Razer Barracuda HP-1 Surround Headphones

Reviews: Multimedia

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Mark Korff
Kurtis
Razer
Nov. 15, 2006

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Conclusion

I've been a fan of Razer products ever since they entered the market back in 1998. There was something refreshing about a small company that was making products specifically meant for me as a gamer, and in terms of gaming, was often better than what the big companies like Microsoft and Logitech had to offer. That's why I really was hoping that the Barracuda could be a product that would knock my socks off and be something I could wholeheartedly recommend to other gamers. Unfortunately I can't do that in good conscience because, as it currently stands, the Barracuda would not be an upgrade for many of you that already have a good solid pair of two channel headphones.

I find it hard to write off the Barracuda altogether without being able to test it with the second half of the Razer audio solution, the Barracuda AC-1 soundcard. Could the AC-1 turn the Barracuda headphones into audio Nirvana for gamers? I'm a bit skeptical simply because of what I perceive to be inherent flaws in the physical hardware, but I'd love to be proven wrong. The bottom line for gamers right now, however, is that until the AC-1 is available we won't know exactly how good (or bad) the Barracuda really is. For anyone that isn't into gaming, the fact that these headphones can only be used on a computer, and don't offer any advantages in terms of audio quality compared to similarly priced, or even significantly cheaper two channel headphones! well, there's nothing to see, or hear, here.

Pros

The blue LEDs look pretty cool
Small, unobtrusive & detachable mic (just don't lose it)

Cons

Requires USB to work
Bass... What bass?
The surround sound effect is lacking
Volume control unit is a bit cumbersome

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

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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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