5.1 Surround headphones?

I'm looking into getting a pair of these for late night gaming so that my dorm room neighbors won't want to kill me. Anyone tried some of these and care to tell any experiences they've had with them? It's important for them to have a mic as well, so I'm looking for more like a headset than headphones. Would alter thread title if i could...

Here are my top 2 contenders right now

Tritton AX360

http://reviews.cnet.com/headphones-...udio/4505-6468_7-31958676.html?tag=prod.txt.1

Turtle Beach Ear Force HPA

http://reviews.cnet.com/headphones-...orce/4505-6468_7-31425149.html?tag=prod.txt.1

I really cannot decide which to get. For the love of god someone help me make up my mind.

 

I can tell you from experience and the opinions of many other audiophiles to just get a good pair of 2 speaker headphones.

I know it wont sound logical but you get better localization with a good pair of 2 speaker headphones than you will from 5.1 ones. Especially with advanced 3d audio settings with a sound card that supports it.

5.1s in short are horrible quality, and heavier than usual, and not many people can really desern the different channels because they are not placed in a normal matter with space and distance, they are all right by your ear sounding nearly the same.

If you got a pair for 100$, you must now think its 6 speakers instead of 2, so the cost of making the product just went to 100/6 aka less than 20$ per speaker aka cheapo..... vs 100$ / 2 for some basic quality 2 speaker headphones where 50$ went into each speaker.

Trust me thats exactly how it works, the manufacture isn't going to give you more for free.

 

Would a pair of 2 speaker headphones really do as well as a 5.1 pair in helping you tell what direction someone is shooting at you from in games like BF2/2142 ('localization')? Cause I'd really only be using the headset for gaming. I can sacrifice some sound quality for better functionality in that respect.

 

Much better... with my x-fi card and my audio technias I can tell if somebody is around me in a 360 degree angle and even how far, and if they are above or below me!!

The higher the quality of the headphones the more faithful they can reproduce the sound and thus more accurate it is.


What your seeking is a two part question weather you realize it or not, the actual hardware to create the sound (headphones) and the just as important part the sound card... which is responsible for sending the sounds to be produced in the first place.


Also given time I think you would prefer the SQ over the localization, so you get into the game alot more if it was truly a trade off like that.

 

Thats interesting, I hadn't really considered a 2 speaker set because I didn't realize the would actually support localization. What kind of headset (w/ mic) would you recommend (sub $100, but I can go to eBay too)?

I'd probbably be using the external audigy nx card (or x-fi notebook card if the ever come out with the speaker docking module).

 

Hmm I dunno. I liked my old plantronics DSP500's for when I needed a headset, they have there own sound card and everything. They used to be like 80$ but since they were discontinued they were on clearance for like 14$ directly from plantroncs, not sure if that sale is still on.

See thing is headsets generally dont get anywhere near the quality of headphones, most just recomend a desktop mic, however I like the headset type setup myself where the mic is near your mouth.... So I did my own fix for it.

I put my headphones on like normal, and just slip one of those one ear headpiece type microphones used for cell phones under the cushion abit and use the mic part but not the speaker.

Works perfectly and gave me the best of both worlds.

 

How would these work? I guess it has 'simulated surround'?

http://reviews.cnet.com/headphones-...dset/4505-6468_7-32447506.html?tag=prod.txt.3



This one looks better, but I'm hoping the integrated sound card on it is part of the USB attachment (which I wouldn't be using.).

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=250314601&pf_rd_i=B000O50V7I


Actually I think theyre both exactly the same cept for the USB adapter that I dont need...

 

I own a pair of Sennheiser HD485 with a Zalman mic hooked up to the cord. I believe the sound quality is fantastic (at least for a 70-80$ headphone pair). As for positioning, I have a Sound Blaster Live, so that might be the reason why I get bad positioning sometimes. The zalman mic is about 10$ and works like a charm! Its made to be hooked to your headphone cord so its close to your mouth.

 

I bought those and i'm very happy with them, excellent sound quality and pretty good in game too

http://www.ncix.com/products/index....manufacture=Tritton Technologies&promoid=1065

 

I'm now considering Audio Technica ATH-A500/700/900 headphones. Think I'll get the A500s cause theyre cheaper.

 

I have the A700's and AD700s both are absolutly great, I have not heard the A500's so cant vouch for them personally.

 

Nice, I think I'll just scan ebay from a 500/700/900 for the next few days and get whatever one i can get for the best deal.

Honestly, I'm coming from the earbuds that came with my mp3 player, so whichever one i get is going to be in a another league from what I'm used to. These are going to sound better than my speakers too

---Thanks for the tips on not going for 5.1 in a headset quite yet, and just getting a clip on mic. Will have a much better rig for the same price as some of the options I was considering before.

 

I tried the best one ... the Razer. Yes you get true 5.1 sound experience. I can spot where people are on a FPS much better with them then with a stereo, no comparison. For music they are horrible, and the integrated microphone is useless.

So I returned them and look for smething else and found the Medusa 5.1 ProGamer. They have it all for Games and something there for music. Still for music it is not as good as some good stereo headphones ... but for gaming no comparison indeed (I don't care what other say is that good period). They come with a carrying bag wich is a must (you don't want to have them hanging around on the desk all the time) unlike the Zalman, Razer and so on. The downside is that it requires analog outputs for right, center and left plus a USB input. So basically unless your lappy has analog outputs (unlike mine which only has digital) you need a external sound card such as the SoundBlaster Audigy 2 NX. If you need to buy both the sound card and headphones then I would go for tritton otherwise I'll strongly advise this one. Anyway for 5.1 except for tritton you will not find anything that can plug in directly to your lappy without an external sound card (I would buy Tritton if I did not had an external sound card, less cable clutter).

Trance

 

5.1 Headphones exist that have spacial separation of the channels, such that if you turned your head to the left, the front-left speaker would sound like it's coming from the center, the center speaker sounds like it's coming from the right, etc. Just as if you were standing in a room with a 5.1 setup.

But you can't afford them, trust me.

 

for regular stereo headphones, I would recommend a pair of sennheisers. Some produce flat-ish sound but accurate reproductions because they are meant to be used across a broad range like the HD-280 Pro (Note: HD-280 Pro is massively discounted but look at the reviews first like off of newegg.com particularly considering the tightness of it on your head)

I got the HD-215 because I didn't want my head to be in a tight grip like from the HD-280 pro burned-em in a little and so far so happy. But, this is only my opinion

 

Great choice! AHT-A series have very tight sound and considered to be great gaming-cans. ATH-AD series are very good too, but less suitable for gaming. Plus they are very confortable to wear. IMO, they compete favorably against similary proced Senn, although they have very different style of sounds.

 

Yeah I use the AD's for classical music and stuff, I use the A's for games or music with more bass.

The AD's are so super comfortable tho... not that the A's are bad tho.