Design

 The Kraken Ultimate looks like a typical Razer gaming headset, identifiable by its large, circular earcups. The entire headset is black, with black plastic on the earcups, black anodized metal on the struts and headband, and black faux leather and fabric on the headband and earpad padding. The only hint of color appears when you plug it in; the Razer logo on the back of each earcup lights up, and can be programmed with multiple colorful lighting effects through the Razer Synapse software.
 

 The earpads are large, soft circles of a cooling gel that feels soft and springy like memory foam, but doesn't build up heat as easily. The sides of each earcup are faux leather, while the surface that makes contact with the side of your head and ears is a more breathable fabric. The headband is padded lightly, with a faux leather wrapping on the top and a mesh fabric on the bottom where it touches your scalp. Because the earpads are so large, they sit comfortably against the sides of your head and around even large ears, and keep the headband from resting too heavily. The result is a slightly bulky but light and breathable design that can be worn for long periods of time.

 The left earcup holds the boom microphone and all controls and connections. The headset connects to any PC through a 4.3-foot fabric-wrapped cable hardwired to the bottom of the left earcup, terminating in a USB-A plug. A volume wheel sits on the back of the side of the earcup, with an indicator light and THX Spatial Audio button above it. The boom microphone is a thin, cylindrical capsule mounted on a flexible black arm that slides completely into the earcup when not in use. The capsule itself serves as a mute button for the microphone, muting your voice and making the tip of the mic glow red when you squeeze it.

 The Kraken Ultimate is designed specifically for PC gaming. If you want a Razer headset for use with your consoles as well as your PC, the Thresher and Nari series are available, as well as Kraken for Console. Since the Kraken Ultimate doesn't even have a 3.5mm connection, it won't work with your game systems at all.

 Features
 

The USB connection provides access to a variety of options through the Razer Synapse software, like a 10-band customizable equalizer with multiple presets, and a variety of extra features like bass boost and voice enhancements. It also lets you customize the colored lighting on the sides of the headset, including syncing the lights up to your Razer keyboards and mice with Razer Chroma.
 

 THX Spatial Audio provides simulated 7.1-channel surround sound. The feature can be accessed in the headset itself by pressing the THX Spatial Audio button on the side of the left earcup. The feature mixes multiple channels between the headset's two drivers, spreading them apart to give a sense of more precise directionality, and even with the impression of objects in front of or behind you. For the best imaging results in gaming, make sure it's turned on. For better stereo reproduction for music, turn it off.
 

 Microphone
 

The Kraken Elite's microphone is excellent for a gaming headset. Test recordings sounded crisp and clear in testing, with no added sibilance. The mic picked up a bit of office chatter by default, but an Active Noise Cancellation option in Razer Synapse blocked out the chatter completely. It also added some noticeable artifacting in test recordings, so unless you're trying to use the microphone in a noisy situation, you should keep the feature turned off. Still, it's very good for the price; if you want even better audio for your streams or recordings, you'll need to look toward a dedicated USB microphone.

 Music Performance
 

The Kraken Ultimate can really put out some powerful bass. It handled our bass test track, The Knife's "Silent Shout," at maximum (and unsafe) volume levels with no distortion. At that level, the bass synth and drum truly push into head-rattling territory.
 

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The headset's general sound signature leans towards the bass-heavy end, and even using the Music EQ mode to sculpt the higher frequencies doesn't change that much. The opening acoustic guitar plucks in Yes' "Roundabout" get some string texture in the highs, but the lower resonance comes through with much more power. When the electric bass kicks in, it stands front and center in the mix, pushing the guitar strums and vocals slightly to the back. The higher-frequency elements of the mix aren't completely overcome by the bass, but they do take a back seat to the lower frequencies.
 

 The bass-heavy sound comes through in The Crystal Method's "Born Too Slow" as well. The thumping kick drum almost overwhelms the mix, pushing the screeching vocals and guitar riffs back and sapping some of the driving energy from the track. The Music EQ mode brings the vocals and riffs out a bit, but it's still a bass-heavy sound.

 Game Performance
 

Forza Horizon 4 sounds very good on the Kraken Ultimate. The roar of different engines comes through clearly even against the thumping bass of the soundtrack. The THX Spatial Audio shines in the Lego Speed Champions area, where the sound of plastic bricks clinking together and scattering as you drive through Lego flowers seems to come from all around you.
 

 I also played some Gears 5 and Halo: Reach with the Kraken Ultimate. The gunfire in Gears 5 sounds appropriately thunderous, and the higher-pitched weapons of Halo: Reach can be clearly discerned. Dialogue can be easily heard against the soundtracks.
The imaging with THX Spatial Audio provides very good left-right directionality, with a wide sound field that lets you clearly hear the source of any sound in front of you or to the sides, though you don't get a very strong sense of enemies behind you. Of course, there are limits to what simulated surround sound from headsets can provide, though motion-tracking surround sound in the WavesNX-powered Audeze Mobius and HyperX Cloud Orbit S do a better job of it (but cost significantly more).

 Powerful PC Game Audio
 

The Razer Kraken Ultimate is a powerful, feature-filled wired gaming headset with a fantastic microphone. The headset's audio profile is definitely heavy on the bass, but it can put out some thunderous sound with simulated surround courtesy of THX Spatial Audio while capturing crisp, clean voice chat and commentary. The USB-only nature of the headset means you can't use it with anything but a PC, and the hardwired cable limits its longevity and durability, but for $130 it's a very strong performer.
 

 It's comparable with the Logitech G Pro X headset, which shares a similarly high-quality mic and has the advantage of a removable cable with a 3.5mm option to go with an included USB surround sound card, but features weaker bass. If you're looking for a wireless alternative for even less, the Razer Nari Essential offers strong sound for $100, though its microphone isn't quite as strong, and its wireless-only design limits you to the PC for simulated surround, or the PS4 with stereo sound. The Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero is another strong contender with wireless and wired capabilities, though less powerful bass and a less impressive mic. Finally, the Razer Kraken Tournament Edition eschews the strong microphone and programmable lighting of the Kraken Ultimate, but offers flexible 3.5mm connectivity along with THX surround through a USB sound card for the same price as the Nari Essential.