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Razer Megalodon

Surround sound headphones

By Paul Urquhart / Tuesday, December 01 2009

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The Megalodon is a virtual 7.1 surround sound gaming headset from American peripherals manufacturer Razer. Retailing in NZ at $480, this headset comes with a big price tag and big promises to match.

The main feature of the Megalodon is the Maelstrom audio engine. Originally developed to provide surround sound audio alerts for fighter pilots, Razer has tweaked this military technology for our gaming enjoyment. This processing engine attempts to produce realistic 7.1 surround sound effects from just two speakers using creatively-named techniques such as Interaural Time Difference and Simulated Ear Refraction.

This processing is done entirely on the built-in USB sound card, which is housed in a control unit halfway down the braided 3 metre USB cable. This unit has a full range of volume and level controls, and can be wrapped up along with the headset for travel or storage in the supplied hard carry case.

The circumaural foam-padded cups, which house one 40mm neodymium driver each and can be positioned via a wire system, are open-air so do not cancel out any external noise (unless you crank up the volume to drown things out).

Two-channel gaming and multimedia performance on the Megalodon is top class. From the loud punch of the shotgun in Left 4 Dead to the low thwomp of a Dubstep tune, this mode delivers impeccable audio. Switching on the Maelstrom engine, however, is a wee bit of a letdown. It does a fine job of audio placement, making in-game enemies sound like they really are sneaking up from behind you, but the sound loses all of its crispness and impact (in all honesty it almost sounds like you’ve put a bucket over your head).

Overall, a top quality headset, but the surround sound feature might seem a bit of a gimmick to some.

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