Immersive gaming headphone/headset setup?

I do more than my fair share of PC gaming and can only tell you my experience of my equipment, so take it as you will.

As for headset vs Headphones/Mic separates, I'd say go with separates.  Don't get a headset.  With a headset you're tied to the mic that came with the earphones, so if it goes out you're stuck.  If you need a mic, get a Zalman ZM, it clips right onto the headphone cable and works better than any headset mic I've ever used.   

I have found with PC gaming headsets you're always making a compromise, and almost all the time that compromise is in sound quality.  Just get a separate mic attachment and pick a set of headphones you really like.

Unless you're totally hooked to a open headset, the ATH-M50's combined with a FiiO E7 is currently my favorite setup for total immersion.  The E7 gives the M50's just the right amount of boost for hearing those footsteps to keep you in the game, and you get a nice impact from them.  And my wife can get my attention if she needs to.

As for your soundcard - it's probably fine.  If by "immersion" you are looking for the reverb effects of EAX and surround sound simulation, that's probably the way to go.  If you go with an external DAC like the E7 I suggested or something similar then you lose the EAX and simulated surround, I think, because Windows recognizes the DAC as a separate audio device, but someone else will have to confirm this.

Also, I play Skyrim on my big screen TV using my Sony Reciever with my M50's plugged in and that sounds just as immersive as you could want without the EAX or Aureal-type surround simulation.  I think a lot of the processing for those effects has moved into the games themselves as that game sucks me in.

If you really want that simulated surround sound then you might need to look into those USB "7.1 surround" headsets like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826249035, but I don't know any of those that are rated high for sound quality, so again, you have a tradeoff:   Sound Quality vs Immersion(Reverb/Simulated Surround)

Sounds like you're a basshead, especially since if anyone talks about "movie theater sound", they're usually referring to those rumbly subwoofer effects that go off whenever there's an explosion on screen. In that case, I'm not really sure what to recommend you simply because I'm not a basshead and my headphones reflect this.

Your X-Fi Titanium is a good enough sound card for now. If you want something that sounds even better, get an audiophile DAC that accepts S/PDIF input, though it's said that the ones that can surpass top-shelf sound cards cost at least $300. USB DACs like the FiiO E7 wouldn't provide EAX or CMSS-3D Headphone or similar features. (Can't wait for FiiO to bring out the improved E17 with S/PDIF input...)

And while a lot of games do use software audio engines these days (with worse positional audio than the old DirectSound3D or OpenAL approach, I might add), they still read the Windows sound control panel to determine how to pre-mix the game sounds. If it's set to stereo, left-to-right panning is all you get; welcome to one-dimensional sound. You can at least get some front-to-rear distinction and upgrade to 2D if you set Windows' sound control panel to 7.1 speakers, but the X-Fi control panel to Headphones and turn CMSS-3D Headphone on. (With it off, it sounds like clean, untouched stereo to me, and you don't miss any sounds, but that distinction between front and rear is lost.)

BeyerDynamic DT770 Pro/80 ohm are good candidates for "immersive gaming" headphones. Lots of "movie theater subbass" with great positional sound/soundstage for a closed headphone with excellent isolation from outside noise. They will need some amping to get the most out of it though but unsure what's the case of a X-Fi Titanium soundcard. I tested it a couple of years ago straight out of an Audigy 1 soundcard and it was slightly dissappointing for the price but volume-wise was definitely ok though. They are also built like tanks, so no having to worry about build quality.

I'm also with above poster, put your speaker config to 5.1 or 7.1 in windows and in X-Fi software to headphones, then you get the best possible positional sound.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sabzingeur 

I tried doing so but in the included windows test, there's no sound from any channel other than left and right, so what's the point of putting it in 7.1?

 

Well I used 5.1 when I had Titanium HD card and got sound from all (front, center and rear channels) but the sub channel. Same thing now with Realtek HD onboard. Most people use 5.1 speakers in windows and headphone in Creative software, there's threads in different forums regarding this same thing, results in much easier behind and in front recognition ingame.

Depends on what games you play-more specifically, how their audio engines work.

Most newer titles use XAudio2 or a version of FMOD that pre-mixes the sound in software before it even hits the sound card driver, with no access to the game's 3D sound buffer. In this case, CMSS-3D Headphone and Dolby Headphone perform about evenly.

On the flip side, most older games (and a few newer ones) use DirectSound3D or OpenAL, which basically tell the sound card driver where the sounds are in 3D space and lets the sound card sort out where and how to play back each sound. While Dolby Headphone would continue to emulate a 5.1/7.1 speaker system, CMSS-3D Headphone simulates the game environment itself with this data, providing for a more convincing binaural effect. The sense of positioning is no contest here; CMSS-3D Headphone wins.