7.1 v 5.1

[DJ85]

so I have just purchased some steelseries arctis 7’s.........and I have a 5.1 sound card does this mean there are channels not being used on my headset output?
Am I better getting a 7.1 sound card to get the most out of them or would I notice the difference. I notice a big difference in the headset I had before already, which was the steelseries prism v3’s.

Any advice much apppreciated

 

[rids57]

it has two speakers, one in each earpiece, so it's a "virtual" 7.1 anyway

 

[Marsman]

The 5.1 or 7.1 you see on sound cards is in reference to the physical connections for speakers. For a headset that would only be of relevance if the headset had multiple drivers, such as Roccat Kave or Razer Tiamat. The majority of headsets that have 7.1 use stereo drivers and algorithm to create surround sound, as rids57 said.

In any case, doesn't that headset use USB? Which makes any sound card irrelevant.