Alternate, easier to pronounce name than Carcharias? La Cucaracha.
Razer, apart from sounding like something you'd shave with, is a well-known manufacturer in gaming circles for their top-notch, if sometimes a little uninspired, gear. As a huge part of gaming, audio is just as important as video, like being able to hear an enemy sneak up on you as bullets whizz past your head, good gear just makes the experience that much more enjoyable.
The Carcharias boasts three metres of cable (with gold-plated connectors for both mic and audio) are sleeved in a fabric sheath, and features a conveniently-placed control module that changes the volume as well as turning the mic on/off. It snakes up to the left-hand cup, joining with a hard plastic guide that should prevent the cable from pulling out or twisting (nothing worse than a cable still attached that no longer holds a clear signal - or one at all!).
The ear pads are made of a sturdy foam, covered with a felt-like material and cloth over the drivers. They're a closed design, with a hard plastic shell covered in mesh outside that looks pretty attractive as well as adding a lot of strength. The headband is connected with thick metal rails into solid plastic blocks making adjusting the fit of these headphones very easy. On the left-hand side there is a boom mic connected to one of these blocks, which swings down easily, and also purports to have noise-cancelling abilities to reduce that background ambience. The headband is made of solid plastic, and has foam that fits your head snugly.
Audio quality is very good, though the higher end is a little washed out by the emphasis on bass. This means gunshots will sound great, classical music not so much. All things considered, the 40mm drivers do a good job at reproducing the sound, and have a response of 20 - 20,000Hz.
One of the better Razer products we've seen recently.
Issue: 133 | February, 2012