At first we would like to thank Razer for offering us their Kraken 7.1 V2 Surround Sound Gaming Headset for testing and reviewing.

 

About Razer:

"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."

Product Features:

 

Advanced 7.1 virtual surround sound engine for pinpoint positional audio

 

The Razer Kraken 7.1 V2 delivers an immersive surround sound gaming experience to enhance your aural situational awareness. You’ll always hear where the enemy is coming from, and where your team is located, to strike with precision. What’s more, the engine is entirely customizable via Razer Synapse, so you can determine the best placement for the audio channels to best fit your own listening preferences.

 

50 mm audio drivers custom tuned for balanced in-game audio and communications

 

The Razer Kraken 7.1 V2 is outfitted with larger drivers than its predecessor to offer a louder and richer soundstage than ever before. You’ll feel like you’re right at the center of all the gaming action, while ensuring your team’s shotcalls are heard with absolute clarity.

 

Active noise-cancelling digital microphone for crystal-clear communication

 

A fully retractable microphone with active noise-cancellation* ensures crystal clear communication. Cut through the noise at the loudest LAN parties and eSports tournaments to ensure your team is always hearing your coordinations loud and clear.

 

Unibody aluminum frame for extended durability

 

Made of Bauxite aluminum, the entire frame of the Razer Kraken 7.1 V2 is lightweight, flexible and incredibly durable. It has been tested extensively to withstand the rigors of pro-gaming.

 

Maximum comfort and zero fatigue

 

The headband was designed for balanced weight distribution and reduced clamping force to maximize comfort during lengthy gaming sessions.

 

The ear cushions are larger, softer and better sound-isolating than before. They are easily interchangeable with a choice between circular or oval-shaped designs (sold separately) allowing for a personalized fit.

 

Special in-mold channels have been designed into the ear cushions enabling specs-wearing gamers to wear the headset free of strain.

 

Lighting Effects

 

Chroma Lighting represents more than just multicolor, it opens up limitless personalization options for you to play with, empowering you with the tools to take both your play style and your personal style to the next level.

 

 

Product Specifications:

 

Headphones:

 

Frequency response: 12 Hz – 28 kHz

Impedance: 32 ? @ 1 kHz

Sensitivity (@1 kHz): 123 dB

Input power: 30 mW (Max)

Drivers: 50 mm, with Neodymium magnets

Inner ear cup diameter: 56 mm / 2.2 in

Connection type: USB Digital

Cable length: 2 m / 6.6 ft

Approx weight: 346 g / 0.76 lbs

 

Microphone:

 

Frequency response: 100 Hz – 10 kHz

Signal-to-noise ratio: > 55 dB

Sensitivity (@1 kHz): -38 ± 3 dB

Pick-up pattern: Active noise-cancelling*, unidirectional MEMS boom

 

*Available on PC Only

 

System Requirements

 

PC / Mac

Windows 7 / Mac OS X 10.9 (or higher)

Internet connection for driver installation

At least 100 MB of free hard disk space

 

After trying out the wonderful DeathAdder Elite, it is time to check out another enhanced product from the Razer’s previous series. To be more exact, we are discussing about the Kraken 7.1 V2, which features a better hardware construction but also bigger drivers for enhancing the 7.1 surround sound effect versus the older Kraken 7.1 Chroma model released back in 2014.

The product is shipped inside a medium-sized cardboard enclosure, which does feature a photo of the product in operation on the top cover; while the product name does no longer have the name “Chroma” included, the effects are fully supported and we get a confirmation thanks to the logo placed on the lower right side:

 

 

 

On one of the box sides, Razer is listing the full technical specifications, along with the hardware requirements:

 

 

 

The main product highlights are being described on the back side of the box, in multiple languages:

 

 

 

A handle is also provided for store display purposes:

 

 

 

After lifting the top cover, we will get to see a similar packaging design as before, only now it is more straight-forward and does not include the transparent plastic layer we have seen with the older model:

 

 

 

As a bundle, we do get extra documentation:

 

 

 

To be more exact, we are getting a message from Razer’s Co-Founder, CEO and Creative director Min-Liang Tan which welcomes us to the Razer Cult but also a User’s Guide:

 

 

 

Besides the usual installation instructions, we will also get hints on how to remove the leatherette ear cups for cleaning purposes and discovery of the product serial number:

 

 

 

Razer did not omit to include a set of their nice-looking silver stickers, for using them on our desktop PC case or gaming laptop:

 

 

 

The new Kraken 7.1 version does come with a more durable design, larger and more comfortable leatherette cups, while only adding a few grams to the total weight:

 

 

 

The featured Bauxite aluminum frame is incredibly durable, transforming this headset into an ideal companion for professional gamers:

 

 

 

Some design details like the outer RGB LED-lighted Razer logos or the black metallic mesh have been preserved:

 

 

 

The left cup features a similar design as the right one, only that this one also incorporates the retractable microphone:

 

 

 

 

The microphone is flexible enough for positioning in the desired way; the top plastic cover of the microphone also acts as a Mute button, which is easy to work with:

 

 

 

The microphone is also equipped with ANC technology, which eliminates most of the background noise around us, in order to ensure clear voice communication. This is most important during eSports tournaments rather than at home, since there are a lot of events happening in the same time:

 

 

 

If we do follow the instructions carefully, we will find out that the leatherette ear cups can be easily removed, in order to check the product serial number, but also for checking out the custom-tuned 50mm audio drivers. These are meant to offer a better represented soundstage versus the previous Kraken 7.1 Chroma:

 

 

 

 

The leatherette cushions are also now larger and more comfortable than before; Razer does also place at the disposal of potential customers a set of oval-shaped cushions, for a more personalized fit:

 

 

 

The Razer motto is also present on the inside layer of the leatherette ear cups:

 

 

 

The headband is another element which has preserved the old design, including the leatherette-covered top, holding the Razer logo:

 

 

 

 

The headband can be extended as needed, in order to fit all head shapes and sizes:

 

 

 

As we have seen with many other high-end peripherals, the Kraken 7.1 V2 headset is supplied with a braided cable:

 

 

 

The USB connector has been redesigned, is more compact and features the green Razer color scheme:

 

 

 

Thanks to the unified Razer Synapse application, we can configure the Chroma LED effects based on our preferences:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After logging in to Synapse, our previous configuration options will be downloaded from the cloud; the software is going to detect the connected Razer peripheral and install the necessary drivers, but also use a customized GUI just for it. The Kraken 7.1 V2 does first come with a Calibration tab, where we will be able to fine-tune the software 7.1 effect:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Audio configuration tab does allow the user to work with the Volume controls, adjust the Bass levels, enable Sound Normalization or Voice Clarity features:

 

 

 

The Microphone interface does have its own tab available, from where we can adjust its volume, mute it completely via software, enable Mic Monitor, Volume Normalization, adjust its Sensitivity, enable the ANC for the microphone, but we do also have a separate Ambient Noise Reduction feature:

 

 

 

The Mixer tab allows the user to adjust the overall volume, but also per-application, when multiple ones are launched and make use of audio:

 

 

 

Kraken 7.1 V2 does also come with a configurable 8-band EQ:

 

 

 

We can also go for one of the available presets:

 

 

 

The Chroma LED lighting effects can be customized individually, but also can be synchronized with other Chroma-enabled peripherals:

 

 

 

Here are the effects we can work with:

 

 

 

The Chroma effects can be also activated when running compatible applications or games:

 

 

 

 

In order to test out the Kraken 7.1 V2, we have fired up DOOM, Mafia III, Paladins, Star Wars: The Old Republic but also GTA V. After the initial fine tuning of the headset, we have found that the product can accurately reproduce surround sound, helping the gamers identify the positions of certain NPCs, explosions or players inside the game, which is an asset over the crowd which does use stereo-only gaming headsets.

 

The Razer Surround software which is also employed here is a good solution which did appear for quite some time on the market as standalone.

 

After the gaming sessions, we have also watched some YouTube videos, several TV Show episodes and also some movies. The bass levels are a bit higher on the default settings versus the Siberia 840/800 series from SteelSeries, which is usual for headsets focused mainly for gaming purposes. We can, however fine-tune the audio output on our liking, thanks to the included 8-band EQ.

 

While gaming, we have also held conferences over Skype and our gaming mates were able to hear us clear, without any distortions, which says a lot about the quality of the included microphone.

 

No doubt about it, the headset can be used for several hours without signs of discomfort, thanks to the large leatherette ear cups and the low product weight.

 

We could note a negative aspect about this headset, which was also present with the Kraken 7.1 Chroma: there is no hardware volume control, either on the cups or on the wire which could help us adjust the level on-the-fly. An analog volume control wheel can be only found the Kraken Pro V2 version.

The Kraken 7.1 V2 gaming headset can be found online for about 104.18 Euros.

Razer Kraken 7.1 V2 Surround Sound Gaming Headset is Recommended for:

 

 

We would like to thank again to Razer for making this review possible!