Razer Seiren V3 Chroma review

Desktop condenser mics, if you think about it, have to do quite a difficult job. From a reasonable distance, a microphone is expected to sit on your desk—likely near to a PC with fan noise and other interference-emitting devices—and pick up a good vocal signal, while hopefully rejecting as much unwanted noise as is reasonable. And, let's face it, it'd be nice if it looked good while it was doing it, too.

The Razer Seiren V3 Chroma has the last part down at the very least. Pulling it from its packaging reveals a handsome, pill-shaped device with a screw-in base and a matte finish that looks suitably professional. It's tiltable on its stand thanks to two nicely knurled side mounted knobs, and features just the one solitary dial at first glance.

Oi, who's gone and nicked all me controls then, you may well think, or at least I did as a previous near-London resident.

A closer inspection reveals that at the very top of the device is a hidden touch control for muting and other functions. Besides that, there's just a small USB Type-C connector around the back and a 3.5mm jack for headphone output. Minimalist, this little mic, although it feels and looks rather good doing it.

Polar patterns: Supercardioid
Connectivity: USB
Recording Sample Rate: 24-bit 96kHz
Frequency response: 20–20,000Hz
Features: Built-in Chroma RGB lighting, front dial, rear USB Type-C connectivity, 3.5mm headphone output
Price: $130/£130

All that minimalism, however, goes away the second you plug it in. The Seiren V3 treats you to a frankly blazing display of colours on first connection, all emitted from underneath the holes of its substantial grille.

This is likely going to be a love it or hate it affair from the off, but personally as a fan of a bit of RGB illumination I did enjoy the effect, although at default settings it is surprisingly bright. Time to install the Razer Synapse software then, and get to grips with the options.

After a bit of update wrangling (and a required reboot, I might add) to get