Struck by the Chimaera's pro-gramer looks, we took the $130 stereo headset to our Xbox 360 to see whether or not Razer, makers of some of the best gaming gear on the planet, could create an unmatched personal audio gaming experience. Read on to discover if the Chimaera roar is loud and mighty or low and weak.
Comfy, Lightweight and Lasts Really Long
It's big. The Chimaera headset is really large, but not heavy. In fact, once worn, we almost forgot it was even on our heads. Two cushions on the extendable headband and two on the "circumaural ear cups" provided plenty of head support even during hours of continuous gaming. We never once felt constricted by the Chimaera, which is good, because it's usable for 12-hours on one charge.Underwhelming Sound With A Clear Mic
When you're a gaming peripheral company like Razer, people expect great gear — the very best. Amidst all the gravy about it having 50mm neodymium drivers, running on a 2.4GHz frequency and having a range of 33 feet, we found the audio to be very average. Yes, we know that a stereo headset outputs stereo sound, but we were hoping for enhanced stereo sound. Competitors like the Ear Force X11 can do amplified stereo sound and cost only $60, why can't the Chimaera?Needless to say, grinding chainsawguns into our foes in Gears of War 2 was noticeably underwhelming. To put it into comparison, our $30 Sony DJ stereo headphones plugged into our HDTV's 3.5mm jack produced more boom in FPS-games than the Chimaera did. A $130 gamingheadset shouldn't be trumped by a $30 one. But hey, at least Razer got the mic right. Trash talking our buds over Xbox Live was crystal clear. For once, we didn't have to ask "what'd you say?"
Prepare To Downgrade Your Visuals, Unless...
This one is a shame — a real shame. The Chimaera's charging station taps into your Xbox 360's sound through RCA cables (that's an analog signal for you digitally spoiled folk), meaning you're left with no choice but to use a composite cable for video.For those who don't know, here's a briefer: composite cables can only output at standard definition (480p) — meaning all those pretty high def 720 and 1080p games will get downgraded into non-HD. Ultimately, you'll have to decide whether downgraded graphics is worth the tradeoff for a wireless headset. For us, it isn't; squinting at blurry text is not fun — nuh uh.
But wait, there is a solution — one that requires yet another dongle sold separately. If you can't live with the picture downgrade (which kind of serious gamer still uses analog?), you'll need to get an RCA cable adapter that will allow audio through analog and digital video through HDMI.
For us, Razer was kind enough to provide a $8 dongle (not included) for sound and HDMI for video. The adapter is a decent workaround, but since the sound was still coming through an analog signal, it was still just as poor as before — only this time, the game's graphics didn't plunge with it.
Razer's official stance on being forced to use RCA is stereo sound is analog and so even competitors have to use RCA. All Razer did in choosing RCA was to ensure that the Chimaera would work onevery Xbox 360 to date.
All Is Not Lost: PC Compatible
The Chimaera headset will also work on PCs — but again, there's a catch. It needs a 3.5mm adapter cable (sold separately) to do so.If everything we just told you went in one ear and out the other, then you can pick up the stereo sound Chimaera headset starting for $130 as of yesterday. But, if it was us looking for a sweet looking gaming headset, we wouldn't buy the stereo sound Chimaera. We'd go the full nine yards and get the $200, 5.1 digital surround sound model Chimaera instead. Not only will the pricier Chimaera support digital optical out (you'll still need the $8 audio adapter), but at least you'll know its surround sound will be worlds better than stereo sound. PHOTOS
Via Razer Chimaera
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