Razer Chroma Controller limitations and pro's and cons. | Razer Insider

Razer Chroma Controller limitations and pro's and cons.

  • 6 January 2021
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so i absolutely love the razer chroma controller for my ARGB devices. but what bugs me is the limitations on it. i am an electronics tech so i do understand but i wish there was less issues with this.
so first off 6 headers is great and thats one of my favorite parts. it makes sense for things like cases because most builds will not use more then 6 headers. and even if you need to split or daisy chain something as long as its ARGB you can tell the software theres more LED's then it detects and control them. this is really excellent.
heres the problems though. an 80 LED limit per port is a bit anoying. if i wanna use all 240 leds off one header i should be able to. and with quality LED strips this honestly shouldnt be an issue.
the port plugs are....understandably off. so some ARGB headers are bigger/wider/smaller then others. and they hedged bets and made the ports bigger. this was smart because it allows a variety of plugs. but im constantly worried about pushing in pins on the controller as a result. i wish the device came with the option to extend out the pins with a pluggable adapter for the ports. this would make the heads less secure but would lessen the problem and concern of pushing in pins accidently. or if they would include some cable extensions/sell some that were specifically made for the ports would be nice as well since 2 of my fans are pushing it on making it to my controller.
i understand the reason for using a molex adaptor, this is due to it being able to put out an additional almost 10watts of energy. but including a sata adapter might be smart as well. even if its just a plug with no cable. they both use the same wiring configuration after all. one just supports data.
i love that i can use any WS2812b LED lights but the problem is if they dont have a JST to ARGB header adaptor its a major pain. so selling something like this would be smart on razers end of things. especially since longer strips of 150+ leds generally do not have one of these unless they are higher end. that said i ordered some 13$ 24 led strips that are alitove brand that come with a JST Y splitter AND a ARGB header to JST. which made things alot easier.
synapse 3 seems to only support 1 ARGB controller at a time. which is rather frustrating. 40$ for a controller that i can setup with my computer is great. and would love for it to support multiple controllers as a game room setup thing. especially since you dont need to use the micro USB to USB header cable. you can just plug in any micro USB to usb data cable you have and use that.
SELL A WALL ADAPTER!!! you have a wall adapter for your 2 64 led header controller for testing. why would you not do this for your actual product? now luckily i dont use molex and can just run my extra long molex cable out the back of my pc's PCIE slots and plug in there. i also have a molex adapter for power older HDD's that i rip for people. this would be another great item to sell. keep it withing 15-20$ though or noone will want it. 10 would be ideal if it powers the whole unit perfect. not to mention having a wall adapter vice using a computer PSU molex cable gives you the ability to increase the overall wattage for power LEDS which would allow for more leds on headers and in total.
INCLUDE MOUNTING SCREWS! i couldnt believe razer wouldnt even include 4 freaking screws. or magnetic command strips or SOMETHING. no they give you the thin cheap 3m strips which is great if your stacking them but since only 1 is seen thats not very useful.
indicator lights would be another great addition to the port headers to let you know you have the plug in right. would be a relatively easy add on to the device.
overall i love the devices. right now my biggest problem is the not seeing all 3 of the controllers i have. so thats annoying. this can be fixed via software though so hopefully razer sees this and will fix that. or is already doing so.
i think the last thing ill mention is about chroma studio. i absolutely love this program. but theres no way to change the led strips orientation inside the studio. from horazontal to vertical without using 90 degree bends. this seems odd to me considering how well thought out the rest of the software is. so heres my input. take and add a rotation button. that would be one of the simple parts to add. this allows for a much more presentable and easier to use system to more closely match what the lights actually look like.
secondly add the ability to select a set of LED's and "break" them apart from the rest. this will allow for people that are manipulating the software into seeing daisy chained/split LEDS to control them accurately. a rotate and a break button seems smart. this would allow people to better setup and control other devices as well.

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