Spec me a true 5.1 headset

[Uriel]

I mentioned experience as a reason for not recommending 'true' 5.1 headphones, which was put down.

It's not just experience - it's theory too. Headsets with multiple drivers in each earcup are theoretically incapable of producing a realistic 5.1 representation. That's not to say you won't perceive the directional difference between the different drivers. I could certainly tell the difference between front and rear on the 5.1 headphones I owned.

With virtual 5.1 the limitation is practical rather than theoretical. The main problem is that everyone's ears are as unique as their finger prints. If you find that conventional virtual surround over headphones suits you you are basically lucky, in that you've found something with a good match. I got lucky with Dolby Headphone DH1 and DH3 on the early Xonar cards (and other equipment like the JVC / Victor SU-DH1). DH2 doesn't do it for me, for one reason or another (unfortunately DH2 is what you get on the vast majority of receivers, motherboards etc). By comparison, CMSS-3D on X-Fi just sounded muddy to me, although I could percieve direction.

The practical limitation can be overcome by creating a bespoke system for each user, based on binaural modelling of a speaker system using microphones in an individual's ears. The best example of this is the Smyth Realiser system. Unfortunately it's a few grand so our of most of our reach. Review here: http://hometheaterreview.com/smyth-research-realiser-a8-headphone-audio-processor-reviewed/

 

[nuzik]

I do really love this debate.
Firstly lets look at the OP he currently already owns some 2 channel headsets/phones he wanted some 5.1 for gaming.
Does anyone even read these or do people just jump in feet first.

For me i would forget about 90% of everything read here.
I had some Razers i was happy with. i then went on to own some Monster Carbones which for stereo sounded great. I then moved on to my Sennheiser 350 SE's that are 2.0 im happy with them but i did really like my old 5.1s they just broke over time.

Listening to everything on here are just opinions, go test a few i thought the Trittons were good and you can test them in PC world.
I would suggest gettign what you like, if you continue to listen to just the 2 channel go get yourself a decent headphone amp that will crystal things up. Go spend some big bucks and get yourself a Musical Fidelity M1HPAP Headphone Amplifier and some AKG K812 i dont think you will go wrong then with that bit of equipment.
I would just stay away from brands that arent renowned for their tonal sound, style is not substance

 

[Uriel]

Does anyone even read these or do people just jump in feet first.

Yes we do read it. And according to our collective opinions / experience / techical expertise / theoretical knowledge, the best 5.1 or 7.1 (or in fact any surround mode you care to simulate) headphones / headsets have 2 drivers.

Ok - the consequences are nowhere near as bad but it's a bit like OP goes: "I want a car with only lap seat belts".

We go "no you don't - it's impractical / illegal / you and your passengers risk serious injury" etc.

"But they're more comfortable", the OP and his friends cry. "They don't ruffle my clothes as much". "I can turn around to reverse easier".

I'm being a bit facetious but we see the issue as primarily objective rather than subjective. Hence not just bending over and going - "yeah - get this headset - it's the best 'true' 5.1 headset available" and so on.

 

[Steveocee]

For me i would forget about 90% of everything read here.

This is a stunner. Why ask a collective for input if you are going to ignore it because you don't like the answer?

I asked something similar not long ago (about 5.1 headphone recommendations). I didn't like the answer I got but I actually sat back and thought why would I ask the question if I already knew better, I don't know a lot about what I'm asking about so value the advice and I have respect for reasonable opinions that are offered without squashing them because I "don't like the advice". I followed advice rather than my "gut" and am happy I did as I don't think I would have bettered it on my own.

This forum is packed with information and it's a gem if you don't really know about something but you need to be able to "man up" and admit you wouldn't be asking the question if you already know the answer.


However in the interest of fairness, OP buy these;
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SP-015-RA

At least if you are buying multi-driver cans then buy something that looks awesome and is something to brag about.

 

[TwsT]

Disagree 5.1 like OP has helped me when playing games a lot. Like I said in my first post I get accused of hacking/ghosting in CSGO at times just because how good I hear things around me.

i get accused of it without sound usually because I'm playing like a retard then have an amazing round

if it helps fine but i think it's a pseudo thing especially in csgo. had no problem with my senns working out locations of people especially since it's the same maps over and over and if you play enough you associate the sounds anyway.

As I said each to their own I haven't bought into it and combine it with how heavy most 5.1 sets are and they are just not my thing but that's my opinion i'm not here to change peoples minds we sell headsets of both types for a reason.

 

[Cookeh]

^This. A spot of intuition, map and positioning knowledge and voila, you can accused of WH/ESP without ever needing to listen. Most players in CS are all too "hack happy" using accusations constantly to explain the tiniest thing - I wouldn't take that as much of a reasoning Especially when it occurs with those of us using stereo, which according to your reasoning must be inferior

 

[ethan]

I wonder what headphone x will do to the 5.1 market? I actually heard it and thought it stunning. It is though comparable/ better to/than a Realizer. On the plus side DTS are presently working with a number of stereo headphone manufacturers regarding calibration.

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/so...ever-be-offered-with-11-1-dts-headphonex-mix/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DP-eNSZa1s

 

[nuzik]

Oi it's not my post!!!!! I'm not the OP!
All I said was he has two channel already so stop flogging a dead horse

 

[rids57]

Tyll didn't sound very impressed

 

[Woden]

I am using Sennheiser 558s and Xonar DGx with Dolby Headphone turned on. Never looking back again.

The positional audio is very, very good. With excellent (to me, coming from Turtle Beach x51) sound quality.

 

[melmac]

i get accused of it without sound usually because I'm playing like a retard then have an amazing round

if it helps fine but i think it's a pseudo thing especially in csgo. had no problem with my senns working out locations of people especially since it's the same maps over and over and if you play enough you associate the sounds anyway.

As I said each to their own I haven't bought into it and combine it with how heavy most 5.1 sets are and they are just not my thing but that's my opinion i'm not here to change peoples minds we sell headsets of both types for a reason.

I just find it funny that he used CS:GO as the game he is accused of cheating on because of how good a 5.1 headset is for positional audio. 5.1 audio in CS:GO is broke It can't be relied upon at all!!

Headsets are a product of very successful marketing. 5.1 headphones don't give better positional audio than stereo headphones, but years of marketing has people believing otherwise. It's like Lucozade sport, it doesn't do anything for your athletic performance at all, water is better for you. But, people believe that Lucozade sport does help. Belief is a powerful thing!!

And hey as long as the person is happy, that's all that matters really I guess.

 

[tankskun]

So I've been reading further into the whole surround technology and been trying to hone in my ears to perceive surround sound through my stereo cans. Someone hear mentioned binaural sound so gave that a try, as was intrigued.

Watched this youtube clip and was very impressed that I could easily hear what was going on behind me. Although could never really distinguish positional audio from the front this time. Maybe my cans sound stage was not big enough.

Wondering if someone here with good headphones with a big sound stage can hear positional audio coming from the front of this demo?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u163wC6mP2A It's quite scary, be warned. I shut off my lights and monitor and felt very immersed.

 

[shankly1985]

I just find it funny that he used CS:GO as the game he is accused of cheating on because of how good a 5.1 headset is for positional audio. 5.1 audio in CS:GO is broke It can't be relied upon at all!!

Headsets are a product of very successful marketing. 5.1 headphones don't give better positional audio than stereo headphones, but years of marketing has people believing otherwise. It's like Lucozade sport, it doesn't do anything for your athletic performance at all, water is better for you. But, people believe that Lucozade sport does help. Belief is a powerful thing!!

And hey as long as the person is happy, that's all that matters really I guess.

Maybe csgo audio broken for you? Works perfectly fine here zero issue.

And about the hacking, I have had people call out wall hack or ghosting or asking how the hell I knew they ws there all because I have full surround and can easy pin point the direction of noise.
It's not rocket science, each speaker plays a sound you hear it much easier when using a real 5.1 headset.
OOK the audio quality might not be to the quality of a 100+ headset but I know for a fact it provides a better audio positioning.

Battlefield 3/4 why is it everyone complains they can't hear enemy footsteps? But I easily can every time.

 

[tankskun]

I wonder what headphone x will do to the 5.1 market? I actually heard it and thought it stunning. It is though comparable/ better to/than a Realizer. On the plus side DTS are presently working with a number of stereo headphone manufacturers regarding calibration.

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/so...ever-be-offered-with-11-1-dts-headphonex-mix/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DP-eNSZa1s

Did you hear this in person, because the youtube video didn't seem very good. Though headphone X sounds interesting.

 

[Uriel]

Placing sound in front of me made the big difference for me in deciding that 'true' 5.1 headphones just didn't cut it.

I tried DH3 on a Xonar D2 and went to turn my speakers down. They weren't tuned on. I had been completely fooled by the Dolby Headphone algorithm. Now DH3 isn't perfect. It's too echoey for anything but close-miked, unprocessed sound - but that moment of being completely fooled showed me the potential. That's when I started reading up on psycho acoustics and head related transfer functions to try to understand what I'd just experienced.

 

[ethan]

Did you hear this in person, because the youtube video didn't seem very good. Though headphone X sounds interesting.

I heard the difference it made to the Man of Steel album. The positional demo's are accurate using a good set of headphones and a headphone amp. Turtle Beach have encompassed the technology on the 600 and 800 series I believe?

Try this, there is a little album from the free DTS Headphone:X audio samples ripped from the Z+ Music apps from Hans Zimmer; Gotham City:

http://www50.zippyshare.com/v/24384337/file.html


Click the Orange download now for those who don't know how to use zippy share.

 

[shankly1985]

Give that demo ago later.

 

[shankly1985]

Reading up on this DTS headphone x sound very good. I use DTS on my home cinema system with ps4 and pc it's superb so a headset with this will be right up my street.

How does it work though, does it encode on the fly or do games after support it?
DDoes it work with sound cards or USB only.

 

[Cookeh]

Maybe csgo audio broken for you? Works perfectly fine here zero issue.

5.1 in GO has been broken pretty much since release. EDIT: Here, have a vid highlighting the issue, and please check the subreddit for several threads detailing it (including more recent ones!) LINK

And about the hacking, I have had people call out wall hack or ghosting or asking how the hell I knew they ws there all because I have full surround and can easy pin point the direction of noise.

The haccusations are extremely common and are thrown about nearly every time someone finds a kill peculiar or cannot explain how they died. I get them frequently even without sound. As I said, any sort of map/positioning knowledge and you often dont need the sound...

It's not rocket science, each speaker plays a sound you hear it much easier when using a real 5.1 headset.
OOK the audio quality might not be to the quality of a 100+ headset but I know for a fact it provides a better audio positioning.

You know nothing for a fact, you have yet to try (in your own admittance) a proper stereo setup and therefore cannot possible have any idea if it is inferior! Good grief man!

Battlefield 3/4 why is it everyone complains they can't hear enemy footsteps? But I easily can every time.

Battlefields audio is optimized for stereo as well, in fact 5.1 gives a very poor mis-understanding of positioning as a result of this as audio is only outputted into stereo. In essence, this means that you are hearing stereo through each of your 6 speakers and "5.1" doesn't even come into the matter.

Never have I dealt with someone as narrow-minded.

 

[shankly1985]

5.1 in GO has been broken pretty much since release. EDIT: Here, have a vid highlighting the issue, and please check the subreddit for several threads detailing it (including more recent ones!) LINK



The haccusations are extremely common and are thrown about nearly every time someone finds a kill peculiar or cannot explain how they died. I get them frequently even without sound. As I said, any sort of map/positioning knowledge and you often dont need the sound...



You know nothing for a fact, you have yet to try (in your own admittance) a proper stereo setup and therefore cannot possible have any idea if it is inferior! Good grief man!



Battlefields audio is optimized for stereo as well, in fact 5.1 gives a very poor mis-understanding of positioning as a result of this as audio is only outputted into stereo. In essence, this means that you are hearing stereo through each of your 6 speakers and "5.1" doesn't even come into the matter.

Never have I dealt with someone as narrow-minded.

Battlefield does support full 5.1 omg even my home cinema system picks up sound from all directions as there happening.
I can easy tell the difference, hell it even has multiple audio options for home cinema etc
Csgo 5.1 works perfectly fine here you sure you even enabled 5.1 in the audio options?

I can have a bot run around me and I can tell each and every time where he is moving.

You very funny if you think bf4 don't support 5.1 tells me you never used 5.1 headset or sound system.

And that video of csgo you do understand that was when the game was in BETA don't you?
Would just for you like a video uploaded to youtube?