best soundcard for positional audio CS GO

[jodgey4]

I know how to use the soundcard. And changing digital volume removes bits, that's not a good idea - esp. for the noise floor.

 

[kashim]

guys i actually have sb z from creative,then help me to settings it not dolby please...i actually have this settings :
 
- windows : 5.1
- cs go : headphone (5.1 sound worst)
- snd_legacysorround 1
- sb sorround 100

 

[jodgey4]

Hwellllllllllllll shoot my kitten and call me Susan, the darn 5.1 works. They must've quietly patched it!

 

[kashim]

  Hwellllllllllllll shoot my kitten and call me Susan, the darn 5.1 works. They must've quietly patched it!

for u if i upgrade from my k612 to ad700x can have some competitive audio improvment? like soundstage/positional accuracy/details?

 

[PurpleAngel]

  for u if i upgrade from my K612 to AD700X can have some competitive audio improvement? like sound stage/positional accuracy/details?

 
AKG headphones usually do well with FPS gaming, so might not be a big difference (maybe only slight?) between the K612 Pro and the ATH-AD700X, for FPS gaming.
 
Might try reading up and asking on this thread.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/534479/mad-lust-envys-headphone-gaming-guide-3-18-2016-mrspeakers-ether-c-1-1-added/34770

 

[mindbomb]

  I know how to use the soundcard. And changing digital volume removes bits, that's not a good idea - esp. for the noise floor.

Yea, but you have to do it to prevent clipping. With virtual surround sound, you are mixing like 6 or 8 channels down to 2 channels. And those input channels often have elements in both the output channels, so it's almost like 12 or 16 channels. When you're adding up the volume off all these channels, there is a chance for going out of range and clipping. In that csgo video for example, I had the windows volume set to -8db, but the peaks in the video were -2db. So at least -6db was needed to prevent it from going above the maximum volume.
 
Quote:

  guys i actually have sb z from creative,then help me to settings it not dolby please...i actually have this settings :
 
- windows : 5.1
- cs go : headphone (5.1 sound worst)
- snd_legacysorround 1
- sb sorround 100

 
It should be
- windows 5.1
- cs go 5.1
- sb set to headphones
- sb surround set to the amount you prefer
 
- alchemy and snd legacy surround is optional, but these have to be used together, you can't use just one.

 

[jodgey4]

Sounds like a driver issue if you're clipping... but good to know.

 

[salka]

ad700x is easy to drive i dont thik it needs a amp

 

[kashim]

  ad700x is easy to drive

if i upgrade from akg k612 to ad700x how much better soundstage/positional sound/accuracy gain?i need for competitive fps games

 

[jodgey4]

honestly the K612 is supposed to be nearly as good as the venerable Q701s when amped right. if you've got an amp, i doubt you'd really get an upgrade going to the ad700x.

 

[obobskivich]

Sounds like a driver issue if you're clipping... but good to know.

Indeed - the downmix matrix should already be applying pads to prevent this (that's actually required by Dolby and DTS as part of the decoder spec, specifically because of this problem). The Z (and all of the other SoundCore cards) will automatically, and silently, implement the whole "set windows to 5.1 and mix to stereo for headphones" thing just by setting them to Headphones - no need to go futz about with other settings since the Creative driver is already setting it up for you. This downmix is only available via the headphone out or the digital out though - it won't do it via the analog line outs (it will downmix if that's what the speaker map requires, but it doesn't automatically implement the "hack" and instead will report whatever the speaker map is to Windows (e.g. if you have stereo speakers, Windows is then set for stereo speakers, but if you're playing back a 5.1 DVD that will be downmixed in the player, again with the downmix matrix providing appropriate pads)).

As far as headphones for "competitive FPS games" - honestly the point of diminishing returns is so low. I can't imagine getting anything significantly better than your AKGs at this point, and ditto on the Z - I'd just go with what you've got.

 

[kashim]

  honestly the K612 is supposed to be nearly as good as the venerable Q701s when amped right. if you've got an amp, i doubt you'd really get an upgrade going to the ad700x.

soundblaster z with 600 ohm amp 

 

[kashim]

Indeed - the downmix matrix should already be applying pads to prevent this (that's actually required by Dolby and DTS as part of the decoder spec, specifically because of this problem). The Z (and all of the other SoundCore cards) will automatically, and silently, implement the whole "set windows to 5.1 and mix to stereo for headphones" thing just by setting them to Headphones - no need to go futz about with other settings since the Creative driver is already setting it up for you. This downmix is only available via the headphone out or the digital out though - it won't do it via the analog line outs (it will downmix if that's what the speaker map requires, but it doesn't automatically implement the "hack" and instead will report whatever the speaker map is to Windows (e.g. if you have stereo speakers, Windows is then set for stereo speakers, but if you're playing back a 5.1 DVD that will be downmixed in the player, again with the downmix matrix providing appropriate pads)).

As far as headphones for "competitive FPS games" - honestly the point of diminishing returns is so low. I can't imagine getting anything significantly better than your AKGs at this point, and ditto on the Z - I'd just go with what you've got.

 ok i can use it but what is the best settings for positional audio?don t like sound accuracy when set 5.1 in cs go...then u have any sugg?

 

[obobskivich]

 ok i can use it but what is the best settings for positional audio?don t like sound accuracy when set 5.1 in cs go...then u have any sugg?

Generally, I'd go with "Headphone" in the Creative drivers, let that do its various tricks with Windows, and then set the game to either "Headphone" or "5.1" depending on what sounds better to you. The Z also has "Scout Mode" which is supposed to help positional accuracy in games -I'd give it a try.

 

[mindbomb]

Indeed - the downmix matrix should already be applying pads to prevent this 

That's one way of doing it, but I don't know if I would say it should always be done like that. With sound cards and headphones, you are typically controlling the volume with digital volume control alone. So by the time you would have clipping problems, you would have exceeded the maximum volume capable of the card anyway. I guess asus figured no one would set their volume so high that it would be a problem.
 
And I see some software also not lowering volume in the matrix, and just using a limiter, since multichannel content is often at relatively low volumes to begin with, and in videos, you generally have the center channel used way more than the other channels. So lowering volume in the matrix is arguably just a waste of power in this case. And there is a lot of mixing with virtual surround sound, because not only are you mixing 6 or so channels down to 2, you are also mixing the low frequency content of each speaker on to the other side like a crossfeed does. So it could be a huge loss of power to use a matrix that never clips.