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Do you’ve got some money burning a gap in your pocket? Are you trying to purchase a chunk of overpriced tech that solves an issue that isn’t actually an issue? Nice! As a result of at the moment I’m reviewing the Corsair ST100, a stand the place you may grasp your headphones for the ultra-low value of simply £70. Did I point out it’s additionally a USB hub, a 7.1 DAC on your 3.5mm audio connection and that it has customizable RGB lighting? So let’s evaluate essentially the most frivolous piece of tech I feel I’ve ever coated.
First, the plain: can the ST100 maintain your headphones in an sufficient method? Yep. I..I dunno what you anticipated actually. Okay, so I do even have some criticisms right here, beginning with the shortage of padding on the hangar. Absolutely at £70 my headphones can anticipate an opulent expertise? And second, the peak between the hanger and the bottom of the ST100 is about 23cm so that you would possibly need to take into consideration that if in case you have chunky headphones or if they’ve rigid cable. For example, my Sennheiser GSP 600 barely match because of their chunky design and the equally chunky the cable that comes with them. And at last, some cable hooks on the rear is a characteristic different, cheaper holders have and would have been nice for tidying up prolonged cables.
The construct high quality is faultless because of its sturdy aluminium design. The bottom measures and is properly weighted and has rubber grips, so except you forcibly drag the entire thing it shouldn’t budge in your desk. Given its form and weight, the ST100 might most likely additionally serve a a useful system for clubbing somebody over the top. Not that I’m suggesting that you simply use it to mug somebody in an effort to fund the acquisition of a next-gen console. Definitely not.
Let’ get again to speaking about a number of the sensible options. On the right-hand aspect of the bottom there’s a USB 3.1 connection so that you could plug in a thumb-drive and so forth. Remember, the ST100 doesn’t have any type of mains energy, so it doesn’t function charging level. That appears like a missed alternative. And for those who’re posh and have that fancy-pants QI charging then there are a few different headset stands available on the market for you..
You do get a second USB 3,1 port, which might be nice if it wasn’t positioned on the highest of the bottom, instantly underneath your headphones. Corsair’s official product images the thought is to make use of this port to plug within the wi-fi dongle for Corsair’s wi-fi Void headsets. That’s a beautiful thought and all, however it basically limits the precise usefulness of half the USB ports on the ST100. The HyperX Alphas (evaluate coming quickly) that you simply see within the footage naturally clamps its earpieces collectively when hanging, additional limiting the usefulness of the USB port. Ultimately, I wound up plugging a wi-fi Xbox controller dongle into the port which helped tidy up my wiring a bit. However there’s not quite a lot of house between the dongle and the headset. I’d a lot reasonably both have the second port on the aspect, and even add a 3rd port on the aspect if Corsair actually wished to stay with the one on the highest of the bottom.
Simply the best characteristic of the ST100 is that’s has a DAC system constructed into it that provides stereo and seven.1 audio by way of its 3.5mm port. Clearly £70 for a DAC that isn’t even a very devoted DAC isn’t quite a bit so greatness can’t be anticipated, however the ST100 is definitely fairly first rate. The stereo sound is fairly detailed and crisp, albeit heavy on the bass by default. The 7.1 audio mode makes an attempt to create the sensation of getting encompass sound being pumped instantly into your ear-holes. The very best digital 7.1 techniques nonetheless endure from some lack of element in trade for the sense of scale that you simply get, so it’s not shocking that the ST100 does lose fairly a little bit of readability in 7.1. It’s not unhealthy, although. General, if in case you have a stable motherboard then the onboard audio needs to be a match for the ST100 and also you there’s some good software program on the market that emulates encompass sound. Should you’ve received a extra fundamental motherboard then the ST100 needs to be an enchancment, though not a drastic one.
The issue the ST100 faces is that for a similar £70 you may choose up one thing just like the Fiio E10K with (£10 to spare for a fundamental headphone stand) that can do a significantly better job of delivering all these wonderful gunshots, explosions and tire squeals to your ears.
Let’s wrap all this up by speaking concerning the utterly ineffective however nonetheless superior characteristic: the RGB lighting, child! It’s not secret that I’m a sucker for multi-coloured attract of RGB lighting. My big mouse pad has lighting across the edges, my audio system have it, my monitor has it. I like being bathed in colors like a unicorn prancing by way of a rainbow. On the Corsair ST100 you get lighting across the base, and a Corsair brand on the headphone hook itself. It’s truly surprisingly delicate – the lighting across the base doesn’t bleed outwards, for instance.
To fiddle round with the lighting and you’ll want the Corsair iCue software program which is…okay. It’s not essentially the most intuitive piece of software program to make use of, however for those who’re solely utilizing it for the St100 then you definitely most likely aren’t going to be leaping out and in of it too usually. There’s a good number of preset lighting results and also you get a complete of 5 EQ settings out of the field, however you may mess around with all the things your self if you’d like. The bottom of the ST100 is rocking eight completely different lighting zones to tinker with, plus the Corsair brand itself.
Should you’re questioning if you should utilize this with a console, then the reply is…sort of. Plugging it right into a PS4 or Xbox One does set off the lighting, however since there’s no inbuilt reminiscence the Corsair ST100 defaults to a rainbow sample reasonably than the customized colors you set. You gained’t get any audio from the three.5mm jack, both, because the ST100 wants its drivers to function. It could have been nice if Corsair had let the ST100 act as a easy audio passthrough to be used with consoles. It can, nonetheless, act as a USB hub.
The Corsair ST100 shouldn’t be the sort of product I might ever advocate, as such. It’s sort of pointless, actually, falling into the identical class as RGB mouse mats. But there’s an apparent marketplace for this sort of stuff, and I fall firmly into it. I don’t know why, however I’m drawn to RGB and I like merchandise that mix a number of issues. The Corsair ST100 is a superbly effective headset stand, an okay USB hub and an okay 7.1 DAC. It doesn’t excel in anyone space, however it has additionally been helpful. I don’t want heaps of additional USB slots, just some, and I wished someplace to hold my headphones. So no, I can’t advocate everybody. It could be foolish to. However for those who’re drawn to stuff like this like I’m, I feel you’ll be comfortable sufficient with it.
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