New gaming headset... (G35 vs. HS1)

Uriel · 20 Jan 2011 at 19:53

Global_Inferno said:
I don't currently have an Asus card, I'm using an X-Fi.

You can redirect bass to the sub on X-Fi too. It certainly helped when I had 5.1 Medusas.

Global_Inferno · 22 Jan 2011 at 19:23

I've managed to get a Xonar DX 7.1 on the MM cheap (£35) so I'm going to swap that for my X-Fi, and i've gone and ordered a Razer Carcharias.

Hope that'll be good enough!

Lethagized · 23 Jan 2011 at 08:38

icehot666 said:
I have the Roccat Kaves with the Xonar DX, and tbh, it's the best setup I've heard, the 5.1 is actually really good - if you just do a speaker test you don't notice it as much, but with Flexibass on, and the right setup in the sound card drivers, then either do a bass test mp3 (find them on google) and the vibration is wicked, but also I've got a copy of the THX test DVD, and the jungle test on that which is around 3 or 4 mins long, just makes the sound so good - you really do think the bee is buzzing around behind you etc, it's amazing.

Films and games are also equally impressive, however obviously the effects aren't always in your face like a THX demo is.

I had a Xonar DX and Kaves and they don't even come close to how good the positional audio is on some stereo headphones and Dolby headphone enabled.

I found with the kaves you had a 'sound cut off point' in which the sound would either be FL or RL. So say if you had a helicopter in a game going round your head, it would be in the FL speaker or RL speaker but never both at the same time.

With Dolby headphone you get the gradual transition of sound from FL to RL. Dolby headphone does a remarkable job of creating a virtual 5.1. It's better than actual 5.1 headsets in every way.

Global_Inferno · 23 Jan 2011 at 09:23

RobRX-7 said:
With Dolby headphone you get the gradual transition of sound from FL to RL. Dolby headphone does a remarkable job of creating a virtual 5.1. It's better than actual 5.1 headsets in every way.

Thank god for that; exactly what I wanted to hear!

icehot666 · 23 Jan 2011 at 10:54

RobRX-7 said:
I had a Xonar DX and Kaves and they don't even come close to how good the positional audio is on some stereo headphones and Dolby headphone enabled.

I found with the kaves you had a 'sound cut off point' in which the sound would either be FL or RL. So say if you had a helicopter in a game going round your head, it would be in the FL speaker or RL speaker but never both at the same time.

With Dolby headphone you get the gradual transition of sound from FL to RL. Dolby headphone does a remarkable job of creating a virtual 5.1. It's better than actual 5.1 headsets in every way.

Hrm maybe something was wrong with your pair, or something else not sure, but I definately get a gradual transition, it sounds like a pretty obvious effect you're describing, so I can't believe I would miss it. Like I said the THX demos would most certainly test all things like that, and they sound incredible.

Uriel · 23 Jan 2011 at 13:23

icehot666 said:
Hrm maybe something was wrong with your pair, or something else not sure, but I definately get a gradual transition, it sounds like a pretty obvious effect you're describing, so I can't believe I would miss it. Like I said the THX demos would most certainly test all things like that, and they sound incredible.

He's absolutely right. This is a major limitation of all 'real' 5.1 headphones. To get around it, soundcards would need a 5.1 headphone mode that had crossfeed across the surround channels (or you could use a physical crossfeed circuit in the headphones I suppose). Even then I wouldn't expect them to work as well as Dolby Headphone.

Of course, the exaggerated directional nature of 5.1 headphones could be a competitive advantage but they do not sound like an accurate representation of 5.1 speakers.

Bear in mind - how exaggerated the jumps sound on 5.1 headphones will depend on how the sound you're listening to is mixed. 5.1 headphones sound their best with material with gradual transitions between speakers.

icehot666 · 24 Jan 2011 at 11:24

Like I said I've not noticed that "problem", perhaps the conclusion to draw here is that sound is very subjective and everyone is different so what is good for some maybe hideous to others..