The only games I have put a lot of hours into using Atmos are the new Call of Duty and Borderlands 3.
I can tell you that the if you like a good soundstage, that is definitely not whatever VSS Atmos currently is utilizing. It is very in your head. I don't find it that convincing to be honest, and I don't hear the vertical cues as much as I would like to hear them. Sometimes I do notice it but it is never enough to really convince me I am hearing it outright vs. my brain interpolating the audio direction from the visual on screen cues.
Specifically with the HD800S, on the default EQ Atmos sounds overly sibilant. I don't know if it messing with the EQ would help but the headphone definitely reveals some of the flaws in the processing. Compared to Super X-Fi, for example, it sounds tingy and reedy.
Overall I am disappointed with Atmos for headphones. It's not better than the other dedicated solutions. I really want it to be better and I hope they continue to improve it.
I have found Atmos fine for the most part, particularly when it’s applied ad hoc to true Atmos content, like AC Origins. There is a big difference in height fx in that game. It’s particularly evident when you have birds flying overhead. Even when the cues are coming from offscreen (out of my line of sight) I can estimate much more easily and accurately how high overhead they are and where, in comparison to with SBX or other traditional VSS solutions applied to DD5.1.
In this instance at least, it can’t be explained away as placebo or subconscious compensation from visual cues when you could never see them in the first place. i.e. I’m not talking about when you
see birds fly past overhead, I’m taking about when you don’t even know they’re there until you register their presence at differing heights and distances purely through off camera audio cues.
It may just be that Atmos for headphone doesn’t work for you but if you are willing to try, here are a couple of things that might help as your words seem to suggest you haven‘t tried EQing the HD800s with Atmos yet?
EQ for HD800S when using Atmos on PC
Have you tried Hesuvi/Equaliser APO/ Peace Auto Eq compensation for the HD800S with Atmos on PC? It gives me good results and doesn’t sound too harsh or tinny.
https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq
Alternatively, Sonarworks Tru-fi which is close to the above but adjusts for age-related deterioration too. This is a bit smoother but also sounds a bit more processed. Try starting with your actual age bracket and tweaking its curve from there if default is not to your liking. If you haven’t tried it before there is a free trial. If you like it it’s worth waiting for a sale if you’re cost conscious as it’s quite pricey.
Atmos + HD800S on Xbox One S and X
Xbox however, has to be done DIY and short of some analogue method, or specialist equipment, has to make do with 10 band graphic EQ which obviously isn’t as good as the aforementioned parametrics, but I have still found to be worthwhile. I just use the G6’s Sound Blaster Connect EQ to set the bands and the Dolby Access EQ to set the pre-amp offset in the form of a custom profile. With X3, one need not bother with the Dolby Access app's EQ as one can just do it all through the Sound blaster EQ profile as SB Command’s EQ has a pre-amp offset slider.
I manually dial in the recommened 10 band graphic EQ settings adapted by Auto Eq from Oratory1990‘s well known benchmarks. If that one is not to your liking, you could try the ones adapted from Inner Fidelity or Rtings etc. IIRC, they recommend O90 > IF > Rtings in that order.
https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/Au...1990/harman_over-ear_2018/Sennheiser HD 800 S
Finally, and this is only really useful for Xbox, a trick I’ve found for smoothing the HD800S Atmos experience is to send Atmos for headphone to the G6 (or a Dolby Digital capable dac/amp) in Dolby Digital 2.0 form rather than stereo PCM (SBX VSS is set to off obviously). It trades some clarity and precision for warmness and smoothness. Yes this is probably because of compression and PCM is better etc. but I’ve found the trade-off to be not just acceptable but depending on my mood, even preferable sometimes.
Good Test Content
Some good Netflix scenes that showcase Atmos are to be found in “The Haunting of Hill House” on Netflix
https://www.netflix.com/title/80189221?s=i&trkid=0
- Poltergeist knocking in
Episode 8, 21:40 - 22:40
- Rain fx and upstairs window breaking in
Episode 6, 15:10 to 23:00
SXFI + HD800S
I think probably a reason why SXFI‘s HD800 profile is so palatable to you and I is because it’s *not* quite exactly matched to the HD800S. The profile was designed to compensate the original HD800, common criticisms for which (as you know) were not enough bass and an excess in the upper registers. The SXFI profile will already be trying to offset these characteristics (or at least the treble spike if not the bass) to some extent. Accordingly and as you are no doubt also aware, the HD800S’s own design was intended to offset the aforementioned criticisms to some degree anyway. . .So by using the vanilla HD800 profile with the HD800S’s ‘updated’ design, we are probably effectively getting something akin to a double dose of treble smoothing and maybe even two helpings of bass bump.
It wouldn’t surprise me if, should Creative release a dedicated HD800S profile, I (and maybe you too) might end up preferring to stick with the original HD800 profile instead.
Thanks for detailed reply. I will be mainly gaming on PC so thats my main target. I have read a lot of good stuff and want to test the planars so i decided to pick these up, altough i am usually very sceptic about "gaming headphones" or anything that has "gaming" slapped next to the name. But considering these are from Audeze and they got a positive review here i really want to try it out.
My only dillema was if i should maybe pay less and go with Cloud Orbit as i do not need the head tracker stuff and i could live without bluetooth but somehow i am leaning more towards original Audeze, maybe warranty terms will be better or software support, we will see.
No, you absolutely want “the headtracker stuff”, it’s an integral part of what makes Waves NX among the best of the nu-wave 3D VSS solutions. Without the headtracker you might as well just buy the software app or
https://www.turtlebeach.com/products/atlas-edge-pc-audio-enhancer and use with your Beyers or an enthusiast set of planars and be done with it.
To clarify, Waves NX allows you to lock an anchor point (which should be your head-on listening position) so that the virtual speaker setup is stationary as would be the case with a real surround speaker system. Even just the micro-movements your head makes as you breathe contribute to the holography. Mobius and Orbit‘s implementation of Waves also allows for easy auto re-centering whereby if your head strays significantly off the anchor point for 5 seconds (I think it was 5), perhaps because you are adjusting to a more comfortable position, then it will automatically calibrate the newest stationary head position as the new anchor point. It works very well.
If you want to preview Waves NX while you are waiting for your Mobius, download the Waves NX central app free trial and try it with your Beyer’s. The app can set a webcam as a proxy for the headtracker. You set your Sound Blaster as the multichannel source device and ensure that SBX is off. You could even try AutoEqimg the Beyers (see the first link in my response to Illram above) for best results.
