Razer Blackshark V2 Pro - Firmware Update breaks the headset
Hi Community,
(TLDR: Updating from factory 1.00.09 to 1.00.11 breaks the microphone and general audio quality with no apparent way to revert effectively breaking the headphones)
I recently purchased a Razer Blackshark V2 Pro and for the first week it was amazing. The sound quality was great and the voice quality was excellent with the microphone.
One of my mates suggested I should see if it has any driver updates.. so I proceeded to the Razer support page and downloaded the firmware updater. Installation was very quick and easy so i restarted my computer and joined discord. As soon as I rejoined the channel everybody immediately said "yuck" what did you do with your mic.
I manually downloaded driver updates for the product where I could but they made 0 difference. After hours and hours of sifting through forums and trying to work out how to rollback the firmware I gave in and got another headset brand new.
Same story jumped on discord and listened to music on factory and was absolutely beautiful even recorded some audio in game to listen back to the audio quality. Finally decided to update the firmware again to see if something went wrong last time. Nope immediately sound quality terrible and and microphone sounding like it's on a cheap laptop in an open room all distorted and crackily.
I tried both headsets on 3 different computers including a mac (just for this test)
I have attached a photo of the update it performed and what breaks the headset. If there are any newer drivers or if it's possible to revert back to a previous firmware I need to know ASAP or i'll have to return and get a third pair of headset that's factory firmware.
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I recently ran into the same problems and discovered this post, so I wanted to confirm everything described. The updated firmware absolutely degrades the audio quality with no way for the user to fix it. The only workaround is to use the 3.5mm cable and use the headset in wired mode to get the original quality levels back, defeating the entire purpose of the wireless headset.
After I realized what happened, I submitted a ticket to Razer support and (after plenty of back-and-forth where I provided audio recordings from before and after the update) they agreed to replace my headset with a new one. Worse still, the brand new headset came with the 1.00.11 firmware preinstalled so I'm stuck with the same problem as before.
I have no idea what to do now, since support seemed to imply the only thing I can do is insist on another replacement which would still be defective. I also have no way of knowing if Razer is working on a firmware fix, either.
To spare everyone the boring details, I've been arguing with Razer customer support about this issue for over a month and their official response has been that the microphone audio quality is "perfectly fine". Myself and every single person I teleconference with disagrees.
To top it off, I think this change in microphone performance was somehow intentional, since Razer's only patch note for the firmware is "improved microphone quality". I've never seen a company retroactively ruin a perfectly good product like this.
Don't buy this headset. If you're tempted, save yourself the money and get the regular version that isn't wireless, because you'll have to plug this one in anyway to get it to work correctly.
Can confirm. I bought this headset yesterday and razer synpase forced the new update. My mic sounds so terrible and cheap. Really sad. Im thinking about sending it back to amazon and buying another headset.
- Razer Support
- 7650 replies
ConantiDabitur
Hi Community, (TLDR: Updating from factory 1.00.09 to 1.00.11 breaks the microphone and general audio quality with no apparent way to revert effectively breaking the headphones) I recently purchased a Razer Blackshark V2 Pro and for the first week it was amazing. The sound quality was great and the voice quality was excellent with the microphone. One of my mates suggested I should see if it has any driver updates.. so I proceeded to the Razer support page and downloaded the firmware updater. Installation was very quick and easy so i restarted my computer and joined discord. As soon as I rejoined the channel everybody immediately said "yuck" what did you do with your mic. I manually downloaded driver updates for the product where I could but they made 0 difference. After hours and hours of sifting through forums and trying to work out how to rollback the firmware I gave in and got another headset brand new. Same story jumped on discord and listened to music on factory and was absolutely beautiful even recorded some audio in game to listen back to the audio quality. Finally decided to update the firmware again to see if something went wrong last time. Nope immediately sound quality terrible and and microphone sounding like it's on a cheap laptop in an open room all distorted and crackily. I tried both headsets on 3 different computers including a mac (just for this test) I have attached a photo of the update it performed and what breaks the headset. If there are any newer drivers or if it's possible to revert back to a previous firmware I need to know ASAP or i'll have to return and get a third pair of headset that's factory firmware.
C1PHER_RZR
I recently ran into the same problems and discovered this post, so I wanted to confirm everything described. The updated firmware absolutely degrades the audio quality with no way for the user to fix it. The only workaround is to use the 3.5mm cable and use the headset in wired mode to get the original quality levels back, defeating the entire purpose of the wireless headset. After I realized what happened, I submitted a ticket to Razer support and (after plenty of back-and-forth where I provided audio recordings from before and after the update) they agreed to replace my headset with a new one. Worse still, the brand new headset came with the 1.00.11 firmware preinstalled so I'm stuck with the same problem as before. I have no idea what to do now, since support seemed to imply the only thing I can do is insist on another replacement which would still be defective. I also have no way of knowing if Razer is working on a firmware fix, either.
Vindictive1337Hi guys. I recommend that you submit a case to our Support Team so they can gather all your Razer Synapse logs and other details from your setup and use it during the investigation. I'll be locking this thread now. Feel free to send me a PM so I can initiate a support ticket on your behalf.
Can confirm. I bought this headset yesterday and razer synpase forced the new update. My mic sounds so terrible and cheap. Really sad. Im thinking about sending it back to amazon and buying another headset.
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