The Cougar Immersa is packaged in a dark, full-colored print box with a nice shot of the product in the front. A side window gives a peek of the product inside. The back of the box highlights the details of the Immersa. Inside the packaging there’s the Immersa headset, the Y-splitter cable and a manual.
Cougar equips the Immersa with braided cables and features an inline controller for volume and microphone control. An included Y-splitter splits the native 4-post jack for use with your PC’s headphone and mic jack.
The Cougar Immersa comes in the company’s flag colors: black and orange. The orange band suspends the black earcups with orange prints and trims giving off a really subtle contrast with the overall dark motiff. The Cougar Immersa features 40mm drivers underneath large, padded earcups. The earcups can swivel a bit from their joint for an easy fit regardless of position.
The Cougar Immersa’s headband is lined with faux leather.
Faux leather also cover the Immersa’s gigantic earcups.
A retractable microphone is positioned on the left earcup and can be hidden when not in use. The microphone is clear and the boom flexes for adjustments.
The Cougar Immersa’s uses a suspended headband design and has an overarching headband that holds the earcups in-place along with the suspended headband for cushion and support on your head. This allows free-size and can normally fit any headsize unless your head is the size of a large medicine ball.
User Experience & Conclusion
The Cougar Immersa was burned-in for 100 hours before any impressions was made. We we tested using a Creative SoundBlaster Audigy 5 Rx and an LG V10 with Hi-Fi turned on.
As a gaming headset, we’re inclined to gauge the audio properties of the Cougar Immersa based on gaming audio let’s check out first how it performs on listening and music. Starting off with lows, the Cougar Immersa has clean, tight bass. Even on high gain, the lows are controlled and don’t mess with the other ranges. There’s no distortion whatsoever even on max, we’d try twice maximum but that’s just asking for loss of hearing and otherwise the Immersa bass didn’t crack. Its not as present as I want it to though, even on bass-boosted songs, the punch is a bit lacking and this might be disturbing for bass heads. The kick is there but the rumble is just not that powerful. Moving on to mids, the Cougar Immersa is clear, forward and crisp. Its not as full-bodied as higher-end audiophile models but that’s alright given its position. Its vocal reproduction is spot-on and there’s decent detail in this range. On to highs, this is where the Immersa feels a short. As a gaming headset, the Immersa is tuned to have a V-curve signature to its audio but the treble side is a bit lower. Its not a bad thing, but for sharp audio effects and music it just feels lacking. Its still clear and present. The Cougar Immersa has a small soundstage but imaging is good enough to create good positional audio for gaming situations. So for overall audio quality, the Immersa checks out well especially for pure gaming.
Moving on to comfort, there’s no denying that gigantic pair of pads that line the drivers of the Cougar Immersa. It’s obvious this headset is intended for maximum comfort and Cougar isn’t lying. As I’m typing this, I’ve been wearing the headset for the few hours now. Clamping is good and the pads do a good job cushioning the ear and provide decent sealing although at higher gains, you’d get some leak but again, that’s just asking for hearing loss. The suspended headband is a tried-and-tested design and offers the lightest distribution of weight on the dome of the head and despite the Cougar Immersa’s deceptively large size, it feels light enough for prolonged use.
The Cougar Immersa’s main draw is particularly its looks and at around $47 its easily a no-brainer for a highly comfortable headset also. Its bright colors and large earcups make a statement and its audio performance is nothing to snuff at. At its price range it competes with many mid-range products mainly the Siberia V3 and while both headsets have their merits, in terms value for performance, the Cougar Immersa is the obvious winner. It will still vary on your preferred aesthetic but as it is, audio quality and overall build quality is the strength for Cougar’s new headset.
Overall the Cougar Immersa is a nice first outing for Cougar in the headphone game and together with the other entries in the line-up, do a great job filling in the lower-mainstream void in the current market. If you’re looking for a highly comfortable pair of dedicated gaming headphones while still delivering the flexibility of a music headphone, the Cougar Immersa is easily a top choice if you’re looking at around the $50 mark.