You all were right about good stereo cans

M

MorgothPl

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So, with Black Friday I got myself nice pair of AKG K712, and well, I'm stunned about how good they sound. I switched from Kingston Revolver, connected to Strix Soar, and I connected my new cans to same card, as it supposedly has good dac/amp parts.

The positioning and soundstage are amazing. In Forza Horizon 3 I can hear - in stereo mode - from which side opponents try to overtake me, the music and all the effects just sound better. Same in FPS games - in Deathwing the hissing of machines and sneaking of genestealers are scary :) Same in Far Cry Primal - I can finally hear were exactly those damn snakes are hiding :)
That was best investment in computer peripherals since very long time.

Now, I'm not sure if I should get the dac/amp. Soar looks like is handling the cans quite nicely, so jot sure if it's worth the investment.

But you all were right. Stereo on good cans beats all the virtual sound in gaming headsets and beat said headsets in stereo mode :)
 
But you can do pretty good virtual surround in your new cans, too. 712's are apparently excellent for DSP, so maybe don't give up on that just yet.
 
yeah my foray into multiple driver headphones was a bust. actually they were terrible.
my trusty sennheiser HD595 are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much better than those multidriver zalmans in every way - including positioning.
 
If you want good surround virtualization on good stereo headphones I recommend Waves Nx combined with their headtracker. It sounds amazingly realistic. Doesn't quite match my actual surround setup, but it is a satisfying alternative when I can't use it.
 
There's also Razer's solution.

I wound up picking that as it also adds a global EQ, and the positioning (where the virtual speakers are rendered) is configurable.
 
I'll give that a shot, though I doubt it'll compete with Modi Multibit +Jotunheim on the 400i. When something moves, I know exactly where from.
 
Pillars said:
I'll give that a shot, though I doubt it'll compete with Modi Multibit +Jotunheim on the 400i. When something moves, I know exactly where from.
Click to expand...

Really just going to depend on the game and what audio engine is used. I've found the Razer solution to be transparent; it leaves stereo sources unmolested, though does include the option to 'expand stereo' similar to some of Creative's enhancements, while providing for 7.1 to headphone downmix.
 
I gave it a shot, the razer surround personalized. Wasn't happening for my setup.
 
Indeed, using CMSS-3D surround on my trusty ol' Titanium HD to feed the Sennheiser HD 800's gives me an almost unfair advantage in NS2. The positional accuracy is so good, I'm able to track and chomp on Marines before they know what hits 'em! Battlefield 1 sounds like I've been dropped into a real war-zone. Honestly, spending the cash on premium stereo headphones + amp was completely worth it. The whole immersive experience I love about PC gaming was elevated to a new level and I have no doubt they will last me many good years.
 
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I tried that Razer software a few years back and it caused lockups on my PC. I did download it again recently because that was using mb audio and I am now using X-Fi so hopefully any issues are resolved. I was able to use it for a bit in BF3 and it was effective when it worked.
 
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