At the moment I'm just using an integrated Realtek sound driver & good-value but fairly average Sennheiser PC 31 headset. I'm looking to upgrade my general sound experience sometime in the next few months. I just generally want it to better for Gaming & listening to music/films. I was wondering which would be better out of these two options: 1. Get the Creative Soundblaster Arena headset with integrated USB sound card for ~£65. 2. Get the Asus Xonar DS 7.1 Sound Card for ~£35 and then get a pair of good headphones max £50 e.g. Steelseries 4H for £30. 3. NEW - Roccate Kave Headset for ~£70 and then get one of the cheaper Xonar sound cards at a later date if I feel that I need it. Both would come to a very similar price so I was wondering which one would give me better quality audio, especially surround/directional sound in games? Also how good is the Soundblaster's surround sound and is it 5.1 or 7.1? I saw a review of them here saying that the surround sound wan't great so it'd be nice to get a first hand opinion. EDIT: added the Roccat Kave option in after seeing some stunning reviews. It'd be great to get some advice.
In my opinion I would see about getting a decent stereo headset as opposed to a surround one. I've tried surround headphones myself and found them to be a bit of a gimmick and sound quality always suffers as a result. If you get a good soundcard which has DTS:neo or Dolby Digital Headphone, they do an excellent job of reproducing 5.1 setups through a stereo headset. If it were me I'd either spend say £50-60 on a good sound card then save and get a good headset down the line or spend a little more to start with and get a good non-usb headset to use with the soundcard or the other way round depending on what you want first.
I really didn't want to spend more than £50 in the first place so I don't think I can afford to stretch that far unfortunately. I'm a bit confused, do you need surround sound to get any sort of direction in gaming? For example with my current setup I still seem to be able to hear where people are in games such as CoD. Soudns like you have first hand experience with them, how good is the surround sound on them?
I have just asked a similar question about 20 minutes after you have, due to me taking so long to write it and not having realised you where asking a similar question! I have had 2 sets of the arena's now and they have good sound quality but the comfort and the build quality where just not for me. I have no idea whether they where 5.1 or 7.1 but I could certainly tell where someone was coming from in both MW2 and BF:BC2. Having now got a temporary pair of stereo headphones I notice a big difference.
No problem mate, I guess they're kind of different anyway because you have a higher budget - you lucky thing . I'm still confused about surround sound, because I have this headset at the moment: http://www.sennheiser.com/sennheiser/home_en.nsf/root/private_headsets_pc_voip_502770?Open&row=2. It's a plain old VOIP headset and I doubt it has surround sound & yet I can still hear people coming in MW2?
You should still be able to hear whether people are coming from your left, right or behind you using just a stereo set and this is why I see surround headsets as a gimmick, the reduction in sound quality for me personally wasn't a worthwhile sacrifice. A sound card would probably enhance this sensation as I found the addition of DD headset made a positive difference to the sensation of having multiple speakers placed around you, to the point where I prefer the sensation on my stereo headset to that of my full 5.1 setup.
Are you saying it would be better to get the Xonar DX and then just stick with my old headset? The only difference Bit-tech mentions between the DS & DX is that the DX supports Dolby Digital? What is DD and is it worth the extra cost?
Not much of a movie enthusiast are you? Dolby Digital Also, Xonar DS connects to a regular PCI slot whereas DX connects to a PCI-E one. If nothing else DX will be more futureproof as legacy PCI slots will probably disappear at some point.
I got a asus xonar dx and some good 2.1 speakers after a long time suffering with my old laptop inbuilt speakers and then a very cheap desktop set. When I was mucking around with the dx settings I tried out the surround sound emulation, on 2.1 speakers it wasn't all that gd although my speakers are very close together which I suspect ruins it. Then I tried it with some (very expensive at the time) studio headphones I had been given and the emulated surround on them is incredible. I would say if you've got quite a good headset then a soundcard will be a nice step up.
yeah i use them for Everyday usage. They're great headphones (Arena) playing BF:BC2 is great through them, only need them on 16% too as they're LOUD! I whole heartedly recommend them.
Note: Added a poll. I've heard of Dolby before but didn't know that it meant. I just skimmed the wiki but does it just create surround sound? What difference would I see between not using DD and using it? Also I thought PCI-E were backwards compatible with PCI devices anyway? So that just means that the DS has more compatibility with more slots at the moment while PCI lasts. The thing is my heaset at the moment isn't good at all, it's a simple one designed for VOIP that I bought because user reviews on amazon said it had half decent audio quality. So what woudl you suggest considering that? Good to hear from another person with positive first hand of experience with the Soundblaster Arena, although I trust the Bit-Tech/CPC team I still had some doubts as there are very few reviews of it on the internet & not all of them are particularly praising.
Funny, that's my preferred volume as well! I agree with them being great all around headphones. Good sound quality for music and movies. I don't use the surround sound even for gaming since it's pretty gimmicky and not too useful imo, even for "good" surround sound headsets. The removable mic is great since it's out of the way while just watching a movie. Also, being a USB headset you can take it with you and retain your sound quality if you have a laptop, or will be using a spare PC for some time. Build quality and comfort both seem just fine to me. It's pretty solidly built, mine's been dropped a few time and does just fine. After long gaming sessions while other friends are taking breaks because their ears hurt I'm still chugging away with happy ears.
Definitely swinging more towards the Creative headset then at the moment, it's just easier, more functional as the sound card works wherever you plug it in & also by spending more on the headset i'm likely to get better comfort aswell as better sound quality. Thanks for the input Sloth.
If you're using a stereo headset, the only real benefit of DD would be DD Headphones as the rest of it's uses are generally for 5.1 setups with physical speakers. It basically uses an algorithm to manipulate the sound into fooling you into thinking there are 5 speakers surrounding you and it does a very impressive job at doing this, I must say with a higher quality headset it sounds much better than a genuine surround sound headset but that's just my opinion. PCI-E devices won't work in PCI slots and vica versa.
Unfortunately Dolby Digital headsets seem to start at £100 so are well outside my budget. Ok, just did some research and yeah, turns out they're not backwards compatible. However I don't see PCI getting phased out for a few years & DD is well outside my budget so the DS is more attractive right now. Also, what's your relationship to Asus (you're called Xonar)? Are you just an enthusiast or do you market for them?
Na I'm just a bit of an enthusiast is all, I did manage to get my card for free however so I'm very fond of it Smashing cards though I'm tempted to upgrade to the Xonar STX Essence in the next month or so but I'm not sure it'll be a massive leap over what I have already.
Feel like passing on the freebie love when you upgrade? Just had a look at some STX reviews, seems to be just about the best mainstream card out there, if you're willing to drop the cash on it.
what about Xonar DG, said to be a very good entry level sound card. i voted for getting sound card because the sound quality improvement is great, and opens up a huge amount of options for speaker systems or better headphones. playing MW2 and BFBC2 using my Xonar without any problem. can distinguish enemy direction including front or rear easily in all games.
The DG does seem to be shaping up to be a great little card. For only £25 you get the GX 2.5 gaming engine, an inbuilt headphone amplifier & dolby 5.1 surround sound (is that similar to dolby digital that was talked about earlier in the thread?). Anyone have any idea of when the release date is? I'm looking forward to seeing some reviews of this one.
