Razer Moray+ Gaming and Music Headset Review

With the portable gaming market slowly getting more and more diversified with smartphone platforms quickly finding their spot in what used to be a Sony versus Nintendo world, the platform-specific items needed for these devices are also getting numerous. From the games themselves, the memory card where you store your data chances are it’s going to be tied to that certain system. And the same goes for the listening equipment you use on those devices. If you’re packing a PSP, DS, laptop, smartphone, a portable music player or all of those and want a listening solution to cover all of them well Razer’s got your back.

Razer’s line of all-around audio gear isn’t limited to the Orca and Electra, somewhere in their catalog you’d notice the Moray and its more packed version, the Moray+ which is what we have in our studio today for testing. Let’s see if Razer’s swiss army knife of an earphone packs a bite worthy of its predatory namesake and as usual, let’s make this showy!

Like we mentioned in the opening paragraph, the world of gadgets is now heavily diversified with the entertainment capabilities of such devices a far cry from the days of the Nintendo Gameboy and Sony Walkman. The Moray+ is Razer’s attempt at finding a medium in audio delivery for such a wide selection. Razer’s Moray+ is a pair of in-ears earphone with a bunch of included adaptors for your PC/laptop, PSP, DS, idevices or any device that supports a 3.5mm jacks which can be any smartphone or MP3 player. So let’s just cut the chat and see how this baby performs.

SPECIFICATIONS

Earphones

Microphone

PACKAGING

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CLOSER LOOK

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PERFORMANCE

Note: Audio is a complicated subject to rate properly and something that can’t be properly graded in numbers. We test our review sample using a variety of audio sources with varying quality and we rate them as fairly as we can.

LISTENING

To test out the music performance of our Moray+ we used a Sony NW-E002VC and all our audio files are 320Kbps MP3 CBR 44khz encoded to the player’s native OMA format. (I was seriously gonna use the Lexicon Omega on this one but that was gonna be neither fair nor relevant)

SISTAR- Shady Girl

An upbeat track with a heavy kick in the beat pulling together its nice keyboard melody. This is arguably one of Sistar’s tracks that highly showcases Hyorin’s singing and vocal skills. The song intros with the beat surging in and that first bar is what really sets the mood for the song. The Moray+ delivers a punchy bassline but feels a bit short on that oomph level I enjoy on these songs. As mentioned earlier this song features a good vocal performance and the Moray+ does as well rendering the group’s vocal prowess.

Electroboyz – Ma Boy 2

A hiphop track featuring one of my most admired singers of the new century, Hyorin of SiStar. A smooth track that flows from solid to mellow verses then to a powerful chorus and bridge. This song is hot right now. Again the Moray+ impresses with its clear mid-high range but the bass just wasn’t doing it for me so I played around with the EQ until I get the amount of deepness to it yet the kick still isn’t doing it for me.

D-Coy – Black Katipunero (ALBUM)

I decided to pop in D-Coy’s latest album tracks to complete this session and just to cover up the fact that I am a Kpop fan. Seventeen tracks of hiphop, reggae, swag and just plain ol’ good music is what we have here. Again I’m trying to get a feel for the bass here since I’m not satisfied, everything else seems perfect but the bass just seems to not be doing it for me. The Moray+ excellent upper spectrum range delivery is really impressive here that you can pick out details from the track but when it comes to that strong gut-felt kick, it just ain’t coming out.

GAMING

We start things off on the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, though bundled with some decent earbuds it just doesn’t deliver that unique sound experience that Sony has been known for. So popping in the Moray+ in our Xperia Play we fire up Dead Space. I’ve been using Dead Space 2 as a benchmark for audio equipment to gauge how they handle positional audio as well as distance and layering. This time around I’m very satisfied with the Moray+’s performance with that ever present and spine-chilling silence that gets broken off by masterfully timed sounds crafted to scare the pants off of you.

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After that we get on the road with Need for Speed: Shift on the Xperia Play and one just has to hear to believe it. It may not be the most realistic of Android games but the crappy engine audio just seems to sound a bit better in the Moray+. All in all, it’s just a better experience than the stock earphones.

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We were also able to test the Moray+ on the DS Lite and PSP3000 and I’ll just say it straight that it performed just as well as with the previous tests. The microphone was excellent and spot on. I’m used to using the single ear headset of the DS and to scream out OBJECTION!!!! 3 to 4 times every time I had to serve Edgeworth’s face while playing Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney but the Moray+ was clear enough to let the DS know I was shouting OBJECTION!!! the first time around.

CONCLUSION

There’s really nothing crazy or gimmicky about the Razer Moray+. It’s a straight-up solution for gamers who prefer to travel light and want something that goes with everything. Built solidly with a minimalistic design (which is very un-Razer-like) it has a good balance of simple looks and just the right swagger. As for performance, it surely delivers excellent sounds although it comes a bit short on that kick some club-banger fans love. So how much is this gonna cost us? Right now the Moray+ comes in at US$60 and locally at ₱2800.

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So you might say that’s a hefty sum. Well let’s see what we’re getting: a powerful and very capable noise isolating earphone that has great sound isolation and also very comfortable. We’re also getting a very good microphone (had it like up to my chest and I was in public transport and my friend on the other line can still hear me clearly.) Just those alone are already worth something. That is, if you’re getting the stock Moray. The Moray+ bundles a DS and PSP audio jack, a Y-cable and a nice carry pouch to cover all your portable gaming audio needs and that’s getting a lot out of one pair of earphones.

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If you’re strictly looking for some quality noise-isolating earphones, you’re probably better off with some cheap SkullCandy but the Moray+ addresses a situation only a gaming brand like Razer can cover so like I said in the opening, if you have multiple gaming portables and a smartphone then this package is for you. It is indeed well worth it and there’s nothing like it in the market right now so we highly recommend the Moray+ for you. If you’re an audiophile though (or a wannabe audiophile that worships Beats by Dr. Derp) go check out other solutions.

EDIT (3/5/2012): Some phones and devices have compatibility lists. Please check with manufacturer before purchasing. Note that this is related to the phone hardware, not Android or the Moray.