Presenting the MEGALODON.

Almost a year after it was announced, the Megalodon finally emerges from the murky depths in an attempt to devour every single competitor there is - Will it succeed?

Those who still have no idea what the Megalodon is - http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-audio/razer-megalodon/

Packaging.
The Megalodon comes in a pure black box with just a Razer logo showing, and its pretty big - even the box that my boots came in isn't as big.


upon opening, you are greeted with a card that says "put sound in its place".
perhaps it should be "put your wallet in a safe place"?


below that, a nice hardshell case and a stand for the Megalodon.
The hardshell case, for those who have Shure headsets, are made from a similar material as those used to store the Shure (I'm sure there are other manufacturers who have a similar material but I only have the Shure for comparison).

The stand consists of magnets that securely hold the APU in place.
Just dont go knocking it around, as its obviously not physically held in place, so keep your little bro or sis far away from it.


the standard contents are all also present - manuals, certificate of authenticity, stickers and a CD which contains a surround sound demo, FAQ and notes on the Maelstrom Audio Engine.



Construction.



As can be seen, the Audio Processing Unit isn't exactly small.
But it has a very sturdy built and a nice non-slip rubber base with a long enough cable should you wish to keep it out of arm's length.

Meanwhile, the large closed cups are very comfortable for extended usage, and are also removable so after time they can be washed or replaced.
The uni-directional mic works pretty well and can be bent to be closer or further away from the mouth. The mic is also able to rotate 270 degrees from north - guess to accommodate those who somehow like wearing headsets with the band behind the head.



while the control panel of the Megalodon may look somewhat similar to the Mako's as pictured above - the touch sensor of the latter has been replaced by a jog dial with a center button (reminds you of that white company) which allows cycling through the individual volume controls of the various virtual speakers.

A powered USB port is required to run the headset - unfortunately there are no 3.5mm nor HD connectors - those who currently have the Barracuda AC-1 are probably cursing away right now.
The lack of 3.5mm connectors would also mean using an audio hub is out of the equation, therefore switching between speakers / headset would require unplugging of the USB.
For those without front USB ports, buying a powered USB hub is highly recommended.

Another point is that the headset is not detachable from the APU, so those who are wanting to bring the Megalodon for some quick LAN gaming action - without worrying about extra cable length or the APU getting in the way - would be disappointed.
Perhaps this is Razer's way of preventing other headsets from being used with the Maelstrom engine or even making it solely just for PC (die you console gamers )


Music.

Due to the Megalodon having basically a 40mm driver in each ear - rather than the multiple drivers in the Barracuda - it excels where the latter fails - in music.
With a frequency range in the usual 20hz - 20khz, it is able to handle a wide range of music pretty well with great clarity and also possessing an abundance of bass should the need arise.

And since this isn't exactly an audiophile set, a general EQ was set to get the most out of it for music.
Below is a rough general EQ which was used in WMP so that songs across most genres will sound decent.



With the Maelstrom 7.1 engine turned on - technically with stereo music there should not be any difference in sound - but instead there is a definite spike in Presence and a slight loss of high end though with slightly better stereo separation.
Therefore due to the above mentioned - 7.1 should only be used for what its meant for - gaming and possibly movies.


Gaming.

Going back to the aforementioned spike in Presence, basically from what I hear - these involve frequencies that are to do with footsteps, gunshots and the like.
So you can basically imagine how much clearer they will sound, though may end up sounding a little hollow - seems to be a 'trait' inherited by a few other surround sound sets as well.
Sound positioning is also pretty ok whereby you are able to tell exactly where or how far the enemy or shot came from.
The left and right rear though can sometimes be hard to distinguish. All this of course would depend on the game that is played and whether or not it has proper surround sound support.

For movies, well go buy it and try for yourself cos I don't have any to try


In conclusion - after the minor disappointment that is the Mamba - the Megalodon does succeed in offering much better value and also for being a headset that handles both music and surround sound gaming well.



PS. A demo unit of the Megalodon will be available for testing at the KLCC PC Fair from 31/07/09 to 02/08/09.