No love for Razer Barracuda?

[N19h7m4r3]

I've gone through here quite a bit and there are almost no threads even considering the Razer Barracuda sound card?

I'm just wonder why?

I own it and it is an amazing sound card.

Was better than my X-Fi, and also cheaper than the Xonar so I got performance
which was simply amazing.

Is it the green on it? Do people not like the fact that Razer is on the side and is lit by some green LEDs?

Or is it something silly, like " X-Fi is the best! Don't get anything else!"
or "Asus make the best cards, nothing beats them screw the others!" mentality?

 

[Leporello]

I've gone through here quite a bit and there are almost no threads even considering the Razer Barracuda sound card?

I'm just wonder why?

I own it and it is an amazing sound card.

Was better than my X-Fi, and also cheaper than the Xonar so I got performance
which was simply amazing.

Is it the green on it? Do people not like the fact that Razer is on the side and is lit by some green LEDs?

Or is it something silly, like " X-Fi is the best! Don't get anything else!"
or "Asus make the best cards, nothing beats them screw the others!" mentality?

I should just dismiss those of us who don't own this card as fashion victims and pass on and enjoy your soundcard.

 

[Xtrema]

I have a Razer Barracuda and i think it's a great card.
The only thing going against it is the weird control panel.

 

[Happy]

I have also never heard anything mentioned in this forum about it either... strange.

 

[Tomc@T]

I have a Barracuda, I got it to try out as a guy in a clan we play online with was banging on about how good it was, at the time he was very quick at hearing ppl approaching, so I thought I would get one and try it, just to see, anything to help!!

During gameplay I found it too noisy, picking up far too many sounds from so far away, so I could not guage exactly where they were, even after changing the various confusing functions in the control panel.

I also did not like the dongle DVI connector for the normal jack plugs, maybe it would be better when coupled with the Barracuda headphones, IDK as I dont have them....

So out it came after a week's use, the XFI went back in and the Barracuda now lives in in it's box in the loft!

 

[phaded]

I would buy it, but you can't buy it seperately from the headset on here, which I don't want.

 

[psychas]

it is more expensive then x-fi gamer + really big and take loads of place in your case and does not give more advantage as x-fi gamer maybe thats why people are not talking about it or not interested

 

[N19h7m4r3]

I had an X-Fi gamer and I prefer the razer, it's also not that big, its about the same size as the Fatality one, well actually smaller.

Also smaller than the Asus Xonar.

 

[*Chris]

The headphones I think are cack tbh, but I'm not sure about the sound card.

I was going to get one but settled on an X-Fi prelude.

I was told it was hyped up but not great, wouldn't mind doing some comparisons between the Barracuda combo and my current Prelude / DT770 combo but really don't want to fork out £100+ for it lol.

 

[Margaret]

Pretty simple really...

Why pay for the inferior Barracuda when for a little bit more you can get a superior Xonar or X-Fi.

Every review I've read has rated them lower than X-Fi's and Xonars.

 

[Uriel]

IIRC, the Barracuda has the same C-Media chip as the X-Meridian and Xonar. I remember a few reviews at the time saying it was good but not as good as the X-Meridian.

The Xonar has better support for gaming through drivers, emulating higher EAX levels. The X-Fis do it natively.

I'm sure it's a great sounding card but the specs make it an over-priced, under-featured Xonar made by another manufacturer.

Edit: Very Important for anyone thinking of getting one - have they sorted out in-game surround sound in Vista yet? Creative have AlChemy and Asus have DS3D-GX. Without an equivalent you can't get multichannel surround in most older games for Vista and will be stuck with stereo.

 

[N19h7m4r3]

I run my Razer on Vista 64 and I have very good surround sound.

 

[Uriel]

On which games? Any from this list http://connect.creativelabs.com/alchemy/Lists/Games/AllItems.aspx that use DirectSound3D when using a 5.1 or 7.1 system?

Can you test with any of them to make sure it's true surround sound and not just stereo upmixed accross all speakers? It would be useful to know as the number of soundcards supporting surround sound for DirectSound3D games in Vista is rather limited.

 

[-Ad-]

Leave razer to making their simple mice and keyboards, and go for an asus / x-fi for gaming or an m-audiophile / EMU for music + gaming.

There are far better soundcards out there.

 

[N19h7m4r3]

All the FEAR games, Guild Wars, Neverwinter Nights 2 and Source Games all have 5.1 surround sound for me.

There are more games on that list that I have played, but I don't have installed or near me to check if they do support real 5.1.

But most Direct Sound games I have played using my Razer do have good 5.1 support.