Be a winner every time

The Razer Kraken 7.1 Chroma is a surround-sound headset for gamers that enhances play by providing true-to-life positional audio. You can count on being a winner with gear like this.

The Chroma comes equipped with an advanced 7.1 virtual-surround-sound engine that immerses you deeper into the game. The engine is capable of ultra-low latency audio processing that will modulate the audio source to simulate a 360-degree surround-sound experience.

When the headset is used with games encoded in 7.1 surround sound, you’ll be able to hear your enemy’s footsteps or monsters approaching from behind or any side. This will allow you to react in time.

The Chroma is compatible with Sony PlayStation 4 and many PS4 games encoded for surround sound.

The headphones pack 40mm neodymium drivers and support a frequency response of 20Hz to 20kHz. The impedance is 32 ohms and sensitivity is a high 112dB.

You connect to a PC or PS4 console with a gold-plated USB plug. The headset is attached with two-metre braided USB cable for durability.

To be successful in playing online multi-player games, you need to talk to your team players to get coordinated. The Chroma comes with an enhanced digital microphone. The left ear-cup houses the microphone boom that pulls out only when you need it. There’s a mute button if you don’t need to use the microphone.

The omni-directional digital microphone comes equipped with an optimised algorithm, promising pristine voice quality. The mic has a high signal-to-noise ratio, extended wideband frequency response and higher sensitivity rating to generate crystal-clear voice reproduction. It picks up a minimum of background noise.

The audio features can be further customised with Razer’s Synape configuration software. You need to download and install Synape and register for an account with Razer.

Synape allows you to tweak the engine to specifically position each surround-sound channel, boost bass levels and even balance incoming voice audio for astounding aural precision.

The engine allows you to control surround and positional audio settings for each individual program, ensuring that you get the best possible experience whether you’re playing a game, watching a movie or listening to music. For example, you can set it to reduce ambient noise.

The ear cups have LED lights in the shape of the Razer logo. Razer says the Chroma’s lighting has 1.68 million customisable colour options. 

You can use Synape to select three types of lighting – Spectrum Cycling, Breathing and Static. Cycling slowly cycles through the entire spectrum of colours. Breathing displays a colour choice every seven seconds. Static will illuminate the ear cups in any colour you pick.

I tested the Chroma by playing multi-channel music from a DTS CD and DVD-Audio discs. I enjoyed the deep, powerful bass and the virtual multi-channel of phones worked impressively.

Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” DTS CD was replete with different channels of sound coming from different directions. Jean Michel Jarre’s “Aero” DTS CD sounded fully immersive with sound effects surrounding my head, very enjoyable.

The Razer Kraken 7.1 Chroma has a suggested retail price of Bt3,790.

 

KEY SPECS

 

HEADPHONE

Drivers: 40mm with Neodymium

Frequency response: 20Hz-20kHz

Impedance: 32 ohms

Sensitivity at 1kHz: 112dB

Output power: 30mW

Connector: Gold-plated USB

Cable length: 2m braided USB cable

Approximate weight: 340g (including 2m cable)

MICROPHONE

Frequency response: 100Hz-12kHz

Sensitivity at 1kHz: -40dB ? 4dB

Signal-to-noise ratio: 63dB

Pick-up pattern: Unidirectional

REQUIREMENTS

PC / Mac with USB port

PlayStation 4

Windows 8 / Windows 7 / Windows Vista / Mac OS X (10.7-10.9)

Internet connection (for driver installation)

At least 100MB of free hard-disk space