Setting Up Roccat Kave

  • Thread starter Thread starter X82
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elrasho said:
No I meant switching on Dolby Surround sound, I noticed the first screenshot shows the Dolby logos but don't see where you turn them on :confused:
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Oh those are just logos, I believe it just means that the sound card can directly deal with those dolby technologies and either decode them or pass them to an amp.
 
icehot666 said:
Oh those are just logos, I believe it just means that the sound card can directly deal with those dolby technologies and either decode them or pass them to an amp.
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Ah OK, so how does Dolby Headphones work? Do you need to have a headset that has a SPDIF/Optical connection in order for the Xonar to decode the sound and send it to the headset?
 
icehot666 said:
Oh those are just logos, I believe it just means that the sound card can directly deal with those dolby technologies and either decode them or pass them to an amp.
Click to expand...

Ah OK, so how does Dolby Headphones work? Do you need to have a headset that has a SPDIF/Optical connection in order for the Xonar to decode the sound and send it to the headset?

I find after a 3 hour session of Battlefield 3 I get a headache :( These Kaves are so damn powerfull! I've tried lowering the volume but my ears are used to the loudness. I did however notice some distortion when a vehicle blows up close by, thats a mighty boom!
 
elrasho said:
Ah OK, so how does Dolby Headphones work? Do you need to have a headset that has a SPDIF/Optical connection in order for the Xonar to decode the sound and send it to the headset?

I find after a 3 hour session of Battlefield 3 I get a headache :( These Kaves are so damn powerfull! I've tried lowering the volume but my ears are used to the loudness. I did however notice some distortion when a vehicle blows up close by, thats a mighty boom!
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Ya know, I'm not 100% sure, I think it will pass through if using spdif or something, but a lot of that depends on the codec settings for example you can set ffdshow or ac3 decoder to pass through instead of decoding. Other than that I suppose if I were to put a DVD or Bluray in, the card has built in decoding of it and will output it to the analog side as you'd expect (just like an amp would output to analog speakers). I have noticed on my media center system with a proper amp and 5.1 speakers, that if I play a 5.1 dts mkv, the dolby digital light flicks on on the amp, as that is passing through using spdif, so I think my assumptions make a lot of sense.
 
X82 you have an XFI card right? And are you playing Battlefield 3?... if your answer to those two questins is YES then set your sound card up like this:

Entertainment Mode
5.1 Mode
Crystalizer ON 50%
Bass 67%
Treble 67%

On the Kave control pad set center and front to half way up and rear a bit higher. Sub should be close to the top.

The game sounds soooo much better! Gone is the hallow sounding bass and over exaggerated treble, the game sounds as it should :) Give it a try and let me know if you like it or not. If the bass isn't enough for you, you can always set Bass Redirection Enabled - Crossover Freq. 70Hz, Sub Level 100% but I found it gets bassy.

p.s. funny how I got better sound by not using game mode lol
 
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Many thanks. I shall give that a try and report back.
Is there any settings in BF3 that need changing?
My settings are to stereo mode off but headphones. Do I need to select cinema system?
 
X82 said:
Many thanks. I shall give that a try and report back.
Is there any settings in BF3 that need changing?
My settings are to stereo mode off but headphones. Do I need to select cinema system?
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Select cinema mode in BF3, and yes leave stereo mode off. Let me know what you think :)
 
Had a long session on Battlefield 3 last night, after two hours I started to get a headache. I don't think its the weight of the headset, more to do with the fact that these things are so powerful! I lowered the Windows 7 volume to 30% and I could still hear things clearly but just a bit quieter if that makes sense.
 
Tried those new settings. It's hard to say, to be honest, I feel I would get the same performance with my old Creative stereo headset and that worries me. BF3 is fine, but maybe I want too much out of them. I shall give it a longer soak test.
 
X82 said:
Tried those new settings. It's hard to say, to be honest, I feel I would get the same performance with my old Creative stereo headset and that worries me. BF3 is fine, but maybe I want too much out of them. I shall give it a longer soak test.
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Was your old Creative headset a Fatality? I was suing them before I got the Kave and the difference in sound is like night and day.
 
It was just a USB white headset. Sound was good. Maybe there is more tweaking to be done. I'll go over the settings you suggested to make sure I didn't miss anything. Bass is also odd now. That test mp3 doesnt make the headphones pound like before, but some really close explosions in BF3 do trigger it. I think its just finding the sweet spot. Only thing, when you play Bf3 and use a voice command, is it really faint? Is for me, I can barely hear my own commands, let alone any other player.
 
X82 said:
It was just a USB white headset. Sound was good. Maybe there is more tweaking to be done. I'll go over the settings you suggested to make sure I didn't miss anything. Bass is also odd now. That test mp3 doesnt make the headphones pound like before, but some really close explosions in BF3 do trigger it. I think its just finding the sweet spot. Only thing, when you play Bf3 and use a voice command, is it really faint? Is for me, I can barely hear my own commands, let alone any other player.
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make sure on that Kave controller you have the first two sliders half way up, rear just a bit more and subwoofer close to the top.

Voice commands come through the 'centre' speakers so adjust that slider.
 
I forgot to change the BF3 settings for cinema. Instead of what it was on, headphones. Sounds a lot better. I'm happy with it. Only thing I am sad about, is the mic quality, for me its too muffled. Apart from that, aces.
 
I'm back again. Sorry to bump my old thread, but I'm in a bit of a pickle.
Everything was working fine, until I decided to re-format my PC and start over. I installed the creative drivers but finding the sound is really lacklustre.

Instead of the screenshots posted at the start of the thread, my configuration options now look like this:

Ryw96.png


I've turned all the effects off, set it to 5.1 and still finding the sounds, for want of a better word, boring. The bass test mp3 posted before fails to produce the ear rumbling bass it used to. Am I using the wrong software or something?
 
Yeah that's what you get with the drivers only. Sound quality should be pretty much the same but you'll be lacking the EQ and maybe a few other things.
 
Not sure what its like with your Fatal1ty but when I had a xtreme music I just couldn't get the kaves to sound right.

The sound was too harsh and bright making them painful to listen to. I then got a xonar and they sounded perfect.
 
Ok. I ran the console and it was set for 5.1 already. Clicking on the speakers sounds ok, but when I click the sub it just hisses. There is no rumble.
However, when using the bass test mp3, the sides do now vibrate unlike before.
I know I have asked before, but is there a decent 5.1 test I can do? That does dialogue, explosions etc?
I'm using pot player, which has always been my favourite. But, when I tried a few 5.1 mkv's the sound was just meh, felt like stereo.
Is there a good software programme that does a great job at playing 5.1 mkvs properly?
 
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