Cult of Razer: Kraken headsets

That awkward moment when night falls and everyone goes to bed, and you are impatient to listen to music, watch a movie, play or chat on Skype. What to do? Correct, use headphones. But what if you want to get excellent sound quality, excellent voice transmission and experience complete immersion in the process? Especially for this, Razer has developed a whole series of headsets called Kraken .



They differ from the usual “headphones with microphones” by two chips: a virtual three-dimensional sound system with the ability to accurately calibrate and a USB connection to a PC.


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The system of "virtual 3D" allows you to fully immerse yourself in the atmosphere of games and movies, but the USB connection does not steam on the connector somewhere on the back of your PC or some hybrid microphone-earphone monster in a laptop. I stuck it - waited five seconds - it works.



In the system, the device is defined as a separate device and does not knock down the settings of the “main” sound: all sorts of equalizer, balances, sampling frequency and other charms are tied to the headset and work with it and only with it, without affecting the speakers or built-in speakers of the laptop.

Appearance

Both headsets are made in the same style and from similar materials: soft-touch plastic and tactilely pleasant leatherette. The headband is light, soft and does not press down either on the top or on the sides.



Ear pads are quite elastic and dense, and, like the upper arc, are deprived of excessiveness: they are not hot, insulation is sufficient, but not at the “vacuum” level, the filler does not pinch the ear (if it is larger than the internal volume of the headphones), in general comfort was taken care of by five plus. Kraken is deservedly called one of the most comfortable headphones in this form factor. Six hours - no problem. Eight - normal flight. At the end of the working day you take off the headset from the head and there is no feeling “I am free”: the headphones are light, do not press on the head, do not press the ears, “breathe”, and at the same time provide an acceptable level of noise insulation in both directions.



By itself, the appearance of the models is very standard and does not stand out from the general design trend in both the “gaming” industry and the trend of Razer products: a neat black matte case, inserts of high quality leatherette and braided / green wires + optionally green backlight, if in the product have something to highlight. In Kraken's, the logos on each of the “cups” are highlighted, plus the tip of the microphone of the older version is lit when it is active. A trifle, but nice and clear - not to say that during online battles there is time to look at the microphone, but peripheral vision always notices when the work indicator is on and when it is not. It works especially well with the push-to-talk system.

Specifications

The hardware characteristics of the headphones, on the one hand, say a lot, on the other - you can write anything on the box. Some manufacturers generally adhere to the policy “ do not disclose the characteristics, but you buy% brand_name%, when did we put your hat on you? ", And do not talk about anything. They simply declare that they are the best and everything. Fortunately, Razer behaves honestly and reveals all the characteristics, and without marketing peels such as "dynamic contrast" and other PMPO.

Razer Kraken USB :


The older model is very different internals: almost all the "iron" is a higher level, hence the other price tag.

Razer Kraken USB 7.1 :

Specifications

In both cases, a complete set other than “Spartan” cannot be called. In the box except for headphones and pieces of paper with the instruction / guarantee there is none. Neither stickers, nor a fabric bag for carrying headphones (it’s useless to carry them, you can’t connect them to your smartphone, you don’t listen to music on the road), nor any adapter or spare parts.

Work with the device

The capabilities of the younger version of the headset are very pleasant: it connects via USB and is defined in the system as a separate sound device. For full-fledged work, it is recommended to put the proprietary software Razer Synapse, but even without it, the headset will work in Skype and games.



The universal interface Synapse allows you to customize the operation of any Razer-device, but we are interested in the interaction with the headset. You can adjust almost any parameter related to sound reproduction: connect an equalizer to the signal processing, switch on the low-frequency / high-frequency gain, adjust the microphone volume. Most importantly, it is Synapce that allows you to use and calibrate a virtual 7.1 sound system. Calibration takes place in one simple step: you are asked to close your eyes and try using the mouse wheel or buttons on the keyboard to “shift” the sound so that it is in the specified sector.



Several repetitions with different sectors and the result does not take long: a test sample causes a virtual helicopter to virtually fly around your very real head. Not to say that the presence effect is 100% stunning, wonderful and delightful, but the system works.

In games and movies, by the way, it works better than the example from the calibration software: we tested this thing in the Warthunder simulator, in the GRID and DIRT auto-simulators, in the BF4 and Crysis 2/3 shooters - there was enough “immersion” in the game world convincing surround sound.



Warthunder and Crysis gave the most sense of presence. The work of virtual 3D-sound in the simulator really let know that someone is on the tail and shoots. It is difficult not to hear the 30 or 45 mm air cannon even behind the roar of the engine of a piston fighter, and the direction of the sound perfectly shows which side to expect the threat, and the same 12.7mm “Browings” without tracer shells are well defined. Well, Crysis is Crysis, spectacular, exciting, beautiful, and even with such a presence effect from headphones - it definitely did not get any worse.



The maximum difficulty in Crysis does not have to play in a superman, so stealth, fast movements, active use of relief and short strokes + constant surroundings with sounds with a very clear sense of direction really capture and allow you to plunge into the process.

It’s not so simple with online shooters: in Battlefield 4 you just don’t have time to navigate, and in CS: GO, of course, many people point out the importance of the sound component, but I don’t like it at all. Change the textures in it, but call it UnrealTournament - no one will notice, the realistic component in the CS series was always small, only one Zadrotsky skill decided the outcome of the battle.



The older (and, therefore, more expensive) model, at first glance, has only a few differences from the usual Kraken, almost all of them are concentrated around the multiplayer functionality, in particular, the microphone: firstly, it’s digital, not analog. -second, its frequency response is wider than that of the younger version, thirdly, the headset can work with normalization and noise cancellation, and it does so very actively and much better than software solutions built into all sorts of TeamSpeak'i and other means of communication.

In fact, besides the microphone, the design of the headphones themselves and their internal structure is different. The emitters are different (32 mm vs. 40), and in the mass model added almost 50%: 250 grams for the younger version versus 340 for the older version. The price differs decently, but the overall level of the headsets is different: if the basic version is just a good headset with surround sound and Razer branded buns, the older one is a decent solution for multiplayer enthusiasts and skype night talks.



Separately, I would like to mention Crystal Clear technology, which is absent in the younger version: coupled with high microphone sensitivity, hardware noise reduction and normalization of the audio signal, it allows you to communicate at night in a whisper, without causing problems to others and hate your fellow party members or Skype interlocutors. The audibility is excellent, the voice is even, without “spitting”, hissing from the system of increasing sensitivity and noise from behind the window.

The increased size of the radiators directly affects the number of low frequencies and the “depth” of the scene: the extra eight millimeters remove the light “plasticity” of the sound of shots and shots / explosions. In general, the headset becomes from a merely pleasant product a fairly mature and balanced integrated solution to the problem of playing and transmitting audio content. Movies, voice chat, games, music - everything is capable of. Minus one and weighty - it can not be connected to a smartphone or tablet.

Results

So summarize. The junior model fits perfectly into the price spectrum of the “initial” level of high-quality gaming headsets. For such money, virtual surround + proprietary software and high-quality materials are hard to find. The older one is already a level for those who are really keen on games and especially the multiplayer component: excellent microphone subsystem work, the ability to work with the headset for many hours without fatigue, excellent ergonomics and really high-quality software with cloudy sync settings for all modern RAZER -products (and many players, and not only players, try to stick to the mono-brand periphery both for reasons of "fanaticism" and simply because of convenience).

Pros and cons of Kraken USB:
+ Body materials and cushions, workmanship and assembly;
+ Virtual 7.1, working no worse than the older model;
+ A good microphone;
+ Excellent software;
+ Price;
- Some lack of low frequencies, corrected by software gain in the software;
- Only USB connection, no transition to 2x3.5mm or 1 combo connector;
- Poor equipment;
- "Out of the box" just a little tight on the head, it is necessary to "break in."

Unfortunately, at the time of publication, the product is temporarily over. Stay tuned for updates on the site .

Pros and cons of Kraken 7.1:
+ Body materials and cushions, workmanship and assembly;
+ Ergonomics for 5+;
+ Virtual 7.1, works fine;
+ Digital microphone and its add. opportunities;
+ Excellent software;
+ Price;
- Only USB connection, no adapter for 2x3.5mm or 1 combo connector;
- Poor equipment.

The cost of Razer Kraken 7.1 in the store Yulmart is 8770 rubles.

If you do not need features for 3D sound, we have a version of Razer Kraken Pro , with a classic minijack. In terms of playing the sound, the design of the headphones themselves and the microphone work, the model is “stuck” between 7.1 and USB: the audio playback came from the older model, but due to the lack of a USB connector, the microphone and everything connected with it is simple, from the younger .

The cost of Razer Kraken 7.1 in the Yulmart store is 6310 rubles.



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