CORSAIR Gaming Headset Instructions

CORSAIR Gaming Headset Instructions

Corsair Gaming Headset

1. Dolby Headphone and Dolby ProLogic IIx: what’s the difference?
   The Vengeance 1500 and Corsair HS1 gaming headsets feature two sets of technology provided by Dolby: Dolby Headphone, and Dolby ProLogic IIx.

Dolby Headphone is responsible for accurately reproducing positional audio. If you’re playing a multi-channel game or watching a movie with surround sound, Dolby Headphone takes the multi-channel signal delivered to the headset and applies advanced HRTF and other algorithms to deliver it the way the audio designer intended. There’s no up mixing or adding of additional channels: if your enemy is behind you and to the left, that’s where you’ll hear him.

Dolby Headphone also applies audio processing to give you the feeling of listening to audio from speakers in a room, reducing the “in your head” effect that can lead to ear fatigue. It’s a key part of the comfort equation that helps you play for hours and think about the game, and not the headset.

Dolby ProLogic IIx is an optional feature that allows for up mixing of stereo and 5.1 sources into simulated 7.1 surround sound. It’s a technology that originated with home theater systems, and many people like to enable it on their home theater systems when listening to stereo music, so that the music is delivered to all the speakers. On a headset, it’s not necessary when you’re playing a game or watching a video with multi-channel audio. You may enjoy it with stereo sources as well, but if not, you can simply leave it turned off.

2. 2. How should I clean my Corsair Gaming headset?
      The foam pads are made with open cell foam, so they should not be immersed in water. You can
      use the sticky side of tape or a lint removal tool to clean the ear pads, or a gentle wipe with a
      damp cloth on the fabric would also be fine

3. Why didn?t you include a certain feature found in more expensive headsets?
   Our goal is to create a great product in the $99 price range. We?ve done this by talking to customers about what they want and how they use their headsets, and creating a simple, durable product that focuses on what?s important: audio quality, comfort, and reliability.

In our evaluation of the gaming headset market, we?ve found several products which emphasize features at the expense of material quality, so the end result is a plasticky feeling product that may not be as comfortable as it could be, or which is liable to wear out sooner than it should. We?ve designed the HS1 to last the active enthusiast through years of use and abuse.

4. Will a more expensive gaming headset sound better?
   Our goal was not to create the best-sounding $99 gaming headset on the market, or even to create a gaming headset that?s as good as $150 models. Our goal is to create the best sounding gaming headset on the market. This is an endeavor which has influenced everything from the choice to use 50mm drivers, to our obsessive focus on baffle orientation and geometry, and even our selection of padding and fabric materials.

But, hearing is believing. We invite you to compare the HS1 to the finest gaming headset you can find, and tell us what you think.

5. What is the exact benefit of 50mm drivers, vs. the 40mm drivers found in most other gaming headsets?
   Big drivers sound better than small drivers. This is immediately understood who?s listened to the same music on large home audio speakers and a portable iPod dock. But explaining why and how they sound better requires a little more detail.

A 50mm driver has 56% more surface area than a 40mm driver (thanks to the  A = ?r2? formula we learned in elementary school). It also has a proportional increase in what audio scientists call ?volume velocity,? or ?acoustic impedance.? This translates into a measurement that the same scientists refer to as ?acoustic power? or ?sound power.? A 50mm driver has an increased sound power of 143%. You can look up these terms on Wikipedia for more details on how they?re calculated.

The additional sound power allows the driver to reproduce audio that?s much more detailed. If your audio source has a lot of things going on at once ? a 24-track musical  wall of sound,? for instance, or a boss level in a game where you have way too many enemies firing way too many types of weapons your way ? a driver with more sound power can recreate each of these more accurately, while a smaller driver is more liable to lose details in the noise.

This means that listening is more enjoyable, with less distortion ? whether it?s distortion that you can immediately notice, or if it?s the continuous, low-grade distortion that irritates you on a subconscious level, contributes to ear fatigue and makes you want to stop listening.

Beyond enjoyment, there?s a practical advantage when playing games ? you need to hear the voices of your teammates during the massively insane firefights. While this won?t be an issue 90% of the time (a good game audio designer will test on various types of speakers and headphones), it?s that 10% that counts.

6. How does Dolby Headphone provide surround sound using just two drivers?
   The first question to answer is ?how do humans detect sounds all around them, when we have just two ears??

The answer is that we?ve learned to determine the position of a sound based on the subtle changes to the sound depending on how it reaches our ears. For instance, a sound wave that travels over the back of your ear before reaching your ear canal will be slightly modified in a way that?s different than the modification that takes place with sounds that come at you from the front. We figure this out subconsciously, and it?s not a skill we?re born with ? we learn how to do this as infants.

Audio scientists have been studying these effects for decades, and they have a name for these position-based changes: head-related transfer functions or HRTFs. Scientists have learned how to apply these functions to sounds to make them appear to come from any direction. In other words, the functions simulate the effect of the sounds coming from front or behind you. The HS1 provides surround sound using HRTF technology developed by the experts at Dolby. A key to the effectiveness of this technology is the design of the headset itself, and we have found competitive products that have licensed the same Dolby technology, but lack the proper response curve for effective HRTF. So, if you?ve tried other surround sound headsets which use HRTFs and have not been impressed, please give the HS1 a serious evaluation.

That being said, there is a certain percentage of the population for which HRTFs aren?t effective. A lot of acoustic science has gone into developing this technology, but it can?t accommodate for everybody?s unique head and ear shape. If you fall into this category, you can be assured that you?ll still enjoy great-sounding stereo audio with the HS1.

7. What does Dolby Headphone do besides provide surround sound?
   Dolby Headphone also incorporates Dolby ProLogic IIx technology, which up- mixes stereo and 5.1 audio sources into 7.1 audio. It can create a feeling of spaciousness and depth that you don?t hear in the original source. It?s the same technology that?s ubiquitous in home audio. However, if it?s not to your liking for whatever reason, you?ll be happy to know that it?s optional.

Dolby Headphone also applies processing to simulate the effect of listening to speakers in a room. It doesn?t attempt to make the instruments and musicians appear to be placed far away; rather, it makes the audio source sound much as it would if you were in your living room listening to music on your audio system, rather than wearing headphones. This reduces the effect of audio appearing to come from ?in your head? and can greatly reduce what is known as ?headphone fatigue,? the syndrome where you get tired of music that appears to emanate from your skull.

In our testing, we?ve noted that Dolby Headphone works great for most audio sources, but there are some types of recordings where the effect adds a little too much processing. That?s why Dolby Headphone, like Dolby ProLogic IIx, is an optional setting. We recommend that you try it with a variety of audio sources, and play with the configuration options that allow you to choose the simulated room size. We think that you?ll find that for many types of audio, it adds a sense of realism that you can?t get with ordinary stereo headsets.

8. What has Corsair done to make the audio sound so great, besides using 50mm drivers?
   The choice to use 50mm drivers, rather than the industry-standard 40mm drivers, was just the first step of the journey. There?s much more to creating a great headset beyond investing in the right high-quality components. Our audio engineering team looked at every parameter that affects accurate audio reproduction, including driver design and alignment, baffle geometry and angle, and the acoustic tuning of the materials chosen for the ear-pads and liner material.

9. Does my content need to be specially encoded to take advantage of Dolby Headphone? Do I need to look for PC games with the Dolby logo?
   No. Dolby Headphone works with any stereo, 5.1, or 7.1 audio streams.

10. What is the benefit of a circumaural, closed-back design? What do those terms mean?
    ?Circumaural? means ?around the ear.? The other type of commonly used earcup design is ?supra-aural,? resting on the ears.

Circumaural ear cups provide superior noise isolation. Noise isolation is important for LAN parties and other noisy, high-distraction environments ? you want to get your head into your game (or your movie, or your music) without noise filtering in, and others around you may not want to hear what you?re listening to.

When designing a Circumaural headset, the key to comfort is relatively light weight, without creating pinch points or touching the ears. We?ve accomplished this by using extra-large ear cups that we tested on people who sport some of the largest ears we could find. Our use of memory foam allows a firm, uniform seal, without exerting too much pressure on the head. The fabric covering allows for less slip than imitation leather, and reduces the excess moisture that leather-like materials can cause.

Closed-back ear cups are sealed against sound leaving or entering the ear cup. Compare this to open-back ear cups, which have perforations, slots or another type of opening in the ear cups that allow some environmental sound in, and allow some of the audio from the ear cups to escape.
Open-back designs do not allow for adequate noise isolation.

How do I update the firmware?

First, you must install the CUE software. Then bring it up and go to SETTINGS and click on the DEVICE tab.

Click Update Firmware and then click the link in the pop-up window:

Save the .zip somewhere on your PC for easy access and then click open.

Proceed to click Update and let the software proceed with the firmware update. You will notice the keyboard power down and power up as it reboots internally. If the keyboard is not detected after the firmware update, we recommend restarting the PC and bringing the software back up. Does Windows 7 have Bluetooth wireless connectivity?

In Microsoft Windows 7 and earlier, Bluetooth wireless adapter manufacturers developed their own unique drivers for connectivity. While the CORSAIR K63 Wireless Keyboard has been validated in Windows 7 with the included USB wireless receiver (2.4GHz wireless mode) and USB data / charging cable (wired mode), the variability in manufacturer Bluetooth wireless drivers may cause some users to experience Bluetooth connectivity issues.

CORSAIR recommends the following solutions to resolve Windows 7 Bluetooth wireless connectivity issues:

• Upgrade to Windows 10 and use the built-in universal Microsoft Bluetooth wireless driver.
  • Highly recommended as Microsoft has ended mainstream support for Windows 7.
• Try using one of the following Bluetooth 4.0 or higher USB adapters
  • http://plugable.com/products/usb-bt4le/
  • http://www.asus.com/Networking/USBBT400/

Corsair SP2500 and SP2200 Gaming Speaker

1. I hear static/hissing/popping from my SP2200 speakers, what?s the problem?
   The most common cause for these issues is due to lose connections on the rear of the subwoofer. Please ensure that the connections on the rear of the subwoofer are securely connected by using one hand to hold the subwoofer in place and firmly pressing on the connections to make sure that the cords are fully plugged in.

2. What materials are used to make the SP2500 speakers and subwoofer?
   The subwoofer uses a double chamber reinforced 12mm MDF construction with a professional grade black vinyl protective layer. The satellite speakers are 3.5mm PS with acoustically aligned elliptical/conic section horn flare. The tweeter is acoustically damped silk with ferrofluid cooling 16W continuous (FTC ?RMS? power), and magnetically shielded rare-earth magnet structure. The midrange is a coated paper pulp with magnetically shielded rare-earth magnet structure with 40W continuous (?FTC ?RMS? power) using rubber surrounds. The subwoofer is a folded paper with 120W continuous (?FTC ?RMS? power) using rubber surrounds.

3. Have the SP2500s been tested on various soundcards and consoles?
   Yes, the speakers and subwoofer are tested with a variety of soundcards, consoles, professional sound systems, audio precision, CLIO, LEAP, and SOUNDCHECK.

4. **What is the intended use for these speakers? Games, high volume, accurate sound?
   The SP2500 can work on a desk, bookshelf, or stand. Their response can be adjusted via the use
   of the built in DSP for reference, games, movies, music, entertainment and party (karaoke,
   club/theatre/stadium) response. The most accurate sound is attained using CLASSICAL EQ
   with ?NONE? program mode. We are working on other configurations that will be available
   for update via DSP.

5. Why did Corsair use class D amplifiers for the midrange and tweeters on the SP2500?
   **The Class D amplifiers in the SP2500 use a common architecture for all modulation and drive stages. The modulators are integrated with our DSP cores and the drive stages are customized to drive the precise amount of power required for each loudspeaker driver unit. The drive stages for the Midrange and Tweeters have significant headroom, meaning that the amplifiers could theoretically blast those midrange or tweeters into thermal oblivion [and we did blow a few in the lab during development – the tweeter in particular was suped-up to use Ferro fluid cooling so that we could drive high power out to 20kHz]. The headroom allowed us to get the lowest distortion of any product in this class.
   This philosophy allowed us to increase the power of the system on the first day of production. We started the line up and found that we were exceeding our target of 220W on every single unit tested with wide margin, so we reprinted the boxes to show the actual 232W of power that the units actually put out.

5. Why bridge two 60W amplifiers for subwoofer when you could have used only one 120W on the SP2500?
   Two 60W amplifiers in a bridge configuration provided much lower distortion than one 120W unit and allowed us to use the 60W design like a cookie cutter to decrease design complexity and lower cost. This is one of the many design choices we made to keep the cost low while providing the highest performance possible, and turned out to be a win-win decision.

6. What types of inputs are available on the SP2200?
   There are 3 inputs available. On the Subwoofer you will find a single 3.5mm stereo jack along with an RCA stereo auxiliary input for gaming systems. There is also an additional 3.5mm stereo auxiliary input on the right satellite for MP3 players and other devices.
   What controls are found on the right satellite speaker?
   The right speaker has independent controls for Volume and Subwoofer Volume. There is also an auxiliary 3.5mm jack for plugging in an MP3 player, and a separate headphone jack for convenience.

7. How do I navigate the menus on the SP2500?
   To navigate the menus on the remote, first press the middle “Menu” button on the remote. Use the dial on the remote to scroll through the items within the menu and then press down on the dial to select a menu option. Once selected you can scroll through the different options for each menu item and then press down on the dial to select your option.

8. Is there any way to extend the remote cable length on the SP2500?
   Our remote on the SP2500 uses an SVGA connection which is found on some monitors. You can use a standard SVGA extension cable to extend the length of the remote, as long as it has both male and female connectors. Make sure you get the SVGA cable, because a standard VGA cable will not allow the speakers to transmit the audio signal.

9. What is the maximum recommended volume level for the SP2500?
   We designed the SP2500 to have a fully usable range of volume. This means that you can turn the speakers all the way up to the max without worrying about sound quality deteriorating or wearing out your speakers prematurely. These speakers are rated to run at maximum volume for up to 48 hours, turn them up as loud as you (or your neighbors) can stand!

10. Why isn’t there sound coming out of my SP2500 speakers?
    First make sure that the speakers are not muted. To mute/unmute the system select the volume button on the bottom left corner of the remote, and then press down on the volume control dial. To unmute the system you can also simply twist the volume dial and your selected volume will override and disable mute.
    The SP2500 has 3 different inputs; you will want to be sure that you have selected the proper input on the remote. “Line In” is the input that should be selected if you want to listen to a device that you have connected to the RCA jacks on the rear of the subwoofer. “AUX1” should be selected if you are looking for the device connected to the 3.5mm jack on the rear of the subwoofer. “AUX2” should be selected if you want to hear the device that is connected to the 3.5mm jack on the top of the remote.

11. Why isn’t the subwoofer working on the SP2500?
    The SP2500 gives you the ability to independently control subwoofer volume, and in addition to this, the subwoofer also has its own mute option. To check to see if your subwoofer is muted, press the subwoofer button on the bottom right corner of the remote then make sure the volume is turned up to the desired level. While on the subwoofer volume menu you can press down on the round selector dial to toggle mute/unmute. When the subwoofer is muted, the subwoofer icon on the remote’s display will be grayed out.

How to find your lot code

Lot codes for Corsair products can generally be found in the follow locations. For more specific information, please view the Corsair knowledge base Lot Code article for a particular product series.

• Headsets: The code is located on the earcup’s arm.
• Speakers: The code is located on the back of the subwoofer.
• Case: The code is located on the back panel.
• Cooling: The code is located on the radiator.
• Flash: The code is located on the unit’s packaging, near UPC barcode.
• SSD: The code is located on the label on top of the SSD.
• Mice: The code is located on the label taped next to the USB connector.
• Keyboard: The code is located on the packaging near the UPC barcode.
• Memory: The code is on the memory module’s label.
• PSU: The code is on the PSU label, next to the serial number.

How many keys are programmable with your Corsair Utility Engine software?

Every key on the keyboard except the volume scroll wheel is assignable with an action of your choosing. Each and every individual key can also be customized to be any color you like (up to 16.8 million options) in addition to an action being assigned.

What is Type Lighting (aka Reactive Typing) and how do I set that up?

Type Lighting is also known as Reactive Typing on the Vengeance K70 non-RGB. This is a type of lighting that will actuate based on an individual key press. Unlike the original Vengeance K70, our software now has two different types of Type Lighting:

• Single Lighting – Configure a single key to display a gradient of color(s) upon key press.
• Multiple Lighting – Configure a single key to create a ripple of color(s) across multiple keys upon key press.

Type Lighting will work with both Foreground and Background Lighting simultaneously upon key press.

What is 104-Key Rollover?
Rollover refers to the number of simultaneous key presses that will register to the system. If a keyboard has 6-Key Rollover, that means the maximum of keys that can be pressed together and display properly is six (6).

Our Corsair Vengeance K70 RGB can detect up to 104-keys which means that if you simultaneously pressed every standard key on our keyboard. All 104 keys will be registered correctly. This is important in games where improper detection of keystrokes can make the difference between victory and defeat.

Corsair Vengeance 1500 and HS1 Gaming Headset

1. Where can I download the drivers for the Vengeance 1500 headset?
   Drivers for the Vengeance 1500 Headset can be found here.

2. The HS1 has a frequency response curve that?s engineered to give great performance for games, movies, and music. Does this mean that it?s not as good for action games as a headset which is designed solely for gaming?
   The HS1 renders all audio accurately, even explosions and the fire of large caliber weaponry. We?ve strived to create a product that reproduces audio exactly as the audio engineer or designer intended it, whether it?s a first- person shooter, an audio recording, or an action movie.

Gaming headsets with an over boosted low-end might create a good first impression, but, fall apart in the mid-band so you can?t hear ?com-chatter? when your partner warns you of the zombie approaching on your blind spot, and can?t localize with the high frequency sound details the sound designers put in the game mix. Also, when you want to listen to other types of audio it?s best to retain as much dynamic range across the whole audio band. Of course, if you want to crank up the low end on the HS1 to get a similar effect when you?ve launched an FPS game, you can do that too ? see the previous question.

3. What is the best way to use the EQ to boost bass levels on the HS1?
   EQ can be used to trim response at particular frequencies, but cannot effectively be used to boost response ? you can?t boost what?s not there. If you take an ?explosion-optimized? gaming headset and use software EQ to try to boost the midrange where the frequency response dips, you?ll end up with distortion and run out of dynamic headroom ? that is, you?ll lose the effect of games and music with wide range of volume in the midrange band? which describes most music and games. You?ve already boosted your midrange, and it can?t be boost much more.

But since EQ can be used to trim response, if you want to emphasize the low end on the HS1, you can lower the EQ for the midrange and high ends while keeping the low end EQ at the default. This will create a ?bass shelf? and mimic the effect of an ?explosion optimized? headset. The HS1 gives you the best of both worlds.

References

• [ Plugable USB 2.0 Bluetooth® Adapter – Plugable Technologies](http://plugable.com/products/usb-bt4le/ "Plugable USB 2.0 Bluetooth® Adapter

– Plugable Technologies")

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