[thuNDa]

He uses SBX set to 33% for some reason.

 
Yes, because it feels to me as close as possible to CMSS-3D, positionalwise.
 

I did a lot of testing/measurement when I got my card:

33% is the point at which the channels are most distinct with SBX Pro Studio Surround.
Higher than that starts to blend the channels together more to create a more cohesive ring of sound, reducing some of the directionality and increasing the reverb.
What you prefer probably depends on what you're using it for (music/movies/games) and the headphones you use. Even if you prefer to use something other than 33%, I wouldn't recommend going above 67%.

And if you're sending the audio to an external amp or DAC, keep the volume at or below 70%.
70% is the point at which you can send it 6 channels of 0 dBFS tones without the headphone mix clipping or being compressed.
I think it does some sort of dynamic range compression to prevent clipping, but I did not really investigate it.

 
Before i read this, i used 30% by feel, but i absolutly hated the L/R panning from 67% and higher, and i trust this guy based on the thing he wrote about clipping with surround enabled.
 
 

I'm not particularly impressed with Atmos. Sound separation was lacking. The 'lack' of processing is a double edged sword in that yes, it may sound clean, but it also can end up a bit stereo-esque with a lack of the depth that makes discerning location and distance harder..

Also, I dunno why, but Thunda's SBX vids don't exactly match up with what I hear from, the X7 in my own testing.

Dolby Atmos sounds good, don't get me wrong. Just not better than SBX and DH in terms of surround effect.

If you mean, that you don't get the same results when setting it to 33%, then it might be, that they did the same to the X7 surround, what they did to the G5(which i sent back btw, due to how they messed with the surround, soundquality was great tho

).
 
As i see it, they used Dolby Atmos in this game only to process multichannel for headphones, and did all the stuff like height cues, occlusion ect. in the (Wwise) soundengine itself.
So it could have been like back in the day with OpenAL, and 128 voices processed separatly to HRTF, but i doubt it, because it seems to be a last minute update, to implement Dolby Atmos.

 

[NamelessPFG]

Well, I'll be damned. Overwatch turned out to be one of those few games that has a built-in headphone mix that actually doesn't suck! That video was some good stuff, thuNDa!
 
I remember testing out Atmos in the SW:BF3 open beta and being thoroughly disappointed. No directionality, no depth, it was like it was a broken implementation. Went back to CMSS-3D Headphone immediately for that one.
 
As for BF1, well, I didn't think they'd actually go that far back, but when you take Codename: Eagle into account, it could indeed be going back to the series roots since that game was effectively the franchise spiritual predecessor.
 
Maybe they could make it work, but knowing EA, they'll lock half the content behind Premium for a hefty sum.

 

[rudyae86]

Well, I'll be damned. Overwatch turned out to be one of those few games that has a built-in headphone mix that actually doesn't suck! That video was some good stuff, thuNDa!

I remember testing out Atmos in the SW:BF3 open beta and being thoroughly disappointed. No directionality, no depth, it was like it was a broken implementation. Went back to CMSS-3D Headphone immediately for that one.

As for BF1, well, I didn't think they'd actually go that far back, but when you take Codename: Eagle into account, it could indeed be going back to the series roots since that game was effectively the franchise spiritual predecessor.

Maybe they could make it work, but knowing EA, they'll lock half the content behind Premium for a hefty sum.

Didn't know SW BF had Dolby Atmos for headphones? As far as I know and have read, it was meant to be used with an AV that supports Atmos via HDMI.

But I could be wrong but I cant recall ever reading Atmos for headphones in SWBF.

As for BF1...I'm stoked lol. But as much as we want to go back to old times and having all content that was meant to be available, I wouldn't be surprised if EA makes half a game and delivers the rest as DLC.

Sadly this is the business model and its here to stay....

I will still purchase the game at its full price...and this is probably the first time in 9 years I actually will pay $60 dollars plus tax for a game.

I wont purchase its DLC right away until i see what is being offered and the price has lowered lol.

I dont even have DLC/season pass for SWBF and the game itself lacks so much content, ranked up to lvel 50 and have not touched it since.

/little rant over.

I hope more games come out with an implementation of Atmos that is very well done for us gamers to take advantage of.

At least this is the first step to better sound in games and more so with the introduction of VR gaming.

 

[Fegefeuer]

Battlefront does not have Atmos for Headphones.
Overwatch is the first and so far only

 

[cskippy]

If I'm looking to add SBX to my current chain of Gumby->Carbon->HE-6/HD650 would the Sound Blaster Z be the cheapest best option?  TOSLINK from Z to Gumby?  

 

[Fegefeuer]

yes

 

[odib]

I'm still hoping the Turtle Beach TAC will be able to send processed virtual surround sound via optical out. I googled translated the page and it only mentioned using the Ethernet for daisy chaining chat. So fingers crossed

 

http://www.lesnumeriques.com/casque-audio/turtle-beach-elite-pro-tournament-p32725/turtle-beach-presente-son-nouveau-casque-elite-pro-tournament-n51959.html

 

[Yethal]

  I'm still hoping the Turtle Beach TAC will be able to send processed virtual surround sound via optical out. I googled translated the page and it only mentioned using the Ethernet for daisy chaining chat. So fingers crossed

 

http://www.lesnumeriques.com/casque-audio/turtle-beach-elite-pro-tournament-p32725/turtle-beach-presente-son-nouveau-casque-elite-pro-tournament-n51959.html

Looks more like a passthrough. Astro A50 has one too.

 

[Fegefeuer]

Don't expect such features from companies like astro, tb and Co. they mostly aim at casual users and pro gamers. Both mostly with zero clue about audio and 0 care. The latter is fine with DEDICATED STEREO GAMING and relies upon other stuff anyway (skill, communication, knowledge of maps, mechanics, blabla - which is fine.)

Nobody does passthrough like Creative does in more than 10 years and even they don't bother mostly as we can see with the X7.

Also Asus only did this with their xonar cards because Creative did. Sometimes I wonder if Creative just doesn't wanna win and relies upon others to "lose" because those others can't get their game right

 

[Evshrug]

Just mentioning, the firmware update I just did to Creative's E5 last night added a checkbox for headphone surround processed output through optical. It's funny to me, because the E5's control panel demos the surround effect pretty well, but the G5's Blaster X suite doesn't sound right to me. Configured with 7.1 surround, the front speakers sound good, but the side speakers sound EXACTLY the same as the rear speakers, and in fact the crossover is so strong that the left and right sides barely sound different from eachother. Rears also don't sound like they're behind me at any surround setting, so the soundstage is just a half dome or semi-circle. I haven't played a PC game with it yet though, and people say on the G5 thread that games sound better than the control panel. I'd still recommend the E5 over the G5 because of the microphones, Bluetooth, battery, etc.

I was just on Scuf gaming's website (they finally have a PS4 controller comparable to the Scuf Xbox controllers), and they had a quote from an MLG player saying something like "People are always asking what kind of gear is needed to go pro, I always say get a Scuf, a monitor, and a headset. In that order." Yay marketing (because I agree with Fege, you absolutely need the skills, teamwork, and practice to be a fundamentally good player), but at least audio shows up on their list of acknowledged gear that gives the player an advantage. Even if it is mentioned dead-last.

Off topic but would be great to know, does anyone have a PS4 Scuf controller? I realize you only get a pair of paddles (fine with me), but is the back and bottom of a Scuf controller reshaped at all compared to a DualShock 4 stock? Hopefully with more comfort?

 

[conquerator2]

  I'm still hoping the Turtle Beach TAC will be able to send processed virtual surround sound via optical out. I googled translated the page and it only mentioned using the Ethernet for daisy chaining chat. So fingers crossed

 

http://www.lesnumeriques.com/casque-audio/turtle-beach-elite-pro-tournament-p32725/turtle-beach-presente-son-nouveau-casque-elite-pro-tournament-n51959.html

It won't pass processed surround through optical [read: they don't wanna allow it because they want you to use their headphones and gear]. I was able to confirm that with TB back at last year's E3 

 

 

[Yethal]

If I remember correctly the TAC is going to use the same DAC chip as Schiit Fulla. Maybe at least it can be modified for line-out which, paired with the AKM4396 would make a decent sounding setup.

 

[mrkingdomhearts]

Anyone use IEMs for gaming? If so how do they compare to full sized headphones in a similar price range?
Imagine they would be great for portable games.

 

[Evshrug]

^I'll quote some posts we had on this subject two or three days ago, once I get time (my next break). Or, you could scroll back a few pages if you don't want to wait a few hours.

 

[Evshrug]

Looks like you were posting in the midst of these posts that answered your question, and my big post about IEMs also quoted and answered one of your other questions, but here they are anyway. Hopefully you read this time:

You'd be surprised how great can the earphones be when it comes to the positional audio. The best rendition of the Virtual Barbershop I've ever heard was on the Fiio EM3 which are 10$ earbuds. Really, try any binaural recording with earphones, You'll be blown away.

Ok, so think about it this way:
Balanced armatures (the most common drivers in IEMs) are like miniature planar drivers. They're very small and super efficient, so you don't need powerful amps to power them with authority and tight tight control. And then, the more expensive ones will have three or more (I've seen 12!) different BAs that are specially tuned to play a dedicated range of frequencies really well, so you might have one BA tuned to play highs, one for mids, and another BA (or Dynamic driver) play the lows. Sometimes different frequencies are separated to play through different tubes right up until they reach your ear canal.

The result of this is almost no bleeding-over effect, and stunning clarity and detail. Clarity helps your ear and brain distinguish between a sound that happened at a distance right in front of your face, and a sound that happened 20' away, slightly to the left. Imaging, the sense of a sound's direction, and separation, the sense of two different instruments not blending together into one, both are greatly enhanced by the clarity and resolution of a headphone.

If you get to hear one of the crazy, $1k+ IEMs, you'll realize they go toe-to-toe with summit-fi stuff like the HD800 or Stax SR-009. Do not underestimate the power of the inside earphones.

(Replying to mrkingdomhearts)
Yeah, the E5 sometimes goes on sale, slickdeals that ****!

Priced between $100 and $300? Uh, yeah, tons of IEM options in that price range, many 3-way IEMs. Not that 2-way are bad. I really liked the RHA lineup, even the $50 S500i was impressive but the T20i is awesome (plus 3 year warranty, tuning filter) at like...$229. Alclair Curve IEMs are awesome and quite comfortable. I haven't heard the Audio Technica IEMs around $100-$150, but apparently they are awesome as well, especially the red ones.

You can also get custom IEMs starting at $200 and going up from there. If you want to game for hours custom is probably the way to go because they're so much more comfortable than universals.