is it worth investing in some gameing headphones

[Margaret]

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.

Well it does matter what I set my soundcard too, as Dolby Headphone makes a noticeable difference to what the sound is like with it off.

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.

This.

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

I've turned around after hearing Zombies behind me on Left 4 Dead many, many times, there is a very noticeable difference between what's in front and behind of you.

 

[pby]

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.



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.

You can use signal processing to delay audio on one side to create depth in audio. You'll all sorts of processing done with directsound which are used through out games.

Besides what are the advantages of earspeakers? they're simply mimicing crosstalk between the speaker drivers on headphones. as for reproducing soundstage, how exactly do you reproduce soundstage of modern pop/rock music when everything is closed mic'd in your face.
Of course theres binaural recordings and classical music but ultimately they are only stereo recordings.

That also raises a question, is sound really 3D? all the sound systems reproduce the audio on a flat plan and theres absolutely information or indication of height.

 

[Cobertizo]

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.

What format are you listening to this on? CD? Vinyl? Unless you are listening on some remastered 5.1 version then you are enjoying this in two channel stereo. The perceived 3D nature of the recording will be down to clever mic placing, mixing and (especially for ambient mics) the interaction of sounds with the environment in which it was recorded.

And you can do that with any synthetic recording too, in theory... (Clearly there won't be a "real life" sound stage, but you can use reverb etc to pretend.)

 

[p4radox]

I don't see the point in having so many drivers so close to your ears.

In real life, you can position a sound by detecting the minute differences in the time the sound is picked up by each of your two ears. You can also do this with a pair of stereo headphones, by one ear's signal being slightly delayed relative to the other. Surely having 4 drivers on each ear just means you can play a different track through each one. I'd have thought the same effect could be acheived by simply superposing the multiple tracks, and playing them through a high quality single driver on each ear.

 

[WJA96]

You can use signal processing to delay audio on one side to create depth in audio. You'll all sorts of processing done with directsound which are used through out games.

Yes? But how is 2 channels better than 6?

Besides what are the advantages of earspeakers? they're simply mimicing crosstalk between the speaker drivers on headphones. as for reproducing soundstage, how exactly do you reproduce soundstage of modern pop/rock music when everything is closed mic'd in your face.
Of course theres binaural recordings and classical music but ultimately they are only stereo recordings.

I think you're getting confused. I use the Earspeakers for listening to music. And the Medusa 5.1s for gaming. And I purposely used the properly recorded Frank Sinatra album Songs for Swingin' Lovers because it is widely recognised as having a proper soundstage to it. If you want something a bit more modern, try "Tinseltown in the Rain" by The Blue Nile on Linn Records.

That also raises a question, is sound really 3D? all the sound systems reproduce the audio on a flat plan and theres absolutely information or indication of height.

No. Stereo reproduced sound is, as you state, a 2D medium that your brain interprets as 3D. BUT! And this is the big but, if you have more than 2 speakers, some of which are behind you, then it becomes a 3D medium. That's why I keep saying - Stereo for music, 5.1 for games.

 

[WJA96]

What format are you listening to this on? CD? Vinyl? Unless you are listening on some remastered 5.1 version then you are enjoying this in two channel stereo. The perceived 3D nature of the recording will be down to clever mic placing, mixing and (especially for ambient mics) the interaction of sounds with the environment in which it was recorded.

Yes!

And you can do that with any synthetic recording too, in theory... (Clearly there won't be a "real life" sound stage, but you can use reverb etc to pretend.)

Yes, but this is BF2142 we're talking about. Straightforward 5.1 is so much simpler to process and understand. It sounds like it's behind you because in many ways, it is. And if you wantto boost just the rear, then you can. And I do.

 

[Fubsy]

The drivers aren't behind you though in 5.1 headphones.

So what you are saying is pointless.

They are eaither side of your head just like stereo headphones, it's about how your ears perceive the sound, and stereo headphones (not all, grado's are rubbish for me with games) will still enable you to tell where the sound is coming from (infront, behind, side). If you can't do that with stereo headphones then your ears are broke tbh.

 

[-Ad-]

Well I guess my £7 koss ksc75 are doing some mumbo jumbo, as they have one hell of a soundstage for L4D.

Trying to put stax into the equation isn't really fair as they cost an awful lot of money, including a valve amp to go with them. For example my grados were £150 and my millett max hybrid was about £200 to build, positively budget compared to a stax system.

My grados are much better with the amp, but still not that good because of their headstage. A good set of senns with a valve amp, or even a SS amp are ace for gaming.

 

[WJA96]

The drivers aren't behind you though in 5.1 headphones.

They are behind the front and centres.

So what you are saying is pointless.

If you say so...

They are eaither side of your head just like stereo headphones, it's about how your ears perceive the sound, and stereo headphones (not all, grado's are rubbish for me with games) will still enable you to tell where the sound is coming from (infront, behind, side). If you can't do that with stereo headphones then your ears are broke tbh.

Well, they work for me, in games. Broken ears or not.

I would really like to know who has actually tried a pair of USB Medusa 5.1s back to back with an equivalently priced set of stereo headphones (£60), in a FPS like BF2142. I'll bet it's very few of those posting on here.

And I still hold by original statement. For music and games you want 2 different pairs of headphones.

 

[WJA96]

Well I guess my £7 koss ksc75 are doing some mumbo jumbo, as they have one hell of a soundstage for L4D.

Trying to put stax into the equation isn't really fair as they cost an awful lot of money, including a valve amp to go with them. For example my grados were £150 and my millett max hybrid was about £200 to build, positively budget compared to a stax system.

My grados are much better with the amp, but still not that good because of their headstage. A good set of senns with a valve amp, or even a SS amp are ace for gaming.

The only reason I mentioned my Stax was to demonstrate that I know a little bit about headphones and spatial imaging. Sadly, most of the people posting on here will never get to try a pair and I suspect that even if they did they wouldn't like them, as they don't really do pounding bass at all well. Big rumbly explosions, they're good for that, certainly, but if I want to know who is creeping up behind me, I'll the one wearing the Medusa 5.1's.

 

[_lecro_]

iv recently brought a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer 7.1 Sound Card and i have it hooked up to my hi-fi system with 4 speakers placed around my room my music play back is amazing am just wondering is it worth investing in some gaming head phone like the creative set, http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...eative Fatal1ty Gaming Headset (51MZ0310AA001)

at that price am very tempted to try it out just wondering if its worth bothering
main games i play are COD4, left for dead, doom 3, fallout 3

Ive got the Fatality X-Fi Titanium and those Fatality headphones..
and id yes defo worth it.. cod4 and cod:waw sound mint but BF2 is best with EAX and ultra high settings enabled
im sure any other EAX game would be just as good.
Oh and most important comfortable and a good mike

 

[Margaret]

but if I want to know who is creeping up behind me, I'll the one wearing the Medusa 5.1's.

Medusa's rear speakers were bloomin' horrible.

 

[WJA96]

Medusa's rear speakers were bloomin' horrible.

Ah - so you could pick them out then - that at least confirms I'm not alone in being able to pick out the drivers independently. Thanks for confirming that.

And I don't disagree, they're not very good. But because I can independently adjust the rears I get the advantage I'm after.

If they don't work for you, then no worries. I'm just making the recommendation based on what works for me.

 

[Fubsy]

They are behind the front and centres.

But the point I was making is that they aren't behind your head or infront of your head, so therefore the sounds IS NOT coming from behind or infront of you, just from a different speaker playing a different sound track from your left or right.

This is a silly argument, as the only winners will be companies that make the turd 5.1 headsets.

Surely the likes of Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic, AKG, Grado etc know a tad slight more about sound and how it's perceived than the likes of Razor, Speedlink and Zalman.

And yes I've used Medusa's for extended periods of time, I was one of the first to use them when they were barely heard of.

 

[pby]

Yes? But how is 2 channels better than 6?

I didn't say it was better than 6, you argued that theres no "image" on a stereo setup.

Its funny that claimed to be a proper audiophile, yet earlier you say you use a valve amp which probably colours the sound. Aren't you supposed to reproduce the sound as faithfully as possible?

 

[WJA96]

Its funny that claimed to be a proper audiophile, yet earlier you say you use a valve amp which probably colours the sound. Aren't you supposed to reproduce the sound as faithfully as possible?

Of course. How silly of me to venture an opinion contrary to the generally held concensus on here. I wish you the good fortune to be able to hear what I can hear, and the ability to appreciate it. Coloured or not.

 

[Margaret]

Ah - so you could pick them out then - that at least confirms I'm not alone in being able to pick out the drivers independently. Thanks for confirming that.

And I don't disagree, they're not very good. But because I can independently adjust the rears I get the advantage I'm after.

If they don't work for you, then no worries. I'm just making the recommendation based on what works for me.

I can pick them out yeah, just turn your back on gunshots and suddenly the sound quality hits rock bottom and so does the bass. I find that mighty annoying and distracting when gaming.

I don't really see the need for adjusting the rears, at least not with my 595's as it really is very easy to tell where sound is coming from, but I suppose you wouldn't really know that without trying them yourself.

 

[-Ad-]

The only reason I mentioned my Stax was to demonstrate that I know a little bit about headphones and spatial imaging. Sadly, most of the people posting on here will never get to try a pair and I suspect that even if they did they wouldn't like them, as they don't really do pounding bass at all well. Big rumbly explosions, they're good for that, certainly, but if I want to know who is creeping up behind me, I'll the one wearing the Medusa 5.1's.

All I remember from the stax I heard over a year ago was that they were just lovely. Heard soo many headphone and amp combos that day and the only detailed one I remember was the HD650 out of a monster setup, and the alessandro MS1s which were amazing.

You're right there that they wouldn't give you the deep rumbly explosions etc etc, but I would rather havea decent pair of senns or beyers giving me an enjoyable sound for gaming with great positional accuracy, than some horrible sound from some medusas which I can't remember being that amazing for surround sound. I'm used to the stereo sound and find it perfectly adequate with the headphones I use to tell exactly where people are in games like css, and helps me get some nice pre-fires in as I come around a corner.

 

[Infam0us]

imo I've only used the Medusa 5.1 with my Soundblaster X-Fi with all the jacks plugged in in the back. And in games I can hear better than my clanmates and do things like follow their footsteps through walls (Been accusing of wallhacking because of it lol) and music sounds good when I switch it to 5.1 mode in my X-Fi console. But for games I have to use Headphone mode otherwise far away sounds get confused with closer ones for some reason. But even in headphone mode I can still hear exactly where someone is, whereas my clanmates tell me they can't hear my footsteps at all. I don't claim to say Medusa are the best, but for what I use them for they have won me many clanmatches simply because I can hear the enemy better than they can hear me.

 

[-Ad-]

You should try some stereo headphones then, then i doubt you wold go back to your medusas. many on here have done just that, just search for the 'I want a headset threads' and you will see what I mean.