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Well you came to the right place.. I own the same card you have as well as the Titanium HD card for gaming on my gaming PCs.. I will be honest with you..Most guys will recommend the Ad700 and mix amp. your sound card with X-fi CMSS-3D will do directional sound just fine. And the idea of buying an expensive sennheiser PC350 or 360.. No...Ad700? no
I am the co founder for one of the premier BF online clans.. =SOC= For my own research and use as I game a lot. You don't need any of those. The headphone to use is The SAMSON SR850. It is better than the AD700 and is better than my HD595 Sennheiser which is an upgrade from the PC360 which is just a renamed HD555 with a mic. Got all that?
So the Samson SR850 is a professional monitoring phone and when combined with your CMSS-3D on. You will be shocked at how precise and great this combo is for gaming.. I have the AD700 and the problem with that phone are 2 things. First it is too airy/ open. The sound stage is very wide and while most guys will just say get this because of this wide stage. IT is too wide. What I mean by this. On games you will notice when enemies shoot at you from what should be 20 ft away it often sound like 25ft away.. A bit too far off. You don't want to use closed headphones as sound become too closed in and can cause an echo which is not wanted.
The answer is a semi open can. The samson SR850 is a semi open can . The 2nd thing wrong with the Ad700 is the anemic bass response or the lack there of. It has almost no bass sounds for music and games throwing out a thud instead of a boom. The samson has full dynamic bass and because of its monitor nature. The sounds in game are precise beyond belief...I have put over 2K hours on BC2 alone with this combo and I can make out at what part of the map a guy is shooting at me with my eyes closed. I can tell what part of the building is being invaded and at what level with my eyes closed. I can tell if a guy is anywhere near me.. All with my eyes closed. the Samson on buy.com will cost you $50 and a clip on mic to throw on your headphone will cost around $10.
I know it might sound ridiculous to think a budget set like this would out trump a $250 one..The real truth is you don't need to spend a craptacuar amount of cash to get perfect positional sound in games. You can even buy an upgrade. A titanium HD and a Samson SR850 for less of the cost of one PC360.. I can certainly bet you the PC360 just because it has a big price tag and a built in mic will not do better than what I just mentioned... People don't believe what I suggest.. That is until you try it for yourself.
I dont mean to come off rude but lets clear a few things up before I do this is my setup and my "sound" background
i7 @ 5 ghz
sli 460 talon hawk's
16gb crucial memory
750w silver efficient ocz psu
sound card =
xonar essence stx
headphones tested -
zalman
ad 700
sennheier 555
Steelseries Siberia V2 USB
Razer Megalodon
Tritton AX Pro
Turtle Beach Ear Force X41
beyermusic DT770
Logitech G7
samson SR850
Gaming Experience
cevo-p cevo.org cod2/4/worldinconflict/tf2
cal-invite caleague cod1/2/4/quake4tdm/q41v1/halo/rtcw
gglinvite q41v1/wsw1v1
oglinvite rtcw/q2
no offense to the guy above, but he's gaming experience is limited. I played bc2 with 1 of the top teams in the game and those "community" clans are garbage when it comes to "competitive" gaming. unless you played in a league like
cevo
esea
or on lan like pax / qcon / cpl ( which isnt around ) cgs (isnt around) wsvg then you have no idea what youre talking about ( sorry to be rude, but this is a fact ) I'll be 30 next week and have been gaming @ a HIGH level in just about every game Ive touched, accept for wow / league of legends, which I played for fun.... Takes to much time to keep up to date in those games, and Im not into becoming fat... so
1) I agree with his statement on AD 700's I have currently been using those because people recommended them for gaming, well they are TERRIBLE for bass and because of that, it makes sound positioning not as clear. Even with my badass sound card you cant emulate the bass well, it sounds like crap because it just leaks to much.
2) you Definitely want closed cans for "gaming" without QUESTION --- those are by far the best for perfect positioning and just the right amount of bass ( you can adjust because it will be too much if youre not an idiot ) for you, once you lower and adjust it properly....
3) The sr850 sound like ok with mid's and highs, the clarity are whats in question, compared to the AD 700's it doesnt hold a light to it, but yes it does have bass
Depending on your price range... if you WANT a sound card the Xonar is a great sound card, now the gui is kind of ****ty imo compared to sound blaster Ive heard ( but dont know ) the NEWEST and ONLY the newest Fatality card is awesome... the rest blow .... but the newest has the new hd components
if you want a cheap setup, like really cheap
a sound blaster audigy 2 sz or gamer + zalman headset - I used this for years and the sound positioning is awesome, its actually perfect the only flaw in the system is its not 100% crystal clear like some other headsets, but like I said the positioning is PERFECT
if you wanna spend more money, new fat card + senn 595 or dt770
remember any headset you buy + a zalman microphone for 10 bucks will be ok, just make sure
1) closed cans
2) if you're gonna drop a dime on a card, new fat card or xonar
3) do you really need it? most likely not.... like I stated the sound audigy sz 2 which I had since like 1999 to 2008ish?, with my zalman headset ( like what? 20 for the card, 50 for headset + mic )
4) all gaming headsets blow dick and you never need a "amp" for music or gaming on the computer, somene says that they are full of ****. unless youre in the music industry ( my friend in chicago has worked with alicia keys, ludacris, aretha franklin, Lupe and this isnt even up to date http://www.myspace.com/studiojames )
When it comes to "PC gaming" I know my stuff. enjoy
xonar ad700 / senn 595 is what Im currently running, but I like to try different things for games, especially now since gaming on the pc is dead, unless youre a "pub" player like 90% of the people are. you dont need quality sound for games like "league of legends and dota 2" which will be the games where the $$$ is.... unlike like bf3 / cod mw2 which will be only good for "pub" games ( i.e bc2 / mw2 prime example ZERO tournaments accept for the 4v4v4v4 bc2 ) that a team like =soc= will play, which is cool in their own right
but lack that "competitive" mindset ...what I mean by that is... they think a 24inch 60hz monitor is better then a 20inch 125hz monitor, when in fact its FAR from better. You could tell a huge difference if you play @ a high level of gaming .... and youre in that "mind frame" of knowing there shouldnt be a 3 second delay in your burst from your gun because a smoke grenade just blew up in your face, regular pub players would not notice this at all. I use to "
give lessons" and I noticed it in 90% of my clients. ... trust me I know
been there done it. This is why I still own 1 of the best CRT's you can get. Obviously along with a top samsung 125hz monitor.