Razer Seiren V2 Pro - Review

Razer isn’t exactly a name you would associate with when it comes to mics. But the company has been constantly upgrading its Seiren lineup to add more features and premium hardware to lure users away from fan favorites such as the Blue Yeti.

The Seiren V2 Pro microphone we are looking at today is their new, premium revision, that at $149, features a cardioid pickup pattern, upto 96Khz bitrate recording, 20Hz-20Hz frequency response, and a beefed up Razer Synapse that leans heavily into streaming support.

But it’s support for streamers isn’t exactly a flawless execution. It comes with its own virtual Stream Mixer which gives granular control over every audio source on your PC, but it also adds a smattering of input ports - both for audio and mic - which can be a bit confusing and tedious to set up. For novice users, the Seiren V2 Pro can be overwhelming to use, and is far out from being an ideal plug and play device if that’s all they want out of it.

Design and Features

The Razer Seiren V2 Pro features the same capsule design that was first introduced with Seiren Mini, which is a welcome change from the cylindrical design of the first Seiren microphones. It brings it up to par with some of the more modern designs, and it’s also aesthetically pleasing with its minimalist one-color look.

The mic has a thread on the bottom of its Y-shaped holder that screws into either the included base or a boom arm. The holder offers a firm grip, so you can angle the mic to whichever position that suits you best, and you can also tighten or loosen it further if you wish to do so. You can potentially unscrew the holder from the mic entirely, but since it has the thread on its bottom, it would be pointless to do it unless your boom arm has a contraption of its own.

The V2 Pro comes with its own windshield filter, which should ideally help eliminate sharp sounds or wind noises. It’s not a pop filter, and doesn’t exactly work like one, but it should soften the plosives a little bit.

Razer only offers a single cardioid pickup pattern with the Seiren V2 Pro, which limits the mic to certain use-cases only. A cardioid microphone picks up sound in a circular pattern in one direction, which makes the V2 Pro best for single-person voice recordings. The circular pattern also means that it is prone to picking up sounds from around you, and expectedly, the V2 Pro isn’t quite equipped to eliminate background noises such as typing on your mechanical keyboard or even clicking on your mouse.

The device features a mic mute on/off button, and two control knobs in the front, along with a 3.5mm headphone jack on the backside. The upper knob adjusts the volume of the headphones connected to the mic, while the lower knob controls the gain. They are fairly easy to use and scrolls smoothly, however since they do not have starting and end points, there is no way to see at what level they are currently set on unless you open the Razer Synapse software.

The mic connects over a USB-C cable, but in typical Razer fashion, the USB-C port is proprietary and only works with the included cable. We tried to insert a regular USB-C cable into the port but it simply does not fit in. So, if you ever break the cable provided in the box, the mic will be rendered useless unless you buy another from Razer - if at all they are selling one separately.

Software and Performance

Razer Synapse is where all the magic happens with the V2 Pro, so it is absolutely necessary to have it installed if you want to use the mic to its full potential.

One the basic side, you can monitor and adjust the headphone volume and gain levels of the mic, as well as toggle High Pass Filter and Analog Gain Limiter.

The Stream Mixer tab on the Synapse software is where the mic fully reveals its true self, but it will require some mental gymnastics to truly understand what it can really do. The help link provided by Razer on the software leads to a 404 page, so you are pretty much on your own here.

(Edit 9/12/22: Post review, a Razer representative told us that they are working on improved guides to better help understand all the features of the Seiren V2 Pro. "Razer are continuously improving the software to make it easier to use; they are also working on educational content which will help beginners to understand all the diverse features of our hard- and software even better, to get the best out of their professional setups," said Ole Grosstück, Business Manager, MENA, Razer.)

When you plug the mic into your PC, it immediately adds ten audio and three microphone inputs. The audio inputs are called Headphones, Aux 1, Aux 2, System, Music, Game, Voice Chat, Browser, and Sound Effects, while the mic inputs are called Microphone, Stream Mix and Playback Mix. Each of these inputs can be assigned to a different app using the sound mixer found on Windows, and their volumes can be adjusted from the Synapse software. Each input has two volume sliders, one that goes into the Stream, and one that feeds it into your headphones. They can be either linked together or set individually.

To set up these inputs can be a bit tedious but straightforward once you know what to do. For example, if you want to add a game on the Stream Mixer, first you have to add the ‘Game’ input from Synapse by clicking on ‘Add New Input’ and selecting ‘Game’. Then launch Windows Sound Mixer, find the game from the list (which should be running in the background), and manually set the output and input device to the port you selected. Then, on the Synapse software, you can control the two volume sliders. Once you have done that, you have to add the ‘Game’ input in OBS (or whichever software you are using to stream) and adjust it there.

You will have to repeat the same process for any other applications you want to add, such as a music player, or a web browser, or Discord for voice chat purposes. Thankfully, once you have the ports set up, they will not be reset, but the Synapse software is required to run in the background for all the ports to activate correctly.

It’s a complicated, multi-step process, sure, but the granular control it brings to every aspect of the audio will be welcomed by pro streamers, especially since they will not have to invest in a costly mixer to replicate some of these features.

If you are a novice user who simply wants to plug the mic in and go live, the V2 Pro can be a bit overwhelming. The most egregious issue is the mic adding nearly 13 additional ports on your PC with no easy way to disable them from the Synapse software. Scrolling through a long list to switch between your different audio sources can be quite annoying after some time.

In terms of actual performance, the Seiren V2 Pro is quite stellar. The voice quality is rich and full-sounding, and it nearly matches the tonal accuracy of my actual voice without any major compression. Of course, since this is a cardioid mic, it will pick up every little sound around you. There are no noise filters on the Synapse software, so you will have to apply them manually on OBS or any other software that you may be using.

Below is a sample recording from the Seiren V2 Pro, recorded with Audacity on a Windows 11 PC at 96Khz (converted to 48Khz). The mic was propped on a boom arm.