Razer’s Bringing Higher Encompass Sound to the Desktop

One of many large challenges of faking a encompass sound expertise with only a single speaker is that customers typically have to stay in a really particular spot to listen to the complete impact. However with Razer’s new Leviathan V2 Pro desktop sound bar, avid gamers can transfer round as a lot as they like because of a head-tracking digicam that directs the complete audio expertise proper to their ears.

We’ve complained previously concerning the challenges of making a encompass sound expertise with out truly surrounding customers with a number of audio system. It’s a tantalizing thought, however one that usually falls brief in execution for quite a lot of causes, together with the aforementioned limitation of creating viewers stay in a really particular location to correctly expertise the simulated impact. That may be fantastic if you’re plonked down on the sofa binge-watching Netflix for hours on finish, however an issue if you’re always shifting round whereas gaming at a desk. It turns into a fair larger challenge when the soundbar is sitting simply inches in entrance of you, leading to a a lot smaller candy spot, as an alternative of beneath a TV on the opposite aspect of the room.

To resolve that downside, the Razer Leviathan V2 Professional, billed as “the world’s first beamforming soundbar for desktop,” creates a 3D audio expertise utilizing acoustical tips facilitated by a number of front-facing drivers hidden inside. The effectiveness of those tips depends on the place the listener is positioned, so a built-in IR digicam detects the place of their head in real-time, and adjusts the soundbar’s beamforming accordingly, making certain the 3D impact is at all times heard. It’s just like how the 3D impact on the unique Nintendo 3DS would go out and in as you considered the display from totally different angles however would stay fixed on the upgraded New Nintendo 3DS because of a face-tracking digicam that might regulate the on-screen 3D impact.

The Razer Leviathan V2 Professional affords two totally different modes of 3D audio: THX Spatial Audio Digital Headset for stereo content material just like what you’d get whereas sporting a pair of headphones, and THX Spatial Audio Digital Audio system which creates a extra encompassing sound stage just like what you’d get from a correct multi-speaker setup. And since this can be a Razer product, the Leviathan V2 Professional additionally options RGB LED lighting on the underside that may be synced to the content material on-screen.

Accessible beginning someday in February, the Razer Leviathan V2 Professional additionally features a separate subwoofer and can retail for $400.