Razer’s Head-Tracking Desktop Soundbar Ensures Users Always Hear a Full 3D Audio Effect

One of the massive challenges of faking a encompass sound expertise with only a single speaker is that customers usually have to stay in a really particular spot to listen to the total impact. But with Razer’s new Leviathan V2 Pro desktop sound bar, players can transfer round as a lot as they like due to a head-tracking digicam that directs the total audio expertise proper to their ears.

We’ve complained prior to now concerning the challenges of making a encompass sound expertise with out truly surrounding customers with a number of audio system. It’s a tantalizing thought, however one that usually falls quick in execution for quite a lot of causes, together with the aforementioned limitation of creating viewers stay in a really particular location to correctly expertise the simulated impact. That may be advantageous if you’re plonked down on the sofa binge-watching Netflix for hours on finish, however an issue if you’re continuously transferring round whereas gaming at a desk. It turns into a fair greater difficulty when the soundbar is sitting simply inches in entrance of you, leading to a a lot smaller candy spot, as an alternative of beneath a TV on the opposite aspect of the room.

To resolve that downside, the Razer Leviathan V2 Pro, billed as “the world’s first beamforming soundbar for desktop,” creates a 3D audio expertise utilizing acoustical tips facilitated by a number of front-facing drivers hidden inside. The effectiveness of those tips depends on the place the listener is situated, so a built-in IR digicam detects the place of their head in real-time, and adjusts the soundbar’s beamforming accordingly, guaranteeing the 3D impact is at all times heard. It’s just like how the 3D impact on the unique Nintendo 3DS would go out and in as you considered the display from completely different angles however would stay fixed on the upgraded New Nintendo 3DS due to a face-tracking digicam that might alter the on-screen 3D impact.

The Razer Leviathan V2 Pro gives two completely different modes of 3D audio: THX Spatial Audio Virtual Headset for stereo content material just like what you’d get whereas sporting a pair of headphones, and THX Spatial Audio Virtual Speakers which creates a extra encompassing sound stage just like what you’d get from a correct multi-speaker setup. And as a result of this can be a Razer product, the Leviathan V2 Pro additionally options RGB LED lighting on the underside that may be synced to the content material on-screen.

Available beginning someday in February, the Razer Leviathan V2 Pro additionally features a separate subwoofer and can retail for $400.