Alright... I have been searching and reading reviews... Much to my dismay I have not been able to find what I am looking for... What I want: -Headphones with true directional sound (Hearing sounds coming from front or back is the MOST important feature of the headphones - I want these headphones for FPS games mainly - not as concerned with Music or Movies sound) -I do NOT want it to use USB - I want to use a real sound card. -Comfort... The headphones I use now (Skullcandy) makes my ears want to bleed after about an hour of use. I was looking at the Zalman RSF6 - however I get mixed reviews on the quality of the sound and bass. I thought the Psyko 5.1 set would be it - however reviews say they suck. Price is not the concern - quality is Any input is greatly appreciated
I own a pair of tritton ax pro's and I have to say that they are not worth it. They are supposed to be true surround sound but I can't hear any different to a good pair of stereo headphones. If any thing a proper pair of music stereo headphones are better because they sound so much better and they are also made much better than gaming headsets.
Stereo headphones + a sound card with Asus Dolby Headphone or Creative CMSS-3D if you want surround sound from your headphones, it sounds like you already have a decent soudn card anyway. Multi-driver headphones are generally seen as trash by anyone who's knowledgeable about headphones.
turtle beach makes some good headsets imo.. if look back there was a thread on this before- and a lot of good recommendations.. including a money is no object headset beezlebub uses =] he can probably link it if he sees this thread.. sennheizer isn't bad either.. use a set of those now and used to have a set of novas that probably the best ever used.. but got stolen =\
I have a pair of razer barracudas and they were fab but they've finally bit the dust after a few years of solid service. The zalman ones you speak of are arse, they do the positional ok but the sound quality is pants. CMSS-3D is not a valid replacement for the positional benefit you get, playing most fps's with my barracudas almost gave you a sound version of a wall hack.
I'v used a headset everyday since last april specifically for FPS's on the 360 (mw2, cod4, battlefield etc). They are definitely amazing and i wouldn't go back to using tv sound, but be very careful when you hear that it has 'true' surround sound. The truth is, you can hear footsteps left or right or behind and in front 'almost' just as good with normal stereo headphones - when I turn Dolby Digital surround off on my 7.1 DSS processor with my Turtle Beach X11s, it does sound a tad less subtle and clear, but for all intents and purposes I can 'soundwhore' just as effectively without the Dolby Digital on (trust me I have spent countless hours on cage matches on cod 4 testing different headsets and surround sound). The point is you can save some money if you dont want to pay for an overpriced decoder box which will give you (arguably) negligible gains if your purely wanting to soundwhore - then again that's your call though. Having said that, I'v used an X11 with TB's 7.1 decoder box - they call it the DSS and it costs about 60-70 qwid - and when paired together its given me the best, clearest sounding setup iv ever used for FPS gaming on consoles (although they do work with PC). I can hear really subtle gun reloads, grenades being unpinned, footsteps, silenced weapons etc etc - it really is amazing on mw2 and cod4, blackops is a different story because Treyarch messed up directional cues, but anyway. There are of course so-called 'true' discrete surround sound headsets, like the AX Pro's which have 4 small speaker drivers in each cup, as opposed to 1 or 2 in each cup which normal stereo headphones use. They dont 'simulate' the surround sound like my TB's do (or I should say the DSS decoder box does), because it sends each sound channel to each individual speaker for a so called more accurate surround experience. I tried a pair of these last November and they sounded horribly drenched out, with no clarity whatsoever - its largely has to do with the fact they have to cram 4 small speaker drivers in each cup as opposed to 1 fat driver which will produce much nicer sound. So go down the simulated (virtual) surround sound route if your going to go surround sound. I have not tried professional PC audio headsets as I game on the 360 so I am unsure how they would fair towards TB's, astro's and trittons (the main gaming headset makers). However, as you are going to be using it on the PC, the Turtle Beach Ear Force HPX1 is the one I would go for, it gets alot of good reviews and I think it will connect straight into your 5.1 soundcard for the surround sound - if it doesnt you will need Astro's Mixamp which is fairly expensive (take a look at it here though): http://www.limexb360.co.uk/product/Turtle_Beach_Ear_Force_HPX1_TBHPX1HO EDIT: I should note that the HPA2 is the one you want, its the PC version of the HPX1 and is indeed 'true' surround sound. Lime sell it but it is out of stock and not easy to come by (http://www.limexb360.co.uk/product/Turtle_Beach_Ear_Force_HPX1_TBHPA2)
Stay the hell away from gaming headsets if you're looking for top quality. It's all marketing, you get a poor quality flashy product that won't perform well. Pro gamers use them because they're sponsored. Nuff said. The Audio Technica ATH-AD700 is considered the king of gaming headphones if you're looking for clear directional sound. Those headphones, plus a decent sound card, plus a desktop mic = pretty much the best FPS audio setup for the money. Money no object? Probably the Beyerdynamic MMX 300 + the clear gel pads
You only have two ears, so you only hear in stereo. Decent headphones will give you improved stereo separation, which will make it easier to hear stuff around you. I've never been very impressed by the 3D sound offered by Asus or Creative. Most games sound exactly the same in their basic stereo mode to me. I can hear people sneaking up behind me in BFBC2 with stereo headphones and a stereo non-gaming sound card. I can't always stop them killing me, but that's not really a sound issue
A truly decent set of headphones can cost several hundred pound do you have some sort of budget in mind The best headphones avail for sound are professional grade music Headphones prices are £150+ for your basic set Add in a top quality mic and you have blown £200 so some dot of budget required here.
i personally love the asto a30/a40 with the mixamp, i am running the mixamp off a toslink connection from a ht omega striker 7.1 card, simulates 5.1 with DDL and DTS, but they sound phenomenal
I have the Logitech G35s. IMO they sound great -awesome bass response and good highs. However, I am less than convinced by the 7.1 positional audio (though to be fair, I mainly play BFBC2 - a game that is often picked out as having poor directional sound coding). I've tried speedlink medusa's too, which I thought were average at best. I'm starting to think maybe I should just drop the whole 'surround sound headset' idea and just go for a good stereo headset, like the Razers or the Sennheisser HD555. Anyway, though they are totalling 'bling' which I'm not much of a fan of, the Psyko Carbons released on April 7th look pretty interesting.
lol awesome BS if this were true then how can anyone tell the difference between someone shouting at them from the rear or front ?
It's strange, I have two ears and I can easily tell where someone is shouting at me from! Your body has two auditory inputs, your ears. Your brain processes the stereo signal from your ears and presents you with your fully directional hearing. Any advantage surround headphones might give you with a superior directional separation would be cancelled out by the awful quality of the many drivers crammed into the shell. You're better off with a sound card that can do surround algorithm, and a pair of quality stereo headphones. Better overall sound quality trumps any alleged directional gains IMO. I have yet to see someone who has compared a pair of quality headphones like the ATH-AD700 with a popular gaming headset like the G35 or the Carcharias, and gone with the headset. I've seen sponsored reviewers do this, but in every other case the review goes along the lines of "Wow my old [insert brand here] headset really was an overpriced POS!" To anyone who doubts that stereo headphones can be used to get the surround effect, try this with a pair on: http://gprime.net/flash.php/soundimmersion
LOL your ears do not work in channels i.e. 2 AKA stereo your ears collect ALL sounds weather that be a single source or 10 sources. They can detect far more than 2 channels of audio !!!!
I agree with you completely - 'true' discrete surround sound headsets are gimmicks which offer no overall 3D positioning gains and often in fact sound worse because of the smaller drivers they have to put in them. You're better off with a decent stereo headphone and a 5.1/7.1 sound card if you're gaming on the pc (so you are still getting simulated Dolby surround sound through your sound card, which will sound sweet through your fat 50/40mm speaker drivers in your standard stereo headset).
So these http://www.scan.co.uk/products/razer-carcharias-professional-gaming-headset-51-with-mic would suck then?
