don't know what's causing this issue.

The Corsair HS75 XB have acceptable frequency response consistency. Bass and treble delivery can vary depending on their fit, seal, and positioning on your head. This can be more apparent if you have thick hair or wear glasses, as this can affect their seal.

The Corsair HS75 have middling bass accuracy. The entire range is overemphasized, adding an extra punch and boom to your audio. You can feel the deep thump and rumble in action-packed video games, but some listeners may find the bass to be a bit overwhelming. However, their bass delivery is inconsistent and somewhat sensitive to their fit and positioning, so your experience may vary.

The Corsair HS75 XB have good mid accuracy. The entire range is flat and balanced, so vocals and lead instruments are clear and present in the mix. However, the overemphasis in the low-mids can also make these same instruments a bit muddy or cluttered.

The Corsair HS75 XB have okay treble accuracy. The range is underemphasized, which can hurt the comprehensibility of vocals and lead instruments. Sibilants like cymbals may also be dull or lispy. However, their treble delivery is inconsistent and somewhat sensitive to their fit and positioning, so your experience may vary.

The Corsair HS75 XB have satisfactory peaks and dips performance. The peak across the bass range adds an extra boom, punch, and thump to the mix, which can sound boomy to some listeners. The slight dip in the mid-mids pushes vocals and lead instruments towards the back of the mix, while the peak in the low-treble and the mid-treble can make those same instruments a bit piercing.

These headphones have decent imaging. Their weighted group delay falls mostly below the audibility threshold, resulting in mostly transparent treble, but a loose bass. While the L/R drivers of our unit are well-matched in phase response, there's some mismatch in amplitude and frequency response. As a result, objects in the stereo image like footsteps or voices may not be accurately placed or localized. However, these results are only valid for our test unit, and yours may perform differently.

The Corsair HS75 XB have a middling passive soundstage performance. The soundstage may be perceived as a bit unnatural, and sounds seem like they're coming from inside your head rather than from speakers placed all around you. Also, due to their closed-back design, their soundstage doesn't sound as open or as spacious as open-back headphones.

The Corsair HS75 XB can be paired with the Dolby Atmos app on the Xbox or your PC. However, to use this feature on PCs that don't have Xbox Wireless technology, you need an Xbox Wireless Adapter.

These headphones have a satisfactory weighted harmonic distortion performance. Aside from a small peak in the high-treble range, the range mostly falls within good limits, resulting in mostly clean and pure audio reproduction.

Update 12/15/2020: We originally stated that the firmware was unknown. However, when we connected these headphones to iCue software, it shows that its firmware version is '3.0.2' and we've added this to the review.

These are the settings we used to test these headphones. Our results are only valid when using these settings. Since this wireless headset is designed for Xbox One consoles, it doesn't come with a USB dongle. We used an Xbox Wireless Adapter to pair it with our PC. All of our sound and microphone testing was done with this connection.

The Corsair HS75 XB have a poor noise isolation performance. They hardly block out any background noise in the bass and mid-ranges, so you can hear the deep rumble of bus and plane engines or chatter from people nearby. However, they can block out higher-frequency noises, like the hum from AC units.

The Corsair HS75 XB have passable leakage. They leak a bit of sound, and if you're listening to your audio at high volumes, others may hear some of it, even in a somewhat noisy environment like an office.

The Corsair HS75 XB have a detachable boom microphone.

The microphone has an impressive recording quality. Your voice sounds deep and full-bodied, with little distortion.

The microphone has a great noise handling performance. It can separate your voice from background noises, even if you're calling from a noisy environment.

The Corsair HS75 XB have a great battery performance. They last for over 21 hours off a single charge, which is suitable for many long gaming sessions. They also have an auto-off timer to help you conserve battery when they aren't in use, which is convenient.

Note: The manufacturer advertises that the light on the headphones is amber when charging and turns solid white when fully charged. However, during our tests, the light was amber while charging but turned off after 2.3 hours. We suspect that our test unit's light is defective, and your headphones may perform differently.

The Corsair HS75 XB are only compatible with Corsair iCue software when using an Xbox Wireless Adapter, which is sold separately. They're also compatible with the Dolby Atmos app, which offers an EQ so you can customize their sound. However, we don't test for third-party apps.

Note 12/15/2020: To use iCue companion software, you have to purchase the Xbox Wireless Adapter, which is sold separately. This app lets you only update the firmware of the headphones. We don't consider it to be companion software as you need this external device to use it.

Unlike the Razer Kaira Pro Wireless, the Corsair HS75 aren't Bluetooth-compatible.

These headphones have good non-Bluetooth wireless connectivity. Using a Microsoft Wireless Adapter to pair them with a PC, they have low latency, so they're suitable for gaming and videos.

Note: These headphones don't come with a USB dongle and use Xbox Wireless technology to connect to Xbox consoles. To test latency, we used a Microsoft Wireless Adapter for Xbox One to connect the headphones to our test PC, which doesn't have Xbox Wireless technology. We can't confirm that these results are similar to their latency on Xbox consoles.

These headphones are wireless-only. They come with a USB-C cable for charging.

The Corsair HS75 XB offer full audio and microphone compatibility with Xbox One consoles via Xbox Wireless technology. They can be paired to your console using the same process you use to pair an Xbox Remote.

The Corsair HS75 XB don't come with a base. However, they're compatible with Xbox Wireless Adapters, which you can purchase separately.