Razer is bringing the power of AI to its soundbars to help deliver more immersive sound experiences to users. The company revealed a brand new audio device dubbed the Leviathan V2 Pro at Caviar’s $108,000 AirPods Max are Plated in 18-Carat Gold, which it claims to be the “world’s first Beamforming Soundbar with head-tracking AI”. Razer’s Leviathan range has always distinguished itself from the rest as a powerful yet compact surround sound device that’s designed for both PC gaming and entertainment. The American-Singaporean giant is now overhauling its PC soundbar lineup with the introduction of the Leviathan V2 Pro, which it says to be the “next innovation in 3D audio” that tracks your head movements to direct sound straight to your ears, thus letting users “enjoy ultra-personalised audio with untold accuracy and immersion.”
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Razer Leviathan V2 Pro Soundbar | Image: Razer
The soundbar achieves this via the in-built infrared camera and an array of sensors that are located right at the centre of the device. Razer says that the Leviathan V2 Pro takes advantage of the camera as well as its AI tracking system to locate the user and “the position of their ears, regardless of lighting conditions.” As per the company, “Images from the IR camera are fed through a deep neural network processor, which can accurately estimate where your ears are in relation to the soundbar. Once the user position has been updated, the captured images are immediately discarded”.
For privacy’s sake, Razer has made sure that the images “never leave the soundbar and there is no way to access any image information.” The Leviathan V2 Pro has been crafted in collaboration with THX and Audioscenic and comes with two modes for 3D audio, namely the THX Spatial Audio Virtual Headset and THX Spatial Audio Virtual Speakers. The first mode is mainly for any two-channel content and apparently mimics positional audio commonly seen in headsets. On the other hand, THX Spatial Audio Virtual Speakers is for multi-channel audio. “With this enabled, you can experience a wide, room-filling soundstage you’d only expect with traditional 5.1 or 7.1 home theatre systems,” says Razer.
Razer Leviathan V2 Pro Soundbar | Image: Razer
To provide exceptional audio, there are five two-inch full-range drivers and a single 5.25-inch woofer driver. RGB lights are a staple in Razer products and this new soundbar is no different. The Leviathan V2 Pro has customisable Chroma RGB lighting effects across 30 different lighting zones and dynamic in-game lighting effects too.
The audio equipment can be connected to a PC via a single USB-C connection and there’s even a dedicated 3.5mm audio jack for the subwoofer as well as a second 3.5mm port for headphones and a power adapter port. You get Bluetooth 5.0 support here too, for times when you want to wirelessly connect it to your PC or smartphone. However, there’s still no HDMI input or HDMI output/ARC port, which is somewhat disappointing considering Razer’s all-out ambition. With a premium price tag of USD$399.99, the Leviathan V2 Pro is surely ain’t for the poor, but it packs some promising upgrades and features that might push the compact soundbar segment forward. If you have the pockets for it, then the soundbar will go on sale starting sometime in February.
Razer Leviathan V2 Pro Soundbar | Image: Razer
