Xonar dx 7.1 woes

If you're using official Asus drivers and a 5.1 headset I'd recommend switching to the UNi Xonar drivers instead as Asus's drivers make the rear and front speakers out of sync, this doesn't have an effect with distanced speakers, but with headphones they make the echo-y effect you describe.
 
Creative I-Trigue 3300 sound echoey
roccat kaves sound echoey
pair or sony in ear buds sound echoey
Panasonic RP-HTF295 Headphones sound echoey

Despite my ample attemps at altering settings i still get the same problems
 
Auraomega said:
If you're using official Asus drivers and a 5.1 headset I'd recommend switching to the UNi Xonar drivers instead as Asus's drivers make the rear and front speakers out of sync, this doesn't have an effect with distanced speakers, but with headphones they make the echo-y effect you describe.
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Could you link me to something about these drivers if your in the know about them?

will give anything a try at the minute
 
You sure you have connected the floppy drive power connector properly? They really need pushing on hard.
 
OK sorted this now re-installed the driver and got everything set-up nice

roccat caves and AVP = "Scary Much"

Also i see a lot of people banging on about dolby vs 5.1 headsets i've sat here and tried both and can honestly say with the caves in game they are much better.

Directional cues are excellent to the extent where half the time i'm no longer looking at a map to locate enemies. Crysis warhead is really good for directional cues and the terrifying sound of the movement scanner in AVP is very scary.

And i tried a lot of setting with Dolby headphone including dh1-dh2-dh3 and i couldn't get nowhere near the sound of the caves for in game. the dolbys are good for music and do give nice bass but in game compared to the 5.1 they just don't cut it
 
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Uriel said:
What headphones did you test Dolby Headphone with?
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The same ones all you lot seem to recommend goldring ns-1000's.

don't get me wrong they sound good for music but for gaming they aren't a patch on the caves.

and i do like the ANR on them but other than that i really don't think they are that special.

Maybe i just have good ears for 5.1 headsets lol

*edit* i'm trying to find some sort of game benchmark thats 5.1 that i can use to compare against the dolby headphones again. playing the same scene over and over with each pair would really let me hear the difference even more. If you can think of any that show off dolby headphone and let me know so i can give it a try.
 
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One suggestion for somewhere I think Dolby Headphone gives much more natural positioning is where things are at the edge of your screen but still in front of you. In this situation Dolby Headphone places things correctly where as 5.1 headphones generally have them off to the sides.

A good example is the cut scene in Bioshock immediately after your character has his first injection. Dolby Headphone places the characters in the cut scene well. With 5.1 headphones they sound off to the sides.

I think both Dolby Headphone and 5.1 headphones can do a reasonable job of placing stuff behind and to the sides. It's mainly when there's a visual reference that you realise how inaccurate 5.1 headphones are.

Also think about the soundstage. Do you get a sense of the space directly in front of you with the Kaves. Is there perceptable distance there? Where is the sound coming from: inside your head or out of it?

Also - you've checked the Xonar setting for Dolby Headphone right? Speakers set to headphones, Dolby Headphone on (DH1, DH2 or DH3 as per your preference), channels set to 6 or 8, game set to 5.1 or 7.1 to match channels...
 
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yup done all that i just found metro 2033 has an in built benchmark lots of shooting etc etc theres definately a sound of distance with the kaves example a barrel is blown up quite far away and it sounds as tho it was far away it then gradually bounces from front left and stops to your right the kaves really pick it up well. there also fly bys of gun turrets where the sound will almost flow through you. i'm not getting that same sense with dolby headphone.

How far in is that bioshock cut scene cause i'd have to start a new game to try it
 
Only a few minutes. It's practically the first thing you do once you get down into Rapture. It's early enough to make the demo.

May also be worth mentioning that the NS1000s didn't particularly impress me when I first heard them. I tried them and put them away for gaming, in favour of other heaphones. Later on they blew me away though. May have been burn in.

Edit: Could also be that the Dolby Headphone HRTF doesn't agree with you though. As for sound going through you - I suspect it's nothing a little EQ wouldn't sort.
 
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Uriel said:
Only a few minutes. It's practically the first thing you do once you get down into Rapture. It's early enough to make the demo.

May also be worth mentioning that the NS1000s didn't particularly impress me when I first heard them. I tried them and put them away for gaming, in favour of other heaphones. Later on they blew me away though. May have been burn in.

Edit: Could also be that the Dolby Headphone HRTF doesn't agree with you though. As for sound going through you - I suspect it's nothing a little EQ wouldn't sort.
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yeah i found the scene your first plasmid i just listened to the whole scene then did the bit through the water (where it breaks through the dome) did some turning etc etc to test both the dolby and 5.1 and the 5.1 was much more pleasurable.i set the dolby to dh-2, 6 channels, and setting in game to 5.1. The kaves where just much more defined for me.

Is it possible my ears just work better with 5.1 headsets than they do with dolby headphones. It's just confusing cause i see people on here saying the difference is night and day between dolby and 5.1.
 
I really liked DH when I first got it, for all of about an week then the novelty wore out. I don't get on with it as much as everyone else raves about, it's all just perception at the end of the day.
 
Personally I find dolby headphone a pile of **** (most swears fit in that gap, take your pick).

They say it mixes up the channels, reducing fatigue. I say it sounds echoey and artificial. I like hearing it as intended. No DSP's, no mess.
 
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