Razer HP-1 Gaming Headphones - Another poor Razer product.

Well I went to OcUK today and took them back, I was advised to not bother getting another pair so I just picked up my PC166's and WOW. :D
Speakers are of fantastic quality and the mic picks up everything very well, games are much better than my sony's, cmss-3d works really well with these headphones, dare i say it the virtual positional sound is not far off the razers ability to give positional sound. In game sounds are much clearer than the razer gunfire from all around is defined to a high quality.
Non fps games are also a joy to play once more, in nfs:c the engine sounds and music is crisp and clear and in sup com the sounds and explosions are defined but not too bassy.
As with the razer's these required some tuning in the xfi control panel to get everything sounding rounded and full, not that they were great un-tuned.

Music and films are again a joy to listen to, detail is caught and reproduced very well.

The included soundcard is interesting, it supports stereo 16bit 48k dvd quality audio in/out and seems to be tuned to the headphones, works very well for games/entertainment, in entertainment it is better than onboard audio (24 bit realtek + sigmatel tested) but slightly lacking in games compared to the xfi falling behind in games with full eax support and eax4/3.

I am disappointed in the build quality of the hp1's, with decent drivers and better designed mic they would be worth every last penny, the looks just add to the cool factor. However the pc166's while not surround headphones are proof that a pair of high quality speakers are much better than headphones that attempt to be 5.1 speakers.
 
I tested direct into an xfi, on-board audio and with the usb soundcard. (need the usb sound card for mic line in as the xfi mic in doesn't work)
 
mrk said:
I got the HD555 to replace the 485 and the bass is less bassy on the 555 but it's way more refined and detailed. Bass does not distort the midrange either like they did on the HD485 (when you listen closely)
Click to expand...

I like my 555's as well.
For the rare time when I need a mic while gaming, I just use an old pair of logitech's which have a mic and just wear it around my neck and bend the microphone up towards my face. Works fine.
 
regarding the HP-1s : I have them and am ok with them I suppose. Using onboard sound so don't get much quality anyway, but TBH i dont notice a difference between these and a £2.50 set from a market, except that in games theres a damn annoying difinitive change between the headset speakers.

Might can these and get some 595s =)
 
I got my senny 595's today.

:eek:

Quality is that good.

Also,

lay-z-boy said:
they don't work in general :D
Click to expand...

I found out the recording/volume panel in the xfi control panel does jack all in vista, you have to set it manually in vista's sound panel. Dropping the Hz from 24bit 192k out and 96k in to 24 bit 96/48k solved all my sound problems, interestingly. :)
 
Last edited:
*Chris said:
regarding the HP-1s : I have them and am ok with them I suppose. Using onboard sound so don't get much quality anyway, but TBH i dont notice a difference between these and a £2.50 set from a market, except that in games theres a damn annoying difinitive change between the headset speakers.

Might can these and get some 595s =)
Click to expand...

onboard sound sucks.
 
*Chris said:
regarding the HP-1s : I have them and am ok with them I suppose. Using onboard sound so don't get much quality anyway, but TBH i dont notice a difference between these and a £2.50 set from a market, except that in games theres a damn annoying difinitive change between the headset speakers.

Might can these and get some 595s =)
Click to expand...


Onboard sound isn't that bad, really... however if you do get some Sennheisers you're best off running the headphones through an amp of some kind. I have my HD555 going trough mine and there is a definite improvement in sound quality. You can get a Cmoy based portable amp which would work fine for around £25 delivered.
 
i've had the pc166's for a few months and im a bit mixed on them. The mic is amazing hands down. Can fault it. the sound is very crisp and perfect for gaming but i swap them out for speakers or hifi headphones for music/films as its just not punchy enough. Also they have a bit of a L/R balance issue you can notice when fine tweaking the volume but its nothing drastic. Worse thing for me is they tend to get uncomfortable after 4-5 hours but maybe thats just my ears!

I'll be keeping them, but if they broke, Id try something different
 
i got some 485's and dont find them too bassy, but then again ive had no other headphones to compare them too for a while, maybe im used to it :p and i dont listen to crap chavvy music where its just 'sick bass' for 3 minutes :D

and i still dont understand why people get gaming headphones.
 
Sorry for bringing up an old-ish thread but how do you rate the Sennheiser 595's compared to the PC166's for gaming/music in general lay-z-boy or anyone else who isn't as clueless as me when it comes to headphones?
I,ve had my PC151's for a few years now which are pretty similar to the PC166's and want a worth while upgrade without going over the top.
Thanks :)
 
Sound on the HD595's is much cleaner and rich in texture over the 166's (161's with a soundcard)
For music and films, they are a joy to use. comfortable, not tinny or over bassy. You get the feeling you're sitting at the front row of seats in a theater musical, where the 166's feel more distant, as if you were further back in the rows of seats.

For online games they are at the same level as the 166's, though thats down to the soundcard, single player games such as bioshock and oblivion sound much more realistic though, as if you are actually the person in the game, again soundcard plays a major role in game sound quality.
With the 166's i can tell between plugging the directly into the soundcard and into the breakout box of my elite pro (has better quality dacs but ive changed them to even better ones) but with the 595's its blindingly obvious.

hd595 was a very good buy imo and well worth the money
 
Neoni said:
i do not agree with your post at all lay-z.

mine sound bloody brilliant in absolutely everything, no flimsy headphones, no muffled sounds nothing, i think razer are really having some bad batches with these headphones, but my current pair are stonking.
Click to expand...

I reckon there's something wrong with your ears as there's hundreds of posts around complaining about the lack of bass and audio quality.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom