Razer Barracuda AC-1 Sound Card

In my experience, one of the defining characteristics of a Razer product is meticulous attention to detail in all aspects of the product’s design, including the packaging. The Barracuda AC-1’s product box incorporates design characteristics that are common to all Razer packaging, among them eye-catching foil lettering, dark metallic hues, matte-finish black accents, and a big, clear photo of the product itself. More importantly, however, the design is distinctively Razer, with the characteristic distressed visual elements Razer incorporates into almost all their graphic design. It’s a box design that definitely appeals to the gamer in me.

The back of the carton lists the sound card’s features and technical specifications in ten different languages, and provides a detail view of the sound card along with numbered points that identify some notable features.

Lifting the top reveals Razer’s enigmatic three-serpent logo and even more inky black blackness; this is one of the most tastefully-packaged sound cards I think I’ve ever encountered. Even the inside of the box is black – it’s great. Lifting away this second layer of cardboard reveals the box’s contents, neatly packed in their respective wells of a pressed cellulose-fiber tray. I find that these trays are becoming more commonplace in product packaging as manufacturers turn to more environmentally-conscious alternatives to Styrofoam.

The AC-1 card itself is wrapped in an anti-static bag and nestled in one of the wells of the internal tray. The card itself features a striking black powder-coated rear cover, black PCB, and a large metal enclosure that covers most of the card. I’ll explain more about this later. The Razer Fidelity chipset is exposed, however.

Also included with the Barracuda AC-1 is a dongle that plugs into the back of the card and offers full 7.1 connectivity. You’ll need this if you aren’t using Razer’s matching Barracuda HP-1 headphones. A CD with drivers is provided, and Razer also supplies a quick-start guide and a more detailed “Master” guide.

Conspicuously absent on Razer’s web site are any technical specifications. The ‘specs’ page is actually a “features and benefits” affair, without much that can be included here. In this section, I typically try to bring you some numbers, but they aren’t to be found, which is a disappointment. I hope Razer will come to understand that gamers care about image, but PC enthusiasts also care about numbers. These specifications were taken from Newegg.com and my own research.