[Review] Razer Kraken Tournament Edition.

The Razer Kraken Tournament Edition is the first gaming headphones from Razer that I’ve ever experienced and to be frank, it was quite impressive. It is sold for USD 100 (ref) in Razer’s official website. If you are from Malaysia, you can get it for RM 549 (ref). I realized that in Malaysia, the Razer Kraken TE is a little more expensive than the Razer Mamba Wireless gaming mouse despite having the same price tag in US.

If you want it even cheaper, try getting it from Lazada because it is only RM 455 (ref) and as usual, you can get it for even cheaper if you have a voucher.

Package contents :

• Razer Kraken Tournament Edition (TE) gaming headset
• USB audio controller
• Product information guide

Below is the full unboxing video of Razer Kraken Tournament Edition :

I find the colour to be very attractive and that’s quite weird because I personally don’t fancy any striking colours but somehow, the neon green is just too beautiful. Well, there are times, especially when I am not well where I just don’t want to look at the headphones because the striking colour makes my headache even worse. So, if you are not a fan of neon green, you can always opt for the black version.

The ear cups are very big, comfortable and can easily fit on my ears. I was expecting for the Razer logo to glow (with backlight) but well, thinking about it now, I don’t think it will blend well with the striking colour of the headphones. The cooling gel-infused ear cushions are also very soft and comfortable. However, I do feel the heat on my ears after using the headset for about an hour or so…..not too much but just a little. I don’t know whether to blame Kraken TE or my room condition because my room is normally quite hot and probably that could be the reason.

The padded headband is very soft and comfortable but since I have a very thick hair, I couldn’t feel it that much. If you are bald, then you will be more than happy with it because the entire headband is covered by the soft sponge and your scalp is not going to bump on any plastic stuff. For me, there was more than enough head room but I read one review where the reviewer has complained about not having enough head space. So I suggest you to try it out at any Razer retail outlets before buying one for yourself. If you are unable to do so, then let me assure that for most of you, the head room should be fine, unless you have a long face structure.

The nylon cord used for the headphones and USB controller gives me a feel that it is worth paying RM 469 for it. What I mean is, Razer has made sure that the Razer Kraken TE looks expensive in terms of design.

By the way, there is a remote attached to the cable where you can use to adjust the volume or switch on/off the mic. I find that very useful but when I use the Kraken TE together with the USB audio controller, I get confused on where to adjust the volume because the USB controller does the exact same thing as the attached remote, with some extra features of course.

Headphones – I really enjoyed using the Razer Kraken TE because this is exactly how I want to listen to my music. The headphones produce great sound with the right bass level by default. While listening to my favourite musics via the Kraken TE, I couldn’t hear anything else because the gel infused ear pads do a great job in making sure that no noise from outside can be heard (unless you keep the volume low). That also means that it is not safe to use while you are on the road or in a ‘vulnerable’ environment because you will not be aware of your surrounding.

Mic – The retractable mic on the left ear cup is very easy to pull out or push in with just one hand. The mic reaches exactly near my mouth once it is fully out which is perfect. I did a voice recording test, and surprisingly the clarity is quite good. I could hear my voice very well and the surrounding noise is kept under control. However, you shouldn’t expect the mic to work like a condenser mic. For voice chat, the mic works perfectly well.

The USB controller is quite useful but it is also redundant when it comes to adjusting the volume or turning on the mic. The only time I would need the USB controller is while playing games or when I need to use the mic (my PC’s 3.5 mm mic port is separate from the speaker’s 3.5 mm port).

Before I explain about the controller, you need to know that the controller doesn’t have a built-in sound card. It just serves as a control unit and nothing more.

So what is the exact purpose of this audio controller? Yes, obviously it can do more than just adjusting the volume and turning off the mic. There is a knob for you to increase or decrease the bass level. I felt that the default bass level was already good and by adding the bass, the bass got even higher (obviously) but it was not to my liking. Of course, it worked well while playing games especially games like FreeFire & PUBG because it gives the “BOOM” sound when you shoot but for musics, I find the default bass level to be perfectly all right. Probably you may enjoy the option of having that extra bass.

You can also turn on the THX spatial audio effect, which is supposed to be the key highlight of this remote  Unfortunately, it was not up to my expectations. Well, I didn’t feel any difference by turning on the THX effect because it feels the same whether the effect is on or off.

Since the THX is pretty useless, the next most important feature that I could think of is the game/chat balance volume. Sometimes the background sound of a game will be overwhelming that I couldn’t hear what my peers are saying. So what this knob does is, it reduces the game’s sound level and increases the chat volume instead. I didn’t use this feature that much but nevertheless it was quite interesting to have such a feature.

One thing that I am not very happy about the USB controller is the distance between the controller and me. Yes, it is actually on the floor because my headphones’ cord is already very long. So each time I want to adjust the volume, I need to look for the controller or pull the cord until the remote reaches my hand. Sometimes, I rather not use the remote due to this and will end up adjusting the volume or on / off the mic via the attached remote.

To make use of the Synapse 3 software, you must be connected via USB. So what can you do with Synapse? Well, it works as a sound enhancer. You can fiddle with the sound settings, by adjusting the EQ and activating THX spatial audio. Once THX is activated, you can also set it to either stereo or surround for selected app e.g. Google Chrome. I personally find this to be pretty useless because I couldn’t feel any difference.

There is also an option to adjust the mic level and that’s pretty much about the Synapse software. I don’t use this app very often because I don’t need most of the features there. If you are an avid gamer, you might need this software to enhance your audio experience while gaming. So I will still suggest you to have it installed whether you are planning to use it or not.