Surround sound headphones, <£100?

[bobboberts]

Disclaimer: I've never tried surround sound headphones, so this is more that I quite like the idea of them - so if there is a better option them I'm all ears (excusing the pun).

Simply put, I just want some decent headphones that will help immerse me in my gaming (hence the perhaps misguided notion that surround sound is the way to go). Good for music too.

Up until this point I've just used some cheap £15 JVC headphones (which actually sound decent to my poor ears), so I don't need high-end enthusiast stuff, just something that offers a good price/performance combo.

What should I be looking at?

 

[bobboberts]

What would be a good set of headphones for around £50-70 that you could recommend?

 

[bobboberts]

To be clear then, we are saying that I'm best getting decent headphones and then if a game has positional sound built-in, I'm going to benefit anyway?

I have a pretty quiet environment (so I guess semi-open headphones are an option, though if I happen to travel with them perhaps not?) but within that £50-70 budget what should I be looking at for just normal headphones?

 

[bobboberts]

Get HyperX Cloud 2 or maybe Alpha if they're available for a similar price and you have a sound card/good motherboard audio. They're likely more expensive mind.

Okay, so not to labour the point too much (because if the answer is 'Yes' then I'll pull the trigger and order them) are you saying that the HyperX Cloud 2 would be a good choice for both music and gaming at that price point over normal headphones (where I'd have to spend £100+ for a top pair)?

Thanks

 

[bobboberts]

And then he will have to buy a sound card on top of that in order to get positional/surround sound effect.

I get the impression the OP was looking more at spending £70. K702 + sound card would be at least £130; so double that.

You talk about top level accuracy; but not everyone needs or wants that.

Yeah, as I say in the OP, I currently just use a really cheap set of headphones that I find have a decent sound (probably because I've never used top-end headphones before) so most things would likely be a step-up. I use the sound on my motherboard too, as I haven't had a soundcard for years.

 

[bobboberts]

Not so with gaming brands.
Typical gaming brands have no bottom for how bad sound quality can be.
Asus Strix, Corsair, Razer, Roccat, Steelseries, all have total trash frequency response:
https://nl.hardware.info/reviews/60...-luisteren-testresultaten---frequentierespons
Like also Turtle Beach whose real gaming ability is "head in bucket under water" level...
Compared to Superlux HD-330 which cost me mighty 30€.
Didn't even bother testing directly against imitation target of that Superlux, Beyerdynamic DT990, because that's step ahead of Superlux.


Audigy Fx is better than Xonar DGX.
Besides being newer card very likely getting lot longer support from Creative than what Asus gives, it also has Creative's binaural sound simulation, which makes bass bloating Dolby Headphone of Xonars completely mediocre.
Dolby Hypephone is barely tolerable with bass neutral headphone and rather horrible with any above neutral bass headphone.
With closed design stronger bass headphone it must be sucktastic for details.

So what headphone & soundcard combo would you suggest for around £100?

 

[bobboberts]

And to follow up on that, presumably I would want a soundcard that supports Dolby etc?

 

[bobboberts]

Will the Audigy Fx be good for a while (until I do a new build in a year or so?)

 

[bobboberts]

As Papalazaru has mentioned; worth considering the Sennheiser PC373D for £100. It did cost a fair more at some point. Just seen it now for £100.

However, there are some concerns.. There a few negative comments about the microphone quality (surprised, as that is usually where Sennheiser's premium headsets excel) and I've seen two people say the 7.1 is not as good as the previous PC363D. For £100 though; worth considering. I wouldn't say they were worth the money if they were still around the £150-60 mark.



No need for Dolby features on the card, unless you have a 5.1 speaker system connected via optical. SBX prostudio on the Audigy FX will be used in place of Dolby Headphone and does a better job when gaming.



Yes; a least no reason for it not to be. Better choice than the Xonar DGX for reasons Esat has already mentioned, including what is most important of all; driver support. Some Xonar cards haven't had driver update in years.

Hard to know which is a better choice; HyperX Cloud Alpha + Audigy FX, or Sennheiser PC373D.

I've decided that the Alphas plus Audigy is the way to go, on the basis I will get some 5.1 speakers at some point and the soundcard will give me more options with my setup.

Thanks to everybody for their input, it's been informative and helpful.