When you're listening to a band or an orchestra, all of the music is coming from the front of you. A good system should be able to reproduce the illusion of musicians spread out at some distance in front of you. You can refer to devices like the Reveel (reviewed on Inner Fidelity) that does tricks with mixing and redistributing signals to each ear in order to create a kind of expanded musical effect. I bought one of these. As Tyll Hertensen says, the experience is difficult to define, but definitely interesting and somewhat attractive.
Nothing, except a 5.1 or 7.1 type system will generate the illusion of sound physically coming from all sides of the listener. This is NOT how you listen to music. I mean, what is there for 3D to do in a pure audio environment?
Those 5.1 and 7.1 systems are sending sound into only 2 ears, so headphones can in theory deliver the same thing. And there are lots of multichannel audio recordings out there, the purpose usually being to present more of the acoustic of the live venue (esp. in the case of a concert hall), and there are some that try for a "musicians all around you" effect.
Ossic followers can take this as good news or bad news but Sony has a new headset that is focused on object-based sound. It's either bad news (because if Sony are in this market then Ossic is likely to be squeezed) or good news (because Ossic can leverage the object-based element with its "superior" sensor array) or bad news again (because very, very few games are going to support this sort of 3D sound for the foreseeable future) or good news again (because if Sony is pushing object-based 3D audio then that is a shot in the arm for the model that Ossic is pursuing).
Anyway, here's the review, from a very reputable YouTube channel:
Here's my problem/question on these. I have no interest in them for 2-channel music (I've no doubt that my Hifiman 400i through Schiit Modi Multibit and Magni 2 U is far superior), but I do have some interest in them for gaming and even more for movies (where the surround sound might compensate for somewhat lower sound quality). But as I read the specs (and Ossic's site is big on self-congratulatory hype and impressive sounding technical buzzwords, and low on how it actually connects and works with various components), the only way to connect this to my video system would be from my TV's RCA outs to the Ossic X's 3.5mm connector via an adapter (the Ossic appears to lack any digital input beyond USB). This is a non-digital 2-channel only connection, so it apparently is in no way decoding true 5.1 or 7.1 Dolby or DTS soundtracks. It may have all the "wow" effects in the world, but isn't everything it does with a non-digital source inherently fake? How could it convey the actual intended sound mix?
Here's my problem/question on these. I have no interest in them for 2-channel music (I've no doubt that my Hifiman 400i through Schiit Modi Multibit and Magni 2 U is far superior), but I do have some interest in them for gaming and even more for movies (where the surround sound might compensate for somewhat lower sound quality). But as I read the specs (and Ossic's site is big on self-congratulatory hype and impressive sounding technical buzzwords, and low on how it actually connects and works with various components), the only way to connect this to my video system would be from my TV's RCA outs to the Ossic X's 3.5mm connector via an adapter (the Ossic appears to lack any digital input beyond USB). This is a non-digital 2-channel only connection, so it apparently is in no way decoding true 5.1 or 7.1 Dolby or DTS soundtracks. It may have all the "wow" effects in the world, but isn't everything it does with a non-digital source inherently fake? How could it convey the actual intended sound mix?
They're kind of banking (perhaps too strongly) on people hooking up to a computer rather than to a standard A/V rig or gaming console. I wonder what their calculus is on this; seems stubbornly self-defeating. A little peripheral that allows the cans to natively handle s/pdif and hdmi seems a no-brainer, but I haven't heard of such a plan yet.
I've been buying Headphones for Personal Use since the mid 60's as a techno nerd kid growing up in the heart of the Space Race and the Cold War with Russia. By comparison, today's choices are incredibly superior in both Price and Performance. I have always been a "Value" purchaser buying the best bang for the buck. I was proud of my Pioneer Stereo Gear that was augmented by more serious outboard DBX Noise Reduction. End result rivaled high end gear sounding way beyond the "everyman" frontend.
I have been anxiously tracking the new Ossic's and their CES debut (no-tech Booth) and I am contemplating jumping-in to the Kickstarter of which I am slightly less experienced with. $299 is a good price point compared to the proposed $499 launch which I have heard has slipped again to July from earlier targets. This product appears to be a "first in class" instead of a typical "best in class." I would love to know if there has been any technical links to Dolby ATMOS which is already a deliverable in terms of 3rd Party Hardware components and 3D Object Oriented programming Medias. If so, it is a bit of a No Brainer to get in line. If it is a "should I pay the rent or buy headphones" decision, there are some good value $160 Sennheiser Class options that will satisfy the Audiophile in you, but perhaps NOT the Gamer in you. That's a separate decision for you to make in your grand scheme. Hope that helps. BT
No ATMOS apparantly. I saw that confirmed on the kickstarter comments page.
I was enthusiastic about OSSIC and got in as an early bird backer right at the start. I regret that now, the long wait has put me off and if I could I would cancel my order. There will be no usb-c connection, meaning new smartphones wont be able to connect to it. I get the feeling other technology has out paced it - thats what you get for faffing about with headbands and attending trade shows instead of delivering your product in time.
As I noted above, I would really only be interested in this for movies/TV surround sound (I already have far superior cans and DAC/Amp for stereo music). As long as Ossic does not provide any digital connection to an AV system, and no Dolby TrueHD, Atmos, or DTS decoding, it's a non-starter for me. Plus, I would be lying if I didn't note that their marketing irks the hell out of me. It's a dense cloud of hype edged with "oh, wow" testimonials. Details of how the product would actually work in the real world are less than vague. And the actual release keeps slipping.
I was having a back a forth with an OSSIC employee on Reddit tonight. I specifically asked them about Atmos and the response I got was that they are going to provide updates for years after launch, including being able to handle more formats, for what that's worth. I have been looking to a solution for awhile to let me get a 7.1 experience via headphones. Started using Out Of Your Head a few days ago, and I'm quite impressed for a software solution. It actually works quite will for me. I was sort of considering the OSSIC, but I really don't like the lack of input options and honestly I'm not sure I trust them to be able to deliver on what they've promised in the package they are offering. I am seriously just considering the nuclear option of a Smyth Realizer A16 and being done with it.
I'm getting both but in your position I'd just get the A16. Had the Smyth Kickstarter come first I wouldn't even have ordered the Ossic, although I'll be very interested to have both when/if they arrive. The Ossic at full price, however, is way too expensive to be considered an 'affordable' alternative to the A16.
I'm getting both but in your position I'd just get the A16. Had the Smyth Kickstarter come first I wouldn't even have ordered the Ossic, although I'll be very interested to have both when/if they arrive. The Ossic at full price, however, is way too expensive to be considered an 'affordable' alternative to the A16.
It's certainly the way that I'm leaning. Don't get me wrong, I'll be interested to see how the OSSIC X turns out. If they can pull off what they are promising, it would be quite impressive. I do think that they are going to have a very hard time selling headphones at $499 unless they are truly groundbreaking. The A16 just seems to be the king of this space from everything I've read, and it just seems prudent for me to jump in while there is still a pre-order discount available. Luckily the price of the A16 and OSSIC X don't jump until the end of June if I am understanding correctly, so I can at least wait to read more impressions from the upcoming CanJam and decide from there.
It's certainly the way that I'm leaning. Don't get me wrong, I'll be interested to see how the OSSIC X turns out. If they can pull off what they are promising, it would be quite impressive. I do think that they are going to have a very hard time selling headphones at $499 unless they are truly groundbreaking. The A16 just seems to be the king of this space from everything I've read, and it just seems prudent for me to jump in while there is still a pre-order discount available. Luckily the price of the A16 and OSSIC X don't jump until the end of June if I am understanding correctly, so I can at least wait to read more impressions from the upcoming CanJam and decide from there.
If the OSSIC can come anywhere close to being an alternative to an *non-personalized* A16, then I'll be stoked. There's no reason to expect a personalized A16 to lose to anything other than better measurements on the A16. The competition I'm more interested in the X beating are things like the MixAmp and the Senn. GSX 1000, neither of which does head tracking and the latter costs almost 1/2 of the X.
That Smyth Realizer A16 looks like exactly what I want for use in my A/V system--if its price were anywhere near the Ossic. Quite simply, two thousand bucks ($1.7K preorder) is just well beyond my means. (Well, if I borderlined starved for 6 month, maybe; I'm retired on a fixed income.) Too bad, I bet it would sound fantastic with my HD700s. I remain interested in the Sennheiser GSX 1000, which has gotten good reviews. Unfortunately, there appears to be no way at all to connect it to an A/V system (even the Ossic can be connected albeit not digitally) and I don't watch movies on my laptop. And although I do a lot of gaming, it is primarily in genres (4X games, traditional RPGs) that don't benefit as much from virtual surround as action or FPS games (I dabble in these too, but probably too little to justify the cost of the GSX 1000).
If the OSSIC can come anywhere close to being an alternative to an *non-personalized* A16, then I'll be stoked. There's no reason to expect a personalized A16 to lose to anything other than better measurements on the A16. The competition I'm more interested in the X beating are things like the MixAmp and the Senn. GSX 1000, neither of which does head tracking and the latter costs almost 1/2 of the X.
I mean don't get me wrong, I would 100% just jump on the OSSIC X if there are some really glowing reviews that come out of CanJam or some other show in the next few months. I would be delighted if the solution to my problem was a $299 pair of headphones vs. spending $1700 on an A16. What I probably really need a better understanding of is the process of personalizing an A16. I mean I literally learned about the A16, Out Of Your Head, and the OSSIC X earlier this week, but on its face the A16 just seems like the best solution although the price tag will sting a bit. They both don't launch until the summer, and both have their discounted preorder pricing until June so I do have some time to make a decision which is nice.
So far I'm quite liking Out Of Your Head as I have been playing around and found a preset that works really well for my ears. I am seriously considering purchasing the full version of that and using that to get me by until an A16 would arrive in the summer. Then Out Of My Head would essentially become my portable rig since it would be on my laptop that I travel with, and I could have my home setup with an A16. We'll see what the next month or so brings though, and whether I talk myself in or out of spending the money on an A16 lol.
So I am seeing some conflicting info, someone posted a link to a German site that says the whole thing is very much a gimmick and that most VR headsets now have support for 3D audio anyway. Sure they still use stereo by default. However you can plug in your own cans. This site claims awesomeness http://www.tomsguide.com/us/ossic-x-headphones-3d-audio,review-3530.html but I am curious. From an audiophile perspective these do not seem to make much sense based on my reading of this thread.
So what about VR and gaming? Is the positional 3D audio here actually worthwhile? For me the application of VR is the reason I am looking at these but doesn't built in 3D audio from the headset and the head tracking from the headset's sensors defeat the purpose of a second head tracker in the OSSIC?
Besides the Sennheiser GSX 1000 has a binaural rendering engine that does 7.1 surround pretty well from what I heard even with stereo cans for ~$200 so again can you really justify a single set of these cans when most of my headphones will work with the Sennheiser for gaming.
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