Spec me a 5.1 headset!

Firstly - what's your soundcard?

I have some Speedlink medusas. They only sound decent if the bass crossover frequency is set correctly (so bass is redirected to the 'woofer' speaker). They sound pretty awful without it.
 
Spend £60 on some stereo closed or open back headphones. 5.1 is a gimmick at best, the build quality of 5.1 headphones are poor as is the sound quality.

I've already tried the barracudas and the medusas and they were poor at best compared to the senny pc166 that I replaced them with.

Some of these http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SP-024-SN&groupid=702&catid=1058&subcat=502&name=Sennheiser%20PC161%20Pro-Gaming%20Headset%20(500927) or these http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SP-022-SN&groupid=702&catid=1058&subcat=502&name=Sennheiser%20PC166%20Pro-Gaming%20USB%20Headset%20(500929) would be a very good investment. :)
 
Firstly - what's your soundcard?
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It's onboard, but quality is actually quite good, 7.1.

Got some Speedlink Medusas at the mo, been excellent. Had to rip them open once and rip and a random piece of metal (think it was something to do with bass) but it became dislodged and rattled like hell.

Anyway, getting much more sound from the right ear now, had to put slider half to left to balance it out. Think they've eventually given it.

Can I just ask why 5.1 are considered a gimmick/awful? Do stereo headphone provide the same front/rear/centre channels, never been too clued up on sound.

HD555 + clip on mic.
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Is the mic an official accessory? Or will it be freestanding?

Might just get another pair of Medusas, loved them for 2 years, few too many drops on the floor I think.
 
I personally think the anti 5.1 headphones crowd goes a bit OTT. I've personally never found virtual surround speaker or headphone technology, like dolby headphone, as convincing as the effect given by the medusas. I value surround sound in games and when I need to turn the speakers down, the medusas are my next port of call. I would not swap them for a more expensive stereo set for gaming.

That's for games and movies. For everything else a decent stereo set wins hands down. It's simply economics. One pair of high grade headphone drivers sounds better than the 4 pairs of lower grade headphone drivers in the Medusas. Quality beats quantity. You wouldn't expect 4 £100 stereo systems playing at once to deliver the same sound fidelity as a single £400 stereo system. Same applies to headphones.

The Medusas do have other bad points, aside from that. The headphone amp that came with mine is pretty poor. It picks up loads of interference - wi-fi, mobile phones etc all contribute to an unwelcome cacophony of bleeps and buzzes (which I've finally managed to minimise after years of experimentation). Add to that it's very poor quality sonically. I plugged my medusas into a Sony separates amp instead and they sounded much better - and had none of the interference. I have an older set though that can switch to stereo mode.

This review is quite old now but at the time the Medusas compared well to some more expensive stereo sets: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/headsets-gamers-love,1077.html
 
Jihad said:
Don't get the Speedlink Medusa seriously, I beg you.

I submitted a 1* review to the OCUK site about the Home edition, it hasn't been approved (yet) so I'll summarize the key points.

- They sound crap
- My £17.99 Sennheiser in-ear headphones produce more bass and superior sound quality
- If you turn your back on gunfire it loses all bass when the sound travels to the rear speakers
- Setting them up can be annoying and hard to get perfect
- For music they are absolutely terrible, they aren't much better for games and the rear speaker having no bass is very annoying
- They got many good reviews and glowing opinions from many people which is what lead me to the awful decision to purchase them, I've come to the conclusion these people have never owned a half decent pair of headphones before because the Medusa's are awful
- The 5.1 effect isn't all that good

I got a refund on mine, I tested them on two sound cards to make sure it wasn't my hardware or software causing the lack of bass and sound quality, I tried multiple fixes on the internet to add more bass and they still produced less bass than my tiny in-ear headphones.
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http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=11689432&postcount=4

My Sennheiser HD595's kick Medusa's arse for a 5.1 effect using Dolby Headphone, Medusa's simply don't come close for sound quality or 5.1 effect.

Google "Elara clip-on microphone" it's £2.99 and BRILLIANT quality, I have mine clipped to the front of my computer and it picks me up loud and clear.
 
Hmm- just spotted this review of Speedlink Medusa 5.1 and Sennheiser HD555. Seems relevant, given some of the recommendations flying around.

http://techgage.com/article/speedlink_medusa_51_and_sennheiser_hd555/

Edit: Jihad - reading your review - the no bass in the rear issue is caused by not having bass crossover frequency set correctly (basically - you need to get your soundcard to compensate from the lack of bass response in most of the medusa's drivers by diverting it to the sub channel). I'd be interested to hear the home edition though. It uses a different amp to the one I have. Perhaps it's even worse?
 
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Uriel said:
Edit: Jihad - reading your review - the no bass in the rear issue is caused by not having bass crossover frequency set correctly (basically - you need to get your soundcard to compensate from the lack of bass response in most of the medusa's drivers by diverting it to the sub frequency). I'd be interested to hear the home edition though. It uses a different amp to the one I have. Perhaps it's even worse?
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I did all that bass redirecting stuff and it made no difference to the rears at all. :D

Also swapped center/sub and all that but didn't do anything. :o

I now enable Dolby Headphone on my Xonar and set games to 5.1, this gives me a superb 5.1 effect, I bloody love my Sennheisers!
 
It relies on you having a soundcard that can implement Dolby Headphone well though. Chances are that his onboard isn't going to do a particularly good job. Did you just use the Medusas with the Xonar or was it with a different soundcard?
 
Uriel said:
It relies on you having a soundcard that can implement Dolby Headphone well though. Chances are that his onboard isn't going to do a particularly good job. Did you just use the Medusas with the Xonar or was it with a different soundcard?
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As I understand it Dolby Headphone is similar to CMSS-3D? My onboard could do upmixing too, not sure if that's similar to a 5.1 effect.

I used the Medusa with an Audigy and on-board, tried both for bass redirection/crossover and swapping the center/sub outputs, didn't help at all.

Even if I just had to use stereo, I'd rather that than the Medusa's.
 
Well - assuming everything else is equal - it could just be that you have very good perception of sound direction at low freqency. Diverting bass to the woofer driver may not be enough for you to percieve it as being behind you.

Alternatively - if the bass just disappeared when it was behind you the soundcard wasn't set up correctly (Edit: or there was something wrong with the sub channel on your particular set of headphones).
 
None of you have mentioned the Zalman's. I own a pair, and they're great. Unlike most other offerings, they actually have seperate speakers in the headphones, so the 5.1 isn't simulated, it's genuine. This does make them quite big, but they're incredibly comfy to wear (worn them for hours and hours at a time at LAN parties with no issues). The only criticism I'd have is that they're a bit bass-light. Fine for games, but you're not going to want to listen to music etc on them.
 
Makhaira said:
None of you have mentioned the Zalman's. I own a pair, and they're great. Unlike most other offerings, they actually have seperate speakers in the headphones, so the 5.1 isn't simulated, it's genuine. This does make them quite big, but they're incredibly comfy to wear (worn them for hours and hours at a time at LAN parties with no issues). The only criticism I'd have is that they're a bit bass-light. Fine for games, but you're not going to want to listen to music etc on them.
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All the reviews I read said the Medusa's are better than the Zalmans so I dread to think what they are like!

Also yeah the Medusa's have seperate speakers and still sound naff for 5.1, listening to music on them was horrible too.
 
Yeah - the guy that reviewed the Medusas for TrustedReviews owns a set of Zalmans and said the Medusas were much better.
 
Tinny little speakers in each earpiece? Lol.

I'd rather wear rotating barbed wire spinning wheels on my ears...
 
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