Features, Functions, and Flaws: Razer's Audio Mixer Review
The Razer Audio Mixer combines a number of sources right into a single audio channel and, with software program options, could make you sound higher than ever.
Little by little, Razer appears to be getting into nearly each market related to gaming and streaming. The previous is the bread-and-butter of the enterprise, every thing from mice and keyboards to headsets and screens, however the latter is rising, with extra streamer-focused merchandise launching every year.
The Razer Audio Mixer is the newest streaming system, aiming to present streamers extra management to regulate audio ranges immediately.
For those who’ve invested within the GoXLR Mini, which the Razer Audio Mixer emulates on nearly each stage, there’s not a lot new to be enthusiastic about. With a launch that got here years after the product it seeks to exchange, the Razer Audio Mixer might have added new options or swung for the fences to distinguish itself from its competitor.
It’s not an unreasonable expectation after Razer innovates within the gaming peripheral area. But, regardless of not elevating the unique design of the GoXLR Mini, it’s a step in the correct course for Razer.
Paired with the Synapse app and different Razer-branded streaming and gaming peripherals, the Razer Audio Mixer is a lacking piece to the streaming puzzle. And it’s helpful past streaming, making life extra handy when listening to music, hopping on a Zoom name, or recording audio for a video mission. Although tough to arrange and missing sure options, I discovered the product important.
Because of this it’s such a disgrace I had my expertise tainted by an unexplainable and recurring error. With an assurance from Razer that the issue was not widespread and no proof to dispute that, I seemingly acquired a defective unit. If that’s true, I stand by what I mentioned. If not, it’s not the one recreation on the town. It occurs.
Setup Is Not as Marketed
The difficulty I encountered randomly induced playback to sound staticy and distorted. After talking with the Razer crew and going backwards and forwards with the engineering crew, the foundation trigger hasn’t been discovered.
Razer additionally hasn’t talked about this downside to different customers, and I’ve but to discover a related criticism on Reddit, the web’s de facto supply for complaints and options.
On Reddit, I’ve discovered an amazing confusion relating to the mixer’s compatibility with USB mics. I don’t blame them as a result of—except you’ve pored by means of the handbook—it’s laborious to know how USB microphones work with the system since they’re not all constructed the identical.
There are literally 3 ways to attach a microphone. Connecting a USB microphone requires connecting the microphone to your pc’s USB port. That’s along with plugging in a 3.5mm cable out of your microphone to the mixer’s line-in port to watch and management the audio.
After that, you possibly can go into the software program to hyperlink the line-in channel to one of many four-channel sliders. There are a number of issues with this setup.
For one, USB microphones with built-in acquire and headphone monitoring quantity adjusters are nonetheless the first methods to manage microphone ranges. I spent almost an hour troubleshooting the AT2020USB+ microphone earlier than realizing each the acquire and monitoring quantity wheels on the microphone have been set all the way in which down.
This makes the slider on the Razer Audio Mixer secondary and redundant. One other wrinkle with this setup is that acquire and monitoring are tied to one another—shifting the slider impacts each. This implies you’ll be utilizing the microphone’s controls as an alternative of the sliders, defeating the aim of the mixer.
Additionally, USB microphones with no 3.5mm port are a non-starter. Sorry Razer Seiren Mini, Blue Microphone Snowball iCE ($50), and HyperX SoloCast ($60). At the very least these price range choices are the exception and never the rule for having a built-in 3.5mm port.
The Entrance Port Is Higher and Worse
Utilizing the entrance 3.5mm microphone port adjoining to a 3.5mm headphone port is an alternate choice. This port was designed for utilizing headsets with a 3.5mm TRRS jack cut up into line-in and line-out jacks with a splitter like this one.
The wired Apple AirPods are a great instance of headphones with a TRRS jack—that’s a jack with three rings that stands for Tip Ring Ring Sleeve.
It’s additionally attainable to make use of the entrance microphone as an alternative of the line-in port within the again when utilizing a USB microphone. However, as a result of the entrance port is unbalanced, it’s not beneficial—unbalanced ports introduce interference.
Whereas utilizing a USB microphone linked to the entrance port isn’t beneficial, there’s a purpose it’s possible you’ll wish to. The entrance port is synced to the Synapse software program, which manages audio ranges and applies voice modulation results.
Within the Mic tab of the Razer Audio Mixer software program, you possibly can regulate acquire, toggle and regulate mic monitoring, and activate helpful options like a noise gate, compressor, and a mixture equalizer.
Within the Results tab, you possibly can sound like a monster or cartoon, or add echo and reverb to your voice. You possibly can bind one of many results to the massive microphone mute button to use the impact every time.
Voice modulation’s mileage could fluctuate, however the mixed options could make nearly any microphone shine. So, it’s complicated why the line-out port, and by extension USB microphones, doesn’t have entry to the identical options, particularly when Razer solely makes USB microphones.
The one actual choice is to improve to an XLR microphone and never look again.
XLR or Nothing
The choice to make use of USB microphones is good if that’s all you may have, however help for an XLR microphone is arguably one of the best purpose to purchase the mixer. USB microphones just like the HyperX Quadcast S are good due to their comfort, however, let’s be trustworthy, XLR microphones are the following step in any setup. As a substitute of getting a built-in preamp like USB microphones, XLR microphones depend on the preamp in an audio interface.
Having the ability to plug into any audio interface means XLR microphones’ sound may be made to sound higher, whereas USB microphones are caught. XLR microphones additionally produce much less noise as a result of XLR cables and connections are balanced.
For those who’re going to spend $250 on the Razer Audio Mixer, you may as nicely improve to an XLR microphone. On that word, one-input audio interfaces just like the RØDE AI-1 price about $100, so that you’re paying $150 extra for the software program options and the privilege to handle your audio with sliders.
Utilizing an XLR microphone with the Razer Audio Mixer takes full benefit of each elements—the mixer can present phantom energy to hungry microphones by toggling the 48V button.
The noise gate function is a necessity when recording in a loud surroundings—you’ll thank your self later when the audio is crisp. When evaluating the noise gate constructed into the Audio Mixer to the one on DaVinci Resolve, which is top-notch, I heard no main distinction. Identical to in Resolve, the Audio Mixer provides you management of the impact, with sliders in a position to change the brink, launch, assault, and extra.
My setup could be very near a window, and it was in a position to mute the sound of a practice, passing automobiles, and the terrible noise of my PC followers. Some tinkering with the noise gate settings will not be a foul thought; I felt the default setting was too highly effective and was inflicting clipping.
Moreover, options just like the equalizer, acquire adjuster, mic monitoring, and compressor broaden the performance of your XLR microphone, which may also help make it sound higher than any USB mic.
Be taught the Software program
With out the Synapse software program, the Razer Audio Mixer is a brightly-lit paperweight. You’ll wish to get conversant in it to get your cash’s value. This bit can be complicated, and the handbook solely muddies it additional, so I’ll break it down.
The primary order of enterprise is mapping all 4 of your channel sliders to an audio supply within the Customise tab. Me? I’ve the XLR microphone on the primary channel; recreation on the second; system on the third; music on the fourth.
Then, you’ll want to modify over to Sound Settings on Home windows—right-click the speaker icon on the Home windows toolbar to open it up.
The remaining is like this:
- Set the Output to “System (Razer Audio Mixer).”
- Set the Enter to “Microphone (Razer Audio Mixer)” if utilizing the XLR enter or frontside 3.5mm port. Alternatively, set it to “Line-In (Razer Audio Mixer)” if utilizing the three.5mm Line-In port.
- Scroll right down to App Quantity and System Preferences underneath Superior Audio Choices to bind channels to particular software program—e.g., set Spotify to “Music (Razer Audio Mixer).”
Setting every software program to correspond with a selected channel will make it simpler to handle your audio. Music apps ought to be tied to the music channel; chat apps like Discord with the Chat channel.
Video games may be linked to the Recreation channel by way of the Synapse software program within the Profiles tab. It goes on.
Subsequent is configuring the mixes. Within the Mixer tab of Synapse, you’ll see the Stream Combine channel. This combine combines all of the channels you wish to broadcast. Set it because the enter to your streaming software program.
In OBS, you are able to do this by including an audio enter supply and deciding on “Stream Combine (Razer Audio Mixer).” Further mixes embody the Playback Combine tied to the headphone port, the Line Out Combine tied to the line-out port, and the Voice Chat Combine tied to talk apps. As soon as your combine sources are arrange, use the sliders to regulate every supply’s quantity.
Sure, that is extremely dense, regardless of the “fuss-free setup” advertising declare. However, it makes life quite a bit simpler when you’ve acquired it down. The place earlier than you’d want a handful of audio sources on OBS to handle your whole audio sources, now you solely want one managed with tactile sliders which might be buttery easy.
The Achilles heel of the Razer Audio Mixer is its incapacity to regulate the quantity of the mixes by way of the sliders straight. It’s attainable to do within the software program with the digital sliders, nevertheless it’s not the identical.
This system could be almost good if there was a approach to toggle between controlling sources and controlling mixes. It might permit me to alter the output of any combine individually from the others by way of the sliders. This function is on the high of my want record for the Razer Audio Mixer V2, assuming a follow-up.
Well worth the Hassle?
The static/distortion concern undoubtedly soured my expertise, nevertheless it appears the worst is over. After almost a month of back-and-forth emails with Razer and hours of troubleshooting each on the {hardware} and software program facet, I could have lastly solved the difficulty. It appeared a Home windows program working within the background was corrupted and in some way interfered with the audio.
I figured it out when trying on the Occasion Viewer and observed this system error and audio distortion have been taking place concurrently. Uninstalling and reinstalling this system (Gaming Companies) mounted it. I do know correlation doesn’t indicate causation. However, the difficulty hasn’t popped up as soon as since.
It was a headache to cope with, and it took hours of my time to repair it, nevertheless it’s undoubtedly trying like a one-off downside, or a minimum of one impacting a minimal subset of the person base. Razer confirmed with me that there had been no different reviews of this concern, nor have they been in a position to replicate it.
Aside from a remark I discovered on this product’s Amazon web page, there’s no different proof that factors to a widespread downside.
These causes mixed are why I can’t low cost the Razer Audio Mixer, regardless of the ordeal it put me by means of. Although the difficulty was seemingly attributable to a random software program error to date faraway from the Razer Audio Mixer and Synapse, it’s regarding and undoubtedly one thing Razer ought to have a look at.
I not need to put an asterisk beside the Razer Audio Mixer with that resolved. It’s nonetheless overly-complicated to arrange, and I’d have favored higher performance for USB microphone customers.
Placing that apart, there’s nonetheless the matter of value. On high of the Razer Audio Mixer’s $250 price, you’ll spend a minimum of an extra $100 to $200 for a great microphone and pair of monitoring headphones.
None of these causes are deal-breakers as a result of this product has a specific viewers in thoughts. One which doesn’t thoughts paying top-dollar for good gear that can make the act of making content material extra handy. Don’t overlook the Razer Audio Mixer in the event you make any content material that includes audio.
This pair is kind of a knockout, and I can let you know one factor: I’m not trying again. It might not have been the unique, nevertheless it executes every thing promised.
With the correct XLR microphone, in my case, the RØDE PodMic, the Razer Audio Mixer will take your audio to the following stage. There’s quite a bit to stay up for if that is what we will count on from Razer’s increasing streaming class.
A couple of extra gems so that you can dive into:
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