[Evshrug]

I remembered playing a Macintosh exclusive game in 1995, one of the most high-profile for the platform at the time, my mind blown when I read in the manual that the game supported virtual reality headsets.

 

[chicolom]

Considering our eyes should always be on the screen, I find headtracking useless. I understand the idea, and it makes no sense for general on screen gaming use. Unless we are in a room full of screens or something like some virtual reality ( that Oculus Rift), this doesn't make sense for general gaming, movies, or otherwise.

Gee, let me play with my eyes pointed away from the screen, so that people sound like they're behind me.

Now, if you're listening to a concert or something and really care about where the stage is, then MAYBE.

 
 
I think you're thinking about it wrong.  I don't think anyone expects you to be whipping your head around in circles.  It's more about small adjustments with your head while you're still looking forward.
 
Yes, your eyes should always be on the screen, but your head won't always be in the same position.  People normally make small adjustments with their head to help pinpoint sound.  It's the same thing a dog does when it tilts it's head to the side when it hears something.  Humans do that too.  An example is when you're looking for a hard to find sound (like a cricket in the house) and you sort of bob your head around to help you find it.
 
Unless your head is locked in place, you will most likely be making some small movements with your head anyways as you game.  If you have a big enough screen, you might even move your head slightly when you look from one side to the other.  You might as well make those movements contribute and sharpen the positioning and increase the immersion.
 
As Tyll says in the article:

 "If you sit directly in front of the screen and never fidget, HeaDSPeaker works just fine. But here in the real world, people don't act like that, and the head tracking is a useful tool for enhancing the surround simulation. Not that I intentionally turn my head a lot while watching movies, but as I paid attention to it I noticed more subtle head shifts than I would have thought. So despite the extra cable involved, head tracking is indeed worth it."

 
I understand why you think it is useless (your in-game avatar will always be looking straight forward no matter what your head is doing), but still I think you need to try it first before you rule it out as being useless.

 

[Evshrug]

Recon3D USB should be here tonight when I get home!
AKG K712 Pro ought to arrive Friday (though knowing USPS, probably not till Monday).
Exciting times.
 
 
Really though, right now... I just want a nap.

 

[AxelCloris]

  Recon3D USB should be here tonight when I get home!
AKG K712 Pro ought to arrive Friday (though knowing USPS, probably not till Monday).
Exciting times.
 
 
Really though, right now... I just want a nap.

 
There's a really good post here about configuring your Recon3D USB set. I'd really recommend checking it out and following his advice. It's spot on.
 
You're welcome.

 

[Evshrug]

There's a really good post here about configuring your Recon3D USB set. I'd really recommend checking it out and following his advice. It's spot on.

You're welcome.

Hmm, seems like just my taste. Thanks for the find!

 

[burritoboy9984]

Hmm, seems like just my taste. Thanks for the find!

 
I'm confused, isn't that your old post? lol.
 
-Erik

 

[Evshrug]

Yeah it was, funny thing is I don't think "I" had it in my bookmarks!
I also think I post like a different person now... Probably because back then I had too much free time and I put a lot of energy into Head-Fi. I also wasn't sure what you were about, and I was kind of stand-offish with you sometimes... thanks for not hating me, lol! I don't say as much, or at least I don't write essays as often, but I still think of this as my "home thread" and always check for new posts here first.

Nameless' Recon3D USB arrived, packed in a vitamin supplements box of all things, and I want to play with it but I have to sleep. I think I'll just open the box and then pass out, lol.

 

[NamelessPFG]

Depends... I use a Track IR for my simulation games. Ergo: I move about a lot .

 
As do I, which is why I don't give a whole lot of attention to virtual speaker surround devices that use head-tracking as part of their simulation. Any TrackIR enhanced mode game already does that for me, with the extra perk of a massive boost in situational awareness.
 
And for those that aren't, a bit of in-game camera movement works in its place for more finely discerning the location of sounds.
 
Now, if someone could make those ultrasonic head-trackers actually emulate a TrackIR, then I'd be really interested...

 

[AxelCloris]

Yeah it was, funny thing is I don't think "I" had it in my bookmarks!
I also think I post like a different person now... Probably because back then I had too much free time and I put a lot of energy into Head-Fi. I also wasn't sure what you were about, and I was kind of stand-offish with you sometimes... thanks for not hating me, lol! I don't say as much, or at least I don't write essays as often, but I still think of this as my "home thread" and always check for new posts here first.

Nameless' Recon3D USB arrived, packed in a vitamin supplements box of all things, and I want to play with it but I have to sleep. I think I'll just open the box and then pass out, lol.

 
Eh, you make it easy to get to it. I have a couple friends who have picked up a Recon3D USB as well, fellow Mac gamers, and I link them your suggested settings to get a starting point. I get to it easily through your signature; "detailed report" at the bottom and then a link in that write-up takes you to the post. I don't have it bookmarked either but I think it's a great starting point for people. So I send them that way. But secretly, I'm actually too lazy to write down my settings for them and make them do their own work.
 
And forums aren't the best way to convey sarcasm/jokes/break dancing skills. It's pretty easy to get an impression of someone and have it be entirely incorrect. I mean, look at Chicolom. He might actually be a terrible person who punches puppies, though I highly doubt it. So if I may have come off a bit rude or provocative but it certainly wasn't intentional. Unless I was talking to Tus-chan. *shakes fist* (gotta rag on my fellow state-men)

 

[FlukeNL]

Considering our eyes should always be on the screen, I find headtracking useless.

Now that's just showing you haven't tried it... ever. Using headtracking, your eyes will never leave the screen. That would indeed be plain stupid. Small movements of your head are translated into bigger movements in game. It's almost the same as checking out the edges of your screen. Normally you'd do that with eyemovements, but you get used to using your head a bit as well.
 
For general gaming, RTS, MMORPG, or the run 'n gun shooters? Mwah, don't bother. But as soon as you enter the realm of simulation it offers huge benefits. Racing, flying or an FPS like ARMA  are areas where headtracking stands out (or: all games where you need some sort of extra situational awareness). So I guess it depends on the type of games you play. Too bad you don't live around here, I'd let you try it out. If you even slightly like the type of games I've mentioned, you would go the headtracking route. Maybe not TrackIR as those are crazy expensive, but still... .

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

All I'm trying to say is that spending hundreds for a feature that aids your subtle head movement away from being completely ceneter from the screen... well I dont find a real point to it. Even if my head was off center, my brain understands that what i hear on my headphones is directly related to my on screen character (say in an FPS). So if it sounds like its coming at 5 o clock, its happening in game, not my subtle head movement. I'll turn my character to face that 5 o clock position.

So again, head tracking is... ultimately useless to me.

The Smyth Realizer however is truly emulating whatever speaker setup you recorded. That is something else entirely, which I find amazing. Not needed for the purpose of gaming or anything otherwise, but being able to copy how a room sounds almost perfectly is pretty awesome.

And I do under the function of headtracking. I'm just saying that it's a very amazing gimmick that isn't going to truly benefit gaming, other than add immersion and the pseudo trickery of making you think you're not listening to headphones.

You'd need like a multiple monitor setup, or gaming where you're physically turning around, etc.

 

[chicolom]

  Now, if someone could make those ultrasonic head-trackers actually emulate a TrackIR, then I'd be really interested...

 
 
What's the difference between them?  TrackIR affects the camera while the others affects the sound?

 

[FlukeNL]

that's basically it, yes. So if you can combine the two, it saves a tracking system. An alternative might be a headtracker with solid state gyroscopes (I know a guy who'se making those, but they are still prototypes and only work on 3 axis instead of the 6 axis movement tracking TrackIR delivers), because those are very very small.
 
@ Mad Lust: I hear ya, and understand you're looking at headtracking from a sound-based point of view. Headtracking will never replace positional cues from sound. Lol, all i was trying to say is that headtracking has it's uses (funny how written text sometimes garbles our real intentions). In combat flightsims it's proven invaluable and in more tactical shooters it's nice to keep pointing your gun at a certain point while every once in a while checking out the surrounding area. But truth be told: if it wasn't for my flightsim hobby, I'd never have bought it. Build my own, yes... that's only $20 or so .

 

[Phol]

So i've spent about 3 days researching this stuff now. I've read through the guide, several threads in the head-fi forum, reviews and mixamps explanations and I'm still unsure on how all this work.

Perhaps someone here could help me if I just describe what hardware I got and what I'm looking for.
 
Budget: 150-250$
Main use: 50% PC & PS3-gaming. 25% music, 25% movies.
Gaming taste: 80% Immersion/atmosphere, 20% Competitive.
Music taste: Mostly Post-Core, Metal and Alt Rock but also Pop, Electronic and some Techno.
Soundcard/Motherboard: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&tmp_geoLoc=true&docname=c03132942

So i'm looking for something with good Bass while still having some nice Soundstage.
From what I've been reading the DT770 seems to be pretty good in that regard. Only thing I'm not enjoying is their plain design, but audio quality and comfort is more important.

I'm really confused about this whole Dolby Digital and amp stuff. I would really like to try it out as it sounds great but I'm not sure what I'll need. Is there anyway to get this for both PC and PS3 without having to buy a new soundcard?

Any help or advice is appreciated. If you need any more information feel free to ask away!

 

[Evshrug]

Phol,
If you want something for the computer and console, the easiest solution right now is to get a Recon3D USB from Creative (which I just rebought yesterday). Sure, the Mixamp can kinda do a PC, and maybe with research and reconfiguration you might be able to use a Turtle Beach DSS with a PC, but the Creative external soundcard actually has custom drivers for Windows (and Mac) while also supporting the ability to decode surround sound sent from a console. I don't know of any in-production internal soundcards that actually can support 5.1 DDL audio decoding from a PS3, and besides having the external Recon3D means you don't have to have your PC running to have console surround.

You can adjust the balance between game and chat volume on PC (even increase the gain/sensitivity of your microphone), but unfortunately it can't offer that on consoles (though the PS3 may offer system settings for a workaround, I admit I'm not very familiar with the PS3 advanced settings). On my Xbox, there is a setting that can quiet the game audio while somebody is talking, but I prefer to turn up the volume on my amp till i can hear my friends clearly, then use a game's setting to lower game volume manually to a comfortable level – this way game audio won't change when I'm trying to listen for an enemy and a friend starts talking.

If you want the cheapest devices that will process surround audio, those would be the Turtle Beach DSS for consoles (Woot just posted an offer for a DSS v1 with a headset... All TB headsets can easily be outmatched in SQ, but the mic is good, allows console chat mixing, and is essentially free with a $30 DSS: http://tech.woot.com/offers/7-1-surround-sound-gaming-headset-4) and a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Go! Pro or Asus Xonar U3 for the PC. Dolby processing in the DSS and Xonar products is ok, but I prefer the headphone surround from THX and Creative.

What is post-core? Post hardcore? What's an example track?