Corsair Vengeance 2000 Wireless 7.1 Gaming Headset (CA-9011115-NA)

I will start by saying I went through 3 of these. All of which were under warranty, and I was by no means rough with them.
 
The sound was nice, it had a decent bass compared to any of my other headsets. At first I really really liked these. They were comfortable, although the ear cups collected little hairs easily but you could easily replace those with the leather ones off Corsair's site.
 
But the problems I had with my headsets out weighed any of the good things I could say about this headset.
 
My first pair, something went wrong with the speaker inside the headset, just stopped working and I took it to where I bought it and got a new one. The second one I had lasted me quite a while, but during the time that I had it the flat plastic piece that connected the ear cup to the rest of the headset broke, and I fixed it with some electrical tape to hold me over and it did great. Eventually the break was too severe for the tape to hold it up, so I took that one back and got a new one. The same thing happened to that one. I read around and apparently alot of people had had that problem.
 
When they released the newer version of this headset I went out and bought it, but the sound was horrible to me compared to the original. I took it back instantly.

Bought them on a whim without reading any reviews, after a few months the plastic above the hinges cracked on both sides. Read through the reviews on Amazon and Newegg, turns out this isn't uncommon. Ended up getting them RMA'd and sold them. If the headset can't even stay in one piece there is no reason to ever get it. Would not recommend.

[size=13.333333969116211px]I got fed up by the cables at my desk at home and decided to get a wireless headset for gaming. I was actually pretty settled on the Logitech G930, right until the point where [/size][size=13.333333969116211px]Logitech [/size][size=13.333333969116211px]told me to just bugger off when I pointed out that they were charging twice as much for the G930 in Denmark as they do in other countries. Despite Logitech being my go-to brand for the past 10-15 years, I decided to go with one of the G930's competitors, the exceedingly awesomely named [/size][size=13.333333969116211px]Corsair Vengeance 2000[/size][size=13.333333969116211px].[/size]
 
    
 
[size=13.333333969116211px]Being [/size][size=13.333333969116211px]dumb[/size][size=13.333333969116211px] an audiophile, my previous setup for gaming was a set of AudioTechnica ATH-AD700 with a Modmic, hooked up to an O2/ODac combo. I use [/size][size=13.333333969116211px]stupidly expensive[/size][size=13.333333969116211px] very high-end custom in-ears every day at work as well, so my standards for headphones are pretty damn high. I wasn't expecting much sound quality from these headphones to be honest. I expected them to get the job done, letting me communicate with my team mates and making me able to hear if a fallen grunt was trying to cut me in half, not much more than that. Plastic-y [/size][size=13.333333969116211px]gamer[/size][size=13.333333969116211px] headphones, even wireless and with faux 7.1 surround at that - everybody knows they must sound like crap, right?[/size]
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[size=13.333333969116211px]Wrong.[/size][size=13.333333969116211px] Oh boy was I wrong. Sure, I'm used to a brighter, cleaner sound where these have a very forgiving, slightly "warm" sound signature, but firing up Fink showed that these had some real potential. All the details were there, the picking of strings, the whiskers on the snare drum - and pretty nice bass kick as well. So they do music pretty decently, but that wasn't my intended use for them. Last night I had a two-hour Diablo III session with a couple of friends and this is where the Vengeance 2000 (I love that name!) really took off. I was expecting the 7.1 Dolby Pro Logic surround to be a marketing gimmick but holy hell, does it sound awesome! I currently play as a monk (Tempest Rush/Sweeping Wind build for the D3 players out there) and I could clearly hear the sound of the fire circling around me and when charging through a horde of enemies I could close my eyes and still be able to hear where I was hitting my opponents. Enter a cave and I could very clearly hear the drops of water falling around me and exactly where they were falling. All of this while still being able to communicate perfectly with my fellow players, who by the way reported that the mic on these things is pretty good as well. [/size]
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[size=13.333333969116211px]Movies you say? Oh hell yeah! I fired up a few movies for a quick test and the (faux) surround sound did its thing. More importantly, voices were crystal clear,[/size][size=13.333333969116211px]easily[/size][size=13.333333969116211px] outshining my admittedly POS Sony living room setup. [/size][size=13.333333969116211px][/size]
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[size=13.333333969116211px]Comfort was surprisingly good, even coming from the Comfort King AD700. My only nitpick is that when you flip the mic to its upright position (which mutes it, btw), it rubs against your head, at least it does if your noggin is as big as mine. Battery life should be 9-10 hours on a single charge. They're charged using a standard micro USB cable and you can use them while they charge. Setup is a matter of plugging in the USB transmitter and turning on the headphones. Want surround? Download and install the driver. Bam, done. [/size][size=13.333333969116211px][/size]
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[size=13.333333969116211px]At DKK 699/€90/$130 they're hard to classify as cheap, but I really think they are quite a bargain, definitely a great buy if you are considering full size headphones for your computer. And yes, computer only, as they connect via USB. [/size]
 
[size=13.333333969116211px]Updated on August 31st to 4 full stars as charging via regular USB is completely silent. [/size]

First, a necessary disclaimer to tell you that I've never owned any other headsets or headphones prior to these. So my review is perfect for the newbies.
Additionally, I've owned these headphones for several months (I've lost count, but I bought them around September).
 
Pre-Setup
The Vengeance 2000 comes with
- The Headset
- Wireless Dongle
- Dongle Platform
- Charging cable
Getting the wireless dongle out of the box was tricky, and left me hoping I wouldn't break it, but that was about it.
 
Setup
Setup was a real pain, to say the least.
Firstly, you MUST have the headset FULLY charged before first operation. I don't remember why, but it caused problems for me when I didn't.
My computer must've blue screened about 8 times trying to get the drivers to work. I still don't remember what I did, but I know the computer crashes if you run the drivers
WITHOUT the usb dongle in. So remember that...
 
Build
It does feel solid, but definitely plastic. The headband makes me worried every time I stretch it, it's very rigid.
Design-wise, well you can look up pictures can't you?
 
Sound
Sound is amazing once you get the perfect EQ setting, which only took me 4 attempts. The fact that the sound is customisable probably makes this section redundant.
The 7.1 surround is terrible. It adds a very tinny sound over everything, and for position location, it makes it harder. 
Volume wise, this thing can almost deafen you at its highest. I find that I never have to pass the 30% mark, unless the song is quiet.
Sound is a definite yes, if you don't mind paying $150 for a stereo headset.
 
Battery
I had very high expectations for the battery life. Those were happily met with the results given.
The battery life lasts indeed hours, and only charges for about half that time. 
When the battery is running low it will sound a beep every few seconds. Which I'll admit scared the crap out of me the first time.
They can be charged and used at the same time though.
There isn't that much to say, except that battery life is great!
 
Comfort
Comfort is where this headset shines. It fits very snug over my head, though I only have each side extended 1 notch. The earpads are indeed more comfortable then any brandless headset you'll find.
Though if you've never worn full size headphones before, these will certainly take a little time to get used to, which at first meant taking them off every hour or so because they hurt my ears. Which 
by the way, happen to fit nicely inside it.
 
Microphone
The microphone is nothing special. It does its job well, but it's no studio grade large diaphragm condenser. Its noise cancellation I haven't thoroughly tested, but It seems to be working fine.
My friends could hear me very clearly over skype, no problems except for my unrelated network latency.
 
Summary
The Vengeance 2000 delivers very nice sound quality. But for that kind of price, simply being wireless stereo headphones is just not enough. I'm not picky about my sound THAT much, but the 7.1 is so unusable, I can't help but feel robbed a bit.
The wireless is handy, but it doesn't function properly outside my room. That 10 metres distance is halved if you go past a wall.
Charging is a bit of a nuisance, but doesn't deter from the quality of the headset.
It is extremely comfortable, and keeps my ears warm when it's cold.
To say the least, if you are new to headsets, this should be on your options list for research. Though I'd recommend you look at EVERYTHING in your price range.
If short distance wireless is an absolute necessity, these are a worthy option to consider.
 
But the $150 (AUD) price tag does seem a bit much for what you get.
Feel free to ask questions.
 
(Purchase date below is around the time I ordered)