Gaming headset, Razer Kraken 7.1 V2 Vs HyperX cloud 2

[Matthew Sheridan]

Hi,

I've just started getting into gaming more and have built a PC and am looking at getting a gaming headset as at the moment i am only using some JBL headphones and i am noticing that i cannot hear nearly as much as some of my friends, i would quite like something with 7.1. I went to currys and tried on the Razer kraken 7.1 V2 and they were sooo comfortable and i instantly fell in love but i have also seen many people talking about the HyperX cloud 2's and how amazing they are. I have quite a tight budget at the moment as have just built the PC and still need a decent monitor as just using crappy old one ATM but i could always buy used or wait till birthday or something and get them then. If anyone has used both of these headsets, or even just one of them, please let me know your thoughts,

Thanks,

Matthew

 

[Matthew Sheridan]

the monitor is square and so dark i can barely see anything during the day

 

[EsaT]

Takstar made HyperX has lot better sound quality than usual for budget manufacturing.
Because of Takstar being honestly trying manufacturer, unlike usual Chinese trinket factories.

While Razer is bling bling ping pong manufacturing brand...
Here's what utter garbage frequency response original Kraken 7.1 had: (third graph)
https://uk.hardware.info/reviews/60...gher-quality-testresults---frequency-response
In Japan someone would do seppuku from less than that!
So wouldn't exactly trust any Razer to give sound quality comparable to price.


And fitness for gaming is where headphones have huge differences.
Especially with binaural sound needed for actual 3D sound immersion being way more demanding than any stereo music.
Even expensive famous for music headphones can be just average good for gaming.
Closed ear cup design favoured by gaming headsets is especially challenging for getting any good binaural sound stage.

With good headphones besides 360 directionality there's good sense of distance with sounds feeling coming from farther than next to ear and from different distances:

Farther gun shots should literally feel like coming from dozens of meters away.
If those sound more like "head in bucket under water" with some sounds just being more muffled than others that's only because of headphones being bad.

And most trinket production gaming stuff would be in that category.
Like I said that fashionable closed design common for headsets is acoustically good only for isolating environment's noise and giving strong lowest "rumbling" bass.
Otherwise it's just huge challenge/drag for sound quality and especially for having that big sound stage.


So if you can wait and get little more budget that could definitely give lot better sound.
Especially if you don't need microphone and have quiet environment.
Little over £100 can give headphones well balanced for gaming with excellent "fun factor" from above neutral bass and very good competitiveness for picking direction and distance of sounds.

 

[Matthew Sheridan]

Little over £100 can give headphones well balanced for gaming with excellent "fun factor" from above neutral bass and very good competitiveness for picking direction and distance of sounds.

Could you give me a recommendation for a headset like this? I do need a mic.
If i can't get enough money which of those 2 would be better?

 

[EsaT]

I would certainly trust Takstar made HyperX more than random trinket factory made Razers.
Fostex (Japanese company) made Creative Aurvana Live 2 could be another good one for price.
First CAL was indentical to some Denon headphone.
But if sound isolation isn't needed there are no doubt better open headphones:
For its shoe string budget price Superlux HD-330 is very convincing.
It just needs better ear pads (plus mic) and cable is rather short and tight coiled one.

Also Takstar made open design QPAD QH-85 headset should be good for price giving better sound stage with more natural sound than closed cans.
https://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/qpad_qh_85_review,6.html
Besides that there really aren't much any open design headsets in cheaper price class.
Because very strong bass is good for selling bad quality and then of course if headset is meant for LANs and such noisy places sound isolation is needed.
While those who play in quiet home with headphones don't matter because they can be sold same garbage...


For audio makers open design is rather standard in better headphones.
Those just need using separate microphone like this:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/speedlink-spec-clip-on-metal-microphone-sl-8691-sbk-sp-037-sl.html
Zalman ZM-Mic1 is similar product.

Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro has excellent bass immersion for open headphone and step below top level sound stage for binaural sound.
For higher "competitiveness" with less "fun factor" from bass, but always more pronounced foot steps and such these would be good:
AKG K612 has near neutral bass and sound stage near absolute top level headphones like AKG's K701/702.
Those last two are absolute top level headphones for binaural gaming.
(250 ohm Beyer is easier load for outputs because of lower current draw than AKGs)

And then gaming branded trinkets can nowadays cost toward £200...



Besides proper reproduction another part of good gaming immersion is that signal.
Hardly any game itself can produce that binaural sound which contain spatial cues brain uses to decode 3D sound direction from just two input channels.
That would require game having own sound options with headphones slectable, while most games don't have any own sound settings beside volume.
And stereo sounds this:
https://youtu.be/d1_20T8x_OI?t=12m56s
Like from different game compared to first minute of video with proper headphones...

Anyway Microsoft added Windows Sonic for Headphones to Windows 10 which gives some kind binaural sound for free and that could be used for start.

Though Creative has very decent budget sound card beating very cheap generic USB dongles...
HyperX Cloud 2's bundled USB dongle doesn't do justice to them:
As time passed however I quickly realized that the headset is great but the 7.1 USB sound thingy sucks harder than a Dyson.
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/posts/30945620

 

[Matthew Sheridan]

Though Creative has very decent budget sound card beating very cheap generic USB dongles...
HyperX Cloud 2's bundled USB dongle doesn't do justice to them:

Is the Razer's better? Are the Razer kraken's open back or is it just a mesh design and would the razer surround calibration make the 7.1 better than the clouds? I do live in a house with my sister mum and dad so it can sometimes get a bit noisy. I think that the Razer mic sounds so much better but they each have their pros and cons. Which would you choose out of the 2 and why?

 

[MrRockliffe]

Sounds to me that the Beyerdynamic MMX 300 are EXACTLY what you're after. Based on Beyer's older cans, but don't let that put you off - they're still excellent. I got myself a pair, and they're by far the best cans I've used for gaming. Mic is next level too.

£99 on the bay atm too.

 

[Matthew Sheridan]

Sounds to me that the Beyerdynamic MMX 300 are EXACTLY what you're after. Based on Beyer's older cans, but don't let that put you off - they're still excellent. I got myself a pair, and they're by far the best cans I've used for gaming. Mic is next level too.

£99 on the bay atm too.

Do they have 7.1?

 

[Matthew Sheridan]

Sounds to me that the Beyerdynamic MMX 300 are EXACTLY what you're after. Based on Beyer's older cans, but don't let that put you off - they're still excellent. I got myself a pair, and they're by far the best cans I've used for gaming. Mic is next level too.

£99 on the bay atm too.

£99 for them used is still really high, that is the absolute top i could go, i would have to save for like 8 weeks or something for those and i still kinda need a decent monitor as well

 

[EsaT]

Is the Razer's better? Are the Razer kraken's open back or is it just a mesh design and would the razer surround calibration make the 7.1 better than the clouds? I do live in a house with my sister mum and dad so it can sometimes get a bit noisy. I think that the Razer mic sounds so much better but they each have their pros and cons. Which would you choose out of the 2 and why?

I doubt it's nothing more than same cosmetic BS as in original Kraken.
Open design dynamic driver headphone simply can't pull that amount of especially lower bass because of physics:
https://uk.hardware.info/reviews/60...sten-in-higher-quality-razer-kraken-71-chroma
Aren't those even advertised with sound isolation?

Razer's surround isn't even that good lacking proper sense of space even with absolute top level headphones:
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/posts/31606647
Windows Sonic for Headphones of Windows 10 is likely as good.
And budget level Audigy Fx would give Creative's lot better binaural simulation to go with some Takstar based headset.


Unless listening something you hear environment's sounds almost normally through open headphones.
Any louder noise sources in same room are certainly heard over music.
So question is do you have own room and normal everyday noises are "behind door" or always "next to you"?

Do they have 7.1?

MMX-300 doesn't include any gimmicks.
But they're based to Beyer's DT770 headphone which should have very respectable size sound stage for non £500 closed can and with some equalizing of strong bass would likely be very good for closed cans.

£99 for them used is still really high, that is the absolute top i could go

From used ones you could also check DT770.
Considering it can be had as new for fair £110 used should be cheaper.

 

[Matthew Sheridan]

So question is do you have own room and normal everyday noises are "behind door" or always "next to you"?

I do have my own room so could use open back. I really don't know what to get, The razers look really comfortable with the memory foam pads

 

[EsaT]

I do have my own room so could use open back. I really don't know what to get, The razers look really comfortable with the memory foam pads

If environment noise isn't constant problem open design has another advantage besides sound:
Leather/artificial leather isn't exactly well breathing material, so with closed ear cup heat has problems in dissipating effectively. Kinda like in these:
http://solutions.3m.co.uk/wps/porta...369UJT2UU4000000_nid=88M65W4JK1beN8MT32R3VMgl
And lack of pressing ears doesn't really help if ears start sweating.

Ever since moving to full size headphones I've considered it "standard" requirement for comfort that they can be kept on for whole day even if not listening anything.
Because open headphones with breathing fabric/velour pads don't cause much any sweating. (over what room temperature would cause normally)
While added heat insulation of ear muffs is nice only when in cold weather...

 

[Matthew Sheridan]

If environment noise isn't constant problem open design has another advantage besides sound:
Leather/artificial leather isn't exactly well breathing material, so with closed ear cup heat has problems in dissipating effectively. Kinda like in these:
http://solutions.3m.co.uk/wps/porta...369UJT2UU4000000_nid=88M65W4JK1beN8MT32R3VMgl
And lack of pressing ears doesn't really help if ears start sweating.

Ever since moving to full size headphones I've considered it "standard" requirement for comfort that they can be kept on for whole day even if not listening anything.
Because open headphones with breathing fabric/velour pads don't cause much any sweating. (over what room temperature would cause normally)
While added heat insulation of ear muffs is nice only when in cold weather...

could you give me some recommendations

 

[MrRockliffe]

£99 for them used is still really high, that is the absolute top i could go, i would have to save for like 8 weeks or something for those and i still kinda need a decent monitor as well

They're not used - they're band new

Edit: don't confuse them with DT770 Pro

Most games have built in audio imaging. If not, I suggest using Dolby Atmos available on Windows 10.

 

[EsaT]

could you give me some recommendations

For open headset from gaming products I would trust that Takstar made QPAD QH85 to be on decent level.
(closed QH-90 is basically same as HyperX Cloud)
https://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/qpad_qh_85_review,6.html
There really aren't that many other open headsets, because most of gaming stuff is made for that head in bucket bass boom sound.
Which gets free pass from advertisers alias "reviewers" listening only such garbage.

Of course if that separate mic is possible and budget streches to £100 class then there are very good/top level for gaming headphones from traditional audio makers.

Most games have built in audio imaging. If not, I suggest using Dolby Atmos available on Windows 10.

Most games don't even have more than some volume settings so they can't have any binaural simulation.
Stereo mix for speakers doesn't even give good left-right positional sound with headphones, because sound can't behave like in real world and always reach both ears.

Unlike free Windows Sonic for Headphones Dolby Atmos for Headphones needs buying license from Microsoft's store.

 

[MrRockliffe]

For open headset from gaming products I would trust that Takstar made QPAD QH85 to be on decent level.
(closed QH-90 is basically same as HyperX Cloud)
https://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/qpad_qh_85_review,6.html
There really aren't that many other open headsets, because most of gaming stuff is made for that head in bucket bass boom sound.
Which gets free pass from advertisers alias "reviewers" listening only such garbage.

Of course if that separate mic is possible and budget streches to £100 class then there are very good/top level for gaming headphones from traditional audio makers.


Most games don't even have more than some volume settings so they can't have any binaural simulation.
Stereo mix for speakers doesn't even give good left-right positional sound with headphones, because sound can't behave like in real world and always reach both ears.

Unlike free Windows Sonic for Headphones Dolby Atmos for Headphones needs buying license from Microsoft's store.

Most games I've played on headphones have excellent audio positioning. Battlefield series, Battlefront, Fallout

Atmos, I've found, really helps open up the soundstage on the headphones I've used it with.

Edit: £10 or so for a lifetime license is cheap considering.

 

[Matthew Sheridan]

For open headset from gaming products I would trust that Takstar made QPAD QH85 to be on decent level.
(closed QH-90 is basically same as HyperX Cloud)

I guess the only thing with an open headset is I won't be able to play later if I want as there would be sound leakage. Just how much leakage is there? Is it enough to leave my room and let other people hear it or not? But the advantage of open back is that if someone calls me i will be able to hear them and them not have to keep shouting

 

[MrRockliffe]

What motherboard do you have? Some manufacturers offer their own 7.1 simulation.

The Asus one on my motherboard is decent.

 

[EsaT]

I guess the only thing with an open headset is I won't be able to play later if I want as there would be sound leakage. Just how much leakage is there? Is it enough to leave my room and let other people hear it or not? But the advantage of open back is that if someone calls me i will be able to hear them and them not have to keep shouting

You're at hearing damage sound level long before sound leaks to other room in any noticeable way.
Keyboard sounds are easily noisier than sound leak at hearing safe volume...
Mechanical keyboards magnitude more.

 

[Matthew Sheridan]

Keyboard sounds are easily noisier than sound leak at hearing safe volume...

Would i be able to hear my Razer Green Switch mechanical keyboard through the open backs?