VR AND SURROUND SOUND

NikTheSHNIK said:
Hi,

Anybody here use surround sound speakers instead of a headset? Does it work properly, is it more immersive?
Click to expand...

I haven't but I would imagine the answer is no because the speakers can't orientate themselves to the position of your head.

So if a sound is coming from your front left speaker and you turn around, Front left audio will still be coming from your front left speaker but it will now be behind you. will break immersion completely.
 
melmac said:
I haven't but I would imagine the answer is no because the speakers can't orientate themselves to the position of your head.

So if a sound is coming from your front left speaker and you turn around, Front left audio will still be coming from your front left speaker but it will now be behind you. will break immersion completely.
Click to expand...
This ^^
Tried playing Brookhaven without headphones and the audio was coming from completely the wrong direction. With headphones = pinpoint accuracy :)
 
I would imagine surround speakers not working so well as your position in the physical space would not be taken into consideration, at least not with current titles. I am very surprised by how well the Rift's headphones perform, probably not worth it.
 
As others have said, the system would have to compensate for your own rotation and movement. Not impossible (the display already does that, after all), but it would require an additional step for calibrating the audio setup besides calibrating the sensor setup. There's no software that currently does that (it probably would need to be at quite a low level), and it would be a lot of additional hassle. Just use headphones.
 
Shiari said:
As others have said, the system would have to compensate for your own rotation and movement. Not impossible (the display already does that, after all), but it would require an additional step for calibrating the audio setup besides calibrating the sensor setup. There's no software that currently does that (it probably would need to be at quite a low level), and it would be a lot of additional hassle. Just use headphones.
Click to expand...
The only thing I can think of that does actually give you correct audio positioning if you choose to use speakers is Elite Dangerous (there's a specific option for HMD + speakers in the game options).

But yeah, 3d audio via the headset is just so accurate (probably more so than any other 3d sound I've experienced personally) - no need for surround sound speakers.
 
Thanks for the replies guys

Am I wrong in thinking it is perfect for the sound to continue playing through the same speaker as you turn. it doesn't need to track. If the object that is making the sound is to my 12 O'Clock and the speaker is at 12 O'Clock and i turn my body 180 degrees, the sound should now be coming from my 6 O'clock and the speaker is positioned at my 6 O'clock. It doesn't need to track your movement. In fact that would be defeating the object...

Forgive me if I am wrong as I have not experienced it myself but I am intrigued. One guy here said he had played VR in a room with surround and it was an amazing experience but now I'm hearing the opposite from @GBRusty

I think I'm going to need to setup and test in our VR Room and get back with the results to you.
 
The thing is that positional audio plays relative to your head, say front-right. That's relatively straightforward when you're using headphones. But when you're using a speaker setup, where's your front-right? They'd need to pull your head rotation, and map that to the speakers that produce sound from that direction, so it would need to be calibrated to the room sound system.

I have no "immersion" issues with the headphones on the Rift, they're great.
 
VR can work with headphones.

VR can work with surround sound speakers.

If something has been designed to work with headphones, using a surround sound speaker setup will not work - well, technically it "works", it's just the sounds will come from the wrong place all the time. Almost every VR game I know of on Steam works this way and has no option to select "speakers". Feel free to link any that offer speakers as an option.

If an experiance or game has been designed to work with surround sound speakers, it will work fine with surround sound speakers. However, it won't work well with headphones.

As it stands, to answer your specific question:

No, there are no games for the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift, that I know of, that works correctly with desktop speakers. A game would have to have the option for surround sound speakers added in specifically.

Experiences in the commercial market exist, but coding up a game to work with speakers is, I imagine, wasted effort since both the Rift and Vive come with headphones.
 
NikTheSHNIK said:
Am I wrong in thinking it is perfect for the sound to continue playing through the same speaker as you turn. it doesn't need to track. If the object that is making the sound is to my 12 O'Clock and the speaker is at 12 O'Clock and i turn my body 180 degrees, the sound should now be coming from my 6 O'clock and the speaker is positioned at my 6 O'clock. It doesn't need to track your movement. In fact that would be defeating the object...
Click to expand...

Yeah, exactly that - but more game engines aren't set up that way by default.

In technical terms, to make use of surround sound speakers, you want to make the audio relative to the position of the player pawn location and chaperone rotation, rather than head rotation - because as you move around, if you are able to rotate the direction the chaperone is facing, that needs to be taken into consideration.

With regards to immersion again, it's all relative.

If you're doing a racing sim, then maybe having the engine roar come from a tangle source behind you that's maxed out could be considered more immersive than a pair of headphones that often feel limited in their range.

But at the same time, with speakers, you couldn't lift a telephone to your ear and listen closely to someone speaking.

If you've not heard this already you should listen to some binaural audio stuff - listen with headphones with your eyes closed to this:

Try the same with just your speakers and make your own mind up about what is more immersive to you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom