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While the mouse and keyboard on the previous posts are completely new to Corsair, this headset is less of a stretch from its comfort zone.

Its first bite of the headset cherry, the Corsair HS1, was a decent effort. To make its new cans worth buying though, it needs to take the SP2500's sound quality and add comfort, mic clarity, 3D positioning and intuitive controls. No mean feat, and Corsair is aiming high by promising 'audiophile quality' from $88 headset.

50mm drivers have been fitted to avoid distortion and cope with rumbling low-end frequencies, and the earpieces and headband are well padded for comfort, but can the Vengeance 1300 really deliver on all of its promises?

Audiophil-ish

Let's start by saying that using the phrase 'audiophile quality' is a mistake. When you appeal to the most finicky members of a community, you'll always find know-it-alls determined to prove you wrong.

It's like saying 'Hey, Internet! This new thing is as good as The Empire Strikes Back!'

So no, the Vengeance 1300 doesn't offer audiophile quality. The low-end's too exaggerated for that, and it'll never offer better clarity and true frequency response than Audio-Technique's ATH-M50, even with those 50mm drivers.

But a gaming headset doesn't need that kind of quality - most gamers would rather spend their pennies on a GPU than a sound card, and since a headset can only blast out what the sound chip produces, the chances are that this and most similar headsets are wildly overqualified.

Heard no distortion even at frankly dangerous volume levels; it appears no dubstep bassline or BF3 tank fight is too much for the Vengeance 1300. Background noise is deftly cut out too, which is great for maxing out immersion levels or gaming near a construction site.

If you have a 3D soundcard, the Vengeance 1300 will give Creative's SoundBlaster Omega run for its money. Creative's headset is pricier, so that's an impressive feat. It seems Corsair has crammed SP2500 sound quality into these cans after all.

The heavy foam padding cuts out background noise brilliantly, but after 30 minutes of continuous wear the Vengeance 1300 starts to get uncomfortable.

At the sub-$96 price range though, Corsair's sophomore headset is pretty much the cream of the crop. Those gamers looking to save even more pennies will find their basic needs sated by Sony's DR-GA100 set, but they'll be missing out on the Vengeance 1300's great noise-canceling tech and top-drawer sound quality.

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