Razer Soundcard

Evi · 02-08-2007, 12:03 AM

I've had it with this fucking soundcard and with this whole company. When their stuff works, it's the best in the business, but that's becoming more and more of a rare occurrence. I bought their new soundcard/headset combo for almost $400 because it's supposedly an incredible setup, and the technical specs agreed. However, since the day that I got them (over a month ago), I've gone back and forth with Razer support to get the sound card working. I have the headset plugged into my onboard sound and they work great (albeit with limited functionality because they were designed for use with the Razer card), but every time I try to install the drivers for the card, it says that the physical soundcard isn't plugged in and it won't install.

Tech support apparently has no knowledge of this problem, and there's no Razer support forum or community to ask about this. I've gone through every standard troubleshooting procedure, and even sent one card back for a replacement, and this one has the same exact problem. None of the driver versions detect the card as plugged in, and the windows installer reads all the drivers as incompatible. After all the time and money I put into this, I'm feeling so frustrated at the complete lack of support from the people whose wallets I'm filling.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

kimcicle · 02-08-2007, 12:23 PM

1. $400? You got ripped off. The Razer Barracuda AC-1 + HP-1 is supposed to retail at $299.99.
2. Razer is overpriced and overvalued by kids who think they are the next fatal1ty or want to be "edgy" and "indy" since they aren't using a "standard" soundcard. Creative has a stronghold on the soundcard business because they offer hardware sound acceleration support in most games as well as EAX DSP effects. Audiophiles already know that M-Audio is the card of choice, with their M-Audio Revolution 5.1/7.1 or Audiophile soundcards that produce much better sound quality for music and music production at a lower cost than the Razer sound card by itself.
3. If for some godawful reason you want to keep said card, maybe try a different PCI port. Creative cards tend to prefer being on an upper PCI port. It could just be your motherboard and not the card that's faulty.

Evi · 02-08-2007, 01:09 PM

1. I bought it from the official Razer store. The card was ~200 and the headset was ~150. After shipping, it came to ~400.

2. I have always been a fan of their mice, and their keyboard is very nice too, so I figured they would put the same high quality into a sound system as well, and before buying it, I checked out some reviews from people who already had it and said it was really good. My knowledge of sound cards isn't that great, because I don't make a lot of money right now and can't really afford both high end video AND audio, so I usually just use my onboard sound.

3. It's not so much that I want to keep it, but more that I don't know how to get my money back. Razer tech support has no idea what's wrong and can't help me, but they say it's not a problem with the card, so I probably couldn't return it (I already did once, but they only gave me a replacement card). Also, if I'm not going to be using the sound card, I don't want this headset. They sound good and all, but I specifically bought them to go with the card, because Razer claimed that if you used them both together, you'd get the best sound. If I'm not getting the best sound because their sound card refused to work properly, then I shouldn't have to keep their headset.

It really pisses me off how unhelpful Razer is being to a paying customer. I've accepted certain annoying things they've done (like acknowledge the fact that sometimes when you boot up your computer, your mouse will be dead, and the only solution they give is "unplug the mouse and plug it back in"), but once you get it working, their products are the best on the market. Unfortunately, I haven't even gotten far enough with this sound card to see if that holds true in this case, and the new reviews from people who have it seem to all say that it doesn't. At this point, I'd have no objection to just returning the card and the headset, getting my money back, and buying something else.

kimcicle · 02-08-2007, 01:33 PM

"Best on the market" is very subjective. I personally find their mice to be cramped and uncomfortable. Their keyboards feel exactly like a $5 keyboard I can get from bestbuy with a couple more buttons and some fancy coloring.

If you really want your money back, just keep complaining. When the first guy refuses and says he'll send you a replacement, ask to speak to his boss. And then their boss. And so on and so forth until you get somewhere. If you paid with a credit card, do a charge back. That'll get their attention.

What kind of motherboard are you trying to plug this soundcard into?

Evi · 02-08-2007, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kimcicle

If you really want your money back, just keep complaining. When the first guy refuses and says he'll send you a replacement, ask to speak to his boss. And then their boss. And so on and so forth until you get somewhere. If you paid with a credit card, do a charge back. That'll get their attention.

Every time I call I get the same woman (I don't remember her name, but I think she's African-American). I'm beginning to think she's the only person that works there. Do you think I could get a refund for the card and headset? I did pay with a credit card, but I'm not sure how to do a charge back.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kimcicle

What kind of motherboard are you trying to plug this soundcard into?

ASUS P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe

Enaress · 02-08-2007, 06:20 PM

I don't think you need a soundcard for a mobo with 6 audio ports.

*phuzion* · 02-08-2007, 08:42 PM

Got a friend with a sound card from a different manufacturer? Try installing it into your computer. If it works, then you know that that one PCI slot isn't bad.

Evi · 02-08-2007, 11:16 PM

I know the PCI slot isn't bad because I tried it in the other slots and it gave me the same message. $200+ mobos don't come with all the PCI slots dead (especially when all the rest of it is fine).

Quote:

I don't think you need a soundcard for a mobo with 6 audio ports.

Number of ports is in no way related to sound quality. Sure, it doesn't sound like shit, but it's not going to provide the awesome sound of a high-end card.

Evi · 02-09-2007, 03:09 AM

Well, I did some searching around on the Internet, and found someone with the same problem as me. He used a program to manually extract the drivers out of the installer exe, and then used the Windows driver installer to install them. I did what he did, and now my sound card is working. I'm not exactly sure how to feel about the sound quality, because it's so insanely different from my onboard sound. It's definitely clearer and more in-depth, but everything has a LOT of reverb; even the clicking sound when you open a folder. It sounds weird when you're receiving a voice communication, or reloading a clip of ammo, and it sounds like you're doing it in a concert hall or something. The instruction manual documents the sound configuration utility, but it's totally different than what I have on my computer. In the manual it shows a black and green interface with the Razer logo on it, but the configuration utility that I got after installing the drivers is just a regular window with a blue tint, and it doesn't say Razer on it anywhere.

I'm not sure whether I still want to send the card back or not. It doesn't seem to be too bad, and most of the negative reviews are mainly focused around the high price tag, but I already have the card, and to send it back and order a different one would probably be more than the price difference. I'm going to call Razer tomorrow about the audio configuration utility, and if things go well, I might just keep it. Six months from now, everything will be outdated and I'll have to buy something new anyway...

kimcicle · 02-09-2007, 09:31 AM

The reverb is probably something to do with your sound setup and if it's different and the delay rate and whatnot. It could be your system trying to emulate a 5.1 surround sound on whatever your are listening to. There should be an option to change the central positioning and the delay at which the speakers play.

Philipio · 02-09-2007, 11:10 PM

Return the card and buy an X-Fi.

Evi · 02-10-2007, 12:27 AM

I heard X-Fi cards had problems with ASUS motherboards. Is this true? I'd hate to go and return the Razer card and then buy an X-Fi only to find out that it doesn't work right.

Philipio · 02-11-2007, 10:02 PM

No. I've had an X-Fi platinum for over a year, working 100% and I couldn't be happier. I have an ASUS mobo.

kimcicle · 02-12-2007, 01:37 PM

I'm also rocking out an ASUS / X-Fi platinum setup for a while, and it has been good to me.

organicabstract · 02-13-2007, 02:09 AM

Quote:

Return the card and buy an X-Fi.

a path i was going to take until i found out about the chaintech av710 and its bit-perfect qualities. a card not to be overlooked.

x-fi is great though from what i've heard, though most i know have the emu 0404usb...