is it worth investing in some gameing headphones

[Nelly]

Totally agree the HD595's are great for gaming as well as watching movies.

 

[Vinny1511]

Hi All,

Ive just read the content of the thread - I posted yesterday asking for some advice or alternatives to the Razer Megalodon. It seems that you guys dont rate the 5.1/7.1 surroundsound sets.....The advantage to the Megalodon is apprently, and i need validation on this - They have the 7.1 soundcard built into the control unit....

My Razer Barracuda just died a death and im looking for a headset for gaming/Music - I had my heart set on the Razer Megalodon. However, im willing to change. Can anyone suggest anything for gaming priced at around 100-130 quid ? I have an X-FI Xtreme Music if thats any help !

(TBH - I was very happy with the Barracuda's - I thought the sound quality was very very good. That said i have NEVER tried a set of Sen's)

Thoughts opinions requested !!

Thanks all,

-Vinny-

 

[-Ad-]

Hi Vinny.

Just seen the price of that megladon headset by razer, and I'm simply astonished at how much they charge for their top of the range stuff. I obviously haven't heard it but there is no way in hell they will sound better than some headphone sin that price range. You can get the sennheiser HD595 for under £100, and the better and stunning HD600 for £130ish which really are awesome.

On 7.1, I don't know how these headsets get the .1 from, they clearly don't have a massive subwoofer mounted inside, and it is pretty much impossible to get a centre speaker inside the headphones as they are either side of your head. So essentially these headsets are technically 4.0 or maybe even some sort of 6.0, or maybe even 8.0 if they just want to cram 8 little speakers in there.

Put it this way, if I strap 5 little speakers onto my head, will it make the positional capabilities of my ghetto headset better than some stereo headphones just because I have more speaker drivers. Add some crap marketing terms and fancy abbreviations, and hey presto I have produced a headset not that far away from the offerings of these pc peripheral manufacturers who seem to think they are sound engineers

Honestly a decent set of stereo headphones like the aformentioned senns will work in games just as well as some supposed 5.1 headset, and more likely better. They will sound more accurate because of the high quality drivers used, and will let you rediscover your music collection. Couple them with even a cheapy audigy 2ZS for example, and they will siound excellent.

Over the past year or so many people have been converted from headsets on here, and it brings a smile to my face that some of us have converted people, and those people now speak up on here as ex-headset users that are glad to have seen the light

What a ramble, hope I got my point across

 

[bledd]

Yeah you are right, what the hell was I thinking. Just as well you guys are here to blast down people with differing opinions eh?

opinion is something you can have to discuss somrthing

when the 'opinion' is wrong, it becomes void and a non-opinion.

 

[WJA96]

This thread is very interesting because it surely must have struck someone else that you are both right, and you actually need 2 sets of headphones for stereo listening and surround sound listening.

In my humble opinion, the only earspeakers worthy of the name are Stax. I have a set of Lambda IIs with the valve amplifier and you do get a decent 3D soundstage with them. But by definition, if you're listening in 2.0 on a PC you don't get the soundstage because there never was a soundstage to get. The reason there is a 3D soundstage on Songs for Swingin' Lovers is because the musicians were there in 3D and if you can properly reproduce the sounds recorded by the microphones you can hear where they were. You can't get that on a 2.0 soundtrack because it's entirely synthetic and it's mixed straight in.

So for gaming I have a set of Medusa 5.1s. The sound is horrid (especially the bass), but the 3d imaging is pretty decent BECAUSE it is synthetic. I want to hear behind me more than what's in front because I can see what's in front. So I have adjusted up the rear so I can hear that better.

That's why I like them over proper headphones. I don't want what the designer or producer gave me - I want (NEED!) as much advantage as I can get.

 

[Margaret]

I want to hear behind me more than what's in front because I can see what's in front. So I have adjusted up the rear so I can hear that better.

My HD595's do this, granted I can't turn the rear volume up or anything but you don't need to which speaks volumes for how great the surround effect is, it's so easy to distinguish between front, left, center, rear right, rear left.

Set games to 5.1 and use Dolby Headphone and jobs done, sounds way better than the Medusa's "5.1", at least then you can have the best of both worlds. (great imaging, great sound quality)

 

[WJA96]

My HD595's do this, granted I can't turn the rear volume up or anything but you don't need to which speaks volumes for how great the surround effect is, it's so easy to distinguish between front, left, center, rear right, rear left.

Unless there is some magic going on that I'm unaware of, digital 2.0 audio is exactly that. You get the volume of left sound through the left speaker and the volume of right sound through the right speaker. There is no 'image' information. It's just not there I'm afraid. If you think about it, it can't be. The sounds you are hearing were not recorded through a microphone, they are being synthesized by the sound card and if the sound card thinks it only has 2 speakers, hence it divides the audio between 2 speakers.

Set games to 5.1 and use Dolby Headphone and jobs done, sounds way better than the Medusa's "5.1", at least then you can have the best of both worlds. (great imaging, great sound quality)

Again, if your headphones are only being driven through the left and right channels, it doesn't matter what you set the soundcard to, you can't get any of the other information because the jack plug only has left, right and negative so you are only hearing the left and right front channels.

 

[Nitrojan]

I'm another one for the HD555/HD595 option over 5.1's. No doubt about it - they are much better all round.

/thread

 

[WJA96]

I'm another one for the HD555/HD595 option over 5.1's. No doubt about it - they are much better all round.

/thread

You're imagination does you credit, but you're hearing signals that just are not there. Sorry. But that's how it is.

 

[Alexrose1uk]

You're imagination does you credit, but you're hearing signals that just are not there. Sorry. But that's how it is.

Actually its not quite that simple. Processes like Dolby headphone etc modify sections of the sound to simulate the effect sounds get when they are heard from behind etc. Sorry its not my speciality and its much more complicated than that, but effectively they modify sections of the original sounds to make it appear that the positioning has changed.

To give you a simple example. Say in reality, a sound behind you lends x effect to a clear sound. They have tried to analyse what this effect is on your sound, and then tried to find way to apply effect x to required sounds being played back.

It isn't always effective, but theres more to it than it sounds, as it uses sound modulation to simulate acoustic effects.

 

[Nitrojan]

You're imagination does you credit, but you're hearing signals that just are not there. Sorry. But that's how it is.

 

[WJA96]

OK - I'll try and explain it.

You have set your game to 5.1

You have plugged a 3.5mm jack plug in somewhere on the 5.1 or 7.1 soundcard.

What is the soundcard delivering to your headphones? The centre channel? The subwoofer? Who knows, but it definitely isn't sending an aggregate of all 6 or 8 surround sound channels. It would only do that if you had it set to 2.0 which is what you should be using with headphones. And even then, it just can't create a 3D soundstage because there was no soundstage to record from. HiFi means high fidelity, or faithful reproduction. In this case, you are hearing the sound live, so there is no soundstage to reproduce.

As I say, if you know any different, I'm quite prepared to listen.

 

[WJA96]

Actually its not quite that simple. Processes like Dolby headphone etc modify sections of the sound to simulate the effect sounds get when they are heard from behind etc. Sorry its not my speciality and its much more complicated than that, but effectively they modify sections of the original sounds to make it appear that the positioning has changed.

To give you a simple example. Say in reality, a sound behind you lends x effect to a clear sound. They have tried to analyse what this effect is on your sound, and then tried to find way to apply effect x to required sounds being played back.

It isn't always effective, but theres more to it than it sounds, as it uses sound modulation to simulate acoustic effects.

What have you plugged your headphones into and does the game have to support dolby? Which game is this in? I have my Earspeakers here and I am prepared to try anything if it's better.

 

[james.miller]

in two channel when you've got dolby headphone on, or cmms or whatever else does the same job, the encoder will lay the audio from the rear and center channels over the front channels - you hear everything. what they then do is use some clever algorythms to modulate/change the loudness ect of the audio from those channels to simulate what you'd hear if you were listning to 6 discreet channels. and for the most part it is pretty damn convincing at times.

WJA96 you are incredibly confident that you're right - have you ever actually used a pair of stereo headphones for gaming or are you just guessing?

 

[WJA96]

http://www.dolby.com/consumer/technology/headphone_works.html

Basically, it makes it up. Only on titles that support it, using soundcards that support it, and it only delivers 2 channels on stereo headphones. If you don't have 5.1 headphones, don't set the soundcard to 5.1.

I think I'll stick with being able to give myself ears in the back of my head by boosting up the rear channel

Sorry, but I count myself among the lucky few who are proper audiophiles and for gaming, I'll stick with my Medusa 5.1s.

 

[Alexrose1uk]

What have you plugged your headphones into and does the game have to support dolby? Which game is this in? I have my Earspeakers here and I am prepared to try anything if it's better.

I've used systems like this plugged into AVR and X-Fi cards, Xonar also support Dolby Headphone I believe. These effects aren't game dependant, as they modify the signal being intended for the speakers; similar to some of the audio effects some AVR amps apply to try and provide extra atmosphere when running 2/5.1 tracks by adding delay, reverb, volume changes etc.

James is talking about the same system I was trying to explain. Depending on what you're listening to and your headphones depends on how effective they are, but sometimes as james says they do definately change the atmosphere of the sound.

And you're effectively wrong, systems like CMSS and AVR versions are designed to work on headphones regardless of the signal input, and don't require game support. Some games have additional support for thier own versions, but some soundcards also have systems which simulate this effect, its just different ways of applying the sound modifications, Dolby Headphone is only one of them, and can be supported by the game in particular via software, or via hardware/software in your sound output.

 

[james.miller]

What is Dolby Headphone?

Dolby Headphone™ is a new and powerful digital signal processing (DSP) algorithm that simulates the acoustic soundscape of a 5.1-channel home theater surround sound loudspeaker system through the use of an ordinary pair of stereo headphones. Dolby Headphone potentially works with any multi-channel program source, from Dolby Digital encoded DVD-Video discs, to Dolby Surround Pro-Logic encoded Hi-Fi VHS tapes, to high-resolution multi-channel DVD-Audio discs.

Dolby Headphone allows the listener to enjoy a simulated
5.1-channel home theater system with
an ordinary pair of stereo headphones.Any pair of stereo headphones will work.

With Dolby Headphone, any multi-channel audio source can be converted into a special 2-channel Dolby Headphone soundtrack. The trick is that the two-channel Dolby Headphone soundtrack contains audio signals that have been manipulated to include sonic spatial cues and ambient information that trick our ears into believing that we're listening to a real multi-channel home theater loudspeaker system. The best analogy is that it's like watching a 3-D movie. The Dolby Headphone soundtrack is analogous to the 3-D encoded image and the special 3-D glasses that trick our eyes into believing that we're seeing a three-dimensional picture.

http://www.timefordvd.com/tutorial/DolbyHeadphone.shtml

no it doesnt just make it up if its fed a multi channel signal. it'll only make it up if its recieving stereo 2 channel.

audiophiles and for gaming, I'll stick with my Medusa 5.1s

Honestly, audiophile and medusa 5.1's dont belong in the same sentance.

 

[WJA96]

WJA96 you are incredibly confident that you're right - have you ever actually used a pair of stereo headphones for gaming or are you just guessing?

Well, here's the thing. I used to use a decent set of AKG headphones (they were my day-to-day cans before I got the Stax) for gaming, but I switched to the Medusa 5.1s after trying them out on a friends system. By being able to manipulate the amount of sound I hear from behind, I get a better result in games. And as I say, if you can suggest a game and a set of settings to try out, I'll happily have a listen.

And, on my USB units, there are 4 drivers in each earpiece, not 3 as mentioned by someone above.

Rear/Centre speakers: dia. 30mm x 2; 32Ω 20Hz-20kHz
Front speaker: dia. 40mm x 2; 64Ω 20Hz-20kHz
Subwoofer: dia. 32mm x 2; 8 Ω 20Hz-20kHz

You need to massively boost up the bass on the rear channels and on the original 5.1 headsets with 3.5mm jack plugs, this was a pain in the backside because when you switched back to speakers, it sounded wierd. But, when used with the dedicated USB soundcard supplied this is no longer an issue.

You must set them up though. If you just listen to them out of the box, there is very little benefit.

 

[WJA96]

no it doesnt just make it up if its...s good cans for hifi and 5.1 cans for gaming.

 

[james.miller]

It's using 2-channel with a 2-channel output, so it's making it up.

no it isnt. you can set up a game to output 5.1 to the soundcard even if the soundcard outputs stereo, thats the whole point of being able to use dolby headphone and cmss.