Razer Kraken Ultimate RGB USB Gaming Headset + Base Station V2 Chroma Bundle: Classic Black

The Razer Kraken TE is only rated around 3.5 stars at the time that I am writing this review. Let me tell you right now that most of the reviews for this product that are under 4 stars complain about things that they just don't know how to use. For instance, the headset comes with an audio controller that you can mount using its adhesive back. This controller has multiple buttons on it, and one of them controls the THX Spatial Audio. I believe that many of the users who have complained about this feature not working have not done their research. You should never buy a product before doing your research. I hate seeing the ratings for products such as these go down because people don't know what they are doing. To get that THX Spatial Audio to work, you need to be using that audio controller, AND you need to have Razer Synapse 3 on your computer. You can still use the headphones without the audio controller, but you will NOT be able to use the THX Spatial Audio. Before you start complaining about how annoying that is, you should really consider what Razer is trying to accomplish here. It is obvious from both the marketing and device setup that they are using this THX Spatial Audio for an enhanced GAMING experience. This doesn't mean that they don't sound when listening to music or other uses, as I can assure you that they do, but it means that you won't need that spatial audio unless you are using it for gaming. You should understand the ins and outs of a product at this price point before you buy it, and it is NOT difficult to figure that out. If the pictures and descriptions aren't enough, then watch some reviews/unboxings on YouTube! Most, if not all of your questions will be answered, and you won't feel like you aren't getting what you paid for! The Razer Synapse 3 software is one of the many gems that makes this product stand out. Using this software, you can do all of the following with ease: - Fine tune specific audio settings to your liking. This includes enhancements such as Sound Normalization and Voice Clarity, and you can also use the EQ to adjust 10 individual frequencies. - Adjust/toggle microphone settings. This includes enhancements, sensitivity, volume, and even sidetone. Sidetone lets you listen to what your microphone is picking up with NO DELAY, so you can hear yourself and your real-life surroundings with the headset on. - Customize audio for specific applications using the Mixer. You can select if you would rather have Stereo or Surround Sound for each application specifically, and you can also calibrate and adjust the spatial audio if you hear things differently. - Manage/create multiple presets that contain all of the aforementioned settings to switch between on the fly. You can even assign these presets to applications, so your headset will automatically switch to them when a specific application is being used. It will switch right back to what you were on before when you stop using that application as well. The microphone sounds just as good as the other Razer Kraken headset microphones if not better, and as I have mentioned, can be customized using the Razer Synapse 3 software. The headset is extremely comfortable, and the cooling gel-infused ear cushions are amazing. They feel great and the headset is very light overall. For those wondering, the construction is made up plastic and what feels to be a lightweight aluminum. As advertised, the top cushion is definitely softer than previous Kraken iterations, and sometimes it almost feels as though I am not even wearing my headset! Good build quality and comfort. The audio controller takes the headphone input in the form of a 3.5 mm audio jack and outputs to your PC via USB. I know already wrote a bit about the audio controller earlier in the review, but here are its features as well: - Volume Up/Volume Down buttons - Toggle Microphone Mute button - Bass adjustment knob - Game/Chat balance knob - Toggle THX Spatial Audio button There is also a basic in-line audio controller on the cable of the headset, and it allows for the following: - Volume Adjustment knob - Toggle Microphone Mute switch The main thing that everyone wants to know is how do they sound? Well, I personally think that they sound great and are a clear upgrade from my previous Kraken 7.1 Chroma headset. I use the THX Spatial Audio for games, and it is actually crazy how easy it is to tell where things are in-game. It was one of the first things that I noticed when I used these for the first time when playing games. In conclusion, this headset is honestly insanely good, especially for the price. I felt that I needed to do it justice by writing such a lengthy review to go over most of the features and shed light on some misinformed/uninformed reviews. I've spent a decent amount of time writing this, and hopefully at least some of you found it helpful. Let me know if you have any questions, and have a nice day/night. - Matt P.S. Please excuse any spelling/grammar errors. If I made a big mistake in my writing then please let me know, and I will fix it.

UPDATE 4-14-19: I got my new set a couple days ago and finally hooked it up and installed all the drivers (very carefully) and o-m-g this set is everything I'd hoped for... The first was faulty but Razer sent me a new one via an RMA... Definitely worth the wait. Highly recommended! For a "budget" set this thing exceeds all expectations. I still stand by everything I said in my initial review... The comfort of these things is to die for. I don't want to take them off. Also, they're great if you wear glasses! I'm not constantly taking my glasses off, or the set, to take a break from the constant pressure on my temple. Finally a headset that my blind a** can enjoy. Sound quality plus comfort is way better than any set I've owned (and I've bought 3 more name brand sets since this one, while waiting for this set to make it to me). The Logitech set I own is incredibly uncomfortable and will be my backup now. Soooo happy with this headset! If you have issues with yours, read my initial review and go call Razer support. I'm adding the star back to make this review 5 stars just because this headset is THAT GOOD when working properly. Normally it'd remain 4 stars, but since I love it so much... I think the frustration and wait was totally worth it. Also... This set does not have any lighting! So if you want that distracting glow on your headset, these are not for you. -- Initial review: I wrote out a really long, awesome review that I held off on until I messed with the drivers. An hour after taking the headset out of the package, it was broken. By broken I mean it didn't play sound on my PC anymore... At least, not really. Before the drivers finished installing the sound was insanely good. The bass... omg... SO incredible. Not to mention the comfort of these things, man! But once the drivers installed, the sound was so quiet I could barely hear a thing. I turned the equalizers up all the way and could still barely hear a thing. I almost cried. I tried everything. I had the volume on my PC, the cable of the headset, and on the controller up at full volume. I reinstalled every driver associated with sound. Finally, I contacted Razer support and they were absolutely amazing. We finally came to the conclusion that it was, in fact, the hardware that was at fault, and he set up for me to receive a brand new set once they received my old one. I bought a used set from Amazon, not from them. And they were well aware of this. I didn't want to just return this set, because they are actually amazing: 1. The sound quality (before they stopped working) was incredible. I turned on Aesthetic Perfection, turned up the bass on the controller, and BOOM! I felt like I was playing a live industrial show again, standing between two amps. I mean, absolutely amazing! No idea how the drivers managed to cause them to stop working. 2. The comfort is something I didn't even know existed! I mean, no I'm not some hotshot gamer who buys every name brand gamer device but I have spent thousands of dollars on having a comfortable bed and environment... I'm a game modder (Skyrim, SSE, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragons Dogma, TW3, FO4, etc) whose sole purpose is to give players an incredible, immersive, and realistic experience through hyper-realistic textures. Basically, quality and comfort are very important to me... So I may know a thing or two about the importance of good sound quality. 3. The mic. Okay, this one I was expecting to be bad because of the reviews... And I didn't care. I really don't ever plan to use the mic, since I'm a solo player now (don't have time or patience to deal with Beibers anymore, thanks for ruining MMO gaming btw!!! luvyewguyz). But anyways, the mic seemed to work fantastic. No issues that other people reported there, although I haven't done extensive testing, since I don't really keep friends. Definitely a lone wolf (by choice). I am upset that Amazon sent me a faulty device, however. I guess I can't really blame them. This is my first time purchasing a used product/refurb from Amazon that didn't work though. I am going to update this review once I receive the new one, even though I'm not getting it from here. The reviews on Amazon are for the product themselves and not the seller. The purpose of seller feedback is for you to rate the seller, and as far as I know... I did get the headset SUPER early (two days, actually. I have prime and get two-day shipping, but usually it takes four days for me to get anything I order... yet it took one day). So that's pretty awesome. I'm sure Amazon simply checks to see if a product turns on, and didn't think to plug up the controller and check whether it connects and works fine. I'm glad I contacted Razer though and got them to take it, so no one else would receive a faulty product.

If you have the Kraken Pro V2s and are just going to use these for console gaming then you won't need these, but if you want to use these on PC then definitely get these as the USB sound and RAZER Software is amazing, especially for music. The cooling is good but not a must. The main upgrades from the V2s are the noise cancelling and a clearer mic. The ear cups are now oval and no longer removable but do have the cooling gel.

I booked this as a Christmas present for my son who is a YouTube Content creator, He also streams life with his games and he says this is a great headset. The quality the control and everything is excellent.

First 3 days of owning, but am IN LOVE. They're so light and soft on my head, I can play way too long and still not get weird sweaty ears. Sound is superb, microphone quality is great (I know because I purchased a pair for my friends). One thing of note is that they don't block out the sound of the space you're in. I like this because it means I can use speakers for game audio and headphones for party chat.

I bought this headset to replace my old 5.1 surround USB and the sound quality is so much better! They have some weight to them which is good and they stay on my head well and feel nice and cool. The ear cups are large enough that they don’t squish my ears and that makes it really comfortable. But there was 2 issues with setting it up. 1. Razer synapse 3 would not download properly and stopped halfway through. I had to open windows firewall and create a new pathway specifically for the synapse 3 download file and allow it to pass so that it would download, then removed it afterwards and the synapse program works fine. 2. The THX surround sound didn’t work for the past month I’ve had them, but the fix was really easy. For some reason the USB controller has a switch to raise game volume and lower chat, or vice versa. I had them set on chat sound in the windows playback options and the surround didn’t work. I then plugged them in with the 3.5mm jack and oh woah, they sounded so much better. So with the jack plugged into the controller you have to select the speaker icon that says game ready not the headset one that says earphones, and then raise the volume on the controller for the game sounds and now surround sound works and I can hear where shota are coming from, finally. Once I got the issues fixed the headset works amazing, the sound quality is insane and the controls work great, I just don’t use the chat volume and I don’t know why Razer added this feature when discord works fine over the regukar surround sound.

Product is good but I started getting headache, this may happen to some people due to over the ear headphone, hence I returned the product and got refund.