It’s no secret that Razer have been making products for gamers for a long time now, keyboards and mice are obviously essential to any PC gamer’s setup, but the headset is often overlooked as an important part of any gamer’s arsenal. So, let’s take a look at Razer’s Kraken Pro headset and see why sound is just as important to a gamer.
HARDWARE REVIEW
Razer Kraken Pro V2 Review
,The first thing to note about the Kraken pro is the design, it’s sleek, all black (also available in white or green), made from thick quality plastic with an aluminium frame underneath and a faux leather head strap. There is no Chroma lighting on the Kraken Pros, due to the fact you can’t power the lights via 3.5mm connection, but the headset still looks sexy even without lighting. The main issue with this design is that you probably couldn’t get away with wearing them easily in public because of how big the ear cups are, as they are somewhat on the bulky side compared to other gaming headsets such as the LucidSound LS-30s.
50mm audio drivers give a very crisp and clean sound with a good separation of the bass and treble, the headset is stereo sound with a 7.1 surround sound version also available to purchase. As the headset is designed with eSports in mind, I tested it in some of the biggest eSports games that I enjoy.
In CS:GO the headset gave me great awareness of my surroundings, footsteps were clear and precise, and you can hear the AWP shots across the map easily thanks to how well the Kraken handles the entire range of audible sound, lows and highs, so your audio-positioning is on point. The main problem (not a problem with the headset though) is that I have them so loud that when an AWP shot is closer than I think it’s going to be, it makes me physically jump. This is because the headset is so clear and you can turn the volume up very high without any kind of clipping that when something does happen close by and you’re not ready for it, your heart may skip a few beats.
I’m pretty much a noob when it comes to League of Legends, but I play it regardless. I’m not at the point where I really get how sound can help in a game like LoL, but it sounded pretty. The voice lines of the characters can be heard well and the background music didn’t have any kind of fuzziness or buzzing like some cheaper gaming headsets can give. If you opted to use Razer’s Synapse tool you are able to use the equaliser to tweak the headset sounds as you please, but the balance is pretty on point straight out of the box.
H1Z1 isn’t technically an eSport, but I’m living in hope. Sound is crucial for gameplay with H1Z1 and the Kraken Pro didn’t disappoint. Planes can be heard easily when flying over from a very good distance, you can hear footsteps (when the game decides to play them) very clearly and make out gunfire from a large enough distance to know whether you’re in danger or not.`
The microphone on the Kraken Pro is surprisingly good quality. I’m not saying I expected it to be bad, but more and more gamers are favouring a separate microphone setup nowadays, but the microphone built into this headset is clear with decent noise cancellation. I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to microphones as I use an expensive condenser mic, but I have to say the Kraken’s microphone impressed me. The microphone does sits a little far from your mouth than I feel it should, so it can sometimes come over a little quieter than you’d like.
Razer opted to continue to use the 3.5mm jack input rather than USB with the V2, however you can plug in the initial 3.5mm jack into a USB sound card and both the headset and microphone will function perfectly well, as long as the sound card is of good quality. The Kraken Pro 7.1 surround sound version is USB powered if that’s more along the lines of what you’re looking for.
On the cable, which is just over a meter long with an extension cable which is two meters long, is an inline microphone mute and volume wheel, pretty standard affair for gaming headsets these days. The switch for muting the mic was perfect, resistant enough so you can’t accidently knock it on and easy to find as it is only a short distance from the left ear cup. However, the volume wheel seemed to be very sensitive on the headset. I was streaming H1Z1 while reviewing the headset to find all my sound suddenly gone. I panicked for a little while trying to see what was wrong, only to discover the volume wheel had gently brushed against my t-shirt and turned the volume completely down. This might just be a one in a million case for the Kraken but it definitely isn’t something you’d want to happen in an eSports scenario.
Comfort wise the Kraken Pro can sit on your head for hours and you’ll barely notice it’s even there. The entire headset only weighs around 340 grams, which is very lightweight for such a bulky exterior headset. It can take a while to find the sweet spot for how you want your ear cups as they are individually adjustable but once you find it you’ll never have to touch them again. The ear cups are a little too round for my liking, although you can buy oval shaped ones separately if you’re in the same mindset as me. The cups that come as standard are made of a leatherette material meaning they are comfortable but tough, I used them for many hours a day and there was almost no wear and tear on them. The Kraken V2 is designed for eSports gamers, who can get a little animated in game, so it is built to last and withstand the wrath of an angry gamer.
All in all, the Kraken Pro V2 can be used by the eSports enthusiast, but won’t feel out of place in even the most casual gamer’s setup. Usable across a number of platforms with good quality sound and voice and a very comfortable design, the Kraken Pro can help you realise how important sound is to your gaming experience.
Editor Note: This review has been updated for accuracy (01/02/2017).
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