new headset

[Denholm]

As Skuzzy said, disable microphone monitoring.

[Tigger29]

The funny thing about them is I caught myself looking over my shoulder a couple of times when I heard a ping over my left shoulder.

Pro's: definate surround sound. Superb bass sound. Extra heavy duty cord with heavy duty wrap on it.

Cons; I can't fit my track ir clip on it so I have to use the hat clip. The mic is only set up to be used on left side. Other than those 2 things I am extremly happy with it...


Oh BTW if you do get it marry it up with Rangers soundpack, awesome combination.

Just wait until you're in a good GV battle..  you can almost pinpoint the exact location of the enemy (distance AND orientation) just by sound.  It's pretty wild.


USB Headset.. wasteful?  Mine has excellent sound, excellent Surround capabilities, excellent voice recording (crystal clear on vox), and my system still stays 50+ FPS with virtually no stuttering... this is 1024textures, hi-res pack, all sliders MAXED, 1920X1200 and all advanced video options turned on with the exception of self-shadows... and I'm not exactly running a start of the art system (2.8Ghz Core2Duo, 9800GTX).  BTW this is running win7 64bit AND Avast AND not disabling anything.  IMHO yes maybe it's wasteful in the fact that I have onboard sound with ports not being used (I do have speakers plugged in for when I want them)... but using that rationale you could say the USB keyboards and mice are wasteful in the fact that a PS/2 port is sitting there unused... or that my rudder pedals are wasteful in the fact that my joystick has a twisty built in.. give me a break.

As for hearing yourself, yes you can adjust that in your audio properties.  Personally I like having it on so I can hear what's going on around me in real life... it actually amplifies sounds louder than not wearing the headphones at all LOL.  I can hear my g/f tapping on her electric piano's keys on the other side of the house.

[Delirium]

The best headset by far is this one;

www.psykoaudio.com

[Skuzzy]

USB headsets require much more CPU overhead than a good sound board does.  The difference is significant.  Anything requiring a lot of data, such as sound or networking, is really not suited for the USB bus.  It does compromise CPU performance.  No matter what kind of glowing recommendation someone gives a USB sound device, that is just the way it works.  It will use up more CPU power than a dedicated sound device would.

The secondary effects are due to how Windows works.  If you also have an onboard or dedicated sound card and it is enabled, Windows will poll that device each time a sound request is made to play a sound.  This can have other negative impacts such as stability issues, sound stutters or pauses, or generally garbled sound.  It does not always happen, but it is possible for it to happen.

[Masherbrum]

USB headsets require much more CPU overhead than a good sound board does.  The difference is significant.  Anything requiring a lot of data, such as sound or networking, is really not suited for the USB bus.  It does compromise CPU performance.  No matter what kind of glowing recommendation someone gives a USB sound device, that is just the way it works.  It will use up more CPU power than a dedicated sound device would.

The secondary effects are due to how Windows works.  If you also have an onboard or dedicated sound card and it is enabled, Windows will poll that device each time a sound request is made to play a sound.  This can have other negative impacts such as stability issues, sound stutters or pauses, or generally garbled sound.  It does not always happen, but it is possible for it to happen.

This IS truth.   

[SIK1]

Do I take the same hit if I'm just running a usb mic with the headphone speaker disabled in windows?

[guncrasher]

I believe what skuzzy is saying is right. but usb headsets are better than non usb when it comes to surround sound.  at least the one's I can buy around my area.  (frys, best buy).  I have a really good non usb headset but I do miss the surround sound of my speakers.  cant use them due to neighbors complains.  anybody know of a surround sound non-usb head set please let me know.
semp

[Masherbrum]

I believe what skuzzy is saying is right. but usb headsets are better than non usb when it comes to surround sound.  at least the one's I can buy around my area.  (frys, best buy).  I have a really good non usb headset but I do miss the surround sound of my speakers.  cant use them due to neighbors complains.  anybody know of a surround sound non-usb head set please let me know.
semp

Surround sound is the same between the two.   

[Ghosth]

USB is stilll using the CPU to process all the mic data, where with a sound card, its done on the card.
Not dissimilar to onboard video vs a good graphics card. 

Cost of a reasonably decent PCI based card is dirt cheap nowdays.
You can get a Creative SB Audigy SE 7.1 for 25$ at Newegg, they have off brands as low as 10$.

[RTHolmes]

does AH even generate surround sound channels? (ie. 5.1/7.1)

[Skuzzy]

No, we do not generate Dolby encoded sounds.  We generate true 3D sound.

[RTHolmes]

so AH supplies DS3D which the audio device then converts to however many channels it supports?

(trying to get my head around how this works)

[Skuzzy]

No, the sound device decides nothing.  The sounds are all produced according to thier location in 3D space.  DirectSound handles the actual positioning by adjusting the volumn and spread based on the parameters we give it.  All sounds are then played through the correct speaker(s) to produce its location in 3D space.

There is no encoding/decoding done by the sound card or headset.  Forcing any decoding will screw up the sound positioning.

[Reschke]

USB headsets require much more CPU overhead than a good sound board does.  The difference is significant.  Anything requiring a lot of data, such as sound or networking, is really not suited for the USB bus.  It does compromise CPU performance.  No matter what kind of glowing recommendation someone gives a USB sound device, that is just the way it works.  It will use up more CPU power than a dedicated sound device would.

The secondary effects are due to how Windows works.  If you also have an onboard or dedicated sound card and it is enabled, Windows will poll that device each time a sound request is made to play a sound.  This can have other negative impacts such as stability issues, sound stutters or pauses, or generally garbled sound.  It does not always happen, but it is possible for it to happen.

AMEN!

Best headset I have ever used is the Sennheiser pc350 and I will say so until someone shows me something better.

[Bronk]

Surround non-usb....

Been using for years. I'm no audiophile but I'm happy with them.