Razer Kraken 7.1 Chroma Gaming Headset Review
Subjective Listening: Music, Movies, and Games
Not everyone hears the same as each other. Peoples ears are different and preferences dictate our style. The subjective listening tests in our reviews not only compare the product with other gaming headsets, but also audiophile-grade headphones. Those who dont regularly listen with higher-end equipment may not notice the sound quality deficiencies we are able to notice.
Music
Razer loves bass and the Kraken 7.1 Chroma by default has an unnaturally wide bass response. On top of that, the Synapse software has an option to pile on more bass. Thats fine for some people, but we had to equalize and control that bass because too often that big boomy bass was headache inducing. After reducing the entire bass range, the trebles were then noticeably and shrieking pronounced and so that was reduced as well. Further tuning adjustments were done based on the song and mood. The decently tight frequency ranges lent well to responsive equalization.
The Kraken 7.1 Chroma has fairly good detail thats mostly set back by sloppy bass. Though its still better than the analog Krakens, it cant match up with the no-nonsense $99 headsets. The audio detail is at best $70 good.
Nikki Minajs Anaconda didnt have to have to be put to a new level of ridiculousness
Movies
The big boomy bass comes back to haunt us again while watching video, overpowering other sounds during busy audio moments. Equalization is recommended for those who prefer more natural sounding audio. Movies with surround sound do actually see some though not much benefit from Razer Surround via Synapse. Properly downmixed stereo tracks wont sound that different.
Games
The Kraken 7.1 Chromas audio character leans far more for immersive gaming than for competitive gaming. The massive bass and treble makes for lively and explosive audio that especially puts life into story driven games such as immersive horror games with ominous rumbling lows and shrieking spooky highs. A much flatter, but more boring sound character would be appropriate for competitive gaming since heavy bass clouds subtle positional audio. For that, the Kraken 7.1 Chroma uses virtual surround sound to simulate the space created by a home theater system.
The Conexant CX4437 audio processor built into this headset is only capable of processing stereo channels. Instead, it is the Razer Synapse software downsampling multiple channels to a two channel stream for the headset. This technology was created in-house by Razer and is a competitor to Dolby Headphone and C-media Xear which we more commonly come across. Razers solution is better than those two competing virtual surround technologies because it doesnt distort the sound quality during the process, but its still not entirely capable of accurately placing positional audio cues, a feat seemingly only achieved by Creative Labs. Razers software virtual surround sound tech is also available as a standalone download called Razer Surround Pro.
Microphone
The microphone recording sound quality is very acceptable. Human voice is recognizable to listeners, but with lowered pitch and less detail which removes some life-likeness. From what we can tell, voice doesnt sound tinny or robotic.