A Modest Proposal- Why 5.1 Headphone Hate?

daemionsos said:
Lots of hate for 5.1 headsets. I sure like my Turtle Beach 5.1's. Sure they need more equalization to sound good than my sony digital reference units, but I can hear left, right, front and back in them where all I can get from the 2.0 is left right. This is just my personal experience. I am no audiophile. I undoubtedly prefer to use my 5.1 speaker setup, but sometimes I HAVE to be quiet. So you see? If its just temporary until the baby wakes up, who cares if they aren't the greatest? As long as you can tell if that grenade bounce went forward and left or backwards to the right!

<wonders if Turtle Beach maybe actually makes a good set because he can't figure out what everyone else is complaining about>
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Ok the complaint is that you do not need "5.1" headphones to get surround sound from headphones. Think about it for a second, you have 2 ears why would you need more than 2 speakers? You brain process audio position by the timing and delays between the two soures, 5.1 SPEAKERS are made because of the fact that with speakers you do not know where the ears are in relation to the speaker.
 
Ronco said:
The Medusa 5.1 provides superior 'one hit' positioning cues to my Sennheiser Orpheus or Stax Omega II, among other headphones I have. I use a Creative X-Fi Elite Pro, with the 2-channel phones using EAX/CMSS-3D. The Medusa is used in EAX/5.1 mode with bass redirection. CMSS-3D on the X-Fi has a noticeable improvement on previous attempts at 3D audio. And while the smooth transition in direction of CMSS is better than the Medusa, in terms of being able to tell immediately where a sound is coming from, I find the 5.1 phone to be noticeably more effective.


Perhaps I just got lucky with my first choice but for me, 5.1 headphones work.
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Was just about to use you as an example as to why at least the Medusa 5.1's are good.

To the haters of 5.1:
Think about it. If someone who owns the Orpheus or some Stax, he must know what sounds good and what doesn't. And if he prefers a $100 pair of Medusas to a $1,000 pair of headphones for gaming, that says a lot for the Medusas!
 
threedd97 said:
To the haters of 5.1:
Think about it. If someone who owns the Orpheus or some Stax, he must know what sounds good and what doesn't. And if he prefers a $100 pair of Medusas to a $1,000 pair of headphones for gaming, that says a lot for the Medusas!
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I fail to see the logic in that. All it means is that he has money for highend headphones.
 
Preference. That is what we are talking about.

So he liked the Medusa better. I didn't. No I don't have orpheus headphones, just some lowly Senn HD650's and some beyer DT880's.

Remember Opinions are like Escalades.... Everybody's got one. :D
 
threedd97 said:
Was just about to use you as an example as to why at least the Medusa 5.1's are good.

To the haters of 5.1:
Think about it. If someone who owns the Orpheus or some Stax, he must know what sounds good and what doesn't. And if he prefers a $100 pair of Medusas to a $1,000 pair of headphones for gaming, that says a lot for the Medusas!
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No it doesn't say that much for the Medusa as a headphone. All it means is that I prefer the properly configured Medusa against any headphone that I have for it's apparent positioning abilities. This includes not just the Orpheus or those price-comparable with the Medusa. I have also used the A900 and DT770 for gaming. Given the choice I'd have a good but not musically compromised pair of headphones for music and the Medusas for gaming. The DT770 with CMSS for example are somewhat musically compromised for the money, and would rely on CMSS for positioning. As far as I'm concerned, the 5.1 effect works better as although both CMSS and Medusa have similar ways of representing back, the Medusa seems to give a better sense of differentiation of front and back and it gives me a better ability to pinpoint where a single sound came from.


I'm still waiting for setting change suggestions in CMSS to optimise it for both RMAA and selected in-game operation that I haven't tried.
 
Ronco said:
I'm still waiting for setting change suggestions in CMSS to optimise it for both RMAA and selected in-game operation that I haven't tried.
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Use the Rightmark 3D Sound positioning test.

When using stereo headphones, configure the X-Fi for Game mode, select Headphones in the speaker settings, and turn on CMSS3D-Headphone, and set both ElevationFilter and MacroFX to On.

When using the Medusas, configure the X-Fi for Game mode, select 5.1 in the speaker settings, and turn off CMSS3D-Surround.

Notice that when using stereo headphones with CMSS3D-Headphone, MacroFX changes how the source sounds when it is close to you, and ElevationFilter changes how the source sounds when it is above or below you. 5.1 with the Medusa's CANNOT give these cues.

Perhaps front/back positioning is better with the Medusas. However, you will have to trade off elevation and MacroFX distance cues.
 
Ok, I have come to a crossroads: I must chose between the Sennheiser 485 or the Medusa. Remember, I am no audiofile ($20 headphones currently) & will use them for both gaming (Battlefield 2, upcoming UT2007, etc.) & music (bass not important).

Again, thanks for the help.
 
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