Others by stefan @ 2013-02-18
For the Star Wars fans, Razer has built a themed gaming headset, which is comfortable and has two 50mm drivers built-in. The headset works on USB and its features can be customized by using the Razer Synapse 2.0 unified software. Besides the volume controls, we can also enable software 7.1 surround via the Dolby Pro Logic IIx and can also customize the included EQ.
At first I would like to thank Razer for offering me a sample of their Star Wars: The Old Republic Headset for reviewing.
"Razer is more than just the world's leading brand in gaming.
We were founded in 1998 in San Diego, California by our CEO Min-Liang Tan and our President Robert “Razerguy” Krakoff in a tiny shared office with a couple other gamers. We have grown today to hundreds of employees worldwide with offices in seven cities, including San Francisco, Hamburg, Seoul, Shanghai and Singapore.
Our vision from the very beginning was to be the world's greatest gaming brand and we've set out to achieve that by designing the best gaming products that any gamer has ever seen.
We believe that truly great products are based on technology, designed with extensive human factors and user ergonomic studies and then tested by the top professional gamers. In simpler terms, our own world class scientists and engineers develop cutting edge technology in-house or with partners, design phenomenal products around core technologies – and test the hell out of them in the field with our pro-gamers before we launch them.
We are the only gaming hardware company in the world with dedicated gaming user interface research and development labs, and our technology and designs are incubated in three dedicated design centers located in facilities in California, Singapore and Shenzhen. No other company boasts of technology like we do – because we're the only guys who have what it takes under the hood.
We tell it like it is: some can pretend to co-develop products with professional gamers, but gamers don't develop technology: scientists and engineers do (and ours just happen to be gamers as well).
We develop and design our products in our own labs and then put them to the test with top professional gamers who use them in pro-level tournaments and then provide us with feedback. Then we iterate on the product, refining it with the feedback – over and over and over again. That's how it's done, that's how a Razer product is built from ground up. No marketing BS and no hype.
We pioneered the eSports movement with the world's first $100K tournament back in 2000 and we have continued to give back to the community by sponsoring top eSports athletes who give back to Razer by beta-testing our products. We remain one of the largest sponsors of eSports community sponsoring top global eSports teams worldwide.
The people that work here at Razer are gamers just like you – some amateur, some ex-professional gamers, some just play for fun, just ask our CEO who will lay the smack down on you in Quake Live or our President, who has over ten level 80's on his local server. Hell, he will even take you on a raid in the middle of the work day.
We are the same gamers who are told by the suits that we need adult supervision and we need a professional CEO or management team – and we're the same gamers who tell the suits exactly where to shove it because we like doing what we do – and we do it on our own terms.
We hope our passion for gaming speaks to you like it does to us, through our products and we hope you enjoy the competitive edge we bring to your game."
Dolby® 7.1 surround sound for positional audio
Experience virtual surround sound with drivers tuned for 3D positional audio, letting you immerse in the rich, story-driven universe of Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. It also ensures you clearly hear intense cues of each battle or the subtle footsteps of an approaching enemy. Dolby® Headphone technology creates a realistic game-play environment using the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Gaming Headset, making listeners feel like the action is happening all around them.
Lightweight, circumaural design for extended comfort
The Star Wars: The Old Republic Gaming Headset by Razer is built with a lightweight, sturdy frame and circumaural ear cups to ensure maximum comfort and minimal fatigue during those long missions and epic battles in the far reaches of the galaxy.
Adjustable multi-color lighting for immersive gameplay
Whether blue for the Galactic Republic, red for the Sith Empire, or even green like a Jedi's lightsaber, customize the multi-color LED lighting system of the Star Wars: The Old Republic Gaming Headset by Razer to get a unique look and style on your aural weapon of power.
Razer Synapse 2.0 Enabled
Add and manage multiple devices with Razer Synapse 2.0. Instantly store and access your macros, key bindings, configurations and more from the cloud.
Dolby® 7.1 surround sound
Circumaural headset design with 50mm speaker units
Multi-color lighting
Boom microphone with adjustable tension
Interchangeable faction emblems
Volume & mic control buttons on the headset
Adjustable headband structure for optimal comfort
Approximate Size: 195 mm / 7.7” (Width) x 180 mm / 7.1” (Height) x 100 mm / 3.9” (Depth)
Approximate Weight: 318 g / 0.70 lbs
Headphones
Drivers: 50 mm neodymium magnets
Frequency Response: 20 – 20,000 Hz
Impedance: 32 Ω
Cable length: 7ft braided cable
Connector: USB
Microphone
Frequency response: 50 – 16,000 Hz
Signal to Noise Ratio: 50dB
Sensitivity (@1kHz): -37 dB +/-4 dB
Pick Up pattern: Uni-Directional
-PC with USB port
-Windows® 8/ Windows® 7 / Windows Vista® / Windows® XP (32-bit)/ Mac OS X (v10.6-10.7 and above)
-Internet connection (for driver installation)
-At least 100MB of hard disk space
-Razer Synapse 2.0 registration (requiring a valid e-mail), software download, license acceptance, and internet connection needed to activate full features of product and for software updates. After activation, full features are available in optional offline mode.
With the Star Wars: The Old Republic headset we can see the real efforts Razer made for creating a product which integrates a lot of elements from the game. The enclosure comes with artwork that can be seen at the SWTOR intro (loading) screen, along with a portion made from transparent plastic, so we will be able to see how the headset has been designed, even without unsealing the box:
Also here we will find some of the main product highlights written:
Some of the headset main elements are explained in more detail on the package sides and on the back:
On both sides, the box is fully sealed for more security:
After we remove the top layer packaging, we will see that the headset is further enclosed inside a Star Wars themed cardboard box:
Besides the headset, we will also get some bundle:
Along with the documentation, we will also get some Razer stickers and some very cool Star Wars ones; replaceable lateral covers are also included inside the box:
Initially, we have the “Republic” covers pre-installed on the headsets and we also get a set of “Empire” for easy replacement; these covers are specially made so they permit LED light go through them:
The black Razer leaflet gives us the instructions on how to create an account on the website, but also how to register the product:
The Quick Start Guide comes to help us get everything going right away:
The SWTOR headset comes with a black/grey color combination; the microphone is attached to the headset and cannot be removed:
On the external side of each cup we will discover several extra buttons:
The buttons which can be found on the right cup allow us to change the sound volume and we also have available a Mute button:
The same buttons can be found on the external side of the left cup, but this time to control the volume of the included microphone:
The cups have a circumaural design and come with a cloth pad and foam which is really comfortable during prolonged use. The inside is also SWTOR themed:
When looking at the headrest, we will see a padded headband and the same soft cloth finish:
The arms can be also adjusted to fit any head size:
As we have mentioned before, the headset comes with the “Republic” covers pre-attached:
On the bottom of each cup, we will have a set of bright multi-colored LEDs:
The boom unidirectional microphone body also includes rubber at the middle to allow more flexible positioning:
A small sticker is present on the inside portion of the microphone arm:
On the external side of the headband we did not find any extra logos or special designs:
For additional durability, Razer have equipped this headset with a braided USB cable, which also ends with a golden connector:
When the headset is connected to a spare USB port, we will see the lateral LEDs which will light up the themed covers, but also the customizable bottom LED lights, that can be set with a color of our choosing:
In order to access the headset main features, we need to install the Razer Synapse software, version 2.0, which is available from the manufacturers’ website. After creating an account and logging in, the installation procedure will begin:
During the installation, Synapse will download the headset drivers along with the application:
When the initial installation has been completed, we will be prompted to restart the system:
The software interface is also SWTOR themed and on the top side we can identify 3 main tabs: Volume, Equalizer, and Lighting. On the Volume section, we can define multiple profiles, set the headset volume, balance or enable/disable the Dolby Pro Logic IIx / Dolby Headphone function. The Volume menu also allows us to set the microphone volume, along with Automatic Gain Control, Acoustic Echo Cancellation and Mic Boost option:
The Equalizer section will present itself with a 10-band EQ, that can be turned on or off and in the same menu we have the option to choose between different presets:
The Lighting menu will allow us to customize the LED light effects; for the LEDs we can choose a static color or a color cycling effect; the brightness level can be also set here and when playing SWTOR we also get the option to enable special lighting effects:
The LED colors can be chosen from a pre-defined palette, or we can pick a custom color of our choice:
Star Wars: The Old Republic Gaming Headset from Razer works on the USB interface and is easy to install, thanks to the Razer Synapse 2.0 unified software. From the available GUI we can customize most of the audio settings, but we also have the possibility to customize the LED light effects.
Regarding the headset design and comfort during long gaming sessions, we stand impressed. The soft cloth pad and foam combination does not become sticky; also, the design was made in such a way so it would integrate with the Star Wars universe completely, like the hexagonal cups which resemble TIE fighter wings. Buttons are offered for both audio playback and microphone, so we won’t need to access the software controls for adjustments; we find this a better approach than having a remote on the wire, which could be uncomfortable at times. Some people may be a little upset though because the microphone is not removable.
The headset does not have real 7.1-channel surround since it features only two drivers, but it can emulate this by using Dolby Pro Logic IIx; the difference can be spotted immediately when turning the feature on, but the quality of the sound also depends on the audio material. The bass does not distort at higher volume levels and the other frequencies were delivered clearly, without additional noise in the games, movies and TV shows we tested the product on.
The headset is not very cheap, we are able to pick it up from online retailers for about 100 Euros, but for Star Wars hardcore fans this item is a must-buy.
I would like to thank again to Razer for making this review possible!