Razer Megalodon frustratingly fantastic

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (LIN) - I want to like the Razer Megalodon headset. I really do. I stumbled upon a fantastic coupon giving me half off the $150 retail price and jumped at the chance to own them. I'd read some pretty good things in other reviews, but then some negative things in customer reviews at commercial websites. After having tried, and tried, and tried to get them to a satisfactory level, I'm sending them back to Razer with an RMA. They have been frustratingly fantastic. What didn't work out well for me, may end up as a non-issue for you.

There's a certain magic to the Megalodon's packaging when I took it out of the shipping box. On the outside of the packaging is a shimmering plastic wrap with the Razer logo that slides right off. Removing the wrap and taking off the outer cardboard shell reveals a nice strong box inside that's suitably presented. Opening the box reveals the Megalodon carrying case, a hard shell that holds the headset and base snuggly in place. Inside lies the Megalodon, a truly magnifcient piece of hardware with some frustrating quirks that kept me from enjoying it for an extended period. You can watch the official Razer unboxing here.

The Megalodon is now on its way through the RMA process, a returned product that will make someone else happy as long as they don't run into the problems that I did. So what did I encounter? There were many instances where I had to unplug and replug the headset from its USB slot because the headphones would stop making sound, or the microphone would cease functioning. In a limited instance, it wouldn't be too frustrating, but I was finding myself unplugging and replugging the headset multiple times in the same sitting. My machine is more than enough to handle the Megalodons, being a Intel Core i7 based system that was recently built, so that wasn't the issue.

Looking for answers, I turned to Internet searches, where some commentors had experienced similar frustrations as mine, but didn't find any substatial solutions. I also started what would become a long series of emails with Razer Tech support, that ultimately led to the return. The fixes that they'd suggested, like updating the Firmware to the latest version, I'd already done and there were still times where the headset would just stop functioning. It was my inclination that there was a deficiency in the way the headset interacted with Windows 7, but the tech support people never came out and said that.

Another issue I had with the headset was its overly sensative microphone. It picks up the most subtle noises, and even gives off a hiss for recording even at the lowest levels. This video provides a pretty good example of the hissing sound at around the 4:50 mark. When doing recording work, it made the soundbites less than satisfactory, and while playing in game, I'd get shouted at to fix my microphone (in a less friendly way of course). On the headset, there are microphone level and sensitivity adjustments that can be made, in addition to changing the settings in Windows. Even when tweaking the settings, the hiss persisted or the volume was too low to be recognized. With voice communication as essential as it is in the online gaming world, it was extremely disappointing to have such a finicky microphone.

So that's what's frustrating, but what's so fantastic? The Razer Megalodon has an extremely nice set of cans. The headphones were extremely comfortable and provided one of the best sound experiences I've had in a headset. There's a thick cushioning with nice fabric around each headphone and the headset band is equally as comfortable with a nice cushion on top. While playing, I never got the urge to take the headset off to give my ears a break.

Changing between stereo sound and the 7.1 surround is as quick as pushing a button on the unit's base. With some fancy button work, you could also find out some hidden features. Here's a video from Razer showing you how to do it.  I'm a fan of the different features on the headset, and the ease of switching between modes. It's a lot nicer to punch a button on the base station than to navigate through an options menu to make the switch.

Audio quality was fantastic as long as the headset was working. This is true while playing games, listening to music and watching movies. While in Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead 2, the 7.1 audio was fantastic. Being able to hear where I spy is decloaking, or the precise direction a zombie is charging you from allows you to react quicker and with the appropriate force. In Left 4 Dead 2, specific sounds are even more important, because enemies with different attack types make different sounds. You'll know if you hear a gurgling sound that you need to dispatch your enemy from a distance. Likewise, when you hear the menacing sounds of a charger, you'll want to step to the side to avoid being pummeled. When playing with the Megalodon on your ears, you have no one to blame for being attacked but yourself.

When listening to music, I changed the settings to stero sound, because my music collection is not of the multichannel variety. I didn't like the way that it upsampled the music to emulate a 7.1 sound, but that was remedied with a quick click to the base station. Sound quality

The Megalodon headset also provided great sound while watching movies. Depending on what you're watching will determine the quality of sound you get out of the headset. If you're watching a movie with multichannel sound, then the headset is your friend. Just as when listening to music though, if your file only provides stereo sound, you can change the setting on the headset. Alternatively, you can have it emulate the multichannel sound. I think it did a better job with the movie audio than the music audio when emulating multiple channels.

It's unfortunate that the main issues I had with the headset were software related, because on the hardware end Razer made a fantastic unit. The headset is easily my favorite, when it worked. But therein lies the rub, the headset did not consistently work for me. I was not excited about the constant plugging and replugging of the USB cable, and I didn't have the patience to wait out a new set of software updates that may or may not solve the problems. With that said, I can't recommend the headset to Windows 7 users, for fear that you may run into the same problems that I did. Having read a couple of other reviews on the headset though that were done prior to the Windows 7 release, I would presume that you wouldn't run into any issues with Windows Vista or XP. The Megalodon is not compatible with the USB ports on either the XBOX 360 or the PS3, it is exclusively a PC gaming headset.

It's available right now direct from Razer for $149.99 but is available from other online retailers for a bit less.

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