Razer Mako

Rob Williams

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
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http://www.razerzone.com/Products/Gaming-Audio/Razer-Mako-2.1-Advanced-Desktop-Audio/

Ok first off, Greg and I saw these at CES a few weeks ago and were equally impressed. I can't say that I was expecting it though. Not that Razer produces poor products (they don't), it's that normally when companies release something out of the ordinary, it's sub-par. It sure didn't seem that way from the listening tests.

Rory will be getting some of these in to review when samples are available, but what are peoples thoughts surrounding them? It looks like a killer 2.1 set, really. They will retail for $300, but it appears to have the power and sound quality to back that up.
 
Rory Buszka

Rory Buszka

Partition Master
This is a review I'm genuinely looking forward to. If I can, I'll take these things apart and offer a look at what's inside them in my article. The fact that THX was involved in the very design of these speakers gives me reason to expect great things from them, and the fact that they're from Razer doesn't hurt either. The problem with a lot of these unique designs is that they don't always function well. THX, however, is not known for being gimmicky, and they aren't likely to bestow their certification on an unworthy product in any case.
 
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Greg King

Greg King

I just kinda show up...
Staff member
Like Rob said, for $300 dollars, these sounded like winners to us. However, we were in a small room so I would like to see how these sound in a large room or a decent sized office. I would have liked to see them designed a bit differently but they certainly will stand out and the sound was incredible in the Razer booth. I look forward to your review!
 
JacKz5o

JacKz5o

Obliviot
I can't wait to see this review.

I really wonder if these $300 2.1 speakers are any better then some of Logitech's THX certified 2.1s like the Z-2300.
 
Rob Williams

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
They seem to have more power, as far as I remember. If they prove to be as good as they said, then they should be some great competition to even some 5.1 sets.
 
Rob Williams

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
Hopefully sometime during February. We do not know for sure, simply because Razer doesn't know for sure, hehe.
 
JacKz5o

JacKz5o

Obliviot
Heh, for $300 they better be really good. Most people, or maybe just me, would probably rather get a set of Z-5500s.
 
Greg King

Greg King

I just kinda show up...
Staff member
Brother, believe you me, they sound incredable. I would much rather have something like this instead of having to run speakers everywhere with their wires hanging everywhere. I am looking forward, as well as everyone else, to Tater's review of them.
 
G

g-sixty

Obliviot
Ya, these speakers sound great. I have probably spent the most time listening to these things out of anyone else. I am excited to see what happens with them.
 
Rory Buszka

Rory Buszka

Partition Master
As a prelude to this review, I'll be reviewing Razer's Barracuda AC-1 sound card as well. The Razer speakers will then be tested with Razer's own sound card.
 
G

g-sixty

Obliviot
Taterworks said:
As a prelude to this review, I'll be reviewing Razer's Barracuda AC-1 sound card as well. The Razer speakers will then be tested with Razer's own sound card.
Click to expand...

You probably won't see these until April or May. These speakers would be fine with any sound card though, so be reviewing the speakers, not the speaker/soundcard combination.
 
Rory Buszka

Rory Buszka

Partition Master
In the sound card review, I'll be testing it with my home stereo, which is much more revealing than any set of computer speakers. I'll test it against my first-gen Audigy LS card and against onboard audio, using an audio CD in the drive as a source, in digital mode (letting the only D/A conversion be the sound card itself). I'll also test the Razer card's optical digital output against the one on my CD changer, listening through my stereo system. The Razer card's positional audio and DSP features will also be tested, probably in a gaming situation as well as with a DVD.

For the speakers, I'll probably hook them directly into my CD changer, like I did with the Altec PT6021 speakers -- I want to eliminate the quality of the source audio as a concern, so I'll do most speaker testing straight from the discrete source components in my home theater system. With movie testing, I also hooked the PT6021 speakers directly into the DVD player. But I'd also like to test them with Razer's own sound card, to be able to report my results with an all-Razer audio solution. Rest assured, though -- that won't be the main event in this review.

I'm not sure I want to discuss anything more about this specific review until it gets published, just because I'm not sure how appropriate it is to discuss a review in detail before it hits. I'll be pretty much sticking with the same format as the PT6021 review, so look to that one for clues about what this one will look like, but I'll do a bit of testing in some popular games as well.
 
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G

g-sixty

Obliviot
When you review these speakers, I suggest making sure that these speakers are placed on a plane. These speakers work on the idea that they will be used on a desk. They are equalized with that in mind. Good luck on your test!
 
Rory Buszka

Rory Buszka

Partition Master
Don't worry, I've thought of that. Testing the speakers on a flat desk-like surface will be essential to achieving a smooth frequency response that doesn't drop off in the midbass due to full-space radiation instead of half-space radiation.
 
G

g-sixty

Obliviot
Sweet,

When a speaker is placed on a flat surface, it is generally called ground plane. When a speaker is placed in a wall (think in-wall speakers) it is called 2pi, and full space is called 4pi in the industry. The fall-off actually occurs in the upper frequencies (above 10k)
 
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Rory Buszka

Rory Buszka

Partition Master
yeah -- there's essentially no baffle-step with in-wall speakers, so there's a lot of lift through the midbass. Take them out of the wall and put them in a freestanding enclosure that simulates an infinite baffle, and there will still be a depressed low end as the power radiation transitions to 4-pi space, because there won't be any baffle-step compensation built into the crossover network. That's the phenomenon I'm thinking of. I'm not sure about the effect it would have on the very highest frequencies, though.

I suppose alternately, I could just shuffle things around on my computer desk so the monitor is exactly in the middle with the speakers on both sides of the monitor, like the speakers would likely be used.
 
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