The Frustrating Experience of Using Razer Synapse Software

As I began to use the Razer headset with my computer, I was presented with a list of five options to download or install from the synapse software. This seemed like a normal and straightforward process, but what followed was a series of annoying experiences that left me wondering why I had even bothered.

The issue started when I didn't select one of the given options, as an ad popped up asking me to install it. I specifically wanted to use Razer Synapse and THX spatial audio, but the software insisted on offering other unwanted additions such as Game Booster, System Booster, and Game Rewards. The repetition of these offers became repetitive and annoying, making me feel like I was being bombarded with unnecessary options.

The process of downloading and installing the software took an inordinate amount of time, and I found myself waiting around for what felt like an eternity. Even when it finally finished updating my headset, it still couldn't manage to install Razer Synapse at the same time, leaving me feeling frustrated and disappointed. This lack of efficiency and coordination is a hallmark of Razer's software experience.

As I continued to use the headset, I noticed that the ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) was having an inconsistent effect on my music. The update seemed to have fixed some of the issues with the ANC canceling out its own audio, but it still had a tendency to cut out the bottom end of the sound. This lack of consistency made me question whether the update would ultimately resolve the problem or just mask it.

The headset's performance in ambient noise was somewhat improved, and I was able to enjoy my music with less interference from external sounds. However, when I attempted to test the ANC further by blasting traffic noise through the speakers, I found that it wasn't quite up to par. The sound quality was still not exceptional, and it didn't quite live up to the hype surrounding Razer's spatial audio technology.

One of the most frustrating aspects of using this headset is the requirement to log in with my Razer ID in order to use THX spatial audio. This seemed like a reasonable request, but the software insisted on asking me to sign in every time I tried to access the features. As someone who was already logged into a guest account and didn't need an account to use the headset, this felt like a unnecessary step that only served to slow down my experience.

The final insult came when I realized that I could simply continue using the headset without logging in. The software would continue to work as intended, even if I chose not to authenticate with my Razer ID. This lack of transparency and clarity made me feel like I was being manipulated into signing up for an account just to use a product that I already owned.

Overall, my experience with the Razer headset has been marred by frustration and disappointment. The software is clunky, inefficient, and relies too heavily on advertising and gimmicks rather than delivering quality products. For someone spending $250 on headphones, this level of mediocrity is simply unacceptable.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Ooooooooooo Barracuda.- No, no, no, no, no, no.- Razer's back with another one of theirhostile fish headphones.This time it's named Barracuda.I do have history with Razer.I bought their 7.1 Megalodon headsetthat used military grade sound simulationto get 7.1 surround sound.And it blew 14-year-old mes noggin.(confetti pops)Let's look at the box for a second.So, one thing that I'vealways found kind of funnyabout Razer, is that they've always seemedlike a marketing company thatdecided to make technology.Which is why like, everysingle thing they haveis just like, it's branded to the tits.Like we have THXachromatic audio amplifier.We have, Razer TriForcebio-cellulose 50 millimeter drivers.Triforce?Razer smart switch dual wireless.So basically what smartswitch dual wireless isis that you should beable to switch between2.4 gigahertz or Bluetooth.That's cool. It justdoesn't need a brand name.You know, it justit doesn't have to becalled Razer TM smart switchjust call it smart switching or whatever.So this is the flagship of Razer'swhole Barracuda family refresh.They have the Barracuda X,which is the lowest hereat a hundred US.Barracuda at $160it's weird to have BarracudaX be cheaper, but whatever.And then the Barracuda Prosall the way up at 250 big oneswhich I know you'repushing into some prettyambitious territory at that price.They do have hybrid ANC, which is goodbecause I feel like if you're going,if you're a wireless headphoneand you're anywhere in the $200 rangeand you don't, evenprobably $150 range or up,and you don't have ANC,it's unacceptable nowbecause like you just should have it.It's kinda not that hard to do.it's hard to do really wellbut it's an easy feature to add.I like the classic presentation.Though, one thing that'skind of a disappointment isthat this is big.Here's my laptop.- No, no, no.You're not doing it right.- I know, but the bananas a less useful- Whoa- What the f--- So for context in yourbackpack full of bananasit's gonna take up a lotof space for your bananascause that's three andthen like we're too tall.So that's one, two, threethat's six whole bananas worth of volume.That's insane.Lttstore.comIn here we have aUSB-A to USB-C braidedcable with cable tie.What's the point of these?I hate this. I hate this.I just get tired of this.They sell 'em with likegraphics cards and HDMI cables.Maybe they're really,really helpful for shipping.I find them annoying.This is another extension cable for USB-A.Quite a lot of reach, but that's great.Yeah, because if you'regonna use these plugged inwith your computer, this mightnot be quite long enough.If you're trying toreach all the way aroundto the back of it, this probably will be.(chord whips)That's everything that's in here.Oh, there, no, there's alittle, there's a little guy.Oh, this is their wireless USB-C adapter.You can use this with your Android phone.This would be for when thatyou're using the smart switch.So instead of using Bluetoothyou can use their smartswitch to use their high speed2.4 gigahertz connection.So like what you--- Or on your laptop.- Or on your laptop or on yourPlayStation, PC PlayStation.It says so right there.- What about Xbox?- (beep) Xbox(laughter)So here are the headphones.I like the way they look.I know Razer's knownfor being pretty gaudyand very aggressive with their branding.These are pretty subdued.I do actually like the green accents.Build quality, it is all plastic.It's neither here nor therewhen it comes to headphones, you can getmore expensive headphonesthat are also all plastic.You can get cheaper headphones with metal.We got our power button.This is like a volume control wheel.We have our mute switchfor the microphone.Is there no boom microphone with this?I guess not. We didn't see one.And then this is, I believetheir smart switch buttonwhich is on the left ear cup.Are these on?Oh now they're on, they weren't on.So they actually have really good sealing.I took them off thinkingthat maybe the ANC was on,but these actually havea really good seal.I can barely hear anything.This headband doesn't, it seems a little,the curves a little harsh.It felt a little weirdon the top of my head.Sometimes that's justgetting used to stuff.These are very soft andthey're leatherette.These aren't, they're fakeleather they're pleather.And memory foam, it'sa lot of empty space.It's pretty soft memory foam.I'm not very impressed so far for $250.Let's power these on, butbefore we get any furtherwe've gotta talk aboutour sponsor, War Thunder.War Thunder is a free to play onlinemilitary vehicle combat game availableon a variety of platforms with cross play.It features an incrediblearsenal of more than 2000historically accurate playabletanks, air crafts and shipsfrom the 1910's to vehiclesstill in service today.You'll compete in massivecombined arms battleson over 100 major battlefields,from world war II to modern environments.War Thunders vehicles are implemented witha high level of authenticity and detail,adding a huge amount ofdepth to its gameplay.Head to the link belowto start playing War Thunder for free.You'll get a free bonus premiumvehicle just for signing up.Let's connect it.This is the worst.Do you see why?Look at my choice. You'reblocking other ports.- That's dumb.- Yeah, that sucks.You could use yet another dongleor you would just usethis, I guess but likeit's nice having youradapter because sometimesyou know, you go and you'relike, you're in between a game.You just got downed andyou go, oh, you know what?I'd like a little snicky snackand you just get up andleave your headphones onso you haven't missed anything.- What is a snicky snack?- A snicky snack,sometimes you get hungryplaying your games.So these have hybrid ANC, which use bothfeed forward and feedback ANC.Basically it listens to both,what you're hearing onthe outside, as well aswhat it's hearing onthe inside to get a moreaccurate representation of theaudio that's surrounding you.This is the same kindof tech that Apple usesin AirPods pros.And it's kind of the goldstandard for ANC at the moment.So they have three modes.They have ANC off, ambientwhich is a listen through mode,and they have ANC on.I appreciate that becauseANC can shift the soundof what you're listening to.And I don't wanna have to choose betweenambient mode and ANC likesome headphones do that.I just, sometimes I just want the ANC off.So a press to turn, you justpress this button on the right,the quick switch buttonto turn it on and off.(upbeat music)That sounds really (beep) bad.That sounds really atrocious.I'm gonna turn the ANC off.(upbeat music)Literally the ANC just killed it.The ANC like made itsound just so much worse.It's literally, it'sliterally canceling outits own base response.Like the ANC just makes itsound like a tinny mess.It sounds like you listento like a phone speaker.Yeah. So that's good to knowthat the feed forward is working.It's just blocking off my,the sound I want to hear.Okay. I can't be dunking on 'em too hardbecause I do have todownload their softwareto assess anything that they make.Oh and if you couldn'ttell that I wasn't stokedabout having to use software,I'm not stoked abouthaving to use software.Oh, this is so annoyingbecause what you do isthat they give you a list of likehere's all the things youcan download or to installfrom the synapse software.There's five things.And if you don't select one of the things,an ad pops up asking you to install it.I don't want game booster,system booster and game rewards.I don't want Razer cortex.I want synapse and THX spatial audio.Razer, Razer, what are you doing?The issue is that they tryhard at the wrong things.They try really hard tomaintain this great image.And then they have mediocre software,annoying implementation,lackluster hardwareand like, they still haven'treally resolved their issueswith reliability and longevityon their peripherals.It sucks because I thinkthat what Razer doesa lot of the time is cool,but it feels like they justdo it to put another label on the box.It's taking a really, reallylong time to download.Oh, it's updating the headset.Yeah. So we spent about 15minutes just waiting aroundfor the headphones to update.And it said factory reset, powered off.And now it's telling meto unplug and then re plugthe wireless dongle.But here's what doesn't make sense.Why did I waste allthat time waiting for itto wirelessly transmit,when I have a cable?There's USB-C in for the headphonesit could have happened so much faster.My dongle's been updated.We're still installing Razer Synapse.- What?- It's still installing RazerSynapse, were only at 20%.- Wait, only 20%?- We updated the headphones.- It couldn'tdo it at the same time?- No, of course not. It's Razer.It's not supposed to be goodit's supposed to be cool.We'll see if the updatesfix any of those ANC issuesI said where it wascanceling out its own audio.(upbeat music)It seems like the ANC soundsa little bit less aggressiveand is having less ofan effect on my music.Yeah. So either theupdate fixed the problemcause the ANC is notcutting out the bottom endnearly as badly.I do kind of wanna justlike, traffic noisescause I want to get some better,cause it's kind of quiet down here,I wanna get some bettersemblance of how good the ANC is.And so we're just gonnablast traffic noise.Ambient is working asintended, let's go to ANC.It's not amazing.It's not incredible, butit's not terrible either.When you have the music playingit cancels out noise well enough.Sign in with my Razer ID.Could I just end thispainful existence instead?I have to log in to use THX spatial audio.Razer, it's so frustrating.I don't need an account to useheadphones with my computer.Stop telling me to sign up for stuff.Hello there! You're clearlyusing a guest accountwhere all settings are anonymous to usby using our software.That's the point.This is the fifth timethey've asked me to log into my account and I'm justtrying to open the software.Just waiting for DOOM Eternal to load up.Again, the ANC, I don't know.It is through this wireless thing.The ANC is like, maybe it's somethingthat can be fixed in Windows,maybe it's another setting.But the fact that it'slike a gaming headsetis having such a profoundly bad experienceon a PC platform is really disappointing.I play with a pair of AKG K7XX'swhich are open-back headphones that havea really, really good sound stage.These are not doinganything special to me.DOOM has a pretty decent audio engine,like for spatial audio, Iusually test it with stufflike Left 4 Dead, cause I always lovedthe positional audio in that game.It's not special, these aren't special.Razer has done it again.They've released a productthat's too expensiveand pretty bad.Razer I wanted to love you.I continue to want to loveyou, but you continue to be,yeah, you continue to be you.(laughter)Like if they don't startfocusing on deliveringquality products, thenI do think that they'reactually just gonna fall out of favorand no one's gonna ever care about them.If you're spending $250 on headphonesyou deserve better than this.Don't buy, don't buy these.Thanks for watching this video.If you're thinking, hey, I wantsome mediocre sound quality.Well, how about you save your moneyand spend one sixth the price on likesome Nord Buds or something.You can check out my coverageof the OnePlus Nord Budsjust down here-ish inthe video ending boxes.(mumbles)Yeah.\n"