I was lucky enough to have
an early look at Razer's new 'Mako' speakers. Following Razer's tradition of
naming their audio products as predatory sea creatures (we've yet to see some
'Clown Fish' or 'Dolphin' headphones so far though), the Mako is the latest to
emerge from Razer's range. It's a 2.1 (2 stereo satellites and 1 subwoofer)
setup ideal for 'multimedia' use - they're not pitched as being a jack of one
trade - but engineered to strike a balance between music playback, gaming and
DVD use.
The Mako speakers are designed
to grab your attention - the large dome subwoofer and weighty sattelites look
and feel the part. They have a smooth matt black finish with Razer snake logos
etched on the top of each unit.
Each speaker has a solid top
section with the lower part comprising of a mesh - there's no exposed cones
here. Traditionally, a satellite speaker setup is very directional. With outward
facing cones the higher sounds have a direct path, you can experience this by
taking traditional speakers and turning them against the wall or even standing
up from your desk and you'll often notice that the higher sounds become flatter
in tone. With Mako - the speakers are all designed to reflect audio off the desk
and there's very little variance in sound as you move around in any direction.
Razer's setup does advise that
a space of 6 inches should be left around each speaker and that they should not
be obstructed by other objects, so be ready for a tidy up of your desk.
Admittedly out photo shown above has them somewhat more squashed together, but
it's worth taking note that you should really devote a bit of desktop real
estate for these. Sure, you can put the subwoofer on the floor, but to me it
seemed wrong to do that - it deserved to be looked at, not tucked away under the
desk.
Connecting the units up
reveals some surprises - gone are the traditional phono connections between the
amplifier and satellites, with Mako using CAT5 cables instead for
high-definition audio transmission. Stickers on the cables warn against plugging
them into an actual network, since the connectors are identical to a regular
ethernet cable. Anyone wanting to know what would happen when you plug a speaker
into the network is going to remain disappointed, as I followed the advice of
the sticker and refrained myself from plugging the speaker into our network
switch.
Likewise, the control pod uses
a connector identical to a 15pin VGA monitor connector and again another sticker
advises against connecting your monitor to the subwoofer. I worry that stickers
advising not to do something may just be a tempting 'I wonder what would happen
if...' for some, but ultimately it just means to take care if you're fumbling to
put your desktop back together in the dark.
But anyway, the control pod
- this is the bit that really caught attention when we demonstrated these
speakers on our stand at the recent i33 event. It's a weighty beer-mat sized
unit with a gloss black top. With the speakers in standby mode, the central
Razer logo glows a subtle blue colour. Hold your finger on it for a second, it
lights up and the pod springs to life showing various options and a stepped
volume indicator round the outside.
The pod allows selecting
between 'Line 1' (3.5mm) and 'Line 2' (RCA Phono) inputs, adjusting bass level,
adjusting volume and muting the speakers. To reach these controls you place your
finger in the centre and drag to the required option. For bass and volume this
increases the brightness on the outer bar and allows you to 'drag' the slider.
It requires a little bit of pressure and can take some getting used to - and
admittedly is a little bit of a pain when you want to adjust the volume quickly
to take a call or suchlike - but it does feel satisfying to use and will always
be a great thing to show off to onlookers. As you increase the volume to the
higher levels, the remaining bars turn red - I found myself turning down the
volume in the Windows mixer control panel just so that I could leave the red
bars on all the time. They just looked cool. The control pod also houses a
headphone pass-through connection and another auxiliary 3.5mm line-in connector.
Would you like to see the pod
in action? Here's a youtube video below. And since whenever I put a song in a
video I get emailed asking what it is, the track is 'Miss You' by
Feeder. So now
you know.
On to the sound, and
this is where it becomes more difficult to describe, but these speakers sound
really impressive. At the exhibition hall at the i33 LAN, they could be heard
over any other exhibitor stand if I felt like cranking the volume up, including
the rather loud setup from Electronic Art's adjacent stand as punters tried out
'Rock Band'. Put them in a room though and they really shine - I set them up
with a PC in our shop front (approx 300sq feet room) and they did a fantastic
job of really filling the room. We've already got a few sets of high-end
speakers on show in the store, including the What Hi-Fi award winning Acoustic
Energy Aego's and Altec Lansing MX5021 (one of my personal favourites), and
really, the Mako speakers blitz them both for creating an impressive soundstage,
no matter where you listen from.
Play anything on them and
they'll keep a tight sound with impressive detail, up to very high volumes (as
loud as you're ever likely to need in the home) - I exercised them with a
variety of tracks from numerous genres and found myself thinking ' I wonder what
this will sound like on the Makos...' , there's nothing quite like a great set
of speakers to bring your music collection to life again. Folk, Electronica,
Indie, Metal and the Sugababes all sounded terrific. Forgive me for writing
Sugababes as a genre, but I'm not usually 'into' pop music. But I do make an
exception for them.
Gaming was fantastic as well -
Call of Duty 4 with an X-Fi sound card and the volume cranked right up brought a
whole new realm of excitement to the game. Sure, headphones can sound great, but
they're a bit closed - actually hearing the gun shots (and feeling them) with
the speakers turned up loud made the experience a lot more involving.
All in all, I was really
impressed with these speakers - they're not cheap (recommended retail price
is £300 although they'll likely be a little bit cheaper when they become
available) - but the sound quality and looks get a very positive thumbs up. The
only other point is the control pod - you'll either love it for it's gadget
appeal or find it frustrating. If you're likely to fall into the latter - make
sure your keyboard has a multimedia volume control function and just leave the
Mako speakers turned up to high volume. That way you get to see the red bit on
the volume dial. :)
