Can be great if you have the right hardware

My old pair of headphones were getting worn so I bought the barracuda off the razer online shop. The packaging it arrived in is standard for headphones, although it was a hassle to get out. The Barracuda does work with a standard sound card, but it is recommended by Razer to get their brand of sound card for optimal use.

My setup has an onboard 5.1 setup by Realtek. It has three inputs. Mic in, Line in, and Speaker in. The Razer Barracuda does have a mic included which you can plug in on the side. Unfortunately, I have not tested out the microphone portion of these headphones due to my hardware limitations. If you only have three inputs as mentioned above, your mic in will be taken up by your center/subwoofer input of the headphones. To fully connect your headphones for 5.1 sound, you need to plug one usb cable in, and three inputs, one for front, center/subwoofer, and rear.

The comfort factor on these headphones are high. The ear cushion is made out of soft velvet. It also automatically adjusts to fit the shape of your head. This feature might be particularly useful if you have to share the headphones with another person. No more need to worry about manually readjusting them.

I've used these headphones for a number of purposes. Listening to music, playing games, and watching films. The sound quality is high. I could especially feel the subwoofer when listening to electronica which contained low frequency synth bass. You can adjust the volume via controls that are attached to the cable coming out of the headphones. The control are located on a box type thing which resembles a remote, in a way. It provides controls for each individual speaker, and the master volume.

The controls are in a convenient location. However the remote portion of itself is quite heavy. This can make things slightly uncomfortable depending on if the remote is resting on your body, or if it is hanging free. When hanging free, it's weight can feel a little dragging. There is a clip on the back of the remote, but at 6 ft 3, there's no way I can realistically clip this to a pocket, shirt, or belt, because the chord for the headphones are too short. I would have liked for the remote to have been located further down from the chord, or if it had been included as a gui panel on the desktop.

There are no drivers to install with the headphones. You have to make the connections, and rhen use your soundcard's software to make adjustments. The chord itself feels heavy, and it can also take some strain, which it will due to the weight of the controls.

I have read a professional reviewer talk about how 5.1 headphones are pointless because it being close to the ear defeats the illusion of a true surround sound setup. I would have to agree with him. While watching movies or listening to music, it becomes obvious that the rear input feels more like a rear-center, than a true rear. None the less, it does provide more of a field than a pair of regular stereo headphones do.