[vandey]

So I've posted in the Computer Audio section as well, then was notified to post in here for my first post. Well my name is Justin I'm fairly new at getting into higher quality headphones/headsets. I built a new computer over the winter and the only thing my rig is missing now is a really good headset that can do surround sound/virtual surround sound. I've been told by many people that a great headset that does surround sound can help improve gameplay and give a greater immersion into the game. I had a 5.1 speaker system hooked up to my PC for quiet some time and I feel it did help my gameplay. I since removed my 5.1 system as my current office doesn't work very well with my large 5.1 system. This is why I'd like a good headset that can do all of this. I mainly play FPS type games like BF3, COD etc. so you can see where these type of headsets may help pinpoint where people are.
 
A little background of what I have now. I have a pair of Sennheiser PC 151's these are a great headset for the price, I actually like the sound better on these than compared to the PC 360's from Sennheiser.
 
Anyways my main questions are:
 
1) Is virtual surround better than actual surround with multiple speakers? I've heard a few people say virtual surround is better as it offers a larger driver than the actual surround with multiple speakers in it. Is that true?
 
2) What is a really good headset that has surround or virtual surround? I have an audio card that can do 5.1 so the little dongle that comes with most surround headphones/headsets I don't think I'll need to utilize as I've heard if you have a good audio card you don't need the dongle. Anyone have a good suggestion?
 
I've been looking at the Sennheiser PC 363D's anyone have these? That is about the highest price I'd be willing to go as well. These retail for around $270ish. Is there something out there that is as good, or even better that is the same price or cheaper than these at surround sound as well as having a good mic?
 
PS. I'd like them to be over the ear style, they can be open or closed design.
 
Thanks for any input!

 

[cel4145]

1) Is virtual surround better than actual surround with multiple speakers? I've heard a few people say virtual surround is better as it offers a larger driver than the actual surround with multiple speakers in it. Is that true?

I don't see how virtual surround can beat a 5.1 speaker setup. Virtual surround works by the digital signal processing trying to recreate more of a surround field in a 2 channel headphone (or with speakers). How can the computer audio DSP possibly know anything about the actual content of the audio signals to accurately create a sound field equal or better than the one designed by the audio engineer in the 5.1 channel output?

However, the problem is that it's much more expensive to build a good 5.1 surround system with home audio speakers than it is to get a good headphone, and it can be a pain to get a 5.1 setup placed correctly and configured right in a room. So on the other hand, yeah. A $300 headphone with virtual sound will likely sound way better than a $300 5.1 speaker setup. Well, except maybe for a pair of Beats Studios

Meanwhile, I don't have any experience with multi channel headphones, but I've heard many people say that you are better off going with a good 2 channel pair and optimizing the 2 channel setup. So best to do your research on head-fi before investing your money on multi channel headphones. Here's a thread with some discussion of that: http://www.head-fi.org/t/496605/5-1-channel-surround-sound-vs-normal-headphones

 

[vandey]

This I know, I miss my 5.1 setup but as I said my office setup doesn't really work with my bulky 5.1 system, thus I would rather have a good headset that can "replicate" this. Thanks for the post, I'll keep posting and do more research on here and see what I find, but I may end up just getting the PC 363D if I can't find anything that seems to be as good.