Razer Kraken Tournament Vs Hyperx Cloud Alpha: Which One Will Be Better in Gaming?

razer kraken tournament vs hyperx cloud alpha (1)

This is the comparison and detailed review of the Razer Kraken Tournament Edition and Hyperx Cloud Alpha. Both these headsets are popular and will be great for gaming which comes under $100. Before taking a decision, take look on a detailed review of both the headsets.

razer_kraken_tournament_edition_ (1)hyperx cloud alpha (1)
Razer Kraken TournamentHyperx Cloud Alpha
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PROSPROS
Excellent sound.
Versatile design.
Smart amp.
Reasonable price.
Sleek, premium design.
Soft and cushy ear cups. Impressive audio quality. Versatile cables.
CONSCONS
Potentially buggy software.
Too big for easy transport.
Ear cups can feel snug. Microphone picks up some noise.

SPECIFICATIONS:

MODELRAZER KRAKEN TOURNAMENTHYPERX CLOUD ALPHA
BrandRazer HyperX
SeriesHyperX
ModelKraken TournamentCloud Alpha
HEADPHONESRAZER KRAKEN TOURNAMENTHYPERX CLOUD ALPHA
Headphones Form FactorFull size
Headphone TechnologyWired
Sound Output Modestereostereo
Frequency Response12 Hz13Hz-27KHz
Sensitivity109 dB
Impedance32 Ohm65 Ohm
Diaphragm2 in2 in
MICROPHONERAZER KRAKEN TOURNAMENTHYPERX CLOUD ALPHA
Microphone Operation Modeuni-directional
Response Bandwidth100 Hz50Hz-18KHz
Sensitivity-42 dB
REMOTE CONTROLRAZER KRAKEN TOURNAMENTHYPERX CLOUD ALPHA
Audio Controlsmicrophone on/mute, volume
ControlsVolume, microphone on/mute
DIMENSIONS & WEIGHTRAZER KRAKEN TOURNAMENTHYPERX CLOUD ALPHA
Width
Depth
Height
Weight11.36 oz10.51 oz
FEATURESRAZER KRAKEN TOURNAMENTHYPERX CLOUD ALPHA
FeaturesGet total control with the USB audio controller. Turn on THX Spatial Audio for increased immersion, control both volume and bass levels, and even configure the game / chat balance. All of this at your fingertips – for gaming audio that is always perfectly customized for you.

Go beyond traditional virtual surround sound. THX Spatial Audio* breaks the boundaries of defined 5.1 and 7.1 channel surround to deliver seamless 360 degrees positional audio for a more natural and lifelike experience. It also adds depth to the experience by simulating sound both above and below you for incredible gaming immersion.

Never experience your game audio overpowering team communication again. The Game / Chat Balance option lets you fine-tune the right balance of what you hear. Or simply leave it in the middle for a standard mix.

Equipped with large custom-tuned 50mm drivers, the Razer Kraken Tournament Edition provides a wide soundscape, from subtle footsteps sneaking up behind you to climactic explosions that blow you away. This clarity in range and deep, punchy bass is crucial in creating a lifelike immersive experience.

The cooling gel-infused ear cushions reduce heat build-up, while the soft cloth and leatherette combination provides both comfort and sound isolation. Hidden indented eyewear channels eliminate pressure from glasses. The headband features an incredibly comfortable ultra-soft padding, allowing you to game for hours and forget that it’s even there.

With its 3.5mm audio jack, the Razer Kraken Tournament Edition is cross-platform compatible – works with with your PC, Mac, PS4, Xbox One, Switch or even mobile devices.
HyperX Dual Chamber Drivers for more distinction and less distortion.

Signature Award-Winning HyperX comfort.

Durable aluminum frame with expanded headband.

Detachable braided cable with convenient in-line audio control.

Detachable noise cancellation microphone.

Discord and TeamSpeakTM Certified.

Multi-platform compatibility – dominate on PC or console1.


Expert Reviews of Razer Kraken Tournament:

By IGN
The Razer Kraken is an extremely comfortable headset, but suffers from poor sound quality from both the microphone and the speakers. While they may be built to be worn for long periods of time, they’re unfortunately not compelling enough to take your eSports skills to the next level.

By Thinkcomputers
When we started this review we wondered if the Razer Kraken Tournament Edition could stand out in the $99 gaming headset crowd, which is where many gaming headsets sit. After spending some time with the Kraken Tournament Edition we feel that it does….

By PCmag
Razer’s Kraken Tournament Edition gaming headset delivers strong bass performance and capable simulated surround sound for…

By CGM
The inclusion of THX audio makes the Razer Kraken Tournament edition a real step forward for Razer and it’s a device that sounds as good as it…

By Gameaxis
The Razer Kraken: Tournament Edition certainly is a solid set of headphones. High quality construction, crystal-clear audio, a plethora of customisation options, comfort… everything you’d usually expect from a Razer accessory.Usually.Although the…

Expert Reviews of HyperX Cloud Alpha:

By Pokde 
The HyperX Cloud Alpha gaming headset is arguably one of, if not the best analogue gaming headset around and its performance is only limited by the device that you are connecting it to.

By GadgetsNow
The Kingston HyperX Cloud Alpha professional gaming headset is a great all-round headset built for serious gaming. For a price of under Rs 9000, the HyperX Cloud Alpha is a good choice for someone looking to buy a professional analogue gaming headset.

By TomsHardware
Although we don’t expect perfection from a $100 gaming headset, the HyperX Cloud Alpha’s sound quality comes close. Moreover, Kingston uses reasonably high-quality materials put together in a solid way. Our award is well-deserved.

By NLT
A truly magnificent headset for both gaming and music. Needs either rotatable or foldable earcups design and a hard shell case to truly be a portable headset that I can stuff in my bag and carry around. Overall, great comfort and great sound quality, comes with a decent detachable microphone too.

By TheStraitsTimes
The HyperX Cloud Alpha is probably the best value-for-money gaming headset in the market now.

Detail Review:

INTRODUCTION:

Razer Kraken Tournament

This headset is great in sound for gaming at a mid-range. The design and comfort are almost the same as Razer Kraken. This one is a worth package for this price range.

HyperX Cloud Alpha

It is by far one of the best gaming headsets I’ve tried for $100 price point. When you take a look out there that’s kind of like an in-between sweet spot on the market and this is definitely flexing its muscles. When it comes to putting out great value headsets the original Hyperx Cloud and Cloud 2 are probably one of the most popular all-time and this is a newer predecessor.

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DESIGN:

Razer Kraken Tournament

This has the same look as the regular Razer Kraken and the Kraken pro. It has the metal body which also is what the headband slides up and down. It also has numbers on the adjustment slide, so that you can match up each side so that you have more of a balanced feel on the top of your head.

Now, it has the signature Razor mesh grille around the Razer logo. Since these don’t have the chroma lighting, the Razer logo does not change colors, it’s just simple black on the green model, and then it is black also on the all-black headset as well.

Also for durability, you can stretch these things and twist these things and so if you’re somebody that rages or throws them or they get caught on something, they’re not going to break easily.

HyperX Cloud Alpha

Out of the box, it does stay true to its branding with the black and red color scheme. However, there are no different color selections to pick from like we’ve seen in the past which is kind of a bummer but again that’s not a huge deal.

This is pretty lightweight but they do feel solid at the same time. Both the ear cups are in a matte black finish and the yoke is this red aluminum. The ear cups rotate around maybe 30 degrees on the yoke, so don’t get a really huge range of adjustment which doesn’t lay flat which is kind of a bummer.

In terms of adjustment, you do get these nice grooves along with the headband, you get an additional maybe inch-and-a-half here. In the end, it’s gonna be large enough to fit 99% for some of the heads out there. When you stretch these things out, they do get flexible and it doesn’t really compromise the build at all. I don’t feel like they’re gonna break which is definitely a good sign. I’m also loving the attention to detail here with these stitching along with the headband, you get the embossed HyperX logo. All together looks really nice.

COMFORT:

Razer Kraken Tournament

It is a pleather kind of headband up top where you can see Razer is printed right there and underneath, you have a fabric material. The headband on this is not a whole lot of padding but it’s not really necessary, this is one of the lightest headsets which is kind of surprising considering it’s one of the largest looking headsets.

The ear cushions on these are some of the softest and most comfortable I’ve ever used. This has the gel infusion cooling technology that they put in here. If you have a very cold or very warm pillow and you flip it over and you know that like the initial putting them on just gives you that really cold feeling, it does stay that way for a little while but if you’re gonna have a long gaming session, these will get warm just like other headsets do.

As far as comfort goes you can wear these for long periods of time because of them being so lightweight and they never really seem to get uncomfortable. Also, if you’re somebody that wears glasses because these have so much given in the ear cushions there’s no pressure, so they’re really comfortable if you wear glasses as well.

HyperX Cloud Alpha

Now, in terms of comfort, there’s got to be a correlation here with the branding cloud name with hyperx2. It’s overall feel because they do feel like clouds when it’s on your head. I love their memory foam ear pads, it just feels so soft and overall pretty lightweight when you’re wearing it and since it is over the ear, it doesn’t irritate me at all. It’s something how HyperX really makes all their headsets extremely comfortable and these are probably the most comfortable I’d try it from them.

When I’m gaming I’m typically I am wearing my glasses and there is zero pressure on the sides here anything and definitely pass that test because they are so comfortable.

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FEATURES:

Razer Kraken Tournament

When you open the box, the first thing you see is the headset itself but what separates the tournament Edition from the regular Razer Kraken is the little control box that gives you control over the THX surround sound which is also different between this and the regular one. You have bass controls, volume controls, mic controls like everything is into the little control box that you plug your headphone cable.

Now, if you don’t want to plug it into that the headphones have a non-removable cable that is a normal 3.5-millimeter headphone jack but if you do plug it into the box, the other end is a USB but also on the non-removable cable, you have controls as well. So, if you’re gonna use this plugged into like a mobile device or your switch, you have a lot of the volume and mic controls and the mic mute button right there as well.

You will have the ability to use this on Switch, the Xbox, the ps4 but the PC I felt like is where these really shot because these do utilize Razer software which I was able to go in and kind of mess with the EQ and a little bit more and it gives you just more control over the headset. Since these headsets are not powered themselves, any change that you make in the software it doesn’t actually get saved into the headset. So, you have to actually use the control box to kind of get the sound you want when you’re plugging it into consoles.

HyperX Cloud Alpha

Inside the box that includes a few extra things for you. First is your standard braided cable with inline controls for volume and muting the mic and since the removable, that’s a big plus. You also get an additional 2 meter split headphone in microphone cable and a nice little velour carrying pouch in case you’re bringing these with you on the go. So, they don’t get damaged or scuffed up.

Another great thing about this headset is that its universal meaning you can use this with your ps4, your PC, or your Xbox one X, whatever has a headphone jack you can use this with.

You have the inline controls on this cable but it adjusts the volume of what you’re hearing on your headset, it does not actually adjust the volume output of your microphone. So, keep that in mind because some headsets out there actually do have that as a feature, this is just for your volume, not your microphone.

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MICROPHONE:

Razer Kraken Tournament

The mic on these is a retractable microphone but just pushing it in doesn’t mute it, you have to use the actual controls on the cable. With it being Tournament Edition, they probably wanted to put a lot of focus on the microphone. So that, it’s really clean and clear because if you’re playing in tournaments, you’re playing with friends and honestly there’s nothing more important than just coming through clear. I feel like it picks up bass tones pretty well. For a $100 headset, I think the mic is doing a very good job.

HyperX Cloud Alpha

I think, for the most part, it sounds pretty good. If you will talk to your friends I think it sounds more than good like dis quarter or game chat anything like that. Since it is like a gooseneck construction, you can move it around to be in front of your mouth which is always good. The microphone itself is completely removable which means if you want to go out and about and use these to listen to music or something, you won’t have to have this mic attached to it.

SOUND:

Razer Kraken Tournament

They kind of have two different sound signatures because you can use them without the control box, without having the THX spatial surround sound. So, when you use them that way I felt like they have kind of a warm sound signature where everything kind of feels a little pushed up forward, the bass is always punchy and raise our headsets but I felt like the treble was kind of lacking a little bit but obviously that can change if you’re gonna EQ it in the software. Then, when you turn on the THX spatial awareness, it seems to add a lot more depth to what you’re playing. So, it gives you a more open feel to your game to where it doesn’t feel like everything’s trapped right here and feels like things are more at a distance and it feels more realistic and natural.

Even without the THX turned on, it sounds just like the normal Razer Kraken which I really enjoy. Now, as far as the sound signature on these I would say obviously the bass is boosted, the midst sometimes seems a little bit too forward, and I feel like the treble sometimes feels a little too pulled back. So, if I was to compare this to the Nari then I still say that the Nari is the way to go if you’re looking at any of the new Razer headsets. These are also top good ones at under $100 especially considering you’re getting surround sound and you’re getting controls that are all right there without actually having to open software.

Now, as far as with music I felt like with these I enjoyed them more using them for gaming than music because I felt with music, it was a little too warm for me. I like to have treble boost it up some that everything comes through clear but also have my bass be really punchy and base being punchy is no issue with this headset. If you’re a bass head, you will love these but if you want something extremely clear, you’re going to have to rely more on the software and using it on the PC to get that.

HyperX Cloud Alpha

I could honestly say this is the best sounding gaming headset from HyperX that I’ve tried and probably the best sounding headset overall at this price point. They actually altered the construction of the ear cups as well as the drivers which is going to change and improve overall sound quality and it’s pretty cool what they did. So inside, they kind of divided up the driver instead of the driver putting out the treble, the mids, and the bass, and all at once, they divided it up. So, the treble and the mids are coming out in their own specific section and the bass is broken up and divided into its own section in the earcup.

If you take a look up top, you’ll see the little air vents, I am not completely sure what it is but I’d say the mids because when I covered this up I found that was a little bit recessed but it’s cool to note that it does have those vents up top and at those different levels are all broken up inside here to give you the best audio possible.

For listening to music in terms of a gaming headset, this definitely sounds the best that I’ve ever tried for music but see these are used for gaming that’s what’s most important. When I’m playing battlegrounds, everything just sounds so alive. Positional audio is a hundred percent on point, I was able to pinpoint every gunshot direction where it was coming from if I heard footsteps or just occasional weird audio glitches in the game or I think someone’s around me, everything sounds great.

Then, when I’m playing Forza, there’s nothing like being out on the open road or cutting through some forest and just hearing the overall environment there, the engine revving up and the brakes, and all that good stuff, it’s just everything is alive that’s the best thing I could say for this headset.

If there is some sort of downfall, I would say that since these now have that kind of divided obstruction on the inside for the mids and the treble separated from the bass, the bass does kind of suffer a little bit, it’s not as thump as I’d like to hear. Again, that’s only gonna be for hard bass heads out there that want to hear that large thump. When you’re listening to their music, it’s always a nice kick to it but it’s not that much like headphones.

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WHICH TO BUY?

You all know that the Hyperx Cloud alpha and also the Razer Kraken versions are getting popular for gaming. So, both these will be good to buy for gaming. Also, there is not any biggest price difference. If you want some more technology in the sound quality and want some more thumpy bass then Razer Kraken Tournament will great. Otherwise, if you want the headset with balanced sound quality and also good to go with the music, then the Hyperx Cloud alpha will be great to buy.