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Speakers vs Headseat ?

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paulguru89

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Oct 22, 2014
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Talking about gaming ( FPS specially ) what is better as soundstage ?
Speakers or headseat ?

I'm undecided about what buy :
- Audioengine A2+ & Audioengine S8
- Philips Fidelio X2

In summer i think the headseat make me feel bad for swat, but the speakers is expensive and bulky then i want to know if the headseat have a tangible advantages compared to speakers as soundstage and surround .......................
 
1) Do you live in an apartment? If yes, proceed to question #2. If no, proceed to item #3.

2) Will you promise to modify your audio system settings to eliminate/reduce all bass? If yes, then cool and/or proceed to item#3. If no, then do us apartment neighbors a favor and don't buy speakers, period.

3) A very good set of headphones should do the trick for FPS.

I have some Creative GigaWorks T20 Series II speakers, not very physically big. I had my laptop audio system settings set to boost bass but set the knob on my speakers to reduce bass as much as possible (because I didn't want to enjoy bass at the time). Could barely even feel any vibrations on my plastic Lifetime desk. Surprisingly enough, my neighbors down stairs could hear bass from my speakers very well as well as outside of my apartment and thought I was jamming.

Volume wasn't even turned high! Problem solved when I set system audio settings to eliminate bass as well. Perhaps an audiophile could chime in and tell me how this works . . .
 
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I do not have direct experience with the Audioengine A2+, but as someone with a pretty decent desktop speaker system I would think headphones are better for gaming in general if you do no mind wearing them. That said, and as an owner of the Philips X1's, they are THE MOST comfortable pair of headphones I've worn (much more than Sennheiser's HD558 for example), and they have fantastic sound.

One thing that I would like to stress though is what source are you going to be playing out of, straight from your motherboard? While the Philips X2's don't need a lot of power and would play fine from the motherboard, I noticed a great increase in the presence of sound stage once I upgraded to a proper DAC. So try to consider adding one to your budget, or perhaps look for something slightly cheaper just so you can do that. It really makes a big difference coming from a Z77 ASRock. A cheap one I would recommend is the SMSL SD793-II (~$60) if you have an optical port.
 
comes down to prefernce, do you prefer headphones or speakers. Good Stereo speakers will be as good as headphones sound wise.

if you want to only hear your game, get headphones.

I have both, sometimes i don't feel like wearing headphones so I use my speakers.
 
Certain speakers, like the HSU hb-1 mk2, have a giant sound stage for gaming. A good pair of stereo speakers is much more "fun" if you can be loud. I have both speakers and headphones. When the wife is away, I use the speakers.
 
If it's online fps than headphones always no question. For more laid back stuff speakers for me.
 
I prefer to used open air headphones over speakers for gaming. Those philips say open back so I'm assuming they are. I have the Sennheiser PC360s. You don't get that disconnect from the world feeling that you do with closed headsets. Which made all the difference to me.
 
imo for gaming i not that sure but for music and movies without a doubt speakers have much bigger sound stage and also you feel explosions not just hear them - their is just no comparison.

even my cousins Bey T1 the sound stage is tiny.
 
Open headphones are generally preferred for gaming since they have a larger sound stage. Closed will have better bass and are better if you don't want everyone to hear you/you don't want to hear everyone.
 
if you want a really amazing fps soundstage for under $200, try some used akg 701s. They have the largest sound stage I have heard in any headphone. That is including Stax which is saying something.

BF4 is W O W with them.
 
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Audio technica AD700's or AD 900's are also pretty good. Looks like it's the AD 900x and 700x. AD are the open ones, A900/700x are the closed ones.
 
I use both, depending on if I want to talk to the other players.
I use a pair of M-Audio BX5 D2's studio monitors on my garage PC and just ordered a pair of Sennheiser headphones as the Sony ones I bought the other day hurt my ears and top of my head after about an hour of wearing them.
I don't need a headset with this setup as I have a Soundblaster ZX and it has a mic in the headphone pod it comes with, it's the red and black box under the monitor.



My other rig uses Alesis M1 Active MK2 studio monitors and a Sennheiser headset. Those Sennheisers are probably 10 years old now and still work great.

The studio monitors have a very good soundstage and I can hear exactly where people are when playing games with them.
 
I prefer a speaker set up. I like the bigger soundstage and can't stand wearing headphones for longer than 30 minutes at a time.
 
Zepher said:
The studio monitors have a very good soundstage and I can hear exactly where people are when playing games with them.
Click to expand...

I found this to be the case with my monitors as well. I attribute this to the excellent imaging they produce.
 
Zepher said:
I use both, depending on if I want to talk to the other players.
I use a pair of M-Audio BX5 D2's studio monitors on my garage PC and just ordered a pair of Sennheiser headphones as the Sony ones I bought the other day hurt my ears and top of my head after about an hour of wearing them.
I don't need a headset with this setup as I have a Soundblaster ZX and it has a mic in the headphone pod it comes with, it's the red and black box under the monitor.



My other rig uses Alesis M1 Active MK2 studio monitors and a Sennheiser headset. Those Sennheisers are probably 10 years old now and still work great.

The studio monitors have a very good soundstage and I can hear exactly where people are when playing games with them.
Click to expand...

then you have a bigger soundstage with speakers ?
i understand right ?
 
I much prefer floor mounted speakers, I love the feel of bass in the seat and my body.
When you get good speakers (as well as headphones), a good DAC is a worthy investment (perhaps later) as long as your amp doesnt suck.
Fat good quality speaker wire helps get all the bass and detail possible from your speakers (you dont need to spend a lot, choose wisely. I recommend Van Damme Hifi wire (see Amazon). 4.00mm is great but too fat to fit some systems. I use 2x stereo 4.00mm per speaker on the fronts :p).

Different speakers create different soundfields, they can vary wildly.
But you can to some degree choose how wide your soundfield is by how far apart the speakers are/how close you sit and the angle you toe them in/out.
Surround is another world if you have surround music.
I'm not a fan of converting stereo to surround for personal listening, but it can be nice if doing other activities at the same time.
 
It depends.

If its a game where you want immersion then nothing can compare to a nice large woofered system (not an Audioengine/studio speaker setup), simply because of the capabilities of bass. Also, wearing something on your head reduces immersion.

On the other hand, if its a competitive game where knowing the exact location of an opponent through audio sources is key, a headset has advantages.
 
leeleatherwood said:
It depends.

If its a game where you want immersion then nothing can compare to a nice large woofered system (not an Audioengine/studio speaker setup), simply because of the capabilities of bass. Also, wearing something on your head reduces immersion.

On the other hand, if its a competitive game where knowing the exact location of an opponent through audio sources is key, a headset has advantages.
Click to expand...
Yes this one.
Its called soundstage. ;)
 
the speakers if i'll buy it ........... will be positioned to the sides of monitors, then maximus 60cm to distance, and will not be addressed to my head but will stay straight.

So not perfect Hi-Fi position because my desk have some limits.
 
My other PC is setup like this,

and I have no problems playing Counter Strike or Battlefield and hearing where people are.

Competitive gamers use headsets since they need to talk to the other players, as well as being able to hear the game with they are in an arena competing.
 
i want to replace my question to other.

What i'm looking for is not only soundstage but also more important the "IMAGING" - the ability of the speakers to position individual sounds within the soundstage ( just for detect the enemy position ).
In this aspect the speech above is the same or different comparing hp to speakers ?
 
A good DAC with speakers that pass the detail are needed for best imaging (and a not crap amp).
A lot can go wrong in the design of a speaker so always get one that is well praised and designed for where you will place the speaker in the room.

If you can place the speakers a few meters away, Ribbon tweeters are excellent for detail retrieval.
A well reviewed 'metal dome tweeter' speaker otherwise.
 
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