Razer Mako 2.1 Advanced Desktop Audio Author: faceless105 -- Posted: 2008-06-18
Any gamer can tell you that there are a number of the more important features of hardcore gaming. Graphics, CPU, Ram, are some of the internal parts. After that you get to the sweet keyboard and mouse combo, but more important then anything, you have the sound, because even on a slow jumpy system, it can still be enjoyable when you crank that bass up to the point you can feel the bullets flying. This is why today I'm proud to be reviewing the RazerMako Gaming Speakers.
The RazarMako is a 2.1 speaker system. This is easily the most common setup you'll find from home stereos to computers. While more common systems are coming out with 5.1 and higher surround sound capabilities, there are still a large number of computers out there that just support the common 2-channel audio, and this is why it thrives.
Now while this configuration is probably the most common, there's nothing common about the Mako speaker set. Razer prides themselves on gaming products so you see a lot of "Top of the Line" products. The Mako system is THX certified for quality and performance. The speakers as well as amp have patented omni-directional sound, and to top it off, the touch sensitive remote really brings it all home.
As you can see from the shot above, the amp has a unique assortment of plugs. The left and right speakers use a modified network cable and the remote uses a modified VGA cable. There are two inputs, line 1 uses a 3.5mm headphone jack (that can be used for a computer very easily), and line 2 uses RCA cables (ideal for the home stereo or TV). In addition to these the remote has a Line In that goes to Line 2 that uses a 3.5mm heaphone jack, and a 3.5mm headphone jack Line Out.
Stopping short of the first hand experience this will win you some cool points with your friends. The amp is pretty huge as far as these commonly go. Knowing that it's made by Razer, there is also an assortment of Razer Logos to make sure that everyone knows that you go for the high end gear. The bottom of the remote, which has a rubber grip bottom, even has a logo embedded into it, no one will be able to miss it, haha.
Now it's for the first hand experiments. Obviously the first place we tried this out was on a computer. Razers Moto is, "For Gamers, By Gamers" so decided to fire up TimeShift, Team Fortress 2, and wrapped it all up with a classic, Hitman - Blood Money. The sound was amazingly clear, and the bass was excellent. The change to omni-directional sound was pretty clear to everyone else in the room too.
Next we listened to some music. The touch sensitive remote was really convenient for dialing the bass up and down. Keeping the Hitman spirit going (I know, it sounds pretty nerdy), we decided that'd be the movie we test the sound on as well. It really made a huge difference between this setup and the ordinary TV speakers. The level of bass they offer is pretty large, and we actually dialed the bass down a ways for the movie.
The overall experience was very good. The system was incredibly easy to setup. You can't mix up the wires and they give you a good amount of length for the placement of the two speakers.
* side speaker, not the bass
The only cons we could find is that the bass is strong enough that you'll probably want to place it on the floor to prevent it from rattling your desk. It's also large enough that this may be the only place to properly place it. The cost will also probably be the largest single deterrent keeping people from purchasing it themselves.
* closeup of the connections
Now like I mentioned earlier, the setup is a breeze and it allows for multiple inputs. The touch sensitive remote is really cool, and a definite attention grabber. These speakers do earn some major cool points, so paying that larger price tag might come as more of a mark of status in the gaming community then a hurdle to over come. Like I said, the quality is amazing, so there definitely isn't any thing holding you back on that one.
* Just so that you can start sizing them up. Anyways, what's a gamer without their caffeine?
Overall I'm incredibly impressed with these speakers. Aside from the price tag, there really isn't anything that I could see getting in anyone's way from purchasing these. I'd like to thank Razer for giving me the opportunity to review their Mako 2.1 Gaming Speakers. If anyone is looking for an extremely high end setup, these are a great option, especially since they can extend to your stereo, TV, or anything else that uses 2.1 sound setups (which is almost everything out there).
I know these speakers really have a lot to offer so if there's anything you guys would like to know that I might have missed, I'd love to hear any comments or questions you might have on them!!
