Razer Piranha Headset & Razer Destructor Mousepad - Goodies

Available from: Razer

Piranha Technical Specs:

Headphones

- Freq. response: 18 - 22,000 Hz

- Impedance: 32 Ohms

- SPL (@ 1 kHz, 1 Vrms): 114 dB

- Cable: 3.0 meters

Microphone

- Freq. response: 80 - 15,000 Hz

- Sensitivity (@ 1 kHz, 1V/Pa): -38 dB

- Impedance: ~2 kOhms

- Pick-up pattern: Uni-directional

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Razer Piranha Headset &

Razer Destructor Mousepad

The short review is that if you want a very straightforward headset for gaming but still want good sound bouncing off your eardrums and a mic that doesn’t make it sound like you’re talking underwater, Razer’s Piranha headset (more formally known as a “Gaming Communicator”) offers a good solution for your PC gaming audio needs.

I’ve been using the Piranha for the last three months as we worked through the busy, busy 4^th Quarter. I didn’t play too many PC games during that time – Red Alert 3 being the big exception – but when I wasn’t playing games I was listening to podcasts or music or playing a DVD in the background as I answered emails or updated the site. This headset was used with a variety of audio sources and everything sounded surprisingly good.

Razer does make some really good gaming peripherals, but I was still surprised with the quality of the audio because I wasn’t impressed with the look of the

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Piranha. It looks cheap (and actually looks kind of boxy) and the felt liner in the box made the whole package seem pretentious, which is to say nothing of the big Razer-logo stickers. And the blue LED lights on the earpieces that are powered by the USB connection didn’t help my overall opinion of the look of the headset. But you know what, I got over it once I started using the unit.

As already alluded to, the Piranha has a USB

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connector which powers the lights and boosts the sound levels, but the braided cable, complete with inline volume and mic control, also bundles standard mic and headphone plugs which means the set will work right out of the box for anyone with a PC. The long cable it comes packed with (3 meters or about 9 feet) also means there are no problems having enough cable to reach the headphone and mic jacks at the back of your PC if you don’t have jacks on the front. These standard connectors also means you’ll be able to use the Piranha Gaming Communicator with other devices that have a regular headphone jack, like an MP3 player.

The Piranha Gaming Communicator is also very light and the headphones themselves walk the line between snug and perfect. They’re snug enough to effectively block outside noise but not so snug that my ears started to ache. Razer’s claim that gamers can play for extended periods in comfort actually pans out. I’ve played with headphones that actually make my ears hurt and/or sweat after extended periods of time but with the Piranha set, even after a couple of hours it still felt like I’d just put them on.

Performance of the mic is actually pretty good. When not in use, it flips up out of the way but when it is in use it’s close to my mouth without being too close. (I can still drink my drink without having to flip the mic out of the way.) In recording tests with various levels of background noise – TV on the background to kids screaming to both at the same time – the mic did a pretty good job of muting the din and keeping my voice the loudest part of the in-bound audio.

So, if you can get over the look of the headphones, the Piranha’s a good option.

On the control front, Razer sent along a Destructor mousepad, which actually did very little to impress me. This is easily traced back to Razer’s own eXactMat, which I reviewed more than three years ago. You can go read the eXactMat review but the upshot was that I called it “the Grand Poo-Bah of Mousepads.” I’ve been using it ever since. So, when I swapped it with the Destructor and my mouse control started “jumping” in Red Alert 3, I had to make a conscious decision to not fling it in a corner as a failed experiment. Razer nailed it with the eXactMat, why would they bother revisiting the matter?

I stuck with it for another 15 days thinking initially that it could have been my mouse or its settings. I tried three different mice (and played with the settings) and two out of three didn’t work to any satisfaction. A mousepad that actually makes interacting with my games more difficult? That’s a bad thing. And I couldn’t figure out why the mousepad didn’t perform well.

It has the same dimensions as the eXactMat, so the very cool case the (floppy) Destructor comes packed in can hold the eXactMat – though considering the eXactMat is made of anodized aluminum it’s not like it needs a case (and the separate wrist pad wouldn’t fit anyway).

Competing with yourself is actually a great situation to be in because you win either way. If someone asked me which performance mousepad they should sink some money into, I would still recommend the eXactMat, especially now that it can be had for $29.99US on Razer’s website compared to the Destructor’s $39.99US price tag.

- Aaron Simmer

(February 8, 2009)