Medusa Headphones

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are these worth getting?

SpeedLink Medusa SL-8793 5.1 ProGamer Edition (SP-026-SL)

ive had surround sount headset before it was great till i stood on it by accident :mad:

i currently have audigy 2zs, was wondering will the sound quality be good in these medusa babies or is it worth dishing out another 70 quid and getting a x hifi?
 
the pro gamer edition is not worth the premium over the standard medusas.

if you want a surround headset, go for the standard, non USB ones.
 
devilkazuya said:
stay away from medusas, awful sound quality, and nearly as good at positioning as they claim to be.
Click to expand...

You used them? The USB one or the proper one with the converter box etc.

The full retail version of them is great, really comfy and brilliant sound, RMA if it isn't as that means there is something wrong with them. :)
 
InvaderGIR said:
You used them? The USB one or the proper one with the converter box etc.

The full retail version of them is great, really comfy and brilliant sound, RMA if it isn't as that means there is something wrong with them. :)
Click to expand...

yes i own a pair of them, the non usb one. Which is the better version of it. I am used to good sound quality, so awful sound quality headphones like the medusas stick out like a sore thumb.
 
Yeah, they don't have brilliant sound, not by a long way. I guess they're ok for games and the odd film, but music really shows up their deficiencies. Anyone who thinks they sound brilliant needs to try some quality headphones.

When I say quality I don't mean expensive, you can get some awesome stereo headphones for £25, like the Koss Porta Pro for instance.
 
I have the full retails Medusas, with the little box and not the USB ones.

They sound better than the pair of headphones I bought for £3.99. The "surround" sound isn't. I'm using them as stereo headphones - that's how bad the "surround" sound is. IME, I get much better surround sound with the X-Fi fake surround sound. Not very impressive - with hindsight, I should have bought a decent stereo pair instead.

I do find them very comfortable to wear, though.
 
they are SO fragile, just watch out with them. i went through 2 pairs (non-usb) then gave up, left front speaker blew out on both:mad: the surround effect is noticable but its not anything special, the overall sound quality is average, a little too bassy imo, everything just ends up sounding muffled. they are very comfy though, as said earlier in the thread.

using a pair of koss portapro now, the sound quality is so much better than the medusa's i just cant find words for it, plus they have a lifetime guarantee :)
 
devilkazuya said:
stay away from medusas, awful sound quality, and nearly as good at positioning as they claim to be.
Click to expand...

He didn't ask for advice on not going for them. Medusa's are great, decent sound quality and the best solution for positioning.
 
SnipaMasta said:
He didn't ask for advice on not going for them. Medusa's are great, decent sound quality and the best solution for positioning.
Click to expand...

He asked if they were worth getting. So 'no' is a reasonable answer. If people want to say they find the sound quality and positioning poor, and they've used them to know, then that's a valid point of view and useful to the OP.
 
It sounds like he's wondering whether it's worth the upgrade to the "Pro Gamer" over the standard Medusa's. Plus, if you play games, surround sound is the best option. Medusa's aren't great sound quality, but better than a lot of others the same price and not 'terrible'.
 
Suuround sound is indeed the best option for games - and the Medusas don't have it.

This is 5.1 surround sound, roughly.


SUB
o......o......o



.....YOU



o..............o

This is what the Medusas have, roughly.


oYOUo
o......o

It isn't the same thing.

I can honestly say that the fake surround sound with X-Fi and the Medusas in stereo mode gives better "surround sound" than the Medusas in "5.1" mode.

EDIT: Hmm...it appears that the board removes the spaces between the 'o's when it displays my post. So I'll put dots in there instead.
 
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SnipaMasta said:
It sounds like he's wondering whether it's worth the upgrade to the "Pro Gamer" over the standard Medusa's. Plus, if you play games, surround sound is the best option. Medusa's aren't great sound quality, but better than a lot of others the same price and not 'terrible'.
Click to expand...
Well he doesn't exactly say he had the Medusas, but ok point taken.

The sound quality is passable for games, but the surround sound field is inaccurate. The centre channel plays through the front speakers in mono, the front channels play through the left and right speakers, and the rear speakers are positioned higher than the other speakers like you'd get in a cinema. To me the layout of speakers suggests they were designed for watching films on. Also there isn't a great deal of spatial depth between the front and rear speakers. You don't ever get the feeling that a sound has really come from behind you like you would with 5.1 speakers, it's more that the rears sound 'different' to the other channels.

The positioning just about works, but I've read many people think CMSS on stereo headphones on an X-Fi gives better positioning. Haven't used an X-Fi myself to confirm that though.
 
Hmm, mine have started going wrong now. The sounds rattly and the ears no longer shake.


They also pick up mobile phone interfearance which is realy annoying :(
 
fish99 said:
The sound quality is passable for games, but the surround sound field is inaccurate. The centre channel plays through the front speakers in mono, the front channels play through the left and right speakers, and the rear speakers are positioned higher than the other speakers like you'd get in a cinema. To me the layout of speakers suggests they were designed for watching films on. Also there isn't a great deal of spatial depth between the front and rear speakers. You don't ever get the feeling that a sound has really come from behind you like you would with 5.1 speakers, it's more that the rears sound 'different' to the other channels.

The positioning just about works, but I've read many people think CMSS on stereo headphones on an X-Fi gives better positioning. Haven't used an X-Fi myself to confirm that though.
Click to expand...

Well, headphones can't really deliver "true" surround sound, but technical limitations of two speakers compared to 4 (or 5...I'm not sure how many the Medusa's have but it's more than 2) mean that the Medusa's are closer to being surround sound than stereo. As for CMSS I haven't given that a go on any stereo headphones but that's still just an approximation of true surround sound.
 
Well, CMSS uses audio cues to trick your brain into thinking sound is coming from behind or in front. I've used it on my audigy 2 and I thought it was pretty good to be honest and it's supposed to be miles better on the X-Fi. I've also used the Medusas a lot and my personal opinion is that the surround sound doesn't compare to true surround sound with 5.1 speakers.

So neither Medusa or X-Fi + stereo headphoes do a perfect job, they're both an approximation, and since neither of us have used the X-Fi with stereo headphones, we can't really say which gets closer.

For the same price though you get superior sound fidelity from stereo headphones. I've used £15 headphones that comfortably beat the Medusas for sound quality.
 
luckily i have x-fi fatality, excellent stereo headphones, and medusas.

I play gaming competitively and have done since 1999, as a quake player. I can safely say that x-fi + CMSS on nice stereo headphones is far superior to medusa 'surround' sound. Couple that with the fact that the sound quality is innately awful on the medusas, then there is no real question as to whether or not to get them. A simple no.
 
I can add to that:

IME, X-Fi CMSS fake surround sound is better on the Medusas in stereo than the "surround sound" of the Medusas. So the 2-channel headphones setting gives better "surround sound" than the 5.1 setting fed to the Medusas.
 
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