Razer Barracuda: unannounced redesign?
January 27, 2008 8:35 pm Impressions, Technology
A few days ago I received my new Razer Barracuda HP-1 headset, which as you may now is Razer’s high quality 5.1 surround gaming headset. I had used a Barracuda before as well, so I thought I knew what to expect when opening the box… nothing could’ve been further from the truth. You see, Razer has been secretly listening in on what little criticisms were cast in their direction for this headset - and has quietly launched a new and improved version (going by exactly the same name).
Having already used it I knew this headset was one of excellent quality, particularly in it’s intended purpose of generating surround sound. Utilizing 6 speakers - 3 on each side - for front, rear and mid sound as well as a fourth unit for bass, surround sound in this headset easily rivals powerful surround sound speaker-sets. The original design had very few flaws, and what flaws it had where trivial at best. As such it seems strange for Razer to release a new version - and particularly odd for them to do it without any announcements or press statements. Maybe Razer wants to push it’s new stereo headset - the Razer Piranha - instead… who knows.
So what is it that Razer changed with their redesigned Barracuda? Truth be told, most of the changes are actually minor improvements to the external design to improve usability. The original design suffered from an exceptionally short USB cable which was used to power the headset, with it’s extensive external volume controls and signature blue Razer lights. With the new version this cable has been lengthened; as has the cable between the headset itself and the volume control. The latter is another nice improvement, because this section of cable used to be too short to properly clasp the volume control to your pants if you were too tall, like me.
A slightly more trivial change can be found at the attachable connector unit for people without a Razer soundcard. The mid-speaker connector which is traditionally orange has been painted with a bright red coating, so that you can easily distinguish between it and the microphone connector when it’s dark. Perfect for lan parties, because now you won’t be worrying about whether you’ve plugged in the right connector anymore! The volume control has also seen a tiny improvement, in that when you switch between on-with lights and on-without lights the headset doesn’t cut out power anymore, so you keep hearing your music and it just turns the lights on and off. 
It might seem like a trivial change, but the pops when switching between modes really got annoying eventually…
The final change I’ve noticed is actual in the sound representation itself. Contrary to the previous design this time it seems to generate significantly more bass, which is good because the original was a tad lacking in this respect. I doubt the sound presentation is perfect, but since I’m hardly an audiophile this is more than good enough, noticeably better than my 6.1 speaker set actually.
All of the above makes for some great improvements all around! This redesigned version has certainly been a pleasant surprise. Now if you will excuse me, I have some surround sound-supported gaming to do!
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March 6th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
I actually just got these too! Looooooove them. Far better than trying to screw with a sound system. Save it for your home theatre area, I say.