Razer Intros Aluminum Kraken Forged Edition Headset
Here's a new high-end headset from Razer.
On Thursday, Razer released its new top-of-the-line headphones: the Kraken Forged Edition. This headset features ear cups that are machined out of aircraft-grade aluminum and finished with a matte texture. The Razer Kraken Forged Edition is also carefully hand-assembled, ensuring the build quality matches the premium looks and guts.
"Razer's renowned audio engineers spent countless hours fine-tuning the Kraken Forged Edition's 40 mm bass-heavy drivers to perfection," states the company's press release. "As a result, the neodymium pair work in unison with the headphone's acoustic chambers and isolated closed ear cup design to deliver booming bass, clear mids and crisp highs for sound that's optimized for music and pitch-perfect for gaming."
According to the specs, the headset features custom tuned 40 nm Neodymium magnet drivers, a frequency response of 20 to 20,000 Hz, a frequency response of 50 to 10,000 Hz, a signal to noise ratio of 60 dB, and a sensitivity of -38 dB ± 3n impedance of 32 Ω at 1 kHz and an input power of 30 mW. The omnidirectional microphone h dB.
"With plush leatherette ear cushions lining the ear cups, a fully adjustable headband and a lightweight, foldable design, the Razer Kraken Forged Edition headphones are designed for extended use," states the company's press release. "The Razer Kraken Forged Edition also includes a swappable cable with an in-line microphone, giving users the versatility to easily convert it into a headset for gaming or telephony."
Additional features include a comfortable, versatile form factor, closed ear cup design for optimal sound isolation, a foldable ear cup design, and a hard carrying case for portability. A 1/4 inch audio connector is also included.
"These are the best headphones on the market for both music and gaming, period," says Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder, CEO and creative director. "We've made some incredible audio products in our time, and I'm proud to say that we have taken another huge step forward in terms of audio quality in a pair of headphones with phenomenal fit and finish."
For more information about the new headset, click over to here. The headset is priced at $299.99 USD and is available now directly from Razer. The worldwide release takes place next month.

I love it when CEOs come out stating their product is the best. Just love it.
One thing I can say is the Corsair Vengeance 1500s (V1) with memory foam are the most comfortable and have the best sound of all the headphones I have owned.
Audiophiles are not as gullible as gamers, or are they stupid enough to buy Razer headphones marketed as audiophile quality.
Buy some Sennheiser, AT, Grado, AKG instead for around same price.
Like Jimmy above said, I also love it when CEOs praise their product so highly.
They have never made incredible audio products before too, and there is NO such thing as best sounding headphones for music or gaming. Some headphones are good for some genres and others worse. Some have better sound stage, others not so much. Some bass, others not. You get my point.
For all I know they could sound great though, but it's Razer which is a gaming company, not a known headphone manufacture.
In principle, the "best" headphones and speakers for any genre from a purely technical standpoint would have dead-flat frequency response: you get exactly the output that the electrical signal is supposed to produce with no amplitude or phase error.
In practice, comfort, looks, weight, size, the room's acoustical properties and a ton of other factors like individual people's preferences in the way things should sound that have nothing to do with the headphone or speakers' own technical superiority will often steer people away from the most technically ideal speakers.
Give people ideal speakers and I bet the first thing most will do after initial listening is mess with their (pre-)amplifier EQ to make them "sound right" because technically perfect sound does not meet their personal expectations.
In principle, the "best" headphones and speakers for any genre from a purely technical standpoint would have dead-flat frequency response: you get exactly the output that the electrical signal is supposed to produce with no amplitude or phase error.
In practice, comfort, looks, weight, size, the room's acoustical properties and a ton of other factors like individual people's preferences in the way things should sound that have nothing to do with the headphone or speakers' own technical superiority will often steer people away from the most technically ideal speakers.
Give people ideal speakers and I bet the first thing most will do after initial listening is mess with their (pre-)amplifier EQ to make them "sound right" because technically perfect sound does not meet their personal expectations.
Pretty much. From a technical standpoint you are correct.
Like I said no best sounding headphones because some people like their music to sound certain ways, and all that.
I don't regret that decision. They are extremely comfortable, light, the sound is great (and yes, for both gaming and music), the cable (too bad it's not detachable) is tough and I already had a few near-heart-attack moments "OMG THE CABLE TORE... oh wait, no it did not" when I was too clumsy with it. It's an amazing headset for the money and I just wish I wasn't so stingy and have bought the Pro version with its rumored-amazing inline mic.
I've had the Kraken since March and it's as good as new. Now I'm looking for earphones (because as good as Kraken is, it's still a massive HEADSET) - and Razer got me covered again, Hammerhead Pro looks really damn good.
So while I get why some people are really annoyed with Razer products (and I personally find most of their mice overrated, though some are good - I'm using an NZXT Avatar S and find it more comfortable for my hand than Deathadder or Mamba or Naga or whatever, but that's just me), they're really not all that bad! That said, I fully agree that this particular "Forged" edition is extremely overpriced. It's aimed at hardcore Razer fans who want something special, not the general gamer/audiophile. It's probably made in limited numbers at a customized process and Razer has to compensate for the production cost somehow.