A rumble pack for your head



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Photo: Sam Rutherford (Gizmodo)

Game controllers and phones have been able to vibrate for years, movie theaters have seats that will make you lose your head – so why not headphones? And I'm not talking about making a little more noise by turning the bass, but real brain tremors.

That's exactly what Razer is trying to do with its new Nari Ultimate headset, which adds a whole new dimension to games and movies. Yes, it's silly, but it's also a lot of racing, and even a little scary sometimes.

Using what the company calls Hypersense technology – powered by intelligent haptics from a German group called Lofelt – the new Razer headset delivers serious stereo vibrations on both sides of the head. And unlike the noise you hear from many controllers, who often seem to have only two levels of shaking (low or high), the Nari's haptics cover from 20 to 200 Hz and everything in between.

I was a little surprised to discover how well the Razer Auto Tuning Headband works. The headset was perfectly adjusted the first time I put them on.
Photo: Sam Rutherford (Gizmodo)

What's even better is that because Nari's haptics do not require any additional software or programming, they are essentially "plug and play" and work with any type of audio, including music, movies and videos. games. This puts the Nari in contrast with something like the Nintendo Switch's HD Rumble, which offers significantly higher fidelity than a PS4 or Xbox One controller, but requires developers to specifically code their software for support this feature. In addition, the Nari Ultimate supports wired playback via an included 3.5mm cable or full wireless audio using an included USB-A dongle. So, you combine the headset with almost any device.

So what do they prefer to use? I started by setting them in wired mode while listening to the Carpenter Raw Turbo Killer, and the headset immediately turned out to be another type of beast. There was first the slight hiss of the song and simulated vinyl cracks that blew the helmet in small bursts. Then, the beat resumed and the helmet quickly changed rhythm between short and heavy impulses and long and slow vibrations before reaching the catastrophe. It's not just heavy bass, it's like you're at a concert where you can feel the music going all over your body, only around you.

The retractable micro Nari looks very much like that of previous Kraken helmets.
Photo: Sam Rutherford (Gizmodo)

Then, playing in wireless mode, the haptics of the headphones add an extra impact to explosions and all sorts of other bass sounds, though I want Hypersense to improve some of the high-pitched sound effects such as laser beams or glass breeze. Do not trigger Razer's haptics. Razer says he's working with game developers to potentially create Hypersense support in games to provide a more personalized experience, so it can be improved in the future.

There is a disadvantage to having all this roar, because so many haptics playing or listening to music, when I use the Nari to listen to the livestream of Oculus Connect, feel the voice of Mark Zuckerberg touch literally my battery made me feel more violated than the slightest data breach.

This little hole on the right is a nice place to tidy the Nari's wireless dongle when it's not used. The wireless feature works on both PC and PS4.
Photo: Sam Rutherford (Gizmodo)

Like the rest of the helmet, the new self-adjusting padded headband and plush ear cups with built-in cooling gel are extremely comfortable. Although if you wear them long enough or outdoors on a hot day, their closed design means your head will still be a little sweaty. At the bottom of the headset, two handy scroll wheels control the volume and voice / audio balance of the game, as well as a secret button, a power button, a jack 3.5 mm, a micro USB to charge wireless dongle.

Unfortunately, since I used a pre-production unit before it was launched, I was unable to test any of Nari's more advanced features related to its integration with Razer's Synapse software, which allows you to customize get, turn on THX Spatial audio or play with Chroma RGB lighting built into the headphones.

If you allow me to steal a line from Stuart Scott, between his deep and super soft cups and the integrated cooling gel, the Nari Ultimates are as fresh as the other side of the pillow.
Photo: Sam Rutherford (Gizmodo)

Finally, with a price of $ 200, the Ultimate Nari is not cheap. I'm not saying that they are too expensive, because putting unique haptics, wireless audio, RGB lighting and some of the most comfortable headphones I've used recently in a headset is a package, but it's not for everyone.

Fortunately, there are actually three versions of these headphones, the $ 200 Nari Ultimate, the standard $ 150 Nari, which includes all the features of Ultimate, besides the Hypersense rumble, and the $ 100 Nari Essential. Removes most fancy extras such as hypersense, RGB lighting and the game / cat dial. The standard Nari is on sale today, with the Ultimate and Essential Nari arriving later this year.

Look, with gaming companies having already saturated the market by stuffing RGB lights into anything you can imagine, it's time to move on, and put rumors in mice, keyboards and headsets is the kind of

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