I believe most gamers would agree that a headset can have the most influence on a player’s mood.
Not only can a bad headset limit your access to gaming sounds, which might allow enemies to sneak up on you in titles such as League of Legends and CS:GO, but blowing your friend’s eardrums to pieces through Skype, Raidcall, Ventrilo, or whatever voice-over-IP platform you’re using is unforgivable.
Comfort
The Razer Kraken hits some of the major nails on the head when it comes to comfort. Razer claims that this headset is “the most comfortable gaming headset ever,” and that statement may not be false.
I’ve had troubles with headaches and my entire blood circulation being cut off to my ears in the past, and I can happily say I’ve never worn a more comfortable pair of headphones.
With padded, memory foam ear cups that are so soft, I would almost entertain the idea of sleeping on them. Almost.
Audio Performance
The Kraken flaunts impressive 40 mm neodymium drivers which makes music, game sounds, and voices close to flawless.
Granted, my sounds were turned up as high as I could before potentially causing permanent hearing loss, but there was no distortion whatsoever with League of Legends game sounds or my background music’s bass.
When it comes to listening without interruption, I can promise you your own personal gaming world. Not only have I missed numerous conversations being had with me without my knowledge, I didn’t even notice when my roommate literally caught our apartment on fire.
Microphone Performance
Where this headset soars in listening and comfort, it severely lacks when it comes to the microphone.
For someone with particularly tiny fingers (finding a bowling ball is always an issue), even I have trouble pulling retractable microphone out of it’s port hole. I can only imagine the inevitable horror for anyone unfortunate enough to have “fat finger” syndrome.
My criticism doesn’t stop there. I am constantly receiving complaints from friends on Skype, RazerComms, and Curse Voice that my voice is inaudibly low.
Now, before anyone tells me to increase the volume on my microphone settings, I have already tried. I have attempted every combination of increasing my microphone volume in the various clients and on the computer itself. If the volume is increased to the point where others can actually hear my voice, there’s a good chance they can also hear everything that comes out of my headphones.
And the sink running.
And my roommate’s conversations from 20 feet away.
And any audible noise whatsoever in my apartment.
Design and Quality
However unhappy I am with the microphone of this headset, I cannot argue the magnificent design and durability of the Kraken. The headset comes in both black and a rather obnoxious green (so of course I own the latter), that are both brilliantly constructed.
The headphones are incredibly light, but surprisingly sturdy. Razer’s website claims this headset is reliable enough to take wherever your adventurous heart desires, and after dropping, stepping on, accidentally throwing, and traveling with this particular headset, that is indeed something I can confirm.
The only other thing I would change besides microphone improvements would be to add a mute button, or volume control of any kind, on the headset’s cable. Having to Alt+Tab out of programs and games to mute/unmute or adjust settings is a little disrupting.
All in All…
This headset is a great buy for the $60 price. Despite having an incredibly sensitive mic, even with attempted changes, and no settings on the physical cable…. the other aspects of this headset have exceeded my expectations.
I no longer have to worry about any sort of discomfort with the Razer Kraken, and I would recommend these to anyone looking for decent headphones at decent price.
The Kraken is available for purchase here on the Razer website.
