Here we go again, another ramble about a product that could have been good, but instead gets all the bells and whistles of enshittification. The title gives it all, let’s talk about my open-back headphone, the Corsair Virtuoso Pro.
I fucking hate this product, not because it’s outright bad, no, but because it’s so close, so close to being a good, maybe excellent product, it gets on my nerves. Corsair Virtuoso Pro. Pro! I mean, not RGB, not wireless RGB, not gaming Raptor X wireless RGB. No, pro! The design is sober and elegant, all reviews talk about good build quality and it feels, from a marketing point of view, that when a company takes this kind of move and disrupts their habits, they want to attack something. A new market, a niche, a product for enthusiasts and they try by doing (or trying to do) a good job and on paper they did good. Well… on paper.
Sound is good, that’s all
I intended to use this headphone on my desk at home. I work here all day, it’s calm so I don’t need isolation whatsoever. I like open-back headphones because sound is usually great and I feel like my ears are breathing. Honestly Corsair did a good job here, they sound good. Really they do, they are not perfect but I don’t need them to be. They have neutral sound and a small emphasis on high bass… but we don’t care, check Rtings or something for their frequency response. Anyway it’s for listening to music while working and remote meetings and they do the job. Sound is the most important part, so what could horribly go wrong?
Build quality my ass
They are tremendously uncomfortable. The earpads, ugh the earpads, I was expecting a nice cushion, a sweet sensation of, you know, comfort, but no — the foam in the cushion padding, where is it? Seriously where? It looks like there is a large amount of foam because the pads are large, but no density at all, none nada. They probably used it all in their gaming chairs. My HyperX Cloud… something that aged around 8 years has 10 times, 10 times, I shit you not, better earpads. The imitation leather is dead of course, but they are still far, far more comfortable.
You’ll tell me: no biggie, buy some third party pads and go on. So first, NO. I don’t buy a headphone with a 200€ MSRP to change something right after (I didn’t buy it at that price, but my point remains valid). Even if I wanted to, there are no pads available from third parties, but worse — no pads available at Corsair either. No pads, no headband, nothing! Every piece in this headphone can be disassembled (easily), so it was designed from the beginning as a quality object with pieces you can change for customization or if they wear out. So why are there no replacements available? Why Corsair?
Ugh piece of shit. I still hold in esteem my last Corsair PSU. Good old reliable like a Toyota, but this headphone, on its own, will stop me from buying Corsair again.
Last note
One final note, to all the reviewers on the internet, who wrote and I quote:
- High-quality materials and build
- These headphones have a great build quality
FUCK YOU