Fingers on: Razer Audio Mixer

Final Up to date: June twenty third, 2022

We’re all accustomed to Razer, proper? Huge inexperienced branding, snakes with the next than common variety of heads, letters from the CEO within the field? Right here at WePC, we’ve lined their stuff so extensively that just about everybody who works right here has a Razer product of some description on their desk on a everlasting foundation.

This implies we are inclined to hold a eager eye out for any of their new stuff, nevertheless, we’ve got turn into somewhat bored of latest revisions to their mice, keyboard, and headset lineups. This meant we had been fairly eager after they introduced that they had been going to be making an audio mixer particularly for streaming. Sadly, it took us some time to get on in-house, however we’ve been taking part in with it for a couple of days and have some ideas.

Professionals

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  Versatile enter choices
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  Vibrant and helpful RGB lighting
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  Censor button is a pleasant contact

Cons

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  Can’t be used to manage wi-fi headsets

Razer audio mixer specs

Hybrid XLR and 6.35mm port, 3.5mm Line In port, 3.5mm Line Out port, 3.5mm Headphone Out port. 3.5mm Microphone In port

1 x USB-C, 1 x Optical Audio Cable

155 mm x 115 mm x 55.3 mm

Unboxing & setup

We’ve talked about earlier than that the unboxing expertise of Razer merchandise often scales with the worth of the product in query. Nevertheless, the Razer Audio Mixer seems to be the exception to that baseless rule we made up. There is no such thing as a high-density foam or magnetic clasps to be discovered right here. As an alternative, the protection of the ~$250 mixer is entrusted to a soft-touch padded drawstring bag. Ours arrived in mint situation however we might have appreciated to see extra intensive packaging right here.

Field contents

• Razer Audio Mixer
• USB Kind-C to Kind-A cable
• 2x floor lop isolators
• Fast begin information

Setup for the razer audio mixer begins merely, then takes a swift left flip once you do not forget that organising a streaming machine with a tonne of inputs/outputs is a very advanced and generally loathsome expertise. Nevertheless, between the software program, the paperwork, and the manuals for the gadgets you’re going to be utilizing with the Razer Audio Mixer, you’ll have the ability to handle it with relative ease.

Design

We completely love the look of the Razer Audio mixer right here at WePC. With the rounded corners, ergonomically-angled high controls, and RGB lighting it actually appears the half. This places it head and shoulders above different audio mixers as they’re purely utilitarian in design, with no thought given to the general look of your streaming setup.

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We like RGB lighting right here at WePC, It appears cool and gives ample alternatives for personalization. The Razer Audio mixer is likely to be the primary time Razer’s implementation of RGB lighting has truly resulted in a tangible enhance in person expertise. The lights do an incredible job at indicating precisely the place issues are, whether or not you’re muted or not and so forth.

The buttons are price mentioning right here too as they’ve been designed with a pleasing rubberized end and are nearly completely silent That is perfect for streaming functions as quickly spamming them received’t irritate the viewers or forestall them from listening to one thing extra pertinent. Total, this is among the cleverest designs we’ve seen from Razer.

Construct high quality

Razer’s historical past of construct high quality has been categorized as ‘fairly good’. Their mice and keyboards often stand as much as some tough remedy, and their headsets aren’t so unhealthy both. Nevertheless, given our relative inexperience with their streaming gadgets, we aren’t tremendous positive of the general high quality. Regardless of this, we’re very impressed with the Razer Audio Mixer because it feels strong and planted, and all of the switches, sliders, and buttons really feel nice.

Apart from the strong powder-coated aluminum housing, our favourite facet is the development of the faders. They’ve an honest degree of resistance to their motion which each feels nice and permits you to be exact with the positioning, even at a speedy tempo. The aforementioned lighting helps reassure you of the precise degree of the faders, and it name comes collectively feeling unbelievable.

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Taking a better have a look at the fader switches we see that the vertical slots they run alongside have a small layer of silicon or different related materials beneath the floor of the mixer. This materials is vertically bisected to permit free motion of the switches, however forestall errant crumbs from falling in and getting pulverized to mud on the subsequent motion of a fader.

The one facet of the construct high quality we don’t like is the plastic plate on the underside of the mixer. The perimeters are produced from sturdy steel, so the plastic base feels comparatively low-cost. Moreover, changing this with a steel plate would add some weight to the underside of the machine, additional rising its stability. Given the ~$250 worth of the factor, yet one more sheet of steel isn’t an excessive amount of to ask.

Efficiency & software program

Given the customizable and addressable requirements of an audio mixer, we’ve lumped the efficiency and software program classes collectively as they go hand in hand. We’re happy to report that it performs nice and the software program is generally intuitive and streamlined. It’s not probably the most complete system, nevertheless, so hardcore streamers that swap between console and PC or have a number of mics will discover the Razer Audio Mixer somewhat under-specced.

When you’ve put in Razer Synapse, your first port of name would be the ‘Customise’ tab. Right here you’ll discover a transient blurb outlining the modifications you’ll have to make in Home windows audio settings, earlier than making any modifications in Synapse. It’s price noting right here that for those who’re on Home windows 11 and also you haven’t activated it, you can be unable to alter any of the Home windows audio settings, so get that licence key ASAP.

After you’ve modified the Home windows settings you’ll be good to go forward and bind the faders and buttons with reckless abandon. There are 4 faders that may be individually assigned to any of the next: Mic, chat, music, recreation, optical, line-in, or system. The 4 corresponding mute buttons may also be re-assigned however with out fairly as many choices. Total, it’s a decently customizable piece of equipment, however these of you who’re accustomed to streaming will most likely spend extra time in OBS or whichever streaming go well with you employ than Razer Syanpase so you’ll be able to fine-tune your settings.

It’s price looking on the obtainable inputs right here as this straight correlates to what number of gadgets and indicators the Razer Audio Mixer is able to dealing with. Right here we discover an XLR/6.35mm enter which is right for both a professional-grade streaming microphone or an electrical guitar, nevertheless, these are mutually unique so select accordingly. After this, we discover a 3.5mm line in and line out, which can be the place your headset/headphones go in. Sadly, this mixer doesn’t have the potential to manage a wi-fi headset so that you’ll must go old-school for those who go along with the Razer Audio Mixer. After this, we discover the Optical in port which is able to most probably be used for a PS5 or Xbox Collection X/S, and the USB Kind-C energy port.

Remaining verdict

Razer has created a purposeful, well-built, and handsome Audio Mixer that can have the ability to deal with the wants of a newbie to mid-level streamer with ease. Whereas the design is sensible and Razer’s Synapse software program is respectable sufficient for customizability and management, skilled streamers would possibly discover it missing a greater variety of inputs and can be saddened by the shortage of motorized faders. That final half is an enormous deal for these of you who depend on fader presets.