Cougar Immersa Headset Review

Conclusion

If you're new to Cougar Gaming products then the excellence of the Immersa might come as a little bit of a surprise. For us, who have reviewed nearly all their peripheral releases, it's not remotely a surprise. They've quietly been building a reputation for competitively priced peripherals which perform well above their price point. Great design coupled to wise choices are the hallmark of their products and the Immersa is no exception.

As regular readers will know we always think of the Steelseries Siberia when we're thinking of headsets around this price, and the design of the Immersa only brings this viewpoint into sharper focus. With Twin plastic hoops forming the frame and a large, open-backed design doing the rest, it looks just like the Siberia too, combining lightness with strength. Flexible enough to take a few knocks, but robust enough to survive them easily.

However, and this is about as big a compliment as we can pay, we think that the sound quality is another step on from the venerable old Siberia. We can't remember too many headsets that give such a wonderful sense of aural space. No pseudo-surround trickery, just two excellent drivers and an open back. Some headsets can give you the sense that you're sitting on the shoulders of the musicians, or inside the gun you're firing etc. The Immersa has such a spacial feel to it that you believe you're in the middle of the orchestra, the centre of the band, the midst of a firefight. They are undoubtedly tuned for the mid-range - bass always being slightly lessened in open back designs over their closed back cousins - but the bass is still kept tight and punchy. The mid range clarity is outstanding, with every different noise source distinctive and easy to mentally position and distinguish. The airy nature really helps the high notes soar too.

So it's light, and the sound quality is fabulous. Build quality too isn't left lacking. This twin plastic hoop design ensures lightness, solidity and yet flexibility too, and these all combine to bring you a headset which is very comfortable for even the lengthiest sessions. This comfort is further enhanced by some extremely large, deep foam ear covers. Even with all my earrings in I can still easily fit them over my ears without having hoops pressed into my head.

If there is a slight downside, and it's minor indeed, when you pull the microphone out you get a slight sense of where the savings have been made. Don't misunderstand, your transmissions are clear and it's easy to place it where you like, but the plastics used on the microphone are by no means the best we've experienced. That is a very small blot on an otherwise pretty flawless product.

With glorious comfort, excellent sound quality even if it was twice the price, and eye-catching looks the Cougar Immersa comfortably wins our OC3D Enthusiast Award.

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