*TPU's Gaming Headphone/Headset Thread*

[Horrux]

for x-mass i will be getting my self a good pair for 5.1 headphones.
Can some one show me some good REAL 5.1 headphone links?

If you have an X-Fi sound card, stereo phones will likely do you better.

I have used both the cheap Zalman 5.1 and the expensive Psyko 5.1 and seriously, I'm not ever going back. With my $200 stereo headset, my soundcard is giving me good directionality, although not as good as with the Psyko, but with far, far superior sound quality.

 

[Funtoss]

Does anyone have a good Equalizer setting or bass treble setting for Logitech G35? ..i would love to see a pic of it

 

[AhokZYashA]

5.1 surround is gimmicks,
i prefer AD700 than any 5.1 headphones

 

[catnipkiller]

I have g35 atm and they are broken. the drivers wont even work for them anymore. So i just want something that will sound better then g35.

 

[ice_v]

I'm as well looking for true 5.1 gaming headsets. I'm planning on using them with BF3 and movies.

I was thinking about turtle beach z6a or cm storm sirus or anything in that budget...I also a have dedicated sound card.

How come u guys advice stereo headphones for gaming? Pardon me but how is directionality better on stereo headphones compared to true 5.1 headphones (with 4 drivers per earcup)...isn't that a nonsense?

 

[AhokZYashA]

actually its not a nonsense,
i tried so many headphones, including the 5.1 ones,
and even the AD700 positioning is better than the 5.1 4 drivers per cup headphones.

its the driver quality and the tuning that counts to those things

 

[ice_v]

actually its not a nonsense,
i tried so many headphones, including the 5.1 ones,
and even the AD700 positioning is better than the 5.1 4 drivers per cup headphones.

its the driver quality and the tuning that counts to those things

It just doesn't make sense to me...

have you actually compared positioning on other true 5.1 headphones with your AD7000?

And what sound card does that require? I have a Asus Xonar DX

Does everybody on this thread agree on this?

 

[AhokZYashA]

I only use normal onboard soundcard,
probably not all stereo headphones have better positioning to true 5.1 headphones,

but, headphones that i tried that have very good positioning, like AD700 and AKG K701.
betters the true 5.1 headphones,

i say better because true 5.1 headphones have crossfeed effects, delay time effects that makes the positioning a bit unnatural, and diffused.
stereo headphones only relies on its driver tuning and housing to make the open and spacious feeling that 5.1 headphones dont have.

 

[Frederik S]

I agree with AhokZYashA.

I have tried several 5.1 headsets and non of them come close to the performance of a decent set of two channel headphones. All the newer game titles have really good positional audio for headphones.

The problem with 5.1 headphones is that you have the drivers so close together which almost makes them coupled,and obviously the closed back designs only amplify these issues, imagine the amount of reflections bouncing around inside the cups.

You only have two ears and the audio imagery you hear is solely created based on the phase shifts and delay between the two ears. BeyerDynamic have a DSP that can run some complex transfer functions and give you a really neat "3D" sound experience from a regular two channel source.

Example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxAFb8LYuxc

How it works:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binaural_recording

 

[Horrux]

The very best audio positioning you will achieve are with the Psyko line of headsets. They are simply above and beyond anything else. However, the quality of sound is below average. And they are prone to breaking, although from what I read in this thread most brands are. Still, if you are ready to sacrifice a good deal of sound quality, the Psykos are insanely great at directionality. For example, I was able to pinpoint where snipers were shooting from in BFBC2, within 1-2 degrees, by sound alone. Snap aiming becomes a sound feature. No other headset is nearly that precise.

Mine broke. I am now using a Sennheiser PC360 G4ME stereo with my faithful old Auzentech Prelude soundcard, and althogh I get much better sound and some decent directionality, I miss the accuracy of the Psykos. And I hear they have improved sound quality. Oh and another problem with them is that they leak LOTS of sound.

 

[ice_v]

I agree with AhokZYashA.

I have tried several 5.1 headsets and non of them come close to the performance of a decent set of two channel headphones. All the newer game titles have really good positional audio for headphones.

The problem with 5.1 headphones is that you have the drivers so close together which almost makes them coupled,and obviously the closed back designs only amplify these issues, imagine the amount of reflections bouncing around inside the cups.

You only have two ears and the audio imagery you hear is solely created based on the phase shifts and delay between the two ears. BeyerDynamic have a DSP that can run some complex transfer functions and give you a really neat "3D" sound experience from a regular two channel source.

Example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxAFb8LYuxc

How it works:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binaural_recording

yeah I already knew about holofonic audio recordings ...very interesting stuff, but I'm still not 100% convinced about this good stereo headphones for gaming. Good quality true 5.1 headphones + decent audio card has always been the baseline advice of most gaming users and official wellknow techrewiers/reviewsite out there.

Still I suppose a certain feature called Dolby Headphone does a pretty good job at simulating surrond (if your soundcard has it)...but imho stereo are and always will be for audiophile music gender people. Excellent directionality and realistic immersion are features that I kinda feel more apropriate/achievable to true 5.1 + good sound card. Perhaps 5.1 headsets have not yet reached that quality that stereo have reached by today, I'll give you that (keep in mind though, they are also somewhat more complex)...but I think they're also going toward good quality lately

 

[ice_v]

The very best audio positioning you will achieve are with the Psyko line of headsets. They are simply above and beyond anything else. However, the quality of sound is below average. And they are prone to breaking, although from what I read in this thread most brands are. Still, if you are ready to sacrifice a good deal of sound quality, the Psykos are insanely great at directionality. For example, I was able to pinpoint where snipers were shooting from in BFBC2, within 1-2 degrees, by sound alone. Snap aiming becomes a sound feature. No other headset is nearly that precise.

Mine broke. I am now using a Sennheiser PC360 G4ME stereo with my faithful old Auzentech Prelude soundcard, and althogh I get much better sound and some decent directionality, I miss the accuracy of the Psykos. And I hear they have improved sound quality. Oh and another problem with them is that they leak LOTS of sound.

That's exactly what I would be looking for...but Psykos are pretty darn expensive! and indeed they have quality issues

How come famous audio tech producers don't make some good 5.1 gaming headsets? never heard of psyko until a few months ago...plus in europe they're nowhere to be found.

 

[Mussels]

How come famous audio tech producers don't make some good 5.1 gaming headsets? never heard of psyko until a few months ago...plus in europe they're nowhere to be found.

because they know good 5.1 headsets is an oxymoron, you're packing several smaller units into the same space, whereas one speaker per ear piece will be larger and provide far better sound.

 

[ViperXTR]

i only use a cheap A4tech HD-800 headset lol, still intact despite being cheap build, USB headset with built in soundchip, emulated ~7.1/5.1 surround, decent sound but proper windows 7 x64 drivers are non existent. Still works so far and was bought last 2008

 

[assaulter_99]

Well I've decided to go for the 700's, but I'll only get em in a month or so, due to shipping it from far. In the meantime, I got an a4tech HU 510 to use till then, jeez, what an awful experience. Not saying they are bad (I'm no expert when it comes to discern whether sound is good or not) It was an upgrade from the HS 800, but there is a major problem with the head, since it is usb+5.1 and that a4tech don't have recent drivers for win7, its a major pain in the *ss. It does ship with some drivers, but they just crash up your pc and by that I mean f*ck up bad (just google the head and you'll understand). My pc has become a snail since I installed it. Even if you do uninstall it, it stays in your control panel. Seems that my experience with win7 longevity will stop here sadly, because of that POS. I'll probably just nuke it later. An advice here though, never, and I mean it, never buy sh*t that even their company has stopped supporting. Cheapness comes with a price I guess. I had some experience with their keyboard and mouse, same damn problem. I managed to get the head to work without their native drivers, thanks to windows though, but I can't seem to get past my memories of what I had to endure with it. Sorry this post has turned into a hate one instead of reviewing said product, but if you lived what I have lived since yesterday, you'd probably just attempt suicide.

i only use a cheap A4tech HD-800 headset lol, still intact despite being cheap build, USB headset with built in soundchip, emulated ~7.1/5.1 surround, decent sound but proper windows 7 x64 drivers are non existent. Still works so far and was bought last 2008

My experience with them, since used the JVC, I will never go back to those. I was missing so much when I had these. Do try something else, you will be astonished at the gap in quality.

 

[Frederik S]

Mine broke. I am now using a Sennheiser PC360 G4ME stereo with my faithful old Auzentech Prelude soundcard, and althogh I get much better sound and some decent directionality, I miss the accuracy of the Psykos. And I hear they have improved sound quality. Oh and another problem with them is that they leak LOTS of sound.

Have you tried turning off all the X-Fi features and just using the high quality headphone setting in the game?

 

[MilkyWay]

Ive been using Superlux HD668B Headphones for general use. Ive got AKG 240 velour pads on because the pleather ones it came with are garbage. Good set for the price.

 

[BumbleBee]

the Psykos are actually pretty good at delivering surround sound in games.

 

[Ra97oR]

The best sound stage I have heard surprisingly is from a pair of STAX SR-009 with SRM-727. I really doubt the Pskyo will get anywhere near that or any STAX in question. It is it is not just precision of the soundstage, you also want the depth and layers.

FYI, I can accurately aim guns through walls with my headphones in Neotokyo. And non of my headphone used gimmicky Dolby headphone or any kind of DSP just pure high quailty two driver and the headphone design.

But again, I am never into cheap gaming headsets, so I have never heard the Psyko myself. From my experience from other "top tier" gaming headsets, if the sound is comparable to them, it will never beat good headphones.

 

[AhokZYashA]

but who the heck will be gaming with a pair of SR-009??
but I agree that the SR-009 paired to the SR-727 have the best soundstage i ever heard,

but HD800 out of the WA5 also very good soundstage

 

[brandonwh64]

Add me to the list! I have a Plantronics Gamercon 367!

 

[Horrux]

Have you tried turning off all the X-Fi features and just using the high quality headphone setting in the game?

Why would I do that?

The best sound stage I have heard surprisingly is from a pair of STAX SR-009 with SRM-727. I really doubt the Pskyo will get anywhere near that or any STAX in question. It is it is not just precision of the soundstage, you also want the depth and layers.

FYI, I can accurately aim guns through walls with my headphones in Neotokyo. And non of my headphone used gimmicky Dolby headphone or any kind of DSP just pure high quailty two driver and the headphone design.

But again, I am never into cheap gaming headsets, so I have never heard the Psyko myself. From my experience from other "top tier" gaming headsets, if the sound is comparable to them, it will never beat good headphones.

Aiming a gun through a wall at someone who is 10 feet away is one thing. Finding a sniper somewhere behind your back, by sound alone, from a single shot, when he is lying prone atop a ridge in the bushes, now that is something else. Yes, the Psykos are THAT accurate. In other words, they are pretty much as accurate as being there. They are not considered "cheap" gaming headsets either. Again, the sound quality is IMO what leaves to be desired in those models. For positioning, I submit that they cannot be beaten.

 

[Ra97oR]

Aiming a gun through a wall at someone who is 10 feet away is one thing. Finding a sniper somewhere behind your back, by sound alone, from a single shot, when he is lying prone atop a ridge in the bushes, now that is something else. Yes, the Psykos are THAT accurate. In other words, they are pretty much as accurate as being there. They are not considered "cheap" gaming headsets either. Again, the sound quality is IMO what leaves to be desired in those models. For positioning, I submit that they cannot be beaten.

This is what I can do with all my hi-fi headphones, and I can do even better with my STAX. They are cheap gaming headphones, go listen to some top tier real headphone with a suitable setup and we can talk again. Finding a sniper behind me is the easiest thing I can do with my headphones. They cannot be beaten as you simply haven't heard better yet.

£500 + £1000 headphone amp and £800 + £800 STAX set. The Psyko is very cheap compare to my own headphone setup.

 

[BumbleBee]

this thread is dedicated to gaming headsets. there is another thread for that.

 

[Ra97oR]

Anything stopping me using high end headphones for gaming? Nope.