Broken medusa 5.1 - what now?

gearoi

gearoi

gearoi

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21 Aug 2006
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Dear all,

After some detective work, I think the amp on my speedlink medusa 5.1 headset has gone - it won't pass through a left front speaker signal to the headset or even to my speakers now, and it's developed a "click, click, click, clicking" noise in the background which it didn't used to have.

My options seem to be:

a) Try to get a replacement amp from speedlink/medusa (I've emailed them but no reply as yet)

b) Buy a replacement set (a bit annoying - they were only £40 when I bought them and a replacement (with pass through for the speakers) is now £60!)

c) Go for an alternative. I really LOVE the 5.1 for gaming - CS:S and unreal tournament - it's useful as well as fun. Are there any others that match up? Or can somebody persuade me that the stereo ones are better? Good luck to them if they can ;)

- Or what else can I do???

Thanks for your thoughts.

Gear
 
PS - I've heard the USB version of the medusas is rubbish compared to the ones that use your sound card - does anybody know how that's been tested?
 
The Medusa's for that price are rubbish any way you look at it.

Have a quick search for similar topics, I see someone asking about headphones for games every week so there should be plenty.

Have a look at some Sennheiser's (not used them myself but people are always prasing them), AKG's, Goldring, Beyerdynamics and Audio Technica's.

PS. I had a pair of Medusa's for 2 years :p
 
Last edited:
Dyson said:
I had a pair of Medus'a for over a year, so im not from the usual "5.1 headphones are a waste of time" group, however, I can't reccomend the 161's from Sennheiser enough.

You still get very good sound positioning, nice and comfy, and cheap too if you look around. Got mine for £30 on special from OcUK.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SP-024-SN&groupid=702&catid=1058&subcat=502
Click to expand...


Wow - they say on the blurb that they are 360 degree surround sound things - that sounds pretty damn good. Good to see praise for them too..

However - how do you plug them in? At the moment I've got some THX amazing (albeit 4.1) Altec Lansing speakers and I like to be able to switch between speakers and headset pretty easily - do they have that function or what else can I do?

And - how on earth does this sound positioning work in English? Sounds weird... :rolleyes: :confused: :)
 
gearoi said:
Wow - they say on the blurb that they are 360 degree surround sound things - that sounds pretty damn good. Good to see praise for them too..

However - how do you plug them in? At the moment I've got some THX amazing (albeit 4.1) Altec Lansing speakers and I like to be able to switch between speakers and headset pretty easily - do they have that function or what else can I do?
Click to expand...


Just 2 plugs, mic and headphone on the 161's. Ive got a stereo splitter for mine (run the 161's and speakers).




gearoi said:
And - how on earth does this sound positioning work in English? Sounds weird... :rolleyes: :confused: :)
Click to expand...



Got no idea, it just works:D
 
Cool - what sort of splitter did you get? There are so many damn cables in the world, and I always seem to buy the wrong ones! ;)

I must be a cable noob.
 
gearoi said:
Cool - what sort of splitter did you get? There are so many damn cables in the world, and I always seem to buy the wrong ones! ;)

I must be a cable noob.
Click to expand...

Sorry it took a while, had to find an image as I couldn't link:) Looks like this, got mine for about £2.50.



05004.jpg
 
Cool!!! That's extremely straightforward and I can feel myself about to push that buy button at oc (as soon as they get some cans back in stock mind... :( )

Thanks for that!!!

The geek in me would still like to know how they work but I bet I can look that up on their webbie. Ta.
 
I managed to get my medusa' to work for about another week becuase I found a cable loose. But now it's come back so I might well have to buy again...

Question - aren't those Senn 161's really small and sit on your ears? I've got used to my big medusa muffs and I kinda like it.

I basically want this:

1 - Big muffs (lol)
2 - Directional sound (5.1 or whatever the tech I don't care)
3 - An inbuilt microphone - no way I'm using a desk mic
4 - NOT USB - I have a 5.1 soundcard output I'm happy with
5 - About 40-80 quid, so long as good value

BUT - I'm prepared to admit the medusa sound quality isn't perfect - I know nothing about the AKG's, Goldring, Beyerdynamics or Audio Technica's I'm afraid. If anyone here does and can recommend a particular set I'd be happy to look at that. Or are there Senn's with big muffs?

Ta,
Gear
 
Yep, search in Google for Sennheiser 555 or 595.

Both stereo, but I found that good stereo headphones were more accurate for positioning than the Medusa's ever appeard to be so don't let that put you off.

Never owned a pair of Sennheisers myself, I've tried them but never got along with their particular sound for music, they are however very comfy.

Your choice if you don't want to use a desk mic, but you are wiping out almost all the good quality headphones right there with that limitation. I'm sure there are clip on ones for use with headphones.

Surely, comfort, sound quality and sound stage should be higher up on your list. All the other stuff is either not essential or gimmicky.
 
I got some Medusa's like yesterday, the 5.1 effect is pretty neat but I seem to have a lack of bass in the rear, going to see if there is a workaround.

However for Music I was rather let down they just aren't very good at all, for gaming and watching tv/movies they are pretty damn sweet (but that's irrelevant as I output to my 5.1 speakers and use the HDTV when I do that).
 
Jihad said:
I got some Medusa's like yesterday, the 5.1 effect is pretty neat but I seem to have a lack of bass in the rear, going to see if there is a workaround.

However for Music I was rather let down they just aren't very good at all, for gaming and watching tv/movies they are pretty damn sweet (but that's irrelevant as I output to my 5.1 speakers and use the HDTV when I do that).
Click to expand...

Use bass redirect on your soundcard. If it lets you set the frequency use 100 Hz.
 
Where can you try these headphones out do you think? I can't think of any shops that sell a good range of these headphones - and certainly none that'll let you try them out on mass...

Tchan - I got some of those splitters so I could still use my speakers - haven't noticed a reduction in sound quality myself, but the signal was already going through a medusa amp box so maybe it's comparable.

I'm not claiming to be a particular audiophile here though, so it depends on your preferences. I just can't see any difference.
 
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