Here at CORSAIR, we make a lot of gaming headsets. Wired, wireless, console, PC, we cover basically every platform and our headsets are highly regarded by gamers.
However, many of our headsets do come at a high price, a price that some people simply cannot afford. Of course we’ve made budget headsets, too, but with the HS35 v2 and HS35 SURROUND v2, we’ve finally managed to cram some of our top-tier technology into a couple of affordable headsets.
As an aside, the HS35 SURROUND v2 ships with a 3.5mm to USB adapter that enables surround sound, whereas the HS35 v2 does not, and therefore ships at a lower price as it can only provide stereo sound. That’s the primary difference between the HS35 v2 and HS35 SURROUND v2.
Ok, bookkeeping taken care of, let’s get into the specs. We’re just going to list the specs of the HS35 SURROUND v2 here, as the non-SURROUND variant is identical aside from, well, you know, support for surround sound.
Those who are technologically inclined often need nothing more than a spec list, but if you’re curious for more, read on as we’ve got more to talk about here.
Floating headbands are a game-changing design choice when it comes to comfort. However, when it comes to CORSAIR products, they’ve only been present on our HS80 and HS80 MAX headsets, which may be too expensive for some. So, we decided to fit a floating headband into our budget lineup with the HS35 v2, allowing the comfort benefits to trickle down, so to speak.
The advantage of a floating headband over a traditional one is that the elastic nature of the band distributes the weight of the headset more evenly. This means that the headset feels lighter than it normally would and can really extend the time it takes for the user to feel fatigued.
Additionally, because of the elastic, it can self-adjust to a certain extent. For example, those who intermittently wear hats will know that a normal set of headphones must be loosened slightly when wearing a hat, then tightened up after the headwear is removed.
Not so with a floating headband, as the elastic provides enough slack to cover the effective head size increase that comes with wearing a hat. People who don’t wear hats will think this is pointless, but the hat enjoyers out there already know that this is a really strong side benefit of the floating headband design. Of course, you can still manually adjust the headband if you need to.
One of the strongest benefits of a headset that uses a 3.5mm jack is that it results in basically universal compatibility. No drivers, no proprietary USB codecs, just slap the 3.5mm jack into the PC, phone, console, or controller and you’re done. (It’s worth noting here that the HS35 v2 is compatible with PS5’s 3D Audio with or without the USB dongle that comes with the HS32 SURROUND v2.) Speaking of which, let’s talk about that dongle and the benefits of going with the slightly more expensive SURROUND variant that ships with it.
Up until now, everything we’ve talked about has been applicable to both the HS35 v2, and the HS35 SURROUND v2, but this part is only relevant to the latter.
When you plug the HS35 v2 into the surround sound adapter, you can now access settings via iCUE, just like our more expensive USB-connected gaming headsets, such as the Virtuoso and VOID RGB lineup.
As the name suggests, this adapter enables the full surround sound experience, either with Windows Spatial Audio, or DOLBY. This can be enabled by pressing the “Stereo”/”Surround” button at the bottom left of the Equalizer section of iCUE.
There’s more to this however, as the USB adapter also offers up access to the all-important Equalizer, which allows you to customize the sound profile to your liking or pick between a few presets. Sidetones can also be enabled, which can be vital for some people. Additionally, the USB interface lets you take advantage of NVIDIA Broadcast Technologies and its impressive AI-powered noise and echo removal.
So, now you know everything there is to know about the CORSAIR HS35 v2 and SURROUND v2. Check them out over at our webstore!
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