PC gaming: speakers vs. headphones

[B00nie]

You have zero experience with TOTL headphones, namely electrostatic headphones yet you're trying to educate me on why head-tracking on electrostatic earspeakers can't compete with speakers in general. Please.

Why do I have to repeat myself? I have listened to several electrostatic headphones and let's bold it this time: without head tracking they can't magically bypass your brain like I multiple times already explained to you.

It is impossible to have a realistic sound imaging when your brain can not receive multiple references of sound location through head movements. This is a scientifically studied fact and has nothing to do with headphones being electrostatic or dynamic.

This is what causes the 'sound in your head' effect when you listen with headphones.

The lack of knowledge of the need for - and cost of a proper head tracking system (1500 dollars and upwards) is prohibitive for most head-fi users in addition to the expensive cans. That combined to the uncomfortness of wearing pads on your head for hours just makes speakers way more attractive for anyone who has a possibility to set up a listening room. I use headphones only when I'm gaming and even then I have to remove the pads from my head at least once an hour because they start to irritate.

 

[Comixbooks]

I found with Headphones that I get numb to them after a while unless I turn the volume way down with them and let the sounds come out of the dark. I just become unaware of my game if I use them. Sometimes they are good depending on the type of game I play a RPG they are really nice due to immersion.

 

[Impulse]

Voted headphones but my real answer would be a more ambiguous 'it depends'... Headphones are great for immersion, voice chat, accurate surround sound cues without a big setup around the, PC, etc.

Speakers can be nicer to chill with when you're playing strategy games or slower paced games, or when you're also listening to music, etc. I do both, and I switch constantly. I've got more money invested in headphones.

Between a couple pairs of cans and the Schiit amp/DAC there's just shy of a grand there, whereas my Infinity Primus + Emotiva amp only total about $350... I think you can get farther on a shoestring budget with headphones tho... Easier to experiment too.

I just happen to have put more $ towards the headphone side of things because my room wasn't very well arranged (or large). Having moved I might look for a step up from the Infinities, just not sure where to look, would rather stick with passives.

That KEF Q series looks intriguing... Needs to be bookshelves to work well near the desk and/or with my Bello stands.

 

[Impulse]

I'm recovering slowly, it is the result of spending 4 years on that wasteful site headfi, good riddance I was banned.

Guess I came off unscathed by comparison... Found what I like for the most part after only a grand or so. Still got way more headphones than I should or most tend to have, never mind the separate amp/DAC atop the STX, but they all kinda have a purpose...

V-Moda XS are portable, Fidelio X2 & Beyer DT-880 might be redundant but I've been leaving one in the living room and they're different enough, NAD HP50 for closed/isolation, couple IEM for travel/daily...

Once I had a few choices I liked I didn't really see much sense in going back. Too much hype and repetitive discussions, Innerfidelity and lurking on Changstar are enough of a fix to get a sense of what's going on in that world now...

So I'm back to spending my moneys on [H]ardware or cameras/lenses. (actually I'm done buying lenses too after half a dozen with a dead even zoom/prime split)

 

[lb_felipe]

b00nie, so, for gaming, specifically FPS, to determine the pinpoint where your enemy are, is there nothing with headphone can do?

Is bullshit they saying that headphones helps to know where in the map the source of sound is?

 

[Impulse]

I think there's a clear difference between the next level of immersion that B00nie's describing and the basic surround cues we can achieve today.

What he describes would fool you completely so you'd swear the sound came from wherever you heard it, and moving your head (as we and most animals do instinctively when tracking sound) would reinforce that feeling... It'd just be a lot more natural.

That doesn't mean the virtualized surround cues we have today aren't effective tho (just not as effective), nor that they can't be better than a bunch of poorly located speakers with no room treatment (as is often the case).

With virtualized surround you'll get some location cues, but you sorta have to learn how rear/left/right/etc sounds depending on your cans etc, because it isn't as real or instinctive as in RL where you'll move your head (ears) and your brain effectively adds extra processing.

A great speaker setup will beat headphones, but headphones will beat the majority of average to mediocre speaker setups, IMO. (as far as what you're alluding to) B00nie might or might not disagree, tho it'll likely come down to what he considers great/average/etc.

I base it mostly on the kinds of setups I most often see..

 

[lb_felipe]

Impulse, b00nie really knows everything about audio, but I appreciate so much your post. Thanks.

 

[ballistic]

I use headphones for games like Counter Strike Global Offensive where I need the positional cues to know where somebody is located.

I use speakers for pretty much every other game, when I play something like WoW I usually have the sound off anyways and I am listening to music or watching some form of media.

When I was raiding in WoW I'd use headphones because idiots on mumble can say dumb stuff and I don't like people overhearing that.

 

[B00nie]

b00nie, so, for gaming, specifically FPS, to determine the pinpoint where your enemy are, is there nothing with headphone can do?

Is bullshit they saying that headphones helps to know where in the map the source of sound is?

You can pinpoint direction with headphones, that's not the problem. Especially when DSP effects are played through them. What headphones lack is the believable illusion of space and front sector audio sources. With DSP you can easily locate sound behind or on the side, but not so easily in front or create an illusion of real space.

This is due to the factors I explained previously.