Razer Orca Headset Review

After a few stumbles in my personal life and work commitments, I finally am able to write this review of my newest product. This is actually my first review of a product after 6 years so bear with me if I do make any mistakes or I come off as too obnoxious or idiotic. I apologize in advance for being a douchebag but that's what critics are, isn't it?

Now, I won't do any video unboxing/review because

1. There's plenty of these in social video networks especially Youtube
2. I look like crap on video and I speak extremely fast so it's not easy to catch what I'm saying
3. It's too time consuming and I don't really have a private space at home to do a proper review unlike those you see on newegg, NCIX or overclocker3d.net

What I WILL do is actually give you a review on what I feel as I have used this headset on quite a number of occasions. I do admit that this review is late but so far I've yet to see many reviews of this headset in Singapore.

My criteria when judging on headsets has always been:

1. Performance (Obviously)
2. Comfort (A big factor in my review)
3. Aesthetics
4. Price

So on to the actual review.

Razer Orca Gaming headsets.

Over the years, Razer has been churning out plenty of good quality products. While some may not interest gamers due to being expensive or overloaded with features that they don't need; generally Razer has been consistent with quality products.

The team at Razer finally gave what many gamers wanted: A headset that's versatile to use, albeit for gaming and everyday use. Of course, there are some shortcomings but I will get back to that later.

The Orca headset was launched in Singapore during late 2010. Razer touted this headset as a mobile gaming-on-the-go headset so there's no 5.1 or 7.1 fanfare unlike some of the gaming headsets you see on the market. Thus, expectations of this headset was meant to be more of the generic level rather than the orgasmic auditory that we crave.

I managed to get this headset at Sim Lim Square and being the typical geek or nerd that I am, I decided to test it straight away. And thus I unbox it right in full view of the public.

In the box, you won't find plenty of goodies. In fact, the only goodie you get is a card which is typical of all Razer products. And it is pretty much a useless card to be honest. Besides a manual, a couple of cards and the headset with the cables, there isn't anything else. What's interesting is that there is an additional cable in the box. The cable is actually meant to extend your headset cable should you be playing from your desktop. Most gamers, especially those with dedicated sound cards would plug their headsets into the sound card(which is at the back of your PC- the IO or input/output ports) to take advantage of the hardware and software so the extension is a welcome sight. One minor gripe here is that there's no microphone at all. Not even on the cables. So, this is a microphone-less headset. Either you buy a third party mic and do some mod to attach to it or don't even wear one at all.

Aesthetically, this headset screams loud. And I mean loud NEON GREEN. You'll definitely have people looking at you due to the headsets. I definitely love loud colours and it suited me fine. Plus, the fact that it's neon green means you won't miss this even if you misplace it somewhere.

For my first initial test, I tried it on my iPhone without wearing and I played a heavy drum and bass song at half level to test it's loudness. True enough, it's pretty silent when you're on a busy walkway but when you're in the train, your neighbours can definitely hear what you're listening.

The next test I did was to actually wear them and try and spot if ambient noises from the environment would actually be heard. As Razer touted, this is more of a generic level rather than dedicated so ambient noises can still be heard in between songs.

The comfort level of the headsets was actually pretty good. And trust me, I wear plenty of headsets so comfort is a big plus for me. I have tried beats audio, audio technica and other popular brands and most of them tend to either make my ear itch or make my ears go numb after 10 minutes. The ear cups were lined with a velvety sort of cloth and the headset is lined with the same cloth as well. The cups doesn't suck your ears like typical headsets when going all out but rather just sits there. The top of my head doesn't really feel tired as this is quite a light headset compared to other top brands. It was only after more than an hour of heavy usage that my ears start to feel the strain but then again that's an hour of putting it on and blasting max volume level/

Minor gripes I do have about it though is that it's actually made of plastic and when adjusting, the plastic locks doesn't really lock but quite easily slides out. The cups doesn't bend inwards so storage wise, you need a bag to bring it around if you don't intend to use it. I usually just let it hang on my neck.

During the full out tests where I ramp up the decibels, bass output is noticeable. I played a pretty heavy song, "Fade to Black" sung by Metallica as that song has very heavy guitar riffs and drum rolls. The headset performs well here even when I'm not wearing it. I can actually hear all the different sounds when I hang it on my neck and the bass was really pumping. I tried another genre of music, house and again it does well. Greyhound by Swedish House Mafia never really sounded that good in such generic headsets. So, kudos to Razer on that.

All this while, I've been talking about the headset when listening to music. For video, it's actually pretty much the same unless you're using software enhancement like Dolby Digital Home Theatre. Of course, when it comes to DVD, it is good. It is when you're playing blu-ray movies that you can see the difference in audio. As a generic headset, you won't be able to capture all the sounds coming from a BR disc, even if you used an extremely good software as BR audio uses a minimum of 5.1. Actually, to clarify, you do get the virtual surround but it's not as clear as you expect in a true 5.1 headset.

But enough of movies and music, time to go for where it really matters: GAMES

For my desktop, I tested it twice. One, without the Asus Xonar Phoebus module while the other was together with the module . The reason I used this module was due to the fact that it has a mic in built for it so pairing it with the Orca makes sense.

During the module-less test, it works pretty much without a hitch although you don't really get the true surround sounds while playing games. While most games are ok without the surround, some games like FPS, RTS and MMOs do require surround to take advantage of its benefits. FPS games definitely need surround as it can determine where's the next enemy hiding or where the enemy is running. RTS and MMOs take advantage of surround sounds to tell you where your friends are or what events are running. Like I mentioned in my earlier pharagraphs, you get virtual surround but it's not the real deal.

It's the same when I attach it to the module, which is attached to the Phoebus card. The virtual surround from the Asus ROG software do come in handy but you won't be able to get true surround and to be honest, the virtual back and front audio doesn't really sound full to me. Again, remember that Razer has marketed this more as a generic headset.

I tried it in a LAN shop just now and it's still pretty much the same except it actually became worse for me as I had to attach my headset through the speakers(The LAN shop actually lock their CPUs in a cupboard below the monitor so I can't plug it through the back IO ports)

So, this is pretty much my review and truth to be told,I'm actually impressed that Razer has managed to produce quite a good quality generic headset that's compatible with both gaming and mobile. Minus points would be the unavailability of the mic(which the next edition, Razer Electra has)has only stereo support and no noise cancelling. But then again, this is a generic headset and not a dedicated true surround sound gaming headset. So, in that aspect, I think Razer delivered it. And with the price it has been marketed currently, I think it is a worthy purchase and to some extent, this is actually better than beats audio which I do have. In fact, I'm using it everyday that my other headsets just practically became invisible.

So without further ado, let me reveal the scores:

General scores
Performance: 3.5 out of 5

For a generic stereo headset, this is actually pretty good but too bad it's not 5.1. And the fact there is no mic.

Comfort: 4 out of 5

Very comfortable when using it for long hours of gaming. Not heavy and my head doesn't feel sore from the wight

Aesthetics: 5 out of 5

NEON Green is definitely a big plus. It gives out a distinctive feel and it does make you unique than the rest with all the normal generic colours.

Price: 4 out of 5

For a stereo generic headset going at SGD 99 in many shops, this is actually a steal. Not only does it look absurdly loud, but you get good quality stereo at a 100 bucks. Even good in-ear headphones sells more than a 100 bucks. Add the fact that it also caters to gamers as well

General (Overall): 4 out of 5



Pros: Cheap, Good quality Stereo, loud unique colours
Cons: No accompanying software/goodie, no microphone, not 5.1/7.1 sound.


Closing notes:
If you're looking for a good quality headset but you absolutely do not want to break the bank and use it for both gaming and entertainment, this headset is a pretty good investment. But, if you're particular about your sounds in your gaming sessions or an audiophile, better get true 5.1/7.1 surround instead but be prepared to pay more than this headset.

And this ends my first review after a long long long time. Will be putting up more reviews as I get more hardware for my personal rig. Do comment below as I would like to know what I can do to make it better.

Thanks!