So, I got new headphones...

[Marcin]

Razer Kraken 7.1 Chroma headphones that support 7.1 Surround sound system. So far, I'm quite unsatisfied and I need help.

I gave it a go on Overwatch (FPS) and Audition (MUSIC). I don't know how to describe this, but audio sounds really bass heavy and somewhat muffled. I figured it might have got something to do with the surround system, so in Razer Synapse (Razer's application for Razer products) I've changed application's sound system from Surround (7.1) to Stereo (2.0, correct?). It's better-- just-- not quite right--.

On Audition, I can barely hear any keynote inputs on Beat-Rush or Beat-Up. That wasn't the case in my previous headphones. There was a small balance in between those two - in-game sound ; music.

Why are those speakers so loud?! I'm runnin' on 50 volume on all apps. and it already feels like if it was set on 100. There's no way that I could get used to listening on 100 on these. Not with this heavy as **** bass.

What can I do? Does anyone have good EQ (equalizer) settings I could use or am I stuck with this forever?

@Leebyn, tgfcoder, Elfire

[Leebyn]

Razer Kraken 7.1 Chroma headphones that support 7.1 Surround sound system. So far, I'm quite unsatisfied and I need help.

I gave it a go on Overwatch (FPS) and Audition (MUSIC). I don't know how to describe this, but audio sounds really bass heavy and somewhat muffled. I figured it might have got something to do with the surround system, so in Razer Synapse (Razer's application for Razer products) I've changed application's sound system from Surround (7.1) to Stereo (2.0, correct?). It's better-- just-- not quite right--.

On Audition, I can barely hear any keynote inputs on Beat-Rush or Beat-Up. That wasn't the case in my previous headphones. There was a small balance in between those two - in-game sound ; music.

Why are those speakers so loud?! I'm runnin' on 50 volume on all apps. and it already feels like if it was set on 100. There's no way that I could get used to listening on 100 on these. Not with this heavy as **** bass.

What can I do? Does anyone have good EQ (equalizer) settings I could use or am I stuck with this forever?

@Leebyn, tgfcoder, Elfire

I've been using Razer Surround software and for Audition alone I had to adjust my volume on Windows to 1-5/80 usually because it is so loud. To me it'll sound dull without it with my earbuds. My headphones [not headset] doesn't need it but I still use it. Usually the way I set up my Audition is 5 volume in windows and full volume on Audition to hear things quite adequately . Like how everyone says it. Better off buying headphones over headsets because they just sound better. Can buy a cheap mic that works. Gaming headphones usually bumps up the bass for gaming purposes or the low ends. I always had to adjust my volume when I open something new. I would say get rid of the Razer Synapse software so it doesn't apply anything.

My settings : https://gyazo.com/dd9ee6206c50487ddca12e583d6aca0f / https://gyazo.com/7697e0d9413ff0b42a84901d188fff77

It'll sound so weird without it on my computer.

[Leebyn]

Late reply, sorry.

I'm actually not really familiar with EQ tweaking, it would probably also depend on your personal preferences as well.

Some USB sound devices are detected generically so Windows thinks it's a speaker and makes them too loud. My brother's Plantronic headset had that issue so he had to decrease the volume globally otherwise he couldn't put the Windows volume above 2 lol. I found this https://sourceforge.net/projects/equalizerapo/ from this Corsair forum thread which you can adjust the db level.

For Audition after Windows XP, I have to set in-game volume to 100% otherwise the sfx is too quiet compared to the song/music. Apparently the music volume and sfx volume don't scale the same. Put the in-game volume to max, and adjust from the Windows sound mixer later.

I downloaded Razer Surround when it was first launched a few years ago, and I couldn't stand it because of the extra audio delay for rhythm games. Maybe it's fixed now, but that's something to consider.

The heavy bass could just be the sound signature of that particular headset. Like Anthony said, it's common for some "gaming" branded headsets to have heavier bass for stuff like grenade explosion sounds.

[tgfcoder]

Extra bassy -> turn down bass in equalization.
Muffled -> turn up high frequencies in equalization.

Typically headphones don't come out-of-the-box sounding like that, so there might be some default equalization set, do you have any such settings with your audio driver? E.g. I have Realtek HD audio manager..

[Elfire]

Marcin sorry for being late to the party!

Alright, so you probably know this already, but Audition has this weird "balance scaling" between music and sound effects when adjusting in-game volume (Ctrl +S), i.e. if your in-game volume is really low, but you raise your external volume to hear the music normally - the sound effects will still be barely audible. So make sure you crank up the volume in-game to the max and lower the volume externally to a balance that feels comfortable for you.
Thought I'd mention it just in case, perhaps you've already looked into that and the issue is elsewhere with that...

Aside from that, I've never really used a gaming headset for the same reason - so far, every pair of gaming headphones I tried (except maybe for SteelSeries Siberia v2) sounded like a bass blaster to me and Krakens are also quite renowned for that. It could be remedied by some EQing to an extent, I suppose, just don't spend too much time on it in one sitting - your ears will start to compromise Tweak around, take a small break, and return to it with a fresh mind.

[Marcin]

Thank you guys for feedback. I appreciate it.

My ears are slowly getting used to the "new environment", I'd say, but it sucks that I have got to switch my volume up and down sometimes if I want to listen to my favourite music or play favourite game competitively. My current EQ settings are:

-2 | -1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6

Typically headphones don't come out-of-the-box sounding like that, so there might be some default equalization set, do you have any such settings with your audio driver? E.g. I have Realtek HD audio manager..

Yes, I do have Realtek HD Audio Manager, but it only works for devices that have got those green, blue, red/pink-ish colour plug-in cables - yes, I forgot what they were called. Even then though, I don't think it had any EQ settings in there. My previous headset worked perfectly fine as soon as I plugged it in. I didn't need to configure anything. It was running on default settings.

Do you think the Audio Manager could be the issue? Razer's headphones use USB port to connect into the PC.

I am considering doing a complete reinstall of OS in near future. I just need to get my third term exams out of the way first.

[tgfcoder]

Oh yeah, same. I'm using a Logitech USB headset and I have to use these settings--



Wonder if Razer has a similar app.