Surround sound tests

[Tigger29]

I'd expect them to be in a calibration utility if it was a serious attempt at surround.

You guys completely miss the point of these headsets.  These are *NOT* a "serious" attempt at quality surround sound.  This is a "casual" attempt at decent surround sound at a price point that the average "gamer" can afford.  No one EVER claimed that these headphones can compete with multi thousand dollar surround setups, and no one EVER claimed that these perfectly represent 3D positioning.

However, for a $80-100 piece of hardware they do a pretty dang good job!

Not everyone is an audiophile and not every requires the best of the best with it comes to audio.. and heck no everyone can afford the best - or even anywhere close, but for the average joe these headphones work really well at an EXTREMELY GOOD price point.  Anyone that claims that a pair of headphones can't produce any kind of surround sound is so removed from reality and so full of themselves that they feel the need to put these down because they have to justify paying thousands of dollars on audio equipment!

Are these as good as a quality surround sound speaker setup?  NO!  No one is pretending that these are!
Are there non-surround (stereo) headphones that sound better than these and that do a bang up job of virtual surround?  YES!  No one is arguing this either.
Is this available for less money than these headphones cost?  Probably not.

All I can say is that I can sit in a tank wearing these headphones and without moving my head I can hear an enemy tank driving up in the distance and from that sound I can determine if they are left or right of me, in front or behind me, and often get a decent idea as to how far.

Also in a demo that plays a helicopter sound flying around me I can pinpoint location and distance (within reason) including in front or behind me.

This tells me that no matter what you claim.. headphone surround sound does in fact work.  Is it perfect?  Probably not.  But for under $100 I don't believe anything is.

I don't understand why you keep claiming this is a gimmick.  I understand that virtual surround is very good and all that but why put these down just because they use real surround sound?  Granted the speakers are close together but they do enter the ears from different angles and all-in-all any sound no matter what the source still has to enter the ear from different angles in order to be properly perceived.  Does the closeness of the speakers sacrifice quality?  I'm sure it does but again we're talking about a sub $100 piece of equipment here!

I'm happy with the sound.  I'm happy with the surround sound.  I'm happy with the quality (over 5 years now!) and I'm DEFINITELY happy with the price.  Isn't that ultimately all that matters?

If these were being sold at extremely inflated prices while claiming that the headphone surround in itself justifies a several hundred dollar price tag than yes.. I might agree with you about the whole "gimmicky" thing but.. even when new I think these retailed at $120 and even at that price IN MY OPINION these are a huge bargain!

[Chalenge]

You are missing the point Tigger. These headsets require that you have a 5.1 sound card and then they are nothing more than a good set of stereo headsets. You could have a full 5.1 setup AND a stereo headset at the same time and enjoy both. With this headset thats not possible.

[TwinBoom]

Huh?

You have no concept of a center channel or a subwoofer it seems.

FYI a subwoofer is a bass driver that provides subsonic frequencies that for most part can not be directly heard, only felt through your body. So by definition any headphone can _not_ have a subwoofer. Well, unless you like to walk around hanging 100 pound heavy boxes on your ears

And a center channel is also impossible unless you insert a speaker in your frontal lobe.

It's pretty much the definition of a gimmick to have a 'sub' driver in your headphones. Why? Because any standard 40mm headphone driver can produce an ample amount of low range sound since it directly modulates the airspace inside the ear which changes the acoustic laws quite a bit. So any audible sound is covered pretty much automatically. And the real kicker or lack of is the sheer impossibility to produce the low audio thump and vibrations typically associated with subwoofers.

Thanks for the insults....

Fine go spend 2k on a surround sound speaker setup. we are talking headphones for cheap they work great try a pair yourself vs 1 speaker headphones
not all of us can drop 2k

 sennheiser, koss, beyerdynamics 100 too 200 vs turtlebeach 50 too 70 if ya got the cash waste it but i like to be economical when it comes to a hobby

[olds442]

Thanks for the insults....

Fine go spend 2k on a surround sound speaker setup. we are talking headphones for cheap they work great try a pair yourself vs 1 speaker headphones
not all of us can drop 2k

 sennheiser, koss, beyerdynamics 100 too 200 vs turtlebeach 50 too 70 if ya got the cash waste it but i like to be economical when it comes to a hobby

thin skinned? no? god sake man we are talking about headphones here lol.

[Chalenge]

You can get a 5.1 setup for $60 and a nice pair of headphones for $25. Even with shipping factored in that comes to less than 5.1 phones. The sound card is where the real difference is unless you have an ear for quality audio in which case your audio purchase wont stop at card and speakers anyway.

[TwinBoom]

thin skinned? no? god sake man we are talking about headphones here lol.

Pot meet Kettle

[dkff49]

maybe a little off track here butI just recently got surround sounds system for TV and now it seems that the sound only comes through when there is the main sounds. Confusing I know.

For example: When the characters are talking I get all the noise but as soon as they stop talking all the background noise goes away. The same thing happens when the music is the main sound and it stops.

Can anyone tell me if it most likely is a bad unit or could it be a setting on the system.

[guncrasher]

maybe a little off track here butI just recently got surround sounds system for TV and now it seems that the sound only comes through when there is the main sounds. Confusing I know.

For example: When the characters are talking I get all the noise but as soon as they stop talking all the background noise goes away. The same thing happens when the music is the main sound and it stops.

Can anyone tell me if it most likely is a bad unit or could it be a setting on the system.

the surround sound is not coming in right.  could be for several things, your tv doesnt send it to the stereo, the stereo doesnt have the "surround" sound setting on, the cable/sat box isnt sending surround sound signals.  or you can have a bad unit.

my surround sound sometimes freaks me out because i hear steps, knockss from my door or behind me.  that's how it should be. and I only paid about 400 bucks 5 or 6 years ago.


semp

[olds442]

someone was throwing mine away...they said it broke...the little cable that connected the power butten broke lose... ELECTRIC TAPE FTW!

[wiskyfog]

do they sound good to the user?? Then why all the debate. if you don't like the way they sound don't buy them... unless you have a deep driving competitive urge  that won't let you rest until you prove you are right to the world. Jeeeeez don't over complicate it

[Chalenge]

... don't over complicate it

That is precisely how these 5.1 headsets came into being in the first place.

[guncrasher]

well I followed this thread with interest as my old g35 headset broke and needed a new one.  I had an old really good pair of stereo headset and was able to have 3d surround sound.  was good and just slightly worst than my g35.

 I decided to follow the recommendation of getting the turtle beach z6a which was the upgrade to the h2a something or another.  was about to order them and decided to look at the reviews and found out that your mike always plays on your headset and no way around it.  some found it annoying.  but the biggest complain of all was that it leaves your ears black if you have them for a period of time and you sweat.  go figure.

anyway decided to get the tritton PC510HDa USB Powered 5.1 Surround Sound   

http://www.amazon.com/Tritton-PC510HDa-Powered-Surround-Headset/dp/B004W7PHVO/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1330660024&sr=8-10

I just gotta say wow.  they are so much better than my g35 specially the booms in the game.   the stereo with simulated sound is sure as hell not the same as with this set.  just my own opinion of course.  I just needed to get y split adapters so I can hook my my speakers to the sound card as well.

anyway learned a lot from this about how to set up simulated surround sound with stereo headsets and how most so called "surround" headsets arent really surround.  but then again those with 4 speakers are so much better than the others with simulated surround.  you can hear better the direction of the plane that is coming and best you can hear several sounds at same time.

semp

[Getback]

If you could then add a tube to drink beer and clapping hands you'd be set.

Anyone thinking "Inspector Gadget"?!

[lyric1]

How do you like the Z6A?  Do they work as well as the old HPA2?

Cheap & broken after a few months don't buy them.