New headphones question.

Calranthe

Calranthe

Calranthe

Associate
Joined
5 Oct 2007
Posts
620
Hi,
I've had the roccat kave for awhile but am thinking of getting the:
Sennheiser PC 360 Gaming Headset

I know the quality will be very good my only concern is positional audio, I play a lot of left4dead etc and you really notice directional with the kave etc.

Anyone got experience of these or high quality sennheiser gaming headsets compared to surround sound headsets
 
This is just my opinion, but I think the P360's are a ridiculous price for a headset. I think they are likely to sound good, but £150 is audiophile headphone price territory. For that money, they had better be something special.

The 360's are stereo, that goes for the 330's and 350's also. If you don't have a sound card or onboard audio with surround sound virtualisation, namely, CMSS 3D found on Creative X-Fi sound cards or Dolby Headphone, you won't get positional sound.

Are you using onboard audio, or a sound card with your Kave's? If motherboard, which one do you have?
 
Ah! ok. :)

Then you have Dolby Headphone. If you are unsure how Dolby Headphone works, it uses algorithms and audio cues to trick the brain into thinking the sound is coming from a specific location using just stereo headphones or headset. With 5.1 headphones like the Kave's, they use multiple drivers in each ear cup, so they will work with any sound device that has 5.1 analogue output, unless they are the USB type, that have their own built in sound processing. 5.1 headphones do get quite a bit of stick from a few people on here, me included. I think if one has a sound card or onboard audio that has Dolby Headphone, or CMSS 3D in Creative's case, and decent stereo headphones or headset, it's a better combination than 5.1 multiple driver headphones. Some don't think so though, and are adamant 5.1 headphones are true surround sound, and better than virtual.

There have been quite a few users who have gone from 5.1 headphones, to a gaming sound card and a stereo headset or headphones, and are glad they did so, finding that Dolby Headphone or CMSS 3D, is more accurate, and provides better sound quality.

I have an X-Fi, which uses CMSS 3D and stereo headphones. I also play L4D, and find the positional sound is great and works very well. I also have a Xonar in my media PC, which has Dolby Headphone, same as your D2X. I don't use it for gaming, but I have tried it with L4D a few time, just to see what Dolby Headphone is like, and again using my headphones, the positional sound is great.

One big difference between 5.1 headphones and stereo headphones is the sound quality. As 5.1 headphones use multiple drivers, it's common sense the drivers in a decent pair of stereo headphones or headset will be of better quality than of those found in 5.1 headphones. To use more drivers, they will have to be cheaper, and thus sound quality will suffer. A decent pair of stereo headphones/headset will have better dynamic range, which will produce better highs and lows.

I think it would be best to get some more opinions of the PC360's, whether at OCuk or another site first, if you are considering them. They are a hefty chunk of cash for a headset. Best to find out first if the price is justified.
 
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Ohh well sorry to jump on but i was actually thinking of getting the Roccat Kave lol.. uhh they not all that good for the price then? if not what headphones should i be thinking about for that price? not really a audiophille so not looking at the super expensive ones but ones good enough for gaming online with some decentish quality audio.
 
makamiso said:
Ohh well sorry to jump on but i was actually thinking of getting the Roccat Kave lol.. uhh they not all that good for the price then? if not what headphones should i be thinking about for that price? not really a audiophille so not looking at the super expensive ones but ones good enough for gaming online with some decentish quality audio.
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The Roccat Kave is a wonderful set of headphones and the clarity of sound etc in games is pretty amazing, i've recommended them to a lot of friends and never looked back so i'd go for them and yes they are wonderful for the price.

Personally I do a lot of the tech upgrading and advice for about 20 game players so whenever i'm in a position to upgrade an item rather than replace it I try to do just that its not that what I had was bad I just like to test out new things.
 
I was just thinking of positional sound when gaming, whether it be 5.1/7.1 headphones, or stereo headphones + gaming sound card, which made me wonder how many people just use plain stereo, not because they don't know of positional sound, but more because they just don't like it. Friend of mine uses plain stereo, so I let him play L4D when he came round once, with both CMSS 3D on the X-Fi and Dolby Headphone on the Xonar, it didn't grab him in the slightest. Some people just like plain stereo it seems for gaming, and can't be doing with this positional sound nonsense.

Personally, plain stereo doesn't sound right anymore. Not knowing where sounds are coming from is quite frustrating. Maybe it's like gaming at high res, if you go back to a lower res, you feel like you are missing out on part of the game being played. :)
 
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