A couple of months ago Razer hooked us up with their Kiyo Camera and Seiren USB condenser mic.
Since then I have used these in two very different scenarios. One was the usual set up that you would expect, At home on my PC for streaming on twitch. The other was at a large gaming event in a booth being used by some of Australia’s biggest streamers for 3 days.
But first lets take a quick look at each device.
Razer Kiyo:
The Razer Kiyo Isn’t the highest spec camera, coming in at a 720p resolution. However where this camera stands out is both the multi use design form and the amazing ring light built in.
The way this camera has been designed means that it can be used not only as a screen mounted camera, but also as a sturdy desk mounted camera. The base also has a tripod mount on the bottom which I personally believe all cameras should have as standard.
The ring light looks great and the edge around the outside doubles as a dial to adjust the brightness and turn the light on or off.
Razer Seiren X:
The Siren X is a USB mic that that looks slick in all black, with a solid desk top base which is designed to adjusted to the angle that feels best for you.
The mic has a built in mute mic and plugs directly into your PC via USB while also having a headphone outlet. My only issue with the design is the decision to have the USB port in the front of the mic, which feels awkward right behind the 3.5 audio output socket.
Use on the home stream set up:
Let me start off by saying that this is quit possibly the first thing anyone that is starting of in streaming can buy! It has the three bases of a good stream covered for a resonable price: Lighting, Audio and Camera quality.
The Kiyo resolution is fine by most internet connection standards and the ring light is amazing! I tested this set up with low light in the evening, Day light during the day and with the lights off completely. While using the Razer Kiyo we have actually stopped using our soft box lights we used to use.
As for the Mic is definitely performs better than most mics of this price range. If you are a twitch viwer, you will know how painful it can be tuning in to a stream and while the stream may look amazing, the audio id just rubbish and can make the stream unwatchable. I actually replaced a mic & midi interface by using this one device.
The big event:
Earlier this month in Sydney we had the pleasure of running Intel’s broadcast zone at the Intel Extreme Masters.
As a part of this event we had a streaming station set up where some of Australia and New Zealands biggest Twitch stars playing their favourite games for their fans.
Events hold their own unique issues when it comes to streaming such as odd lighting, loud sound and tight set up schedules.
The ease of setup of both devices made the set up of both devices very easy. but the biggest blessing was the ring light.
The IEM community hall which is where we were located had dark blue lighting throughout the event and the ring light actually helped our streamers beautiful faces show on screen well.
As for the mic, with some very slight tweaks to cut out background noise we have a great sounding stream all weekend!
Summary:
Is this the best quality camera and mic you can buy? No, certainly not.
However, This is the best mic and cam that you can buy if you are looking to start streaming and can’t afford a condenser, audio mixer, lights and camera to go along with your set up!
