Razer’s Seiren V3 Chroma review:

If you’re an avid online gamer, chances are you might not think about the fact that what people interact with the most about you is your voice. Your regular gaming buddies listen to your voice right in their ears for hours on end, and it’s often the first impression you make online. Razer’s gaming and streaming microphone, the Seiren V3 Chroma, is the company’s latest top-shelf mic.

A quality microphone can help your team hear your callouts clearly and, frankly, can simply make your voice sound way cooler. After all, do you want to hear, “Dude, are you playing inside a submarine right now?” or “Wow, you sound like you have an announcer’s voice?” I spent a lot of time gaming and talking with the Seiren V3 Chroma and was impressed with its overall performance.

Recommended

Razer Seiren V3 Chroma

The Razer Seiren V3 Chroma is as gamer-friendly a microphone as they come. It features game and stream reactive RGB lighting and convenient onboard controls for fine-tuning.

Pros

• Customizable in Razer Synapse
• Super convenient mute button and lighting feedback
• Customizable control knob for fine-tuning

Cons

• Mic offers no built-in noise cancellation
• Boom arm required to position for max audio quality

Price, availability, and specs

The Razer Seiren V3 Chroma retails for $130 and can be purchased from Amazon, Best Buy, and directly from Razer’s website.

The Razer Seiren V3 Chroma is a super-cardioid condenser microphone, which means it picks up audio mostly from the front, with some leaking in from the sides, and an even lower amount from behind. The Serien V3 connects to your PC via USB-C, and features a headphone jack on the back of the microphone that can be used for direct monitoring, allowing users to hear their voice as they speak, which can be useful for streaming or singing. The Seiren V3 Chroma ships with an included stand, but can fit a standard 5/8″ threaded boom arm.

The microphone features a digital gain limiter that can be used to cut out sudden loud noises, as well as a built-in shock absorber to help level out physical interference from a shaking desk while gaming.

What I liked about the Razer Seiren V3 Chroma

User-friendly operation all over

Good products should be easy to use, and the Seiren V3 Chroma gets this in spades. The microphone took me about 10 seconds to set up out of the box, and in the short time I waited for Synapse to update after connecting it for the first time, I learned everything I needed to know about controlling the Seiren V3.

The multi-function mute button right on top is probably my favorite feature, and one I found myself reaching for constantly. I love the ability to easily and quickly mute myself in case I’m chewing, left the room, or I’m talking out loud to my dog Peanut, and I don’t want to sound crazy. When the mute button is pressed, the Seiren V3 glows bright red, providing visual confirmation that I’m on mute.

A longer press of the same button can toggle gain and mic volume controls. A single knob is prominently placed at the front of the microphone, and can be used to adjust your microphone volume, lighting intensity, gain, and more, as it’s customizable in Razer Synapse. The ease of use is fantastic, and the clean design and crisp RGB make it a joy to use.

What I didn’t like about the Razer Seiren V3 Chroma

Ambient noise galore

The Razer Seiren V3 Chroma uses a super-cardioid condenser mic, which is not quite as focused in its pickup as a shotgun mic, which means it tends to let in sounds from its surroundings. In my testing, I asked my friends online what they heard aside from my voice, and they all pointed out the white noise of the air filter in my room, the fan noise of my PC when it gets going, and, of course, my typing and clicking. In-app, software-driven noise cancelation like Krisp in Discord helped immensely, but I couldn’t solve this natively within Synapse.

Messing with the gain and sensitivity settings wasn’t of much use, so this just seems like something you should expect to deal with. The effect is somewhat mitigated by having the Seiren V3 on a boom arm placed quite close to my mouth and up off the desk, though only minorly.

Should you buy the Razer Seiren V3 Chroma?

The Razer Seiren V3 Chroma is an excellent first step in the long journey of more serious microphones for streamers and gamers. For its price point, it delivers excellent sound quality when used in a quiet environment or with noise canceling software features. For those looking to take their communications to the next level of clarity, whether for streaming, voice-over work, or simply wanting your voice to sound way clearer when gaming, the Razer Seiren V3 Chroma do a great job of easing you into the world of higher-fidelity microphones.

If you’re already using a top-of-the-line gaming headset with a quality built-in mic, you might find some of the features on the Seiren V3 redundant, but its pleasing aesthetic, easy onboard controls, and reactive RGB still make it a fun addition to your battle station.

Recommended

Razer Seiren V3 Chroma

Brand

Razer

Type

Condenser

Pattern

Super-cardioid

Audio Sensitivity

-34 dB

Connector

Type A to Type C USB Cable

Frequency Bandwidth

20 Hz – 20 kHz

Capsule Size

16mm condenser capsule

Maximum SPL

110 dB

Signal to Noise Ratio

96 dB (A-weighted)

Sample rate

96 kHz

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