Razer Barracuda HP-1 Surround Headphones

Reviews: Multimedia

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Mark Korff
Kurtis
Razer
Nov. 15, 2006

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First Impressions

Physically speaking, the Barracuda headphones don't look anything like the fish they're named after. They actually look fairly conventional at first glance, but there are some distinguishing features which you'll notice upon closer inspection. The most obvious difference is that the Barracuda's default audio connector looks like a DVI cable since it is primarily meant to be used with Razer's own soundcard. Razer includes an adapter that will allow you to connect the headphones to your own multi-channel soundcard. If you already have surround sound speakers hooked up to your PC, be prepared to do a lot of cable swapping whenever you switch between the Barracuda and your speakers.

In addition to tying up all of your soundcard's analog outputs, the Barracuda also requires a free USB port which it uses to power the amp/volume control unit. Without the USB cable connected, the control unit receives no power and the Barracuda is completely useless since it can't play any audio without power. This means that you won't be using these headphones to listen to anything other than what's on your computer.

The volume control unit is connected to the Barracuda's audio cable, about two feet down from the left earphone. The control unit would usually rest on my leg while sitting down, but if I stood up it would dangle just a little above my waist. There is a belt clip on the back of it, but it was pointless for me since it didn't reach my waist anyway.

Aside from powering the headphones, the control unit provides master volume control and individual volume control for front, rear, center, and bass. There is also a three position selector switch on the control unit that allows you to turn the headphones completely "off," "on" with logo lights, and "on" with no lights. The lights I'm referring to are the blue LEDs that display the Razer logo on either side of the earphones, as well as on the control unit. While not completely necessary, the blue glow does look pretty cool, and helps when you're trying to find your headphones in a dark room.

The Barracuda also features a detachable microphone boom which plugs into the bottom of the left earphone. There is no proprietary connection to be found here, just a normal everyday analog audio connector. While the mic fits in nice and snug, it's still only as secure as plugging in any analog audio cable to your soundcard since it doesn't screw into place.

The headphones themselves are fairly sturdy, although I wouldn't describe them as indestructible by any means. The plastic headband that connects to the two earphones is flexible but still puts pressure on your head and ears which will be more noticeable to people with a large head and/or ears. The earpads are made of a velvety cloth which was quite comfortable to the touch. However, my head and ears are both fairly large, and although the earphones completely surround my ears, I encountered some slight discomfort after wearing the Barracuda for more than an hour at a time. [Editor - I think I have a fairly average-sized head, and I felt the same discomfort.]

That about does it for the physical features of the Barracuda, so let's head on to the listening phase of testing!

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: First Impressions
Page 3: Testing
Page 4: Conclusion

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Add Comment

4 User Comments

1 - Posted by Jorricane on May 15, 2007 - 5:11 pm

Don't get me wrong, I don't intend to flame or attack your review in any way, but I just wanted to say that the poor bass response does have a workaround in these headphones depending on your soundcard drivers and capabilities. At first, I had the same experience with poor bass response on the Barracuda headphones, especially in comparison with the Sony studio models I am used to. However, using the included software with the SoundBlaster X-Fi Gamer card, primarily the THX bass redirection feature, combined with using Foobar player in 4 channel upmix mode (I had horrible sound with the included Soundblaster upmix function), I managed to get very powerful bass response from the Barracudas. I know the redirection and detailed settings on the X-Fi are not really common in onboard audio systems, so its not for everybody, but if you have a decent audio card and a lot of patience to really tweak the settings, these headphones are not a total waste. I do agree however that the surround functionality is nearly useless in gaming compared to a decent speaker setup.

2 - Posted by Kurtis on May 15, 2007 - 5:42 pm

But why get headphones that you will have to tweak a lot to get them to sound decent?

3 - Posted by dkeene on August 15, 2007 - 2:11 pm

I agree with the bass problem, and i purchased them too. Why would this product have a Frequency response: 50~20,000Hz
when the others in the market have 15-20 Hz? Stupid, in my opinion. My Sony headphones sound better. I am disappointed. What others have you all tried?

4 - Posted by Kurtis on August 15, 2007 - 3:33 pm

These aren't headsets... but I like my Sennheiser HD497 headphones. And the Ultrasone ProLine 650s we reviewed a while back were the nicest headphones I've ever had the opportunity to listen to. That was some sweet, sweet sound.

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