Razer Kraken V3 vs HyperX Cloud II and Cloud Alpha S
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Connectivity and Controls
Headphone Audio Quality
Microphone Audio Quality
Comfort and Build Quality
Verdict
Connectivity and Controls
All three of these headsets are wired devices that work on PC, PS4, and PS5.
Razer Kraken V3
The Razer Kraken V3 has a braided, non-detachable USB-A cable. There is no 3.5mm jack plug. The controls are on the left ear cup which include a mic mute button and system volume wheel.
This device also has RGB support in Razer Synapse. I won’t cover it in this article, but I did here.
HyperX Cloud II
The HyperX Cloud II has all its controls on the included USB sound controller. There is a mic mute switch on the side. On the front are buttons to control the system volume, mic gain, and 7.1 virtual surround sound.
The mic is detachable, but the 3.5mm cable that plugs into the USB controller is not.
HyperX Cloud Alpha S
The Alpha S has slightly different controls than the Cloud II. The mute button doubles as a side tone (mic monitoring) button by holding it down for 3 seconds. The system volume buttons remain the same. Instead of mic gain, there are buttons for the game/chat balance instead.
Lastly, the actual earcups have physical sliders than open and close the vents of the drivers to increase or decrease the bass response. At the highest bass setting, this is going to sound exactly the same as the base Cloud Alpha.
Both the 3.5mm cable and mic are detachable.
Headphone Audio Quality
The Cloud II and Cloud Alpha have been staples for FPS players (including myself) due to their impressive clarity for their price. The Kraken V3 shows Razer learned from all their previous offerings, but it still can’t match up to the Clouds.
From a frequency response perspective, the Kraken V3 has a balanced sound overall - it’s in the middle of the overly bassy Kraken 2019 and the shrieky BlackShark V2.
When compared directly with the Cloud II and Alpha, the highs are emphasized a bit less which makes them less grating. I’m a fan.
Detail is where the Kraken V3 just can’t keep up. The Triforce drivers aren’t terrible, but the level of clarity and texture isn’t quite there. When listening to electric guitars for example, you can hear the strumming and vibration clearly in the Cloud II and Alpha. You just get a generic “boomy” sounding bass in the Kraken V3.
In addition, when there are a ton of different sounds like during a firefight in Call of Duty, it becomes difficult to tell every sound apart in the Kraken V3.
The most important cues like footsteps, reloads, and armor inserts are still audible in the Kraken V3. They’re just not as clear as the Cloud II and Cloud Alpha.
As for the Clouds, the Cloud II gets louder than the Alpha and the upper mids are boosted quite a bit. The Alpha is quieter, it tones down the upper mids to a more natural level, and it has a bit stronger and clearer bass.
The Cloud II is for FPS games, but the Alpha is better for basically everything else.
And really quickly, I tried the virtual surround sound (HyperX) and THX Spatial Audio (Razer) on each of these headsets. As expected, it’s a gimmick that severely thins out and worsens the sound quality.
Software
Software is where Razer has had an edge over HyperX for quite a while. If you don’t like the sound of the Cloud II out the box, that’s tough luck.
Razer Synapse has a full 10-band equalizer for both the headphone and mic audio. There are also many different effects such as bass enhancement. The software as a whole can be quite buggy, but when it works, it’s really good.
Too good for the Kraken V3, honestly. The drivers inside can’t keep up with bass boosting over 2 notches without distorting, and you can’t just EQ clarity back in.
Still, if you think the footsteps are too muted or the bass is too heavy, you can adjust the EQ curve yourself. You can’t do that on the Cloud II without third party software.
The Cloud Alpha S takes a middle ground approach. Unlike the Cloud II, it connects to NGENUITY, but the software only lets you control and see what you already could on the device itself. There’s no EQ there. Fortunately, the physical bass sliders let you alter the bass levels on the fly.
Since it’s not software related, this will work on any device, including consoles. I prefer what the Razer is doing with software on PC, but it’s great that HyperX has thrown console players a bone!
Microphone Audio Quality
The Kraken V3 has a much better mic than both the Cloud II and Alpha S. It also can get much louder than the HyperX mics by simply boosting the volume of each frequency with Razer Synapse.
HyperX’s sound cards add way too much compression to the audio. If you use the Cloud II or Alpha S with a splitter, they’re not as bad.
Comfort and Build Quality
The Razer Kraken is made completely of plastic. The ear cups have a combination of fake leather on the outside and some other harder material inside. It’s more comfortable than Razer’s other headsets, but the Clouds get the W here.
The Cloud II and Alpha both have an aluminum frame keeping them together. The ear cushions are both entirely fake leather and quite soft, but the Cloud II’s are softer and even more comfortable.
In order I would rank the comfort of these:
Cloud II
Cloud Alpha
Razer Kraken V3
Verdict
I recommend the Cloud II for FPS games and the Alpha S (or regular Alpha) for general use. They have great sound quality and comfort for the price. And if you have a bigger budget, the Astro A40 TR is even better.
I do not recommend the Razer Kraken V3 over the Clouds, but there is a strong argument for it: Razer Synapse.
Until HyperX finally gets some good software complete with an equalizer, Razer headsets compatible with Synapse will always have a place in the market due to their customizable sound profiles.
Product Listings
Razer Kraken V3: https://amzn.to/3k0NAb6
HyperX Cloud II: https://amzn.to/3xvVKN0
HyperX Cloud Alpha S: https://amzn.to/3vHDten
