REVIEWS
microphones. And the feedback active
noise cancellation system uses the
internal microphones that hear what
the user hears in order to cancel
unwanted noise. Both systems have
strengths and weaknesses on their
own, but in tandem, hybrid active
noise cancellation is theoretically the
best of both worlds.
The downside to a hybrid approach
like this is the price and complexity
of the set-up. Most ANC headphones
employ one system or the other to
keep cost down, so the fact that Razer
decided to go with the most expensive
option while trying to target a mid-
tier market is surprising. This means
that corners had to be cut somewhere,
either in the microphones themselves
or in the signal chain and processing.Unfortunately,
the first review unit
that Razer sent me
exhibited a few
problems, mainly in
the ANC processing,
which resulted
in unwanted
noise, frequency
cancellation and a
‘swimming’ effect
in the left ear.
Razer was very
quick in getting me
a replacement, which, at the time of
writing, I’ve been using for a week.
The second unit did not exhibit
the same noise-cancelling problem
but it still maintained some unwanted
electrical noise when ANC was active.
There are many times where I use ANC
headphones in an environment like
the office to help me focus without
listening to music and the slight hiss
was very noticeable. To be fair, I have
more sensitive and trained ears than
the average user, and it is very, very
quiet – I did not notice anything during
active listening. But for those times
where I was just using the headphones
without music playing, it was
distracting. Luckily, it’s not noticeable
the rest of the time and shouldn’t
effect most users.Razer provided a chart of active noise cancelling types.