Corsair Vengeance 2000 Wireless 7.1 Gaming headset

Pros: The box this headset comes in is sturdy and pretty well thought out. Inside you get a product manual, the wireless receiver, charge cord and 5 ft. extension adapter. There is no driver disc included, you'll have to go to Corsair's website to download it.
The software is fairly basic. It may say 7.1 surround sound on the box, but it's really just stereo 50 mm drivers with emulated 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound at a max of 48 Hz sampling rate. You can bypass the surround sound and go with straight stereo by clicking the big bypass button in the Vengeance 2000 software from Corsair's website. There's 8 EQ filters to choose from. Corsair seems to have really taken sound quality seriously with this headset. They have dedicated EQs, 8 total, designed by 2 professional audio producers and also EQs for MMO and FPS games. I prefer Audiophile 1 with a boost to the bass. The software has an option for room simulation, which I hated. It just adds reverb and echo effects, which in my opinion degrade the sound quality.
The headset itself is very well designed. It's lightweight, sturdy and aesthetically pleasing with some brushed alluminum and chromed plastic with Corsair's logo. They cover up all the shiny areas with removable protective film to prevent finger printing. The ear cups, which appear to be made of crushed velvet with memory phone inserts, swivel in and out to allow for an snug fit and convenient storage when lain flat. The headset is surprisingly comfortable. I had no trouble wearing it for hours on end, with no discomfort to speak of. There are 10 notches on either side to allow for adjustment to accomodate variable head sizes. Corsair recommends that you charge it fully before the first use, which took about 4 hours for mine. There's a light that indicates the batteries charge. When it turns green you've got a full charge. The power button is on the left side, simply clicking it once won't turn it on, you've got to hold the button in for a couple seconds to turn on the headset, or turn it off. There's a blue light that indicates the headset is on, which flashes intermitently to let you know it's still active. The volume control is directly underneath the power button in the form of a roller. Like most headsets, it's got a fixed mic included. The mic is on an arm that can conveniently sit up or down. When in the up position, it's automatically muted. The mic arm itself can also bend in at a certain point to align to the users preference.
I was impressed with the sound quality of this headset. It produces excellent high and mid range sound. Turned up to the maximum setting, they can get surprisingly loud for a battery powered headset. Rated at 105 db. Much louder than I can tolerate. Even maxed out, they don't produce any background noise, distortion, hissing or buzzing. The mic works quite well, reproducing a natural sound with no discernable distortion or feedback.

Cons: The foam ear pads were really causing my ears to itch at first. I was concerned it would drive me nuts and therefore render the headset useless. But it turned out to be temporary. They made me itch the first couple nights, but after that it didn't bother me any more. It's very easy to go way too far with the volume control roller. A little too much pressure, or your finger slips and it's much louder than you wanted. I would have liked to see smaller increments in volume adjustments. I tend to have to work with the volume control in game or in whatever app I'm running and the volume control on the headset itself to fine tune it right where I want it.
The number one problem I have with this headset, and it's not exactly uncommon amongst headsets, is they don't produce enough bass. Some people may not notice, but I've lived, spoiled, with subwoofers most of my life. So bass is something very important to me. And this headset just doesn't have that deep bass that I want. It can produce decent mid range bass around 60-80 hz but any lower and it's virtually imperceptable. Also, the emulated surround sound really doesn't impress me very much. The difference between true surround and this headset is obvious. When it comes to positional audio, every detail tends to have a specific volume depending on where it's at. With emulated surround sound like this, the details tend to blend in with the rest of the sound, so it doesn't really stand out like it should. So because of that fact, gaming and especially movies can't sound as good as they would with true surround sound. So, for these issues I'm knocking off one egg.

Overall Review: The best thing about these headphones and the reason why I love them so much is being able to get up and move around, leave the room and not have to worry about any cables getting in the way or missing out on what's going on while I'm away. There have been many times already that I find myself rejoicing over wireless technology in the form of the Vengeance 2000 headset. Pricewise, this headset isn't cheap. But it is so well worth it when you can wander around your home and not have to compromise your listening experience. Cook your dinner or go to the bathroom, that's not going to be a problem any more.
Corsair claims 10 hours of battery life. My first charge got me about 5-6 hours of battery life, but that was spread out of a period of a three days. When the battery gets low, you'll start to hear an intermitent beeping to indicate limited battery life. It's possible to use the headset while charging it. It will also increase the power to the speakers, making it capable of playing louder. This headset runs on a 2.4 Ghz wireless frequency with range rated at 40 feet. I have gotten roughly 25 feet. I haven't tried to go farther. But the problem is, they don't like to cut through walls. They will, depending on the wall. I can get a signal in my living room from the receiver in my computer room which is about 25 feet, but not 15 feet from the receiver running from my laptop in my kitchen to my living room. The difference is the wall is much thicker in that area. Once you start to get towards the range limit, the sound will start to degrade. But within a reasonable distance, sound quality won't be affected. I was concerned that there might be a delay in the sound from the source on my PC to the headset. But I haven't detected anything yet. Perfectly synced.
The surround effect these produce is a little better than your standard simulated surround sound. It's a bit easier to pick out positional effects in comparison to normal stereo headsets with simulated surround effects enabled. So for games, they work pretty well. But for music, they work very well. They add some very interesting effects to music while maintaining a high standard of overall sound quality.

Pros: Rather then re-paste both my original and updated review, if you sort by date, about half a dozen or so reviews down you'll find my name: J.J.
and the review title: 10 Month Update to Original Review

Please take the time to read that first and then read the follow up to it in the con section here.

Cons: 2 weeks after posting my 10 month update about the swivel breaking through the right can, the left one broke in the same fashion. Within 2 weeks of me posting that update, 3 additional reviewers out of 6 experienced the same exact problem.
At the time I'm writing this review today there are 220 other reviews on this headset.
I just did a (rather long) search through them all and more then 50 of them mention the headsets breaking and almost every one of them is in the same exact manner.
I just checked out another on-line retailer's site (which I won't name, but you are all smart enough to figure out) and looked for reviews on this headset. Guess what? Almost 20-25% of the reviews mention them breaking IN THE SAME EXACT MANNER as others are experiencing here.
We're talking almost 1 out of every 4 sold breaking within a few months. This is not a fluke; it is a design flaw and 100% unacceptable. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved this headset for the first few months but you ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT have that high of a breakage rate in this price range.

Overall Review: When I was first accepted into this Eggxpert review program I told myself to not only be honest, but to make sure I would follow up to my reviews if it was needed.
This is most certainly a time when it's needed. There is a very high chance these will break on you regardless of how careful you are with them.
I'll end on this: While I'm not here to support or recommend another brand/model, I am here to warn you that purchasing this headset is a risk.
If you're still considering the purchase, just say this in your head before hitting "add to cart":
1 out of 4 break.