FireDragon76
New Head-Fier
I've been doing alot of reading and youtube surfing and became aware that alot of headphones have elevated bass and treble relative to the midrange, the theory being that this will sound more like a loudspeaker listening experience in a typical room.
However, it seems to me this could be problematic in computer/video games: it could lead to too much bass relative to the environment the player is in. It might lead to a less immersive soundfield, in fact. Sort of what you get with Dolby Headphone. Dolby Headphone sounds more like you are listening to a virtual loudspeaker setup, and the soundstage is not as realistic for games as compared to other implementations such as Creative CMSS/Pro Studio or Razer's headphone spatializer. This is particularly noticeable in any kind of game where locating the direction of particular sounds is important (Thief: the Dark Project is a good example of this, but it could apply to almost any games as well, where audio is important).
Perhaps this is why I have tended to prefer cheaper, non-hi-fi headphones for gaming, or to choose headphones with less bass. I've never felt a bass emphasis is particularly realistic for gaming. Perhaps some of these issues, like trying to make a "realistic" sound in headphones, would be better solved through DSP's rather than acoustic engineering?
However, it seems to me this could be problematic in computer/video games: it could lead to too much bass relative to the environment the player is in. It might lead to a less immersive soundfield, in fact. Sort of what you get with Dolby Headphone. Dolby Headphone sounds more like you are listening to a virtual loudspeaker setup, and the soundstage is not as realistic for games as compared to other implementations such as Creative CMSS/Pro Studio or Razer's headphone spatializer. This is particularly noticeable in any kind of game where locating the direction of particular sounds is important (Thief: the Dark Project is a good example of this, but it could apply to almost any games as well, where audio is important).
Perhaps this is why I have tended to prefer cheaper, non-hi-fi headphones for gaming, or to choose headphones with less bass. I've never felt a bass emphasis is particularly realistic for gaming. Perhaps some of these issues, like trying to make a "realistic" sound in headphones, would be better solved through DSP's rather than acoustic engineering?