Soundbars may not look like a really thrilling class as of late. They have been round for over a decade now, beginning as a useful alternative for weak audio system in skinny televisions or as a easy option to bolster a house cinema setup. For desktop computer systems, the enchantment is broader since consistently utilizing headphones all day is not precisely advisable for gaming, even when I am responsible of that.
A good set of surround-sound audio system usually appeals to PC avid gamers to boost immersion and provide a calming break from headsets. Nonetheless, it is often a ache to arrange if you do not have appropriate area for satellite tv for pc audio system and trailing cables. Something able to replicating the impact ought to entice some intrigue. Razer presents all that and extra with an extra-special head-tracking function in its Leviathan V2 Professional soundbar, however does it stay as much as the hype?
Leviathan V2 Professional: Worth, availability, and specs
A devoted AC adapter powers the V2 Professional subwoofer alongside a regular 3.5mm jack connection to the soundbar. (Picture credit score: Daniel Rubino | Home windows Central)
Razer sells the Leviathan V2 Professional soundbar by its official web site for $400 MSRP with delivery ranging from February 3, 2023. The soundbar and subwoofer are packaged with 2x AC cables per area, 1x energy brick, a 3.5 mm jack-to-jack audio cable, USB-C to USB-A cable, and a fast begin information.
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Immediately’s finest Razer Leviathan V2 Professional offers
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Leviathan V2 Professional: First impressions and setup
A basic Razer brand adorns the highest facet of the in any other case plain subwoofer. (Picture credit score: Daniel Rubino | Home windows Central)
This wasn’t my first rodeo with a Razer soundbar; I examined the unique Leviathan V2 round a 12 months in the past, which suitably impressed me with its thumping bass and vibrant RGB. Moreover the touted beamforming 3D audio, a slew of speaker enhancements would undoubtedly improve the dimensions of one other new mannequin, nevertheless it was nonetheless a shock to see simply how chunky the V2 Professional is.
Through the unboxing course of, which is all the time a delight with Razer since they put actual effort into their presentation, it was clear that though the soundbar and subwoofer have grown in measurement, a number of the cardboard inside is simply cautious padding for further safety. General, the aesthetics resemble the usual Leviathan soundbar vary, with a glossy combo quantity and energy knob added to the highest.
Construct high quality appears similar to its predecessor; top-notch and would not exhibit any indicators of rattling from unfastened components. The icons and logos, luckily, aren’t low-effort stickers, as an alternative utilizing semi-transparent sections to glow up with inside LEDs. The rotating quantity knob spins with a clean, robust resistance as an alternative of the tactile notches I anticipated, much like a premium hi-fi amp. Every thing appeared nice out of the field as I cleared area on my ground for this behemoth subwoofer.
Shortly change audio settings with bodily buttons controlling every function of the V2 Professional, together with a slick rotary dial for quantity. (Picture credit score: Daniel Rubino | Home windows Central)
Unpacking the boxed cables does deliver an enormous reduction in that the subwoofer not makes use of a proprietary connection to the Leviathan soundbar like the unique V2, opting for the standard 3.5 mm jack connection this time. Phew. Nonetheless, some excellent news usually comes with a draw back, and noticing that the soundbar has a devoted AC adapter means I want two obtainable sockets to energy every little thing now. My poor cable administration was additional uncovered within the grim journey behind desks.
Given the sheer energy on provide from the 5.25-inch down-firing sub, it is comprehensible {that a} backup AC adapter is required to supply sufficient juice. Double-check you may have sufficient sockets earlier than establishing the V2 Professional, and you will be effective. The included USB-C to USB-A cable measures round 6 inches, sufficient to achieve from my desktop PC on the far finish of the desk to the soundbar in entrance of my screens.
I prevented inserting the unique V2 subwoofer on my ground to forestall upsetting the neighbors, and it was barely smaller anyway. The Professional sub is somewhat too chunky to sit down on the desk this time, and truthfully, I would not suggest inserting it subsequent to your screens, as I am going to clarify quickly. You’ll finally profit from placing the sub on the bottom, and feeling the undulating bass tones rippling underfoot supplies that pseudo-cinema expertise. Acceptable, contemplating the THX brand printed upfront. Cue the basic deep word.
A brand new 3.5mm headset port is useful for cable administration, however USB stays the only enter technique. (Picture credit score: Daniel Rubino | Home windows Central)
The soundbar measures roughly 23.5 inches throughout, nonetheless becoming fairly snugly onto my undersized desk. In the event you’re utilizing a 24-inch monitor or bigger, the Leviathan V2 Professional appears nice when seated straight in entrance of your major display, providing a transparent line of sight for the pinnacle monitoring digital camera. Bear in mind that your monitor stand may have an effect on placement since any panels with gigantic oval toes may hinder your plans to push the soundbar again.
You may discover within the unboxing photographs that the V2 Professional lacks the adjustable toes discovered on the unique V2. The interchangeable rubber stands supplied a straight-on or upwards-facing setup, altering the dynamics of the front-facing tweeters and increasing somewhat further room for the Chroma RGB.
Razer is placing extra effort into the pseudo-surround sound results than ever, and bouncing soundwaves across the room in a convincing method seemingly explains the strict positioning this time. I guarantee you that upgrades to the underside RGB lighting and upcoming audio exams confirmed that reducing out the adjustable rubber toes was no important loss.
Leviathan V2 Professional: Speaker high quality
The V2 Professional is the chunkiest Leviathan variant to this point, offering cinema-grade sound if in case you have the desk area. (Picture credit score: Daniel Rubino | Home windows Central)
Straight out of the gate, the Leviathan V2 Professional sounds unimaginable. I opted to check the Bluetooth connection first because it requires the shortest setup path, and the cell apps provide loads of audio EQ choices. Taking part in quite a lot of genres from Spotify and Apple Music at most high quality with the default settings had the soundbar and subwoofer shaking my room with crisp highs and booming bass. Robust luck, neighbors.
Make no mistake, the low-end popping out of this sub is large. In the event you’re residing above a household who would not recognize an excessive amount of noise, they’re going to quickly assume you have had a full-size theatre put in into your workplace once you hearth up the V2 Professional. Transferring from carpeted flooring to wooden or laminate alternate options did not appear to have an effect on the bass, however some unfastened flooring from a earlier rush job buzzed somewhat an excessive amount of when switching by the THX audio modes. My fault.
Settling down for some gaming meant testing video games with a number of the hardest-hitting soundtracks, together with DOOM Everlasting and its ferocious industrial guitars composed by Mick Gordon. Whereas there are pre-made EQ profiles for video games, films, and music, I had a greater general expertise with customized slider changes. Video video games aren’t identified for enthusiast-level audio exams, often pushing for cinematic soundscapes over good stability, nevertheless it did not take lengthy to discover a comfy, well-rounded sound.
It is a moderately boring-looking subwoofer, however you will seemingly place it out of sight anyway. (Picture credit score: Daniel Rubino | Home windows Central)
Pushing for a downward slope in the direction of the 40Hz vary remedied a number of the relentless, gut-punching low-end with out affecting the crisp sounds pointed straight at me. It is enjoyable for some time, however the hilarity of a vibrating desk throughout gameplay does grow to be considerably unwelcome within the late evenings. You may shortly swap between the pre-set and customized equalizer settings by urgent the leftmost button on prime of the soundbar, saving bass-heavy modes for the daytime.
In equity to Razer, this revision carries the ‘Professional’ moniker, so it is not aimed toward your common family. The humongous sounds from the mixed soundbar and subwoofer are ideally suited to a purpose-made house workplace utilized by content material creators or devoted avid gamers greater than somebody in search of a easy set of audio system. It could nonetheless enchantment to everybody, however the Leviathan V2 Professional carries its identify for a cause. It could be higher for individuals who use these foam eggshells lining their partitions for sound suppression quite than my skinny wallpaper and paint; to every their very own.
This soundbar combo is best suited to a devoted artistic area and presents cinema-grade bass from the monstrous subwoofer that shakes my room.
Testing the soundbar with out connecting the subwoofer presents a considerably weaker bass response than the unique V2, presumably as a result of modifications to the general design and pushing for a bigger subwoofer quite than open-back audio system. Fortunately, Razer covers this angle with the Leviathan V2 X, a USB-C-powered variant with a extra reserved max quantity backed up with built-in subwoofers identical to the unique mannequin.
In case you have an acceptable setup to make use of all of the options on provide, the V2 Professional is an absolute beast for speaker high quality. Splitting its soundbar into three distinct avenues means shoppers can match their room to the proper Leviathan mannequin. Anybody with sufficient area for the subwoofer will love the cinema-grade low-end from this THX-certified magnificence, and the cell apps keep away from complete reliance on USB for EQ changes.
Leviathan V2 Professional: Head monitoring
This infrared digital camera solely detects shapes and depth, nevertheless it works like a attraction. (Picture credit score: Daniel Rubino | Home windows Central)
There was loads of reward for the beamforming surround-sound tech when it was demonstrated on the CES 2023 expertise conference, and there is a good cause it gained a better of CES award from Home windows Central. It is not straightforward to explain exactly how spectacular it sounds in particular person. I am going to admit that even after listening to affirmation from our editor-in-chief Daniel Rubino who heard it stay, I needed to know for myself, and boy was he proper on the cash.
The Razer companion app has a small icon displaying whether or not the IR digital camera constructed into the Leviathan V2 Professional’s soundbar efficiently detects you. It really works for an inexpensive distance in a well-lit room, however there’s a restrict, about the identical vary way back to I’d sit with a joypad. Fortuitously, if you happen to’re proper on the sting of detection, it would not flicker between on and off, as an alternative leaving a type of buffer till you are shut sufficient for re-activation.
Outdoors of making an attempt to pressure the digital camera to interrupt the connection, I by no means skilled any drop in head-tracking efficiency, so it appears Razer discovered the candy spot by digital camera testing. The commercials have all the time been express that the beamforming tech was designed for a single particular person, as it is a soundbar made for PC avid gamers. Nonetheless, the V2 Professional can swap to ‘room fill’ mode if a number of persons are detected, and it supplies a broader sound as you’d anticipate in another high-end soundbar to swimsuit a film night time for {couples} and teams.
There are two audio modes designed for the face monitoring function: ‘digital headset’ and ‘digital {surround},’ which each simulate sorts of 3D audio. Take heed to the THX spatial audio demo above whereas sporting a pair of first rate headphones. You will hear the sorts of binaural results that imitate full surround-sound environments, identical to the digital headset mode on the V2 Professional.
Whereas offering an identical impact, digital {surround} does a extra convincing job of beaming sounds ‘behind’ you with a collection of intelligent multi-channel trickery paired up with the directional audio system. It is baffling how nicely it really works, particularly in a small-to-medium-sized sq. room as my house workplace, the place the audio can bounce off the partitions and create an immersive sound area. Even in bigger areas, you possibly can hear an eerily credible pseudo-surround impact from acceptable multi-channel recordsdata; it is a really fascinating expertise.
The true magic comes once you transfer round, as you may anticipate. The IR digital camera would not retailer any photos, merely analyzing the depth of your area to approximate the place your ears are at any given time, and adjusts the sounds after a tiny pause. There does appear to be a minimal motion threshold, which presumably avoids disagreeable results from consistently shifting audio system, however the most angle is spectacular.
A simulated exaggeration of the beamforming tech, this little digital camera powers a magical {surround} sound impact. (Picture credit score: Razer)
Setting the Leviathan V2 Professional up on our interest bench, a lot wider than my work desk, it grew to become clear who this tech was aimed toward. Once more, that is the ‘professional’ mannequin, so it is for creators with devoted areas for this type of factor. In case you have a desk sufficiently big for a number of screens and even two computer systems, as stay streamers usually have, you possibly can roll round at your station, given the digital camera can nonetheless see you, and the audio system will keep educated in your ears.
It is an impact I usually overlook about after about an hour earlier than wheeling over to the opposite facet of the bench to work on one thing and listening to the audio system shift. The entire thing has me reconsidering plans for my workplace, questioning if I ought to construct a completely new desk across the V2 Professional so I haven’t got to surrender this unimaginable function.
In the event you stay near one of many brick-and-mortar Razer shops, do your self a favor and see in the event that they’re demonstrating this soundbar so you possibly can expertise the pinnacle monitoring. I am unable to categorical how weird and unbelievable it’s to listen to it in particular person. Anybody with the suitable area can profit from this monstrous audio package deal, loaded with cinema-grade bass.
Leviathan V2 Professional: Software program
The Razer Audio app on iOS gave me every little thing I wanted to customise the V2 Professional. (Picture credit score: Ben Wilson | Home windows Central)
In comparison with the unique Leviathan V2, Razer has dramatically improved its software program suite and consumer expertise. Though some options are stored separate, together with THX Spatial Audio, the cell Razer Audio app can lastly management the audio equalizer and Chroma RGB in a single place. You will unlikely have to entry the Synapse desktop app too ceaselessly, particularly when happy along with your customized EQ settings, however these enhancements are welcome.
The Razer Cortex desktop app continues to be advisable throughout set up, however getting the most effective expertise out of the V2 Professional by no means depends on it. Having the soundbar below my monitor implies that the bodily controls had been by no means out of attain, however the cell app shortly grew to become my favourite backup after I needed to tweak the lighting results or regulate the bass. Nonetheless, solely the Razer Synapse app is important to put in driver updates in your PC, so I am grateful for the decreased bloat from beforehand forcing a number of apps.
Leviathan V2 Professional: The competitors
The unique Leviathan V2 soundbar was compact however did not maintain a candle to the Professional relating to audio efficiency. (Picture credit score: Ben Wilson | Home windows Central)
Since Razer retains increasing its vary of Leviathan soundbars, I am going to all the time examine them to the unbelievable unique mannequin, which set the tone of leaning closely into low-end bass frequencies. The place the Leviathan V1 shined finest was its connectivity choices, that includes optical audio-in alongside a regular 3.5 mm jack enter. Bluetooth was all the time obtainable, however I lamented the lack of analog enter choices in my Razer Leviathan V2 overview when the primary revision hit.
You may nonetheless purchase the Leviathan V1 on varied third-party storefronts for round $200, nevertheless it merely can’t compete in the identical league because the V2 Professional for sheer output energy. Ramping up the subwoofer alongside across-the-board enhancements to the Leviathan’s tweeters brings it extra in keeping with its long-term rival, the Inventive Sound Blaster Katana V2, which inspired us prior to now.
Realistically, the Leviathan V2 Professional has no official competitors when you think about its full function set. The 3D beamforming results delivered by its built-in head-tracking digital camera at the moment haven’t any equal, and it is confirmed to be significantly spectacular in a spread of environments, together with substantial open areas just like the Razer sales space the place it was first demonstrated.
Leviathan V2 Professional: Must you purchase it?
You can purchase this if …
In case you have a big artistic area with room to maneuver round.You need surround-sound audio with out speaker muddle.You want highly effective audio system with cinema-grade bass.
You should not purchase this if …
Your neighbors disapprove of loud music.You not often transfer from a single seated place.You could have a small desk with out room for a subwoofer.
The expertise of head-tracked {surround} sound is fascinating and genuinely appears like the primary really futuristic expertise launched in years. Razer has packed every little thing attainable into this high-end revision to its flagship soundbar. The Leviathan V2 Professional is completely unmatched in its class, which means it should undoubtedly be a part of the ranks of the most effective pc audio system. In case you have the area to put the monstrous subwoofer, the low-end response ought to fulfill any bass-loving gamer.
On the flip facet, if you cannot match many trinkets between your keyboard and monitor, the V2 Professional shall be a good squeeze. Equally, the subwoofer is much better suited to ground placement than on a desk as a result of its large bass response, so you will want an area with sufficient room to take pleasure in this high-tech soundbar correctly. In case you have a large setup and recurrently transfer throughout the room, the IR digital camera will straight lock within the spectacular 3D results to your ears, even at some excessive angles.
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The Leviathan V2 Professional is the world’s first head-tracking soundbar and a complete improve over its unique mannequin. Adaptive beamforming retains the THX spatial audio results directed at your ears with a built-in IR digital camera for cinema-grade audio at nearly any angle.
