Surround Gaming Headphone Advice

etherd

etherd

etherd

Associate
Joined
15 Aug 2012
Posts
59
Hello people, looking for a new pair of over ear headphones, mainly for gaming.
As they are for gaming looking for a pair that have good 3D positioning. Im given to understand that headphones with true 5.1 often lack quality and the better option is to go for a good pair of stereo headphones and use virtual surround.
So my questions are; How do i know if my sound card (E-mu 0404 supports virtual surround) or is virtual surround controlled by something else?
Could someone possibly explain this to me and how this translates to actual headphones as i feel this is important:
Normally, when listening to audio (either music or movies) using headphones, the sound seems to originate from within your head, which is unnatural. Dolby Headphone, SRS Headphone and SRS CS Headphone, Yamaha Silent Cinema and Smyth Research employ technologies that not only gives the listener an enveloping sound, but removes it from within listener's head and places the sound field in the front and side space around the head, which is more like listening to a regular speaker-based surround sound system.
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Any help or advice you could give would be much appreciated,
thanks
 
etherd said:
Hello people, looking for a new pair of over ear headphones, mainly for gaming.
As they are for gaming looking for a pair that have good 3D positioning. Im given to understand that headphones with true 5.1 often lack quality and the better option is to go for a good pair of stereo headphones and use virtual surround.
So my questions are; How do i know if my sound card (E-mu 0404 supports virtual surround) or is virtual surround controlled by something else?
Could someone possibly explain this to me and how this translates to actual headphones as i feel this is important:

Any help or advice you could give would be much appreciated,
thanks
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The quality is only lost with stereo sound being played through the 5.1 headset. A decent 5.1 set has no problems and they are exceptional at positional audio. Virtual surround stereo headphones have the advantage of good stereo play back and if they are decent then you can get good positional. Decent sets of each are not cheap, but you get what you pay for. I use Tritton 510 (which were replaced by the AX Pro) headphones and they are perfect for gaming.
 
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Yeah read some good things about the Ax pros. So a pair like astro a40s support Dolby Pro Logic IIx, is this completly reliant on the headphones or is my soundcard responsible for supporting this?
 
etherd said:
Yeah read some good things about the Ax pros. So a pair like astro a40s support Dolby Pro Logic IIx, is this completly reliant on the headphones or is my soundcard responsible for supporting this?
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I believe the Astro A40 is USB only which means it manages the sound and not your sound card.
 
The ax pros usb too? Going back to what you said about you get what you pay for, the a40s weigh in at £200 the ax's at £170. I mean i know sound quality but how do you think they would compare to something like: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Plantronics...2Y52/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1355069062&sr=8-2
I mean there must be something that lets them down comapred to the tritton and astro, but it gets a lot of good reviews dolby 7.1 etc..any thoughts?
 
Your sound card doesnt have any kind of virtual surround.

With true 5.1 headsets quality is going to suffer no matter what you play through it, think of what is happening, you are putting 4 drivers into a space where only 1 should be.

MY thoughts are you should pick a budget, because the two headsets you have discussed are way different in price! :-)
 
With true 5.1 headsets quality is going to suffer no matter what you play through it, think of what is happening, you are putting 4 drivers into a space where only 1 should be.
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Very true thanks for putting it into perspective. But can virtual compete with true?
MY thoughts are you should pick a budget, because the two headsets you have discussed are way different in price! :-)
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Yeah, im trying to decide whether to go all out and get an expensive pair of a40s (or equivalent) or slum it with a pair Plantronics Gamecom 780...hmmm
 
AX Pro is USB as well.

As with most 5.1 systems you have a dedicated subwoofer and set of 5 small speakers. The headset has a similar setup with 4 speakers in each ear and 1 of those is a subwoofer. Positional is known not to be as accurate with virtual but you can get good systems with a good budget. Sound quality, i have no complaints with true 5.1. It has the full speaker range and expensive sets have good speakers in there. It is obvious why the cost of those setups can rack up because you're getting more speakers in each ear. They are big cans too to hold the speakers.
 
You want the best sound positioning for gaming under £200?

Get a new sound card, and then get the Audio Technica AD 700 headphones. Heck the sound stage is so good on the AD700's that you probably don't need to turn on any virtual software at all!!

If I was getting a headset only, I would just slum it with the gamecom 780's.
 
melmac said:
Your sound card doesnt have any kind of virtual surround.

With true 5.1 headsets quality is going to suffer no matter what you play through it, think of what is happening, you are putting 4 drivers into a space where only 1 should be.

MY thoughts are you should pick a budget, because the two headsets you have discussed are way different in price! :-)
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Very true, the cans are quite big on the decent true systems and they have the full speaker range and dedicated speakers for each channel so it is swings and roundabouts for each. None is better than the other, they just excel in different areas. Arguably filtering the low bass of the speakers and sending that to the sub means the quality can exceed and clarity in particular.
 
Get a new sound card
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Unfortunatley i use the 0404 a lot for audio production which is its main use and what its good at - dont want another. How do i determine if headphones have a large soundstage?
Are Audio Technica AD 700 true or virtual? Also according to head-fi the Audio-Technica ATH-M50S out perform the ad700s.
Was also looking at corsair vengeance 1500, any thoughts?
 
melmac said:
Sorry but yes, with regard to everything. Sound quality and positioning.
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Positioning is limited but sound quality is better. The tiamat i linked to above is a true surround headset that is regarded one of the best out there. I have since tried a virtual headset (this weekend) it is good but still not precise.
 
etherd said:
Unfortunatley i use the 0404 a lot for audio production which is its main use and what its good at - dont want another. How do i determine if headphones have a large soundstage?
Are Audio Technica AD 700 true or virtual? Also according to head-fi the Audio-Technica ATH-M50S out perform the ad700s.
Was also looking at corsair vengeance 1500, any thoughts?
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From a purely gaming point of view the AD700's are better. The ATH-M50's are probably better for music with better bass. But, it depends on what you are looking for, music or gaming? The ATH M50's have better bass. The AD700's lack a bit of bass, they are still punchy but their main strength is the amazing sound stage, it's HUGE!!!!!!!! Which means you will have no problem hearing people sneak up behind you. Hell you will have no problem hearing them sneak up behind you from two fields away :p

Your sound card won't work in all games, but I guess you know that already. I understand you dont want another card, but you are talking about paying huge money for a usb headset with a built in sound card. You could buy a sound card and the AD700's for less than the cost the A40's.

As for the Corsair vengence 1500, sorry don't know much about them. They use virtual 7.1. The trouble is, I don't know too many games that support 7.1 to begin with. You ain't going to notice a difference between 5.1 and 7.1 unless the game supports it. The same applies to the gamecom 780 but at least they are nearly £30 cheaper. :)
 
True about 7.1 sound, Left4dead and CS plus some others support it. Not all games yet, you don't have to choose 7.1 virtual or true, there is 5.1. Also interesting to note that despite this the 7.1 sets do get excellent reviews (virtual or true).
 
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