Razer Banshee Starcraft II USB Gaming Headset Unboxing & First Look Linus Tech Tips
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2012-05-07
·
1,166 words · ~5 min read
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So today we'll be unboxing the Razer Banshee. I've received a ton of requests
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to unbox this particular gaming headset. This is part of their Starcraft 2
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branded line of products. Thus, there's something about calling down the
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thunder, which is good, I suppose, when you have a headset. Thunder would mean
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base, I guess. Okay, so let's have a look at what Razer has to say for
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themselves about the features on the back of the box. And as always, Razer's
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boxes are excellent, and this one is no exception. Looks outstanding. All right,
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here we go. So, we've got eight preset EQ settings. We've got APM lighting
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system, which means the more actions per minute, the lights change. So, that's
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pretty neat. Uh, we have a circumaral design, which just means that they sit
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around your ears. And we have a braided fiber cable which is pretty typical for
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high-end gaming headsets these days. You can control your mic using this here.
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You can use okay extended comfort circumal design. Okay, that we've
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covered already. You got volume control, APM lighting system, true-to-life gaming
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audio, which is to be expected from a true-to-life gaming headset. Detachable
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microphone boom, as well as a 7 foot lightweight non-tangle cord. All right,
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I think that's pretty much this is just the same stuff again. and it is a USB
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headset. So that's something that I was not aware of looking at the product
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initially. So what that means is that you won't be reliant on the performance
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of your sound card in order to get the best possible performance out of the
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Banshee. So the whole USB headset thing
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is a bit of a double-edged sword because if you do have a great sound card, then
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you're probably not doing yourself a favor using the USB sound card that's
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integrated with it. But if you don't, like if you're gaming on a laptop, then
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it is a huge advantage versus using a lower quality onboard sound
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system. So, here we go. We got the product itself. We've got some
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accessories here. Comes in kind of a neat shaped box, which has this in it.
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That's it. Very little in terms of accessories. So, we've got a quick start
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guide, some razor stickers, a master guide. That's it. That's it. That's
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That's easy. All right. Now we take the front of the packaging off. We can get
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out our uh tangle-free cord
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here. And now we have removed the
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Banshee headset from its packaging. So the first thing I like to do with any
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headset product is put it on, see how it
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feels. Okay. So, what stands out to me
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about this right off the bat is the fact that it is not only circumal, it is
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circumal even if you've got huge ears.
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So, this should be comfortable and not press on the top of your ears even if
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you have big ears. So, you know what? What you're seeing here isn't even the
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full extent of the space inside because you can see even in here. So, if the top
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of your ear, like right around here, is is up in
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that pocket, then it's going to be quite comfortable. So, even wearing my
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earrings, I I don't notice any any
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discomfort from this particular headset. It is a little on the heavy side,
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although part of that could be the fact that I do have the 7T cord hanging off
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of it. Right now, there's the gold-plated USB connection. Remember,
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gold plating doesn't help the performance, but what it does help is
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the longevity. you'll always have a good connection because gold does allow you
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to have a better uh more clean contact
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surface due to its anti-corrosion properties. So, that's a good thing
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about gold. So, let's go through the headset and have a look at what we've
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got in terms of controls on this guy. So, first things first, let's attach the
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optional boom mic and figure out where it even attaches here. Okay. So, on this
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side, we take off that rubber stopper, which now fell, and we can go ahead and
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plug in our boom mic, which can be uh
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pushed up to the top, or it can be pushed down to the bottom. It can actually go almost all the way around.
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So, that looks like about 270°. So, I wouldn't recommend using it
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facing this way because then your uh left channel is going to be in your
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right ear and your right channel is going to be in your left ear, and that's not really ideal for gaming, especially
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if you want decent directionality. But there, that is how it is generally
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intended to be used. You can adjust the positioning of it a little bit so it can
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sit further or closer to your mouth. All right. And let's have a look at what
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we've got in terms of controls on here. So, we've got lights here, lights here,
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lights here. Lots of lights all over this headset. So, you'll definitely look
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pretty cool at whatever land you're at playing with your headset. And then you
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got mic volume. That's a really cool feature. So, your mic volume can be
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adjusted here or muted using the buttons behind your left ear. Then your
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headphone volume can be adjusted here or muted using the buttons behind your
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right ear. So, personally, I find that to be a very cool feature. Most headsets
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don't have mic volume control. They only have mute. So, this way you have a quick
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way if you're in game, you don't have to alt tab out, go to mumble or ventrillo
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or whatever you're using, adjust your mic settings. No, you can just set it to
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something relatively high and then adjust as needed according to what the
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other people who have to listen to you are asking you to do. So, that's a
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pretty neat little feature. So, let's just get a couple shots of what the
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Banshee looks like when it's installed on a
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user. And last but not least, it is of course adjustable. So, I just want to
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show you guys the increments that it is adjustable in. Nice firm clicks here.
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And when I extend it to its full size,
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you can see that it would fit a head that's quite a bit larger than my own
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without any difficulty. Thanks for checking out my unboxing of the Razer Banshee. Don't forget to subscribe to
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Linus Tech Tips for more unboxings, reviews, and other computer videos.