[Nomadic]

Hey guys, newbie here. Hoping you pros can help me with a problem.
 
Well the story is im a pc gamer and have been using some plantronics 367 headphones for the last few months. Ive had two of them and they both broke within 2 months. So i decided to splash out on some more expensive surround sound headphones. So i bought the Speedlink Medusa 5.1 NX surround sound headsets thinking they were going to be uber great. I heard that onboard sound does not cut it for something like these so i bought an oem Creative soundblaster Audigy Se soundcard.
 
They came this morning so i installed the sound card and installed the drivers off the CD. Before the installation finished i got a blue screen of death. So i restored my windows and just let windows 7 find the drivers which worked great. So i finally plugged in my headphones and low and behold they sounded like crap. The sound was all muffled and my plantronics sounded much much better.
 
First i thought the problem was from the sound card but i installed realtek hd manager and plugged it in my motherboard which has the same inputs. The sound was even worse. Then i thought the probelm was due to windows recognizing the headphones as speakers which would explain the type of sound coming out of them.
 
So i really have no idea what the problem is. Appreciate it if anyone has any suggestions

 

[mcnoiserdc]

Hi!
 
It is possible that the sound in a 5.1 headset is much worse than stereo headsets.
I have tried sharkoon x-tatic digital and they sound very bad too. But the problem here is that, when you buy 5.1 headsets you are not looking for sound quality but you are looking for "awareness". What I mean is that you want to know what is happening while gaming, like where are the enemies, where are the shots coming from.
anyway I havent heard the medusas,, but After sharkoons I bought the roccat kave and they sound much much much better.

 

[Nomadic]

There is no way that they can sound this bad intentionally. The sound is completely muffled and my plantronica give me much better positional sound than these in this state. The thing is i did research on these and every1 seesms to say that theyre great and that theyve got great sound quality.

 

[screwzloos]

It might simply be the case that you have defective headphones. Did you contact Speedlink about the problem? Also, have you tried your older headphones with the new audio card? A blue screen of death may be the cause or result of any number of problems with your audio.

 

[MuuMuu]

Is the sound card working properly (i.e. do other headphones/speakers sound fine off them)?  If it doesn't, maybe something broke there.
 
If that sounds OK, call the headphone manufacturer, see if they have any troubleshooting tips, and do an exchange if they can't help you.  If it sounds broken, chances are it really is.

 

[V1KTA]

did you try them with your old sound card before you installed the new one?

 

[AudioCats]

5.1 phones use tiny little drivers (they have to fit 4 into each ear cup, so,..), it wouldn't suprised me if the sound is not as good as two channel phones (which can use full size drivers).

 

[Nomadic]

Can anyone tell me what plugs im supposed to plug into. Ive got a pink/red, black yellow and green. In my sound card ive got pink yellow black and blue. Is it just as simple as plugging the green in the blue plug. because ive tried some variations and im gettin different sounds. E.g tinny, warm.

 

[mcnoiserdc]

That is what I thought at first, but it seems this guy is not having problems of bad sound (low quality), it is about not sound according to what it should. may be defective or something. 
 
Quote:

5.1 phones use tiny little drivers (they have to fit 4 into each ear cup, so,..), it wouldn't suprised me if the sound is not as good as two channel phones (which can use full size drivers).

 

[ourfpshero]

i have had the medusa, and while it indeed sounds like garbage, its not muffled. its shrill and bassless

 

[Nomadic]

Im gonna try for a couple more days then but if i dont find a solution and this is indeed the intended sound quality definately return them. Thanks guys anyway.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Let me be ABSOLUTELY CLEAR when I say this:
 
5.1 headphones/headsets PALE in comparison to a great pair of stereo headphones that utilize Dolby Headphone or other virtual surround processing.
 
With something like the Mixamp, the AD700s, K701/702, DT770 Pro 80s will trump ANY 5.1 headset in actually sounding like surround sound. Not only will they fool you into believing it's surround, but there won't be any gaps in the sound vs a 5.1 headphone, and the sound quality itself will be MUCH better than 5.1 headphones.
 
Just believe me. My headphone obsession MAINLY stem from how good they are with video games. I have tried MANY, including 5.1 headsets like the Tritton Ax Pros. Skip the 5.1 garbage and focus on something like the Mixamp + stereo headphones.
 
Virtual surround works so well, it can turn a rather basic headphone into a great gaming one. One example is the KSC75. Not known for it's gaming prowess (who in their right mind would try this? I WOULD!), they become a POWERHOUSE when you pair it up with the Mixamp for gaming. Good soundstage, great positioning, and just $15 or less!

 

[xformulax]

have to agree with mad lust envy on this one i've gamed with my ksc75 and while it wouldnt be my primary setup, it's very very respectable, even compared to other options costing a bit more
 
step 1, get a sound card or external device that supports cmss3d or dolby headphone (even yamaha's silent cinema is pretty damn good)
 
step 2, get a respectable pair of headphones, typically an open air design (though this isnt always the case) that is reviewed and rated as having good, great, excellent, or huge soundstage
 
step 3, ???
 
step 4, profit!

 

[Ypoknons]

You have to remember how our ears work. We only have 2 ears, but in real life we can tell distance and direction because of cues in the sound that tell our ears where the sound comes from (HRTF). We have estiblsihed methods such as, Dolby Headphone, Silent Cinema, SVS Realiser (or even normal headphones with the right recorded material), that can 'trick' our minds into thinking these cues exist and therefore we can get directional audio from 2-channel headphones.
 
It does not make sense to make a headphone with 5 small drivers to do the same job 2 drivers can do with some DSP or the right source material. What's worse is that most of these headphones are cheap and use 5 very cheap drivers instead of 2 goods ones.

 

[cyberidd]

Quote:

have to agree with mad lust envy on this one i've gamed with my ksc75 and while it wouldnt be my primary setup, it's very very respectable, even compared to other options costing a bit more
 
step 1, get a sound card or external device that supports cmss3d or dolby headphone (even yamaha's silent cinema is pretty damn good)
 
step 2, get a respectable pair of headphones, typically an open air design (though this isnt always the case) that is reviewed and rated as having good, great, excellent, or huge soundstage
 
step 3, ???
 
step 4, profit!

 
Well played South Park reference!