Surround Sound Headphones

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DisrupTer911

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Oct 14, 2004
Messages
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I'm looking into getting a really nice headphone setup.

It must do surround sound
It must have a microphone boom built in.

I'm looking for something thats going to give me real true directional sound.

Can you guys make some suggestions?

I'm not sure whats good and whats not, so any help would be great

Thanks everyone :) !!
 
Usually 5.1 headphones aren't the greatest for sound because in order to fit all the drivers in there, they have to make them small and not the best sound quality. If I were you, I'd just go for a nice pair of stereo headphones, which will sound a lot nicer.
 
well i don't need something with tons of bass if thats what you mean

i just want headphones that have more directional sound abilities.

I'm currently using these battlefield2 street style headphones w/ a mic boom...

and well, they arn't very directional so depending on how i turn my characters head, the sound will come from both sides...and make things hard to pinpoint.
 
Very little directional difference between 5.1 headphones and normal headphones IMO. I used to play CS with normal headphones and i could tell exactly where sounds were coming from, didnt need a bunch of other little speakers and 2 extra cables lol.

Just go buy a pair of HD-280s which have a microphone attached and you'll be forever happy. But yer trust me, 5.1 headphones sound like shite and arent any better for directional than normal ones, they just sound, as i just said, like shite.
 
ZOMGWTFBBQ said:
Very little directional difference between 5.1 headphones and normal headphones IMO. I used to play CS with normal headphones and i could tell exactly where sounds were coming from, didnt need a bunch of other little speakers and 2 extra cables lol.

Just go buy a pair of HD-280s which have a microphone attached and you'll be forever happy. But yer trust me, 5.1 headphones sound like shite and arent any better for directional than normal ones, they just sound, as i just said, like shite.
Click to expand...

He couldn't be anymore correct. Even wonder why name brands don't make cheap 5.1 headphones? Cause for them to be made properly, it takes precision building and proper electronics. I got a pair of Kinyo 5.1 headphones and could not notice a difference with positioning. Most sound cards change the sound of something if it is behind you similiar to what it is in real life where the sound isn't as present in your ear. Just look for a good pair of regular headphones. I don't really care what Tom says, 2 channel headphones will give you proper positioning. I suggest decent sennheisers for great all around cans and just get a cheap seperate mic.

 
I have a set of these. I am quite pleased with them as far as gaming is concerned, I still use my Koss Pro-4AA phones for listening to music.
 
This has been a very interesting thread to read.

First a few facts:
1) A single ear in a fixed position can do next to nothing in determining position of a sound -- volume is the only cue. Without motion volume alone doesn't resolve direction. The sound striking one ear rattles down a tube (destroying any directional information) and then strikes a direction insensitive detector -- the eardrum. You can gain directional information by moving your head or adding another ear.

2) There is nothing a 5.1 headphone system can do that a good set of stereo headphones cannot do.

3) Because the drivers are larger in general you'll get better sound from a set of stereo headphones.

4) It is impossible for a human to tell the difference between a sound directly in front and a sound directly behind with a fixed head position (again moving the head will resolve the ambiguity or add a 3rd ear. :) ) Let's say these positions are on the axis of the receiver system. The closer angularly the sound is to this axis the more difficult it is to determine whether it is from the right or the left.

Is there an advantage to 5.1 headphones in gaming? My hypothesis is yes!

With 5.1 headphones if something happens in the right rear channel it's going to come into your right ear only because that's where the right-rear driver is. This means a sound that is actually say at 135 degrees right (nearly behind) is going to sound like it is at 90 degrees right. That's like tapping you on the right shoulder saying "This way." So you turn to the right and continue turning right until you see the source of the sound. You don't care so much if it's at 25 degrees or 165 degrees, you just want to know it's to your right.

I believe that test with blindfolded users would show that with 5.1 headphones a person would be able to determine more accurately whether a sound came from the left or the right. This is because the system is by design distorting the soundstage to enhance right/left sensitivity. The high quality stereo headphone user will be able to determine with greater accuracy the actual angular position of the sound source because the system lacks this "enhancing" distortion. But this distortion is helpful in gaming. When you are running through the streets of Yemen with an AK47 you don't care if the sound is at 55 degrees left of 75 degrees left you just want to know with great certainty and immediacy that it's left.

In my estimation then 5.1 headphones could provide an advantage for gaming. They provide enhanced left/right position determination of sound. This same affect could be achieved with stereo headphones with additional processing. Taken to extreme the processor would send signal to only the earpiece with a higher signal regardless of how small the signal difference was. The affect is NOT more accurate, more realistic, or more pleasant. But the effect might be helpful for gaming.

I'm guessing that using 5.1 headphones for a while and switching back to stereo headphones a person would have real trouble locating sounds accurately. And considering adaptability I'd be concerned that 5.1 headphones might reduce a persons ability to locates real world sound sources accurately. Hmm.

5.1 headphones do not truly provide a 5.1 speaker like experience. Sound from right and behind cannot be perceived to be from behind -- only right. As the sound moves toward the axis the left rear channel will send sound too but it cannot be perceived to be coming from the rear, only more right than left. This is not true in a 5.1 speaker system because such a system can give you front back information. You say "What about the front/back ambiguity?" Well, in a 5.1 speaker system with sound from the rear channels neither source is on the axis. It is two sources both off axis and balanced that gives you the perception that the sound is directly behind you but there is no sound source directly behind you so the ambiguity can be resolved because of bounces.

jpmkm,

I regret that I do not have the time or resources to test my hypothesis -- this would obviously be the next step in the scientific process. But I believe my hypothesis fits with all known data.


Ice Sickle
 
I have a set of the zalman 5.1 and the medusa 5.1(analog, not usb) as well.. IMO; The zalmans are crap, in just about every sense of the word.. The medusas, are very well made, reasonably comfortable, but have no better sound quality, and offer me no noticably better 3d positional sound than my $20 Koss headphones.. Just my experience..

I agree with the ones recomending you forgo the 5.1 headphones for a set of comparebly priced stereo headphones..
 
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