Looking for THE 7.1 Headphones!

DoubleTap said:
Maybe most people on here, but we're the freaks.
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For me, giving your credit card and full personal information to be used inside Windows is the definition of suicide lol. Does the store work with gift cards? That way it would be semi acceptable.
 
Paypal works fine.

The Windows and Xbox store are connected and with certain games, if you buy the digital version, you get it on your PC and Xbox which is pretty handy.

I think the only game I've bought was this one:



Super fun and runs very well in NV Surround.

But their new pirate game looks tempting...
 
So I am by no means an audiophile, but isn't it possible that individual games settings might make stereo or "7.1" better? Not better in a sound quality sense, but better in an exploitation of positional sound information? I know that this tends to be a subjective topic, but I have found that I seem to be able to determine an opponents location with more ease when using the virtual "7.1" and surround sound audio settings, as opposed to stereo output and stereo headphones settings on Rainbow Six: Seige. This is using my incredibly mediocre Plantronic 780s. Maybe I am just more used to the fake 7.1
 
IronDeagle said:
So I am by no means an audiophile, but isn't it possible that individual games settings might make stereo or "7.1" better? Not better in a sound quality sense, but better in an exploitation of positional sound information? I know that this tends to be a subjective topic, but I have found that I seem to be able to determine an opponents location with more ease when using the virtual "7.1" and surround sound audio settings, as opposed to stereo output and stereo headphones settings on Rainbow Six: Seige. This is using my incredibly mediocre Plantronic 780s. Maybe I am just more used to the fake 7.1
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The 7.1 can be virtually encoded to the stereo stream you hear through the headphones. Changes in phase and delay of sound will fool the brain for positional audio. However it would require head tracking to get the full potential of virtual surround.
 
IronDeagle said:
So I am by no means an audiophile, but isn't it possible that individual games settings might make stereo or "7.1" better? Not better in a sound quality sense, but better in an exploitation of positional sound information? I know that this tends to be a subjective topic, but I have found that I seem to be able to determine an opponents location with more ease when using the virtual "7.1" and surround sound audio settings, as opposed to stereo output and stereo headphones settings on Rainbow Six: Seige. This is using my incredibly mediocre Plantronic 780s. Maybe I am just more used to the fake 7.1
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You're 100% right. That's why I suggest that you use a very good decoder like the Dolby Atmos plugin and others to decode the cues from the game. You don't need some cheap gimmicky headset with "7.1 sound" to do this. All you need are 2 speakers to recreate the virtual sound.

I can barely see the enemies on the screen nowadays and I have even moved up to a 49" TV to make them larger. I still can't make out enemies hiding in the bush. But I can hear their sound cues. If I can hear them then I can track them using positional audio.


Funny story but my buddy frankmansal can vouch for this one. I was trying to play Hunt: Showdown with him and my audio was all backwards. I even tried flipping my headphones around and I was still blind as hell trying to play. Flocks of Bird were clearly visible being startled in front of me and I'd hear them coming from the left rear. I was like man I can't play with you.

So match after match it was a crap show of me getting killed by someone after me hearing a rustling noise and begging my buddy did he hear it and where was it located. Finally we took another small break for me to figure out what was wrong. It seems that the HDMI audio processor on my TV had become the default audio device and my headphone amp was the secondary. Every time that I update my video card drivers it sets the TV as the default.

I fixed that oversight and enabled Dolby Atmos. I spent the rest of our gaming session telling him where the enemies were and to be careful. I could suddenly snipe because I didn't have to look over my shoulder when I cocked my gun. Previously I would hear the trigger moving from behind me and off to the side.


So yes enable your surround sound with stereo headphones. I can't say with certainty that this is the best solution for all games as different programmers have different systems. But in general it works for me. ;)
 
cageymaru said:
You're 100% right. That's why I suggest that you use a very good decoder like the Dolby Atmos plugin and others to decode the cues from the game. You don't need some cheap gimmicky headset with "7.1 sound" to do this. All you need are 2 speakers to recreate the virtual sound.

I can barely see the enemies on the screen nowadays and I have even moved up to a 49" TV to make them larger. I still can't make out enemies hiding in the bush. But I can hear their sound cues. If I can hear them then I can track them using positional audio.


Funny story but my buddy frankmansal can vouch for this one. I was trying to play Hunt: Showdown with him and my audio was all backwards. I even tried flipping my headphones around and I was still blind as hell trying to play. Flocks of Bird were clearly visible being startled in front of me and I'd hear them coming from the left rear. I was like man I can't play with you.

So match after match it was a crap show of me getting killed by someone after me hearing a rustling noise and begging my buddy did he hear it and where was it located. Finally we took another small break for me to figure out what was wrong. It seems that the HDMI audio processor on my TV had become the default audio device and my headphone amp was the secondary. Every time that I update my video card drivers it sets the TV as the default.

I fixed that oversight and enabled Dolby Atmos. I spent the rest of our gaming session telling him where the enemies were and to be careful. I could suddenly snipe because I didn't have to look over my shoulder when I cocked my gun. Previously I would hear the trigger moving from behind me and off to the side.


So yes enable your surround sound with stereo headphones. I can't say with certainty that this is the best solution for all games as different programmers have different systems. But in general it works for me. ;)
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I am glad I am not the only one who feels blind when I can't hear stuff!

I think I will try some more experimenting with other games in my library, to see if there is any predictability or pattern across engine/developer.
 
cageymaru said:
I can barely see the enemies on the screen nowadays and I have even moved up to a 49" TV to make them larger. I still can't make out enemies hiding in the bush. But I can hear their sound cues. If I can hear them then I can track them using positional audio.
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Uh, 'sound ques' from the bush. Sounds like you could use some SMELL-O-VISION ...
 
B00nie said:
Uh, 'sound ques' from the bush. Sounds like you could use some SMELL-O-VISION ...
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Can't smell things very well. Not sure if I ever the ability to smell very well. Used to joke with my mom, who was an excellent cook, that I can only cook Cajun style. Why Cajun only? Because whatever I start is always burnt black before I can smell it burning even if I am in the same room as it. :) :) :) I burn pots of boiling water regularly. :ROFLMAO:

Luckily I can still hear just fine though.
 
IronDeagle said:
I am glad I am not the only one who feels blind when I can't hear stuff!

I think I will try some more experimenting with other games in my library, to see if there is any predictability or pattern across engine/developer.
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Within the same underlying game engine I wouldn't expect a lot of difference. Even then, I doubt positional audio will vary that much as there aren't too many ways to muck with the implementation.

I've used Virtual 7.1 before via Dolby Headphone (which is how most "7.1" headsets do surround anyways); it does a good enough job, but tended to muddle the original audio quality quite a bit and the surround effect was fairly subtle. Maybe Atmos does a better job, but I haven't really bothered lately as I don't really play competitive FPS much anymore.
 
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