Razer Barracuda Professional wi-fi gaming headset overview

The field may be very slim and after yanking the sleeve off, the field opens up, revealing the carrying case nestled in a form-fitting plastic insert. That is healed safe as there’s a skinny layer of froth on the bottom of the entrance of the field.

Between this foam, and the carrying case, it’s most likely essentially the most safe packaging we’ve seen from Razer, so in case your supply individual is keen on launching packages over the fence from vary, you’ll nonetheless be OK.

The setup was basically similar to most different gaming headsets: Slap the dongle right into a vacant USB port and maintain the on button till you hear a mysterious lady saying ‘linked’.

Because the Barracuda Professional is Bluetooth-enabled too, merely tapping the Smartswitch twin wi-fi button will swap it over to Bluetooth, the place it should enter pairing mode and you may join it to your gadget of selection.

To be used with a PC, we’d advocate putting in Razer Synapse, because the out-of-the-box EQ is way too bassy, so some fiddling is required, particularly if you happen to intend the Razer Barracuda Professional as your gaming headset.

NOW READ: Razer Synapse information

Design

The design of the Barracuda Professional is proof of Razer lastly rising up. There isn’t a RGB lighting, vivid inexperienced accents, or aggressive branding.

The truth is, this gaming headset merely seems to be like every pair of noise-canceling headphones you’ve seen folks carrying on planes, trains, and cars, which hints at their true objective, which isn’t gaming, however we’ll get to that later.

If you happen to’re accustomed to the Sony WH-1000XM4 or Bose QuietComfort 45, You’ll instantly notice simply how far Razer has gone to distinguish this product from their earlier headsets, because it’s nearly similar in form, weight, and match.

The Razer Barracuda Professional is underdesigned to such an extent, that there isn’t rather a lot to write down, as they’re as normal because it will get for a set of over-ear wi-fi headphones, and our product pictures will do a greater job. What number of phrases is an image value once more?

Anyway, branding right here can be an excessive amount of, however none of it’s coloured so Razer can get away with giant logos on every earcup, and alongside the highest of the headscarf, however that’s about it.

That is excellent news for these of you who need only one set of headphones for all purposes, as you possibly can put on these about and about, with out trying like a gaming goblin who’s escaped his pit for the afternoon, which is as amusing as it’s uncommon.

The floor end is usually clean to the contact matte black, and there are accents of shiny plastic right here and there that add a extra premium contact.

It’s all plastic although, with no metallic to be discovered on the outside in any way. We’d have most well-liked to see some metallic on the yolks and different pivoting sections, however the construct high quality stays premium, regardless of the symphony of plastics. Talking of which:

Construct high quality

It’s truly excellent, outdoing most Razer headsets we’ve tried beforehand. When subjected to an aggressive twist take a look at, the headscarf has plenty of flex however returns to regular with no issues.

Moreover, the plastic, although ubiquitous, feels nice, with no hole and brittle feeling to it, although we fear it’s scratch very simply if you happen to select to not use the included carrying case.

There may be one factor we seen, nonetheless, the quantity wheel rubs towards the principle housing, which each feels a bit grim and makes a noticeably loud noise when carrying the headset. Maybe Razer stands to enhance their manufacturing tolerances a bit going forwards, cheers, boys.

A standout right here is the ear cushions. There isn’t a doubt that they’re fake leather-based, however the softness of each the upholstery and the underlying foam is totally high tier.

The froth isn’t too smooth both, which usually results in the ear cushions flattening out totally, which then adversely impacts consolation.

These stroll an ideal line between smooth and resistive, which is the best place to be, each by way of longevity, and noise-cancelation.

The carrying case

It is a implausible case, which is spectacular as carrying circumstances aren’t what you count on from a Razer product, however regardless of their relative inexperience, they’ve managed to make a case that feels nice and works even higher.

The inside is a smooth non-scratchy materials that has sufficient padding to guard the Barracuda Professional towards even essentially the most egregious of drops. It most likely gained’t survive a automobile operating over it, but when that’s a key consideration for you, perhaps you need to spend much less cash on headphones and extra on driving classes.

Moreover, the zips are gaurded with a type of rubber gasket factor that leads us to consider that the case may be very water resisitant. In all probability not completely watertight, however you’ll be okay within the rain.

One final thing we like in regards to the case is the little pocket inside, which is the place the cables and dongle have been hiding.

It’s acquired a magnetic clasp that pops open and closed with a satisfying snap, and the magnet energy is about proper too, needing a good, however not overly robust yank to open. This implies it’ll keep closed when the casing is bouncing round in a bag so the cables gained’t escape.

Sound high quality & noise cancelation

Earlier on this overview, we alluded to how this gaming headset appears to be designed extra as a general-use set of noise-canceling headphones versus a gaming headset and the audio high quality helps this assertion.

We aren’t precisely positive what causes it, however the Razer Barracuda Professional’s soundscape is way extra fitted to music, films, and normal content material consumption than it’s for gaming.

We talked about the bassy EQ earlier, it’s one thing you need to modify for positive, however after altering it, the headset simply didn’t sound excellent for gaming, with gunshots and explosions falling a bit flat.

Basically, once you modify the headset to sound higher, it doesn’t carry out that effectively in video games. That is unlucky, as we love the non-gamer look of the Barracuda Professional, and have been cautiously optimistic that it could possibly be an ideal all-rounder.

The THX audio works superb for positional audio, which is essential for gaming, and most well-liked for watching TV or films. This combines with the implausible seal across the ears for a super-immersive audio expertise.

Total, this headset sounds actually good, and the noise cancellation is fairly efficient as effectively, thanks in no small half to the seal, however right here is the place a problem presents itself.

Noise cancelation works by listening to your surroundings, and rebroadcasting the alternative frequencies of what it deems undesirable again by means of the drivers. (That is very oversimplified, however a ok definition to make our level.)

The purpose being, that ANC or Lively noise cancellation at all times has an inherent hostile impact on the sound, significantly bass, and we’re unhappy to say that that is positively the case right here.

ANC all however murders the bass response of the Razer Barracuda Professional. You’ll be able to compensate for this by upping the bass within the EQ settings, however this ends in weirdly synthetic additional bass, which can then turn out to be an excessive amount of once you flip ANC off.

So sure, the audio high quality is sweet, nice, in actual fact, but it surely simply doesn’t work effectively with the noise cancelation, which is unlucky as noise cancelation might be one of many causes for the excessively excessive value.

This value will get even more durable to swallow once you evaluate it to headphones just like the Sony WH-1000XM4s, that are priced identically however have superior sound high quality and ANC.

Built-in beamforming mics

We have been pleasantly shocked right here. After our crummy expertise with the Delta S Wi-fi, we have been anticipating equally crap noise isolation and interference,

So after we subjected the Barracuda Professional to some testing, we have been very impressed because it managed to filter out all however essentially the most aggressive of keystrokes, clicks, and different such background noise.

That is the primary time we’ve skilled built-in beamforming mics that really work as supposed. And the result’s nearly excellent. We’d favor a bit extra pickup quantity as your voice shall be heard very quietly however that’s simple sufficient to regulate in settings.

So, Razer has succeeded with its inside mics. It’s not fairly tournament-grade as correctly aggressive execs will need a bit extra readability and quantity, however for the overall on-line gamer, the Razer barracuda Professional is greater than ok.

Consolation

Razer does very, very effectively right here, with one caveat that places a slight damper on the expertise, however not everybody within the workplace seen it, so your mileage could range.

The luxuriously smooth ear cushions match a really feel superb on the aspect of your head and can have no drawback completely encompassing your ears, except you’re large, inexperienced, and have a mule for a greatest buddy.

the 340g/0.75 lbs weight, whereas fairly substantial, appears to soften away once you put the Razer Barracuda Professional on and you may scarcely really feel the headset after a number of seconds.

The match is sweet too, with the earcups having sufficient tilt and swivel to adapt to completely different head shapes whereas retaining that nice seal.

The scarf adjustment is sweet too, offering for a wide variety of head sizes. It additionally retains its size very effectively, which isn’t at all times the case as some headsets have headbands that fly open and closed on the lightest contact. We’re taking a look at you, Asus TUF H3 Wi-fi.

NOW READ: Asus TUF H3 Wi-fi gaming headset overview

Now comes the dangerous information, or inconsequential information in keeping with a few of the folks within the WePC places of work, and it’s hidden inside the headband.

Razer has added a rib of metallic operating perpendicular to the underside of the headscarf. This presumably reinforces the headscarf and prevents it from bending out of practice.

Nevertheless, we discovered that you may really feel it as a degree of stress on the highest of the pinnacle, some within the workplace didn’t discover it, and a few did.

However the truth that a few of us did discover it made us marvel why it’s there within the first place, wouldn’t it not achieve its reinforcement duties positioned on the highest of the headscarf? The place it’s out of the way in which and gained’t trigger points?

As we mentioned, you may not take into account this a problem, and even discover it, but it surely’s value noting it anyway, because it’s the one sticking level in an in any other case flawlessly comfy headset.

Razer Barracuda Professional – Closing Verdict

We end this overview shocked and impressed. Our hesitance in regards to the beamforming mics turned out to be unfounded because the Razer Barracuda is essentially the most complete headset they’ve ever made.

It’s not excellent, in fact, the worth is a bit ridiculous and the difficulty with the headscarf has left a barely bitter style in our mouth. Moreover, the ANC killing the audio high quality is annoying.

If you happen to’re available in the market for an all-in-one gaming and normal audio answer, we do advocate the Razer Barracuda Professional, because it’s very simple to modify it from gaming to normal use and again once more.

The value continues to be a problem for us, as you will get much better headphones for a similar value or typically barely much less, nonetheless, if you happen to simply need one set of headphones for every little thing, It’s an ideal choice.