Razer Brings THX Spatial Audio to Every PC Gamer on the Planet

erek

erek

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Lame. Just make it free already!

"Maximum Compatibility
The Razer THX Spatial Audio App for Windows 10 has been designed to work with all types and brands of headphones and earbuds, bringing the THX Spatial Audio experience to as many users as possible. Compatible with analogue 3.5 mm headsets, USB and Bluetooth headphones, anyone can now upgrade their virtual 5.1, 7.1 or stereo audio experience with the Razer THX Spatial Audio App.

The Razer THX Spatial Audio App will also include an accompanying widget accessible via the Windows Game Bar for Windows 10 (Win + G) shortly after release, allowing for quick access to core features such as switching EQ profiles on the fly.

About the Razer THX Spatial Audio App
  • Superior Positional Accuracy from all sources: With sound that goes beyond 7.1 for more precise positional localization
  • THX tuned: Creating a lifelike, realistic cinematic-quality sound stage
  • Surround Sound Calibration: Providing the most accurate positional audio, based upon on personalized hearing preferences
  • EQ Customization and THX Pre-sets: Whether the listener prefers deeper bass or more clarity, the app can be balanced with mid, high and low frequencies
  • 5 mm, Bluetooth and USB Compatible
Pricing and Availability
  • $9.99 USD / 12.49€ on upgrade from 7.1 Surround
  • $19.99 USD / 24.99€ standard purchase"
https://www.techpowerup.com/268670/razer-brings-thx-spatial-audio-to-every-pc-gamer-on-the-planet
 
id be interested in an objective comparison between this, dolby atmos, and windows sonic. Currently I use Massdrops pc37x headphones plugged into an astro a50 mixamp for surround and EQ, but I would be interested in getting rid of the mixamp if I could get good surround without it.
 
Cactusj said:
id be interested in an objective comparison between this, dolby atmos, and windows sonic. Currently I use Massdrops pc37x headphones plugged into an astro a50 mixamp for surround and EQ, but I would be interested in getting rid of the mixamp if I could get good surround without it.
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I use an Astro A40 analog headset with Dolby Atmos and have been pretty happy with it. Resident Evil 2 Remake was amazing with it.
 
I think this is the free software that comes with their headsets. I've got a Nari Ultimate that I use sometimes and had to install a bunch of their stuff to get working. It works fine as far as I can tell but I normally just run my massdrop AKG kx wired something or others and a Yeti mic, since I always forget to recharge the wireless stuff most of the time ... but that's on me.
 
DukenukemX said:
Sounds like the equivalent of downloading ram.
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Huh? Not even close. Simulated surround has been around for a long time and it's always software or driver based. It's not as good as the real thing and, arguably, headphones are better left as stereo devices (good headphones already do a good job of separating the audio channels anyway), but this isn't anything new. It's just a newer version of tech that has existed for, at least, the last decade.
 
I'd used their software as an EQ before, but in terms of simulating 'surround', I've decided to stop molesting my audio. I also don't use the surround stuff anymore, just straight stereo.
 
IdiotInCharge said:
I'd used their software as an EQ before, but in terms of simulating 'surround', I've decided to stop molesting my audio. I also don't use the surround stuff anymore, just straight stereo.
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I agree. I’ve never been impressed with simulated surround. It’s a good way to improve audio separation on crappy headphones but I’d rather just get headphones that have good separation out of the box. “Gaming” headsets often cost as much as a decent set of headphones anyway.
 
Derangel said:
I agree. I’ve never been impressed with simulated surround. It’s a good way to improve audio separation on crappy headphones but I’d rather just get headphones that have good separation out of the box. “Gaming” headsets often cost as much as a decent set of headphones anyway.
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As far as gaming goes no matter how good separation your headphones have, unless there is some surround virtualisation to mimic binaural audio recordings then you cannot really hear the direction where the sound is coming from beyond left and right. But yes, most surround simulation is garbage BECAUSE they only take a stereo signal in and mess with it with no real benefits.

This is why Windows Sonic also falls flat on its face because Windows do not allow you to set your speakers into 5.1 or 7.1 but forces into Stereo when you turn on Windows Sonic, and unfortunately most games look into the Windows sound settings to determine what kind of speaker system you have which results in Windows Sonic not having any directional audio source to simulate. All it does just ruins the audio quality without giving anything in return.
 
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Anyone interested in headphone surround virtualisation should look into HeSuVi. It is free and when properly it allows you to spoof a 7.1 source for games and pass it through lag free via Kernel Streaming into your actual soundcard with a surround virtualiser or HRTF model of your choice which it has dozens to choose from. Including Razers, Dolby Headphones, Atmos (just the surround sound part, no actual Atmos support), my personal favourite OpenAL surround and many more.

https://sourceforge.net/p/hesuvi/wiki/Help/
 
MaZa said:
As far as gaming goes no matter how good separation your headphones have, unless there is some surround virtualisation to mimic binaural audio recordings then you cannot really hear the direction where the sound is coming from beyond left and right. But yes, most surround simulation is garbage BECAUSE they only take a stereo signal in and mess with it with no real benefits.
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More or less; most games I play have done pretty well here, so their native mix to headphones is as good as it's going to get (with respect to developer intent). Of course, those are usually using Dolby tech already.

For those that don't... methods such as using HeSuVi are the next best thing, in that they tell the game to do a 7.1 mix to their virtual device, and then downmix that to headphones.
 
My big issue with these software surround things for stereo headphones is that they end up just killing the audio quality. I still use them on occasion because positional audio in some games is way more important, but it sucks to lose so much audio fidelity when you want to use them.

As Cactusj stated above, I'd love to see a comparison between this and the other solutions (Dolby Surround/Atmos, DTS Headphone:X, Windows Sonic, etc.).
 
MavericK said:
My big issue with these software surround things for stereo headphones is that they end up just killing the audio quality. I still use them on occasion because positional audio in some games is way more important, but it sucks to lose so much audio fidelity when you want to use them.

As Cactusj stated above, I'd love to see a comparison between this and the other solutions (Dolby Surround/Atmos, DTS Headphone:X, Windows Sonic, etc.).
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If they don't have a feature that detects a stereo stream and then chooses not to molest it (complete passthrough), then I'd consider that a flaw.
 
MaZa said:
As far as gaming goes no matter how good separation your headphones have, unless there is some surround virtualisation to mimic binaural audio recordings then you cannot really hear the direction where the sound is coming from beyond left and right. But yes, most surround simulation is garbage BECAUSE they only take a stereo signal in and mess with it with no real benefits.

This is why Windows Sonic also falls flat on its face because Windows do not allow you to set your speakers into 5.1 or 7.1 but forces into Stereo when you turn on Windows Sonic, and unfortunately most games look into the Windows sound settings to determine what kind of speaker system you have which results in Windows Sonic not having any directional audio source to simulate. All it does just ruins the audio quality without giving anything in return.
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Ummm......

Creative G5 usb
Sennheiser gsx1000
Other ones out there as well

Plenty more out there can do virtual 7.1 and do it well.

What doesnt make sense is the argument that virtual surround is not as good as true surround????

We only have two ears and our brains calculate positional audio in the real world by frequency and doppler. Sound can also red and blue shift to give a sense of to and fro as well as distance and magnitude.

These external USB dacs/processors do an amazing job of taking games and movies that are coded for directional audio and presenting the necessary frequencies to your brain to provide directional audio.

What I really like alot is Oculus' surround where you get true directionality by turning your head to focus on a source. Its more immersive. And it works even with external big headphones in lieu of the small included ones.

Its not like there are not countless peer reviewed journals and entire PhDs dedicated to audio science or nothing.
 
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tangoseal said:
What doesnt make sense is the argument that virtual surround is not as good as true surround????
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It's not that virtual surround sound can't in theory, be the same as real surround, it is that it is not in basically all consumer implementations. Just because we only have two ears doesn't mean the transformations are simple. That's the issue. Also it turns out that virtual surround really takes a dive compared to real surround if you don't have head tracking because our brain uses cues from small head movements to localize audio. There are very, very few solutions out there that support it. Waves Nx does (which is also available in Audeze Mobius phones), VR does when the games support it, and the SVS Realizer does but that's about all I know of. It's not a great situation. Even the ones that do, often aren't perfect. Waves Nx is ok, but really relies on you having more or less dead accurate headphones. Otherwise its calculations are off. The SVS Realizer does an amazing job... so long as you have $4000 for it, and good headphones and a good surround sound system to do all the impulse captures with.

Hence why some people, like me, prefer true surround speakers.
 
So this is exactly like enabling Windows Sonic or Dolby Atmos in your sound area on WIndows? Only this one is proprietary to Razer and using THX tech?
 
Sounds like just more digital signal processing.

X-Fi's already do this with the myriad of options, the crystalizer.

If you run el cheapo onboard audio, might be worth trying.
 
tangoseal said:
Ummm......

Creative G5 usb
Sennheiser gsx1000
Other ones out there as well

Plenty more out there can do virtual 7.1 and do it well.
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I have an SBZ, and the virtual surround is really not that good, it butchers the sound. How are these any better? It seems like no matter what you choose, it messes with the sound quality too much.
 
Sycraft said:
It's not that virtual surround sound can't in theory, be the same as real surround, it is that it is not in basically all consumer implementations. Just because we only have two ears doesn't mean the transformations are simple. That's the issue. Also it turns out that virtual surround really takes a dive compared to real surround if you don't have head tracking because our brain uses cues from small head
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MavericK said:
I have an SBZ, and the virtual surround is really not that good, it butchers the sound. How are these any better? It seems like no matter what you choose, it messes with the sound quality too much.
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I dont know what a SBZ is but I run Planar Magnetics for headphones and man they sound AMAZING no butchering. You cant use cheapo junk headphones with good sound hardware its like buying a diesel truck but having the dealer put a 4 cylinder eco motor in the truck. Its like why?

Also there are alot of products that can do so called virtual surround but only a few can actually pull it off. The two products I mentioned are stellar for thier price.

Also you cant use mother board audio because they literally all use cheaply priced realtek shitchips. You have to use USB or pcie addin board.

Sound is subjective anyways. Gaming Reviewers will review great hardware but use like Corsair 40 dollar gaming headsets as thier drivers and of course the product gets a shit review. The gesture is nice but let the professionals do audio reviews. These arent gpus. You meed 500 to 2000 headphones with wonderful sound stages to measure the qualoty of a good sound card. Not rgb gaming headsets with 30 cent mics attached.
 
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MavericK said:
My big issue with these software surround things for stereo headphones is that they end up just killing the audio quality. I still use them on occasion because positional audio in some games is way more important, but it sucks to lose so much audio fidelity when you want to use them.

As Cactusj stated above, I'd love to see a comparison between this and the other solutions (Dolby Surround/Atmos, DTS Headphone:X, Windows Sonic, etc.).
Click to expand...

Set up HeSuVi and you can compare them yourself. My personal facourite is OpenAL's implementation because it messes up with sound quality the least but it still provides clear directional cues around your head. With the 7.1 test I can tell which "virtual speakers" are in front and what are behind.
 
tangoseal said:
I dont know what a SBZ is but I run Planar Magnetics for headphones and man they sound AMAZING no butchering. You cant use cheapo junk headphones with good sound hardware its like buying a diesel truck but having the dealer put a 4 cylinder eco motor in the truck. Its like why?
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Sound Blaster Z, which is supposedly a high-end sound card. But the virtual surround on it is...not great.

I have several pairs of headphones, Senn HD590s, Philips Fidelio X1s, Philips SHP9500, none of which I would consider to be cheapo junk. I also have a pair of wireless Logitech G533s that aren't too bad. The fact is, if you listen to anything with and without the virtual surround turned on, it sounds like crap.

I would love to find a solution that doesn't affect the sound quality in a major way.

MaZa said:
Set up HeSuVi and you can compare them yourself. My personal facourite is OpenAL's implementation because it messes up with sound quality the least but it still provides clear directional cues around your head. With the 7.1 test I can tell which "virtual speakers" are in front and what are behind.
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I'll check that out. I would love to be able to listen to music and play games, and not have to switch the surround stuff on and off constantly.
 
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