Question about bass-heavy headphones and their suitability for FPS's

Ksanti · 22 Apr 2014 at 23:49

I've heard time and time again that you don't want too much bass response in an FPS headphone, but also we all know that explosions are a pretty key part of the immersion of most games, FPS's very much included. Now, what's been weirding me out about a lot of these discussions, both in saying bass heavy are bad for FPS's and saying bass light/open back are bad for explosions and other bass-reliant immersion, is why not just EQ them?

I realise not /everything/ has the ability to EQ it but in PC gaming surely everyone with a soundcard can EQ their headphones? I've heard some people complain about sound quality with software EQ's but honestly I've never really noticed it and it's been a long time since I've left the EQ flat on pretty much any set of headphones on my PC.

So why is it then, that we harp on so much about the sound signature saying that you have to take a tradeoff between positional audio, and of immersive bass booms? Why not play normally with bass ramped up and then just tone it down for say high level ranked CS games?

(Somewhat related, this is one of the problems I've had with the HeadFi list because for example it rails on the XB500's which sure, are pretty dire out of the box, but they're absolutely lovely once EQ'd)

As a general question why is EQ'ing slipped under the rug? Why not review headphones on how people will actually most likely end up using them (and maybe note what EQ settings were preferred by the reviewer) than discard potentially really nice cans because their stock response isn't ideal?

TL;DR: Why not just EQ bass heavy headphones when we want to play competitive FPS's or ramp up the bass on say open backs when we want big boomy explosions? Is there a sound quality issue that I've just not noticed in my software EQ?

Cookeh · 23 Apr 2014 at 10:19

A lot of people on here are looking for them for gaming and want, in their own words 'something simple that they can just plug in and forget". EQing can be a complex and time consuming procedure, especially if you are aiming to reduce the bass or enhance the mids enough to make footsteps/weapon switches/nade priming/nade bounces etc that bit more audible without loosing the balance of the headphone or loosing out on audio positioning from grenades or guns that often do reach into the bass frequencies. Not to mention finding half-decent software that allows you to save several presets and is preferably 20bar so you can actually get the settings you want! A balanced headphone is therefore just easier and some people (myself included) prefer to have a balanced, more analytical headphone.

I play several fps' competitively at a high level and while explosions are nice to hear, they are almost useless to me from a comp point of view - you rely on footsteps and weapon switches to find players and that can often be masked by bass response resulting in you loosing the advantage.

For music, well, for some music, bass response is excellent and thats why I and a lot of other forum users or those into hifi will have a range of headphones.

tl:dr: Absolute time-consuming pain in the arse initially. Requires half-decent software, a 5 or 10 bar eq often isn't enough to get the settings you want. Not exactly convenient.

Ksanti · 23 Apr 2014 at 12:26

I have EQ's saved for like 5 or 6 headphones and wouldn't really trade away. Sure doing it manually each time would be god awful but are there really any software EQ's that don't have saveable presets?

Similarly but slightly OT that could be a reasonable selling point on a gaming headset I reckon (have a button that kills the bass response so you can play for fun normally but then hit the button when you need to make the sick420blazeitfragmovie clutch plays).. For those of us who can stomach gaming headsets that is

Ryan-3 · 23 Apr 2014 at 12:47

Ksanti said:
I've heard time and time again that you don't want too much bass response in an FPS headphone, but also we all know that explosions are a pretty key part of the immersion...

If someone isn't after that, that's up to them. Personally, i'd have the big booming rumble.

Ryanr1987 · 23 Apr 2014 at 15:33

I personally can't have a headphone that can't preform all the frequencies. Take the AD700 for example it's lean, bright sound makes it able to pick up footsteps better then many! A large part of the low end is missing.

You can have the best of both worlds with the right headphone like the Q701 or MA900. I think then people say you can't have bass for competitive play they really don't realize that a part of the frequency is missing.

Ryanr1987 · 23 Apr 2014 at 15:38

I personally can't have a headphone that can't preform all the frequencies. Take the AD700 for example it's lean, bright sound makes it able to pick up footsteps better then many! A large part of the low end is missing.

You can have the best of both worlds with the right headphone like the Q701 or MA900. I think when people say you can't have bass for competitive play they really don't realize that a part of the frequency is missing.

Cookeh · 23 Apr 2014 at 21:09

Ksanti said:
I have EQ's saved for like 5 or 6 headphones and wouldn't really trade away. Sure doing it manually each time would be god awful but are there really any software EQ's that don't have saveable presets?

Im not denying that decent software is out there, my point is that its a bit of a pain and a real time consuming process to get it sorted without shafting the overall freq response and sound of the headphone. It also needs to be varied from game to game, another monumental pain.

Ryan is dead on really, better off getting a headphone that can perform at all frequencies than have to get one that you have to change to cope with different applications.

dacads · 23 Apr 2014 at 22:12

Never really had headphones for gaming so don't get the hype

I've always fancied/favoured a 2.1 speaker setup especially when it comes to bass

mrk · 23 Apr 2014 at 22:31

I used to EQ back in the day when using non Xonar soundcards and AV amps/integrads etc but ever since going the stereo integrated route I much prefer to enjoy sounds straight out of the source. Perhaps a shade of treble or bass increase on the amp itself via the tone dials but those things don't change the colouring.

I've always gamed in stereo and will always have stereo audio on my PC setup for music, games and video.

The Philips X1 headphones are the first headphones I've heard that have lively levels of detailed bass (as in bass that does not feel woolly or "digital") that is more like how you'd expect being in front of the loud sound being played. Am I describing that correctly? Through my DAC machine guns and pistols have that kick in the sound that sounds more natural in bass and the way it feels to the ears when you actually hear similar weapons fired in real life - Obviously not as loud but the same kind of feeling. In FPS games the explosions and action just feels better all round and I don't even have a sound card any more so everything is going direct to the DAC and sent to the headphones. I'm enjoying gaming more with this setup than any combination of setup from the past from X-Fis to Xonars and Game modes in their relevant drivers.

I guess the short of it is that to me, and for my kind of preference, this setup requires no EQ or mode switching, the sound is nigh on perfect for gaming and I can't ever imagine wanting to upgrade it ever again.

Rroff · 23 Apr 2014 at 22:35

I've tended to go for open back headphones(sets) where the bass (on higher quality pairs) is vibrant and felt as much as its heard rather than the boomy bass you get on other headphones, that way you don't lose any of the immersion from bass elements without any unwanted elements from heavy bass. I've always preferred "vibrant" bass with a bit of a crunch rather than thud though.