The hardware in the Krakens is excellent, imo. My husband loves these phones (and I do, too!) My previous phones, a pair of Sony MDR-7506's, were so good we thought nothing could beat them, even though the Sony phones' drivers are 40 mms in size and these Razer Kraken drivers are 50mm--much depends on the amplification hardware in the ear pads and motherboard hardware as to which will drive the better sound--eg., 50 mm drivers are not automatically better than 40mm drivers, regardless of the hardware environments. A lot also depends on the preferences of the individuals asked to state their opinions, of course. Some people like bass so overwhelming it actually distorts whereas other people like it only enough to hear it plainly with no distortion, and others like it turned down or off, inexplicably, etc. (But you can't argue with individual opinions, right?...Opinions are like armpits--we all have at least two of them, eh? So, I advise listening to all sides and colors of opinions, especially about computer hardware! There's always something new to learn even we don't agree with the overall opinions other people have or their conclusions. Opinions should always be debated--never, ever censored, we firmly believe!)Bear in mind, both sets of phones were tested via my husband's x570 Aorus Master motherboard's RealTek'HD Audio 3.5mm analog Hi-Definition front-panel jack--the best earphone connection jack in the system, btw. (Give me wired over wireless any day--I hate batteries and frequency interference, not to mention security concerns that do not exist with wired connections, etc.) The x570 Master also supports, in hardware, a 3-position headphone amp, and a hardware DAC, a SABRE 9118 DAC--the combination has to be heard to be properly appreciated, imo.Connector cabling. The Kraken offers a superior wiring connection--Kraken uses an extremely thin and ultra-flexible braided connector cable, whereas the Sony offers a thick, plastic-covered connection cable in which most of the length is coiled, just like analog amp cables circa the 1960's were made. Indeed, the Sony cabling doesn't look like something made for a 3.5mm plug! It looks exactly like something made for a full size plug! It's opinion, sure, as everything always is in the end, but we much prefer the Kraken's cabling over that used in the Sony cans used as the baseline comparison for this review. The Kraken cabling is ultralight, ultrathin, cloth braided, and so ultra-flexible that there simply isn't any obstinate stiffness in the cable that can be perceived. We both like it very much because of that--it is the nearest thing to not having a cable at all, but without any of the negatives of wireless. Sony's cabling is--well--SoA, circa 1969...;) Reminds my husband of plugging in his ancient but revered Gibson SG-Specials or Fender Strats & Telecasters into nice big onstage amps (which he still does, only the amps are a fair bit smaller, thankfully...;) )Razer Kraken has an inline volume and microphone control switch. The Sony has neither--well, it doesn't have a microphone at all, so of course no Mic on/off switch. The Kraken has a nice, radial volume control for the cans, and a straight on-off switch for the Mic. Neither of us is a Mic user, so I'll leave that portion of the review to others better qualified to write about it in another review. Suffice it to say the Mic works as advertised and the on/off inline switch works fine.Now for the optional DSP software. Here's the situation as we think it stands regarding the extra-cost surround software available for the Kraken, the THX Spatial Audio software for the Kraken. We don't recommend anyone buying the Headphones without buying the offered THX Spatial Audio software! It's offered at 50% off when you buy the Kraken Phones, by Razer. So it's $10! It's the best $10 you are going to spend for a long time. We believe that these phones should not be offered sans the THX Spatial Audio--it's kind of baffling that they are offered without the custom THX software, frankly. However, there are people who love distorted bass and volumes so loud that King Kong's eardrums would burst!...;) So maybe that's why Razer doesn't integrate this into this Kraken package. Still, it would be unusual to find earphone wearers who would prefer their games sounding like an avalanche of boulders tumbling down the side of Everest. I think, anyway...;)To sum it up--I love this software. Husband loves it. He says it's much better than what he thought it might be. Razer includes a 7.1 surround-sound software solution free of charge with the Kraken, and it's just "OK"--just kind of average--seems to induce a fair bit of bass distortion in speech in some of our games--one guy's speech is nigh unintelligible with the Razer 7.1 surround sound package for the Krakens. But run the THX Spatial Audio, instead, and the difference is real and immediately noticeable. THX really justifies its commercial claims--the software brings out the best in the Kraken hardware!Comfort. It's a very important category with cans--as all of us know. If you can't game for hours because your phones are causing you pain or discomfort after a certain wearing time--that's unacceptable. These Kraken phones have "Oval Cooling Gel Cushions" in the pads and I'm just going to say that they are very comfortable indeed. My husband says that this set is the most comfortable set of cans he's ever worn. Both of us think the Sony set tends to "pinch" a bit in a long wear. The Sony pads are by no means uncomfortable, absolutely not. But both of us--my husband's typically swelled head and my petite but usually swifter smaller head both find the Krakens more comfortable in all wear scenarios--which I find a bit unusual. My husband says that what surprises him about the Krakens in addition to the gel-filled ear pads is how comfortable they feel--even for a large head like his they feel like they've got more room to give--not something the Sony's ever did. The Sony's were adequate, just not as comfortable.Durability. This is a big one for us, but especially for my husband. He's gone through many Plasticine sets of cans promising great durability. Hah. We have lost count of the very strong-looking plastic-frame headsets that after very little use, comparatively, use that was anything but harsh or abusive, simply fell apart, cracking through or breaking apart, and it happened over and over again. Hence, the hunt for metal headbands and construction in our headphones. Both the Sony and the Razer Kraken use metal in their construction, and what a difference! Neither set has come close to cracking or breaking apart! The Sony's have been up for years without a single problem in that regard! Years, literally. We do not expect to see any less durability from our Razer Kraken--namely, the one reviewed in this article!Really, any aluminum-headband construction should suffice for a long, long time. Our advice is to avoid plastic like the plague--especially the plastic headbands that appear to hold massive weight and hold up under enormous wear and tear--especially those particular Plasticine headbands....;) They just aren't going to be there one day when you really need them.Price: Believe it or not, the Sony cans are actually priced higher than the Kraken headset reviewed here. You can usually buy the Kraken Gaming Headset reviewed here plus the Razer THX Spatial Audio Software for less--that's right--less than what the MDR-7506 is currently selling for in places such as AMAZON! Where you are right now.Summary: The Sony cans, the MDR-7506's used as a baseline comparison for the Razer Kraken Gaming Headset review here, deliver really nice sound and were our number 1 choice in gaming headphones. Operative word being "were"....! These Razer Kraken headphones are better, in our very humble, sincere opinions!I'm writing this review after using this headset almost daily for work and gaming for a little under two years now. I bought these for gaming, streaming, and work. Let me start off by saying they look adorable and seem to be sturdy, but the quality is definitely lacking and I generally wouldn't recommend them to anyone who is trying to use them as a full headset, maybe as just headphones, but definitely not if they need to use the mic.-------------Quick Summary-------------------------------------PROS: Cute, extension cord is handy (sometimes), comfortable enough to wear all day, sound quality is decent, separate volume knob on the headphones is convenient sometimesCONS: Mic quality is god awful, the mute button broke pretty quickly and I almost couldn't get it to unmute, headset is too loose and heavy to do any kind of physical activity or even lean forward without them falling off, extension cord is split between input and output so it can't be used as both input and output through one headphone jack i.e. for my laptop--------------------------------------------------------------------I was really attracted to these because they are cute, and there weren't too many options for pink headphones, and I really wanted to look cute for Twitch streaming and Zoom/Discord calls. Let me start by saying I have beat the crap out of these and they still work, but a lot of the features I liked broke or stopped working well after a few months and then I stopped caring about being gentle with them.Most notably, the mute button/volume dial, it is so poorly constructed, you can feel the plastic moving around. The mute button itself often didn't mute or would get stuck muted, or half muted where it would make a humming or interference noise for people in my voice calls. It finally stopped working entirely after a few months and almost got stuck in the muted position. It was never reliable which lead to some embarrassing situations where I thought I was muted and I was NOT. There are also ridges on the volume adjustment that often get caught on clothing and it turns itself down or all the way up and I have to double check it. Ideally it would have been better if Razer put these buttons on the headset itself instead. It was nice to have volume control separate but it was more annoying than beneficial most of the time. It doesn't really have any amount of noise cancelling or anything, it feels similar to wearing earmuffs for the winter, I can still hear everything it's just a little muffled.The mic on this headset is absolutely awful and I would NOT recommend anyone rely on it for quality voice input. I don't know if it's just built badly or if mine is slowly getting worse over time but I have a lot of complaints about the mic. First off, the mic picks up sound coming from your earphones, I feel like that should be a basic requirement for a headset to not do that.... I have to have the volume very quiet in order to avoid the mic picking up what I am listening to. This is worse while the mic is pushed in to the headset, and only a little better when you pull the mic out to be near your mouth, but it still happens so it kind of defeats the purpose of having a headset. There has been more than one occasion where my music was picked up in a meeting by my mic, so again very embarrassing situations sometimes. There is zero consistency on mic pickup volume, I have used this for Zoom, Discord, BlueJeans, Facebook Video, Twitch, OBS, and regular phone calls, and all of them have wildly differing volumes of pickup. I use Zoom and Discord the most. On Zoom the mic seems to be supersonic and can pick up sounds across the room, when I'm on Discord on the same computer I have my input boosted and have the mic literally touching my mouth and my friends can barely hear me most of the time, it is so frustrating. Annoyingly this changes frequently, a few weeks ago I was too loud on Discord despite not changing any settings and then this week I am too soft despite being boosted all the way up. If I use the extension cord it changes the whole situation again to where I am having to adjust my settings and test my mic constantly. The extension cord itself is nice but I almost never use it as it is split into input and output only, so I can't use these as a headset on things with a singular audio jack like my laptop and phone which is 90% of my usage.Physically the headset feels sturdy, and I have dropped it more times than I care to admit, but overall the headset is heavy because the metal ear cups and headband, making it slip and slide off if I lean down to pick something up. If I shake my head with any amount of force the headset slips right off, so I can't wear it for anything but sitting at my desk, I have to switch to my old Sony bluetooth headphones if I want to work out, which I don't think I was looking for these to be an all in one solution for me, but it's still disappointing to take a phone call and have to constantly adjust these on my head if I do any amount of movement. It's comfortable to wear all day for sure, and I wear glasses so that's an achievement.The sound quality is decent, I can't really complain about that.Overall I would say these weren't worth the purchase. Granted the price point is pretty low for a corded headset but it is a constant headache to adjust the mic settings on every application. I would not purchase these again if I was in the market for a decently priced headset. They are cute and trendy, but really only work well as headphones if you sit still all day.I'll start off by saying that I absolutely love these headphones. They're bigger, and I have a big head, so if they're a bit loose on me, wellllll maybe not the purchase for you if you have a small head. They're a bit heavy but I don't mind that. My previous headsets have given me headaches from being too tight, and these headphones don't do that.I have a standalone mic, and my friends have told me that the mic quality on this headset sounds better than the microphone, so that's something.The RGB options on the kitty ears and the outside of the ear cups were the main reason I got them, let's all be honest, and I love them. They sync perfectly with my other devices, including ones that are not razer brand. I have received many compliments on zoom calls over them.Noise cancellation is better than most headsets I've used claiming to be noise canceling. If I don't have anything playing sound but I'm wearing them, sounds are only slightly muffled, but if you have anything playing sound, you're not going to hear most things. Sometimes I don't even notice it's storming until a really loud crack of thunder goes off nearby.Honestly, worth it. I only have regrets because I got a kitten and he is on a mission to destroy the cord.10/10 gaming headset.Kitty version:Purchased this for my Xbox and PS4 as it was supposed to be compatible with both. (several customer answers stated it was) but it has a USB plug not an audio jack.INCREDIBLY disappointed.Reviews said it came with an adapter but is apparently not accurate for the kitty version.Does NOT work with an adapter (I tried).Would suggest the seller keeps the diffent versions of this headset on separate listings so the questions and answers don't get muddled in together.As someone who has issues with headphones wearing my glasses, these are hands down amazing! I do not feel any sort of pressure on the sides of my head. I can wear them for hours and my ears don’t get sore. The sound is amazing. The speakers are great. When I’m speaking to someone they can’t hear any ambient background noise, just my voice, even when I’m typing on my mechanical keyboard! I’m so happy with my purchase!! My only issue I had is that I purchased an open box but it was missing the mic/audio splitter, so that was a little disappointing. However, I reached out to amazon and they were very quick to help me in any way they could!La verdad nunca había tenido un producto Razer, pero había escuchado que son como el Apple de los periféricos gaming, y creo que esta premisa es cierta en parte, pero no del todo.Diseño, comfort y materiales:Son muy cómodos, realmente en este apartado no les pongo ningún pero, sus almohadillas refrigeradas parecen magia negra, si bien no evitan que sudes si hace mucho calor, proporcionan una sensación de frio que nunca había visto con cualquier otro headset.La presión que ejercen sobre tu cabeza es ligera, esto es bueno para la comodidad, pero no servirían para VR porque al hacer movimientos bruscos se caen.El diseño me agradó bastante, son bonitos y en su versión negra se ven muy bien aunque si son enormes, considero que salir con ellos se vería raro por las dimensiones de este headset, pero no son para eso entonces esto no me pareció tan importante, solo ten en cuenta que quizá te veas chistoso o raro con ellos puestos.Los materiales son de buena calidad, aluminio y plástico de tacto suave, las almohadillas son como de tela muy cómoda y considerando que me costaron $1,250, quedo bastante satisfecho en este aspecto.Usabilidad:La usabilidad de esta diadema es bastante regular, no me gustó que el cable fuera tan corto, se supone que son para gaming pero al usarlos en mi PC el cable se quedaba muy corto, y eso que mi escritorio es bastante pequeño. Al usarlos con mi control de Xbox esto no fue problema, ya que lo usas cerca de ti, pero de todos modos 1.2m de cable es muy poco así que debes considerar que si los usarás en PC, tendrás que comprar un extensor 3.5mm.El interruptor de mute me gustó, tiene buen tacto así como el control de volumen, muy útiles ambos.Audio:Desafortunadamente es en este apartado donde este hermoso headset se desploma para mi gusto. Siendo una persona que ha probado varios audífonos de gran calidad (no audiófilos), tales como los Bose QC35, Sony XM3s, ATH M50x, puedo dar una opinión suficientemente informada.No hablaré del "7.1" ya que me parece muy artificial, arruina el audio considerablemente.Los bajos están bastante presentes, lo cual es bueno para escuchar los pasos del enemigo en shooters, o para darte más inmersión en juegos con explosiones y demás, sin embargo incluso en juegos siento que son muy intrusivos y sin definición, dando una sensación artificial.Al escuchar música esto se acentúa todavía más, dándote una sensación de lejanía y cierta distorsión, los bajos son prominentes pero con poca definición. En canciones como 10% de KAYNATRADA, puedes apreciar que el bajo se distorsiona bastante y genera una mala sensación.El audio posicional me pareció muy bueno probándolo en juegos como Valorant y CSGO, pude discernir el lugar exacto de los enemigos, izquierda, derecha, arriba, abajo, donde sea.Los medios no me parecieron tan malos, en diálogos de juegos puedes apreciar las voces de manera regular, aunque aún con la sensación de poco realismo y lejanía.En música, sin embargo, es cuando te das cuenta que también flaquean, en canciones como Regardless de RAYE, puedes apreciar distorsiones en la voz gracias al énfasis en los bajos.Finalmente las altas frecuencias, que te diré, aquí no hay realmente mucho que decir puesto que son malas a secas.Mucha distorsión y más lejanía que nada.En cuanto al soundstage, no puedes esperar mucho por el precio, pero de todos modos me decepcionó.Todo esto pude ajustarlo hasta cierto punto con un equalizador, logré que el perfil de sonido estuviera más equilibrado, pero no logré eliminar la sensación de lejanía y poca definición.Conclusión:Un muy buen headset si lo que quieres es estrictamente gaming y no estás interesado en el audio de fidelidad.No pagaría más de $1,500 por ellos la verdad.Los regresé a las 3 semanas, pero quizá sea porque he escuchado audífonos mejores y ya me acostumbré a un cierto estándar de audio.Aunque larga, espero te sea de ayuda mi opinión (:The headset is comparable to that of a $40 headset without the surround sound softeare active. When you order this headset you're supposed to receive an activation code with it to activate the surround sound software on your PC. I did not receive this code. I registered my product at Razer.com because I was told by Razer support that their system would generate a could and would email it to me within 24 hours. I waited 48 hours and did not receive the code. I contacted support again and they told me that I would ve contacted by a special support team within 24 hours that would give me a code to activate the software. It's been 48 hours and I still have not been contacted by anyone. The only good thing about this headset for me right now is that it's comfortable. That's it. Without the surround sound software it's not good at all.UPDATE: I finally after many attempts with their support was able to get the code for the surround sound software. The headset is noticeably better and is a much more enjoyable experience overall. The retractable mic is also a nice option so that it doesn't get in the way when I'm not using it. The headsets are comfortable even after long gaming sessions. For the price they are good headsets. The surround sound software makes a difference and is a must in my opinion.Overall these headphones are good for gaming. The sound quality is perfectly fine for video games and good for music, however I prefer my AirPods or computer speakers way more. The only reason I bought these is because you can't use AirPods mic on Windows 10 and I wanted to be able to talk in game. So for using them for gaming it's perfectly fine, but if you're an audiophile or just want some really good headphones with a mic I would suggest maybe spending a bit more, or getting a nice pair of headphones and separate mic for your PC. I find that some songs sound really good with this headset, while others sound a little off. Also the 7.1 surround sound is a cool feature, but the difference between the simulated/virtual surround sound in this headset and true surround sound is night and day, so I wouldn't get your hopes up too high for the virtual 7.1 feature, I used it for a bit in Modern Warfare and didn't really like it so I turned it off. That being said, for the price it's not bad and I wouldn't expect much more than what I got. Overall I'm okay with them.Pros:- Long cable- They're comfortable (On my old Beats Solo's that are on-ear they start to get uncomfortable/hurt after a couple hours, but these are over-ear and I've worn them for multiple hours without getting uncomfortable.)- Comes with a cable splitter/adapter (Turns the single 3.5 jack into two separate mic and headphone jacks)- Retractable and flexible microphone- In-line controls on the cable (It has a mute switch and a volume knob)- Virtual 7.1 surround soundCons:- Sound quality (Like I said, it sounds perfectly fine for games, but I find some songs and videos/movies sound a little off, but I guess it's all personal preference and depends what you're watching/listening to. I find in some songs the bass is good but the highs are muddy, and other songs the highs and mids are fine but the bass isn't all there while the same songs sound fine on my PC speakers. But that's not all songs, most songs sound perfectly fine to me.)- Virtual 7.1 surround sound (I put this in pros and cons because it's a cool feature and I'm glad they added it, but like I said sometimes it doesn't sound great and I personally never use it, but some people will enjoy it.)Overall I'd say they're worth it if you're using them for gaming, and they're not bad for watching YouTube, Netflix, or listening to music.Also, I learned this the hard way. If you're on Windows 10 and the mic isn't working go into Settings>Privacy>Microphone and make sure the "Allow apps to access your microphone" setting is enabled. I had it disabled and the mic wasn't working. I reinstalled drivers, restarted my PC, plugged the headphone into different jacks, searched Google for answers, watched YouTube videos. I was getting so mad I thought I got a pair with a broken microphone. Took me 2 hours to realize all I had to do was enable that one setting lol.