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Is audiophile PC gaming possible?

post #1 of 27
1/26/11 at 2:44am
Thread Starter 

Hi guys, I'm new to this whole scene and I've made a few posts regarding headphone choices, amp choices, etc. But I'm trying to do my own little bit to help people by blogging about my findings, I'd really appreciate it if a few people could look over what I've written to check the validity of what I've written; as I said I'm pretty new to all this!

 

The blog can be found here: http://www.siyfion.com and I'll be updating it more over the coming days / hours! 

 

Lastly, thanks for taking a look!

 

 

EDIT: I thought I should probably make each part a bit easier to access, so I've added a contents list.
 
Contents
 
 
Recommended Further Reading
 

Edited by Siyfion - 1/26/11 at 4:00pm
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post #2 of 27
1/26/11 at 2:57am

I'm in a very similar position to you; trying to figure out what setup is going to give me the best sound quality for gaming without really knowing too much about audio hardware. I found that really useful and would certainly read any future updates.

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post #3 of 27
1/26/11 at 3:06am
Thread Starter 

Well I'm going to try to cover as much as I can: Amps / DACs / Headphones / Sound cards / Dolby Headphone / CMSS-3D / etc.. 

 

I expect it'll probably run to 6 or 7 parts, maybe more. The key point is that I want to ensure that what I'm writing is actually correct; the last thing I want to do is confuse people! Also if I've got it wrong, chances are that I'll base my decision on my flawed logic, so I'd like to know as well!

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post #4 of 27
1/26/11 at 3:27am

In my opinion 7.1 speakers is the best for gaming, you can't beat surround system for the soundstage and immersion even cheap computer speakers like creative s750

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post #5 of 27
1/26/11 at 3:41am
Thread Starter 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Omega17TheTrue View Post

In my opinion 7.1 speakers is the best for gaming, you can't beat surround system for the soundstage and immersion even cheap computer speakers like creative s750


Interesting, I'm not sure if I agree or not; I believe that gaming can sound better on a good pair of headphones than a speaker system. As for the immersion factor, that's why I'm trying to learn as much as I can about Dolby Headphone. After trying it out first-hand I was simply blown-away. 

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post #6 of 27
1/26/11 at 3:49am

Yes its fully possibles there many options to do it. I been trying out Dolby headphone as well, Tho I use DH1 mode and speakers output set to 5.1. Then Some times I use 7.1 setting with the same DH1mode  and 7.1 speaker shifter which also works very well.  I sure most people do it with their Amps and Dacs as well.

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post #7 of 27
1/26/11 at 3:52am

YES! I agree. But i havent tried the Smyth Realiser yet so i cant be 100 percent sure. However, even with a soundcard that processes virtual surround, speakers beat it hands down. Headphones are better suited for critical music listening.
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Omega17TheTrue View Post

In my opinion 7.1 speakers is the best for gaming, you can't beat surround system for the soundstage and immersion even cheap computer speakers like creative s750

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post #8 of 27
1/26/11 at 3:58am

The thing is not every one has room for 7.1 speakers let alone 5.1 speakers.There are people who are renting homes and apt that doesnt alloud them to drill holes in the walls or have small room for them. Tho I mainy use headphones as I perfer to use them over speakers other then not having the room for them. Tho I never said headphone best speakers for gaming when it comes to muiti channel gaming.

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post #9 of 27
1/26/11 at 4:00am
Thread Starter 

The part of the blog I think I'm going to have trouble with is this:

 

It seems to me as if there isn't really a perfect solution to the hardware setup when Dolby Headphone is required.

 

Either you use a sound card's to enable Dolby Headphone and then Amp the output with a Headphone Amp, but it makes it a chore to switch Dolby Headphone on/off in between gaming/music and also the SQ of the signal from the sound card isn't likely to be as good as from a dedicated DAC.

 

Or you get a sound card that supports DTS / Dolby Digital encoding of 5.1 (or more) signals route that through to a dedicated DAC + Headphone Amp, but then you lose Dolby Headphone.

 

The only solution I've found is:

 

Sound Card -> DTS Connect -> JVC SU-DH1 -> DAC -> Amp -> Headphones.

 

But my god, the cabling (and cost!) would be horrendous!

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post #10 of 27
1/26/11 at 7:29am
Thread Starter 

Part 2 is now up if anyone fancies a read.

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post #11 of 27
1/26/11 at 8:24am

Unfortunately( not to say audiophile gaming isn't possible) most of the sound files in games are pretty low quality.  They're not even HQ variable bitrate, they're like 100kpbs lol

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post #12 of 27
1/26/11 at 8:38am
Thread Starter 

Quote:
Originally Posted by DivergeUnify View Post

Unfortunately( not to say audiophile gaming isn't possible) most of the sound files in games are pretty low quality.  They're not even HQ variable bitrate, they're like 100kpbs lol

 

I agree, a lot are, which is a shame. But I think it's getting to the point where game developers are starting to care more and more about sound, take a look at Bad Company 2 as an example:

 

http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/battlefield_bad_company/archive/2010/01/22/an-audiophile-s-guide-to-bf-bc2-full.aspx
 

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post #13 of 27
1/26/11 at 8:44am

You may want to read my digital audio primer, it should be a decent starting point in your path.

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post #14 of 27
1/26/11 at 8:50am
Thread Starter 

Quote:
Originally Posted by FallenAngel View Post

You may want to read my digital audio primer, it should be a decent starting point in your path.


Will do! ;)


EDIT: In fact, I have. Although I'm generally discussing the transport of a 5.1 audio signal up until the point that Dolby Headphone gets involved, so would the Digital Receiver still be using I2S to transport the data to the DAC?

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post #15 of 27
1/26/11 at 9:30am

The actual data sent between transport and digital receiver can be in any encoding type (PCM, DTS, DD, etc), as long as the transport can send it and the receiver can read it, decode it (if necessary), and send it to the multi-channel DAC, most likely using I2S.

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