Corsair HS60 Haptic Wired Stereo Gaming Headset (Arctic Camo) Expired

GREAT PRICE at $53.99 new, also at Newegg. Warning: Amazon shipped mine in a thin-film bag and received my new headphones in a battered box and the right speaker sounded misaligned. If you're feeling lucky, used go for $29 ($33 for black)--I got two and received two brand new headphones sealed in battered boxes.

The haptics and mic on the HS60 Haptic are much, much better than Razer's. Only get this if you want headphones with HAPTIC feedback a.k.a. wearable subwoofer/bass shaker/tactile transducer. Aside from game immersion, the effect works well with bass-heavy music (hip-hop/rap/EDM, even modern double pedal metal productions) as the rumbling simulates full-size subwoofer bone conduction/vibrations (aural AND tactile dimensions of the whole body acoustic experience).

TL;DR: They're haptic subbass in headphones done right. Currently there are only three manufacturers of haptic headphones: Corsair, Razer, and SkullCandy. I have no experience with SkullCandy Crusher Evo so can't compare, but you can objectively compare the acceleration response (EQ equivalent for haptic) of the haptic actuator between Lofelt (Razer Hypersense) and Taction (Corsair Haptic):

https://e2e.ti.com/cfs-file/__key...asheet.pdf

Image: https://i.imgur.com/Fxes5nv.png

Here the Lofelt (now under Meta/Facebook) actuator has very bad subbass (nonexistent 40Hz below), has a pronounced peak at 70Hz which is rather loose, and has a frequency range of 45-250 Hz. 200-250 Hz is too high ("boomy" range) and creeps on to vocal range, and you'll hear literal EXPLOSIONS when you're just listening to someone talk in a zoom meeting.

The Taction actuator has a flatter response over the range of 12Hz to 180Hz: https://www.tactiontechnology.com/technology/

Image: https://www.corsair.com/us/en/med...200Wx1200H

I can't find any info regarding SkullCandy haptic actuators.

EDIT:

I need to clarify that there is a clear distinction in the design philosophy between the Taction haptic technology used in the Corsair HS60 Haptic, and "novelty" haptics focused on gaming immersion, even though both seem to be based on the same tactile transducers. For full disclosure, I was supposed to be a beta-tester for the original Taction Kannon--the haptic technology of which ultimately found mainstream distribution with the Corsair HS60 Haptic--but I was regrettably too busy with school. The Taction Kannon was designed by Stanford-MIT engineer Dr. James Biggs to simulate full-size subwoofer acoustics which have BOTH auditory and tactile dimensions. From Biggs' kickstarter he explains: https://www.kickstarter.com/proje...u-can-feel

Conventional headphones simply cannot do bass audio justice. Because your body hears deep bass audio through vibrations, traditional headphones shortchange you at low frequencies. Hearing is ultimately a physical sensation. Out in the world you feel sound, especially at the low end. Sound waves don't just travel in air, they travel through whatever they encounter, including your body. A bass drop on the dance floor. The deep thump of a drum at a concert or symphony. A heavy truck rumbling by. When you hear those sounds you are also feeling the combination of the physical impact of the sounds waves and the way they resonate within your body.

The lowest frequencies – 60Hz and below – are diminished and frequently missing entirely in conventional headphones. Even with the best audio drivers that may reproduce sound down to 30 Hz, there still seems to be something missing. Why? Because your body "feels" as much of the sound in that frequency range as it "hears" it. True realism comes from being able to feel low frequencies as well as hear them.



I only knew about the existence of the Corsair HS60 Haptic last month when I was testing Razer haptic headphones and I'm just so happy to get this opportunity to try the Taction haptic finally.

Now for further disclosure, Dr. Biggs' target audience was the "Extreme Basshead" community inspired by the JVC Kenwood engineer Takuji Miura [jvc.com], who miniaturized a Kelton subwoofer design into the JVC-Kenwood LiveBeat HA-SZ2000/1000, the only headphones with a dedicated subwoofer that can go as low as 4Hz and hit 125dB subbass [youtube.com] without distortion. Biggs saw the community showcasing the LiveBeats vibrating paper/water, and made the Taction Kannon to simulate that high SPL subwoofer vibration without the hearing damage.

I suggest reading more about Takuji Miura's design process here: https://uk.jvc.com/microsite/uk/s...rview.html Both Miura and Biggs, as far as I know, are the only two audiophile engineers who've pushed to market their designs to accomplish translating the loudspeaker subwoofer experience into headphones.

X Doubt