When you activate the Ambient mode on the XM3, you can clearly hear everything that is happening around you, and to add to the experience, the XM3 actually lowers the audio coming from your device so that you can hear these external sounds more clearly. This is so that you are able to listen to your surroundings more if you are doing something that requires you to, without the need to take off your headset. Ambient modeĪmbient mode in ANC headsets use the mics present on the headset to amplify the sounds that are picked up, rather than cancelling it, much like a "reverse ANC".
#RAZER BARRACUDA DRIVERS#
Even though the Barracuda has 50mm drivers, the tonal quality and sound stage isn't as good as the 40mm drivers from the XM3 in normal mode. Razer still has a long way to go when comparing their drivers to something like the Sony's. Everything sounds flat.Įven when I am using the equaliser on Synapse, it just doesn't sound as good as something like Razer's own Blackshark V2 Pro, so it definitely isn't an audio degradation from being wireless. Remember, the Sony WH-1000XM3 is only S$179 dollars currently and is a four-year-old design. I hear less of the ambient sounds, and audio quality is much better than the Barracuda Pro.
#RAZER BARRACUDA PRO#
The XM3, on the other hand, beats the Barracuda Pro hands down when it comes to noise cancelling. But at least it's not at the cost of sound quality. I can still hear external sounds and my colleagues' chatter when they are talking. The current version of the Barracuda Pro with the updated firmware has subpar ANC. Remember this scenario when you read about the Ambient mode later.
Instead, they took the headphones back for some internal testing and firmware updates. I reached out to Razer to confirm my suspicions, but to no avail. I had a theory that the internal mic was picking up the audio that was coming from the headphones and also cancelling it as well, hence the degrade in sound quality. The ANC was top notch when it was turned on as it blocked everything, including loud sounds, but it came at the cost of sound quality. In an early version of the Barracuda Pro that Yahoo received, these mics were working on overdrive to cancel the noise. Razer uses two of these mics in the earcups - one internally, and one close to external part of the earcups, to put it simply. Razer uses a hybrid version of the typical ANC. Like I mentioned, ANC headphones usually use mics that are built into the headphones to listen for sounds that it can actively cancel from entering the headset. The Barracuda Pro is no different.īefore I get to that, the audio from Bluetooth mode and the 2.4GHz dongle mode do not provide any perceptible difference in quality. Headphones with ANC usually comes with three modes ANC mode, Ambient mode and a Normal mode (ANC/Ambient off).
#RAZER BARRACUDA PORTABLE#
This is where the headphones start to show some hilarious quirks not fit for a S$400 modern ANC headset.ĪNC isn't a new thing in the realm of portable headsets, and has been present in a lot of lifestyle headsets like the Bose QuietComfort and the Sony headphones.ĪNC uses mics to hear the noises in your surroundings, and uses hardware configuration to mute these noises that can potentially leak through to your headset, hence the name of "Active" noise cancelling. (Image: Yahoo Gaming SEA) Headphone modes and audio quality
0 kommentar(er)
