Timmeh
14-03-2007, 01:10 AM
I would double post my review, but the forum anti-double posting system doesn't let me. :)
So, recently my beloved Plantronics headset gave up the ghost, it was time to find myself a new pair of headphones. I enjoy gaming, am an audiophile and spend ridiculous amounts of time at my computer so high quality and comfort top the priority list. After shopping around, I finally decided on a pair of Razer Barracuda HP1s (http://www.razerzone.com/Products/Gaming-Audio/Razer-Barracuda-HP1-Gaming-Headphones/). As you can see there, Razer seem to believe that the finest selling point of any product is a long list of extremely boring and nerdy things 99% of the population don't understand entirely and don't want to. Maybe they think it makes them look clever, frankly I don't care. Thankfully however, Razer make much better headphones than they do adverts.
First impression
Classy headphones. The box has velcro, that's all I need to say on that. The headphones themselves feel weighty... not weighty like St Paul's Cathedral feels weighty, but enough so that you could probably sit on them and not break them. The head height adjusting strap was so much cleverer than anything I'd seen before, rather than having to set the height of the headphones with little clips that never seemed quite perfect, a leather band would pull them to your exact head size. Not so loose they'll fall off, but not so tight you feel like they're trying to rip off your ears.
Time to try them out then...
With everything all plugged in, the time had come to give them a go. Actually using these headphones requires use of 6 different controls. There's an on/off switch (which has 3 settings; on, off and on with lights off after a number of people complained about not being able to turn the lights off on certain razer mice), front, rear, center, bass and master volume, each of which have their own analogue dials. 4 of these controls you'll never use, but it's like having a car with an airbag... you'll probably never need it but it's comforting to know you've got it none the less. So, I flicked the switch to on, thinking that setting each dial to about half way would see me right to start with. I loaded some Prodigy into VLC and hit play. As the first note rung out, my ear drums imploded.
You might think that headphone volume should scale from mute to loud. Well you'd be wrong in the case of these; they go from mute to whoops, your house doesn't have any windows anymore. Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating a smidge, but the difference between loud and painful on the master dial is about 2mm; the sensitivity is utterly amazing and they go loud enough to practically be speakers if you put them on something hard.
Performance
Well, they were purchased for gaming, how do they do? I loaded up counter-strike to have a run around and the difference between these and and my old headphones is astronomical. You can hear... EVERYTHING. No wondering if someone's in lower B or mid on dust2, you know, you can just tell. It sounds strange, but the clarity difference between these and my old (not rubbish) Plantronics headphones is outstanding. In short, performance wise, I don't think these will be beaten any time soon, the quality is so good you'll think that your speakers are actually on - they won't be of course, you'll have sold them to pay for these. Another thing I have to note is how well they put you in your own little world. They fit snuggly around your ears, even when you're not listening to anything you can't hear a thing outside. It's actually rather nice. The only thing I'd say that really disappointed me was the microphone. It's multi-directional, meaning that sound quality is not so good and in a room that's otherwise noisy, you can hear someone talking and the TV at equal volumes. This would be hell at a LAN tournament. The upside is that it's detachable, meaning you can plug in a better one. The fact is though, on £80 headphones, I do not want to have to buy and plug in a better one. Microphone was the only real flaw.
Summary
Marks out of 5:
Comfort: **** - very, very comfortable, I can leave them on for hours at a time with no complaints.
Sound quality: ***** - Simply outstanding. I really can't stress how good.
Price: * - Very expensive, but also excellent headphones.
Value for money: *** - I didn't quite know what to give here. They are very expensive, but how do you put a price on awesome? I mean, if you went into a shop and said "I'd like an awesome please", how much would they charge? It's a toughie.
Ultimately, these are wonderful headphones, I don't regret buying them in the slightest, but they are top end headphones. If you're on a budget and you're not a huge audiophile, maybe best to stick to something a little less nice on your ears but a lot nicer on your wallet.
So, recently my beloved Plantronics headset gave up the ghost, it was time to find myself a new pair of headphones. I enjoy gaming, am an audiophile and spend ridiculous amounts of time at my computer so high quality and comfort top the priority list. After shopping around, I finally decided on a pair of Razer Barracuda HP1s (http://www.razerzone.com/Products/Gaming-Audio/Razer-Barracuda-HP1-Gaming-Headphones/). As you can see there, Razer seem to believe that the finest selling point of any product is a long list of extremely boring and nerdy things 99% of the population don't understand entirely and don't want to. Maybe they think it makes them look clever, frankly I don't care. Thankfully however, Razer make much better headphones than they do adverts.
First impression
Classy headphones. The box has velcro, that's all I need to say on that. The headphones themselves feel weighty... not weighty like St Paul's Cathedral feels weighty, but enough so that you could probably sit on them and not break them. The head height adjusting strap was so much cleverer than anything I'd seen before, rather than having to set the height of the headphones with little clips that never seemed quite perfect, a leather band would pull them to your exact head size. Not so loose they'll fall off, but not so tight you feel like they're trying to rip off your ears.
Time to try them out then...
With everything all plugged in, the time had come to give them a go. Actually using these headphones requires use of 6 different controls. There's an on/off switch (which has 3 settings; on, off and on with lights off after a number of people complained about not being able to turn the lights off on certain razer mice), front, rear, center, bass and master volume, each of which have their own analogue dials. 4 of these controls you'll never use, but it's like having a car with an airbag... you'll probably never need it but it's comforting to know you've got it none the less. So, I flicked the switch to on, thinking that setting each dial to about half way would see me right to start with. I loaded some Prodigy into VLC and hit play. As the first note rung out, my ear drums imploded.
You might think that headphone volume should scale from mute to loud. Well you'd be wrong in the case of these; they go from mute to whoops, your house doesn't have any windows anymore. Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating a smidge, but the difference between loud and painful on the master dial is about 2mm; the sensitivity is utterly amazing and they go loud enough to practically be speakers if you put them on something hard.
Performance
Well, they were purchased for gaming, how do they do? I loaded up counter-strike to have a run around and the difference between these and and my old headphones is astronomical. You can hear... EVERYTHING. No wondering if someone's in lower B or mid on dust2, you know, you can just tell. It sounds strange, but the clarity difference between these and my old (not rubbish) Plantronics headphones is outstanding. In short, performance wise, I don't think these will be beaten any time soon, the quality is so good you'll think that your speakers are actually on - they won't be of course, you'll have sold them to pay for these. Another thing I have to note is how well they put you in your own little world. They fit snuggly around your ears, even when you're not listening to anything you can't hear a thing outside. It's actually rather nice. The only thing I'd say that really disappointed me was the microphone. It's multi-directional, meaning that sound quality is not so good and in a room that's otherwise noisy, you can hear someone talking and the TV at equal volumes. This would be hell at a LAN tournament. The upside is that it's detachable, meaning you can plug in a better one. The fact is though, on £80 headphones, I do not want to have to buy and plug in a better one. Microphone was the only real flaw.
Summary
Marks out of 5:
Comfort: **** - very, very comfortable, I can leave them on for hours at a time with no complaints.
Sound quality: ***** - Simply outstanding. I really can't stress how good.
Price: * - Very expensive, but also excellent headphones.
Value for money: *** - I didn't quite know what to give here. They are very expensive, but how do you put a price on awesome? I mean, if you went into a shop and said "I'd like an awesome please", how much would they charge? It's a toughie.
Ultimately, these are wonderful headphones, I don't regret buying them in the slightest, but they are top end headphones. If you're on a budget and you're not a huge audiophile, maybe best to stick to something a little less nice on your ears but a lot nicer on your wallet.