[ear8dmg]

Just thought it's worth a mention: some here (including me) have claimed that Dolby Headphone isn't HRTF based. That's not strictly true - it just doesn't require custom HRTF measurements to work. Dolby do, however, claim to 'recreate the HRTF' of listening to a 5.1 system.

See here: http://www.dolby.com/professional/IntroPack/IntroPack_DH_Impl.pdf (the bit on how Dolby Headphone works).

Edit: you can see where some of the confusion has arisen from. Dolby's own literature on it lacks clarity...

 

[nastyskillz]

So how many people agree that the DT 880 is really the holy grail? Is this a wide consensus, or do others have some more opinions they would like to weigh in?

 

[chinesekiwi]

Quote:

So how many people agree that the DT 880 is really the holy grail? Is this a wide consensus, or do others have some more opinions they would like to weigh in?

DT990/600 will give it a run for it's money. the DT880 has better imaging whilst the DT990 has a larger sized soundstage.

 

[Amatsu]

Quote:

@Audioholic thanks a million for this thread, its one of the main reasons i've got a pair of DT880's winging their way to me as i type!

I've just completed a new build and until my Auzentech Bravura turns up i'm stuck with the SupremeFX X-Fi that came with my Crosshair
III. It does however give me a chance to familiarize myself with cmss-3d. I generally game with my headphones MDR-XD400 for the time
being and i'm just wondering if someone can suggest cmss-3d settings for BF2:BC...

For example in the Creative Console should i have my speaker configuration set to headphones or 5.1? this seems like a strange question
to me but its just i've seen a ton of threads saying to set this to 5.1 when using cmss and headphones.
 
if i am to set it to 5.1 in the cmss-3d panel whats the difference between Stereo Xpand and Stereo Surround?

and finally in BC2 itself should war tapes still be my source of choice?

i know i could test all these things out myself but while BC2 is on the d/l i figured i could ask you guys

The ideal way is to set the games configuration to 5.1 and the Creative console to 2.1, you can read the different CMSS modes here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_Blaster_X-Fi#CMSS-3D
The one you want is the CMSS Virtual, which should be similar to the 3D Headphones but without the bad sound quality.
 
The thing is that with Windows Vista or 7, the Creative Console doesn't let you unlink the Windows speakers configuration with the Creative console (unless you use CMSS 3D Headphones), this creates a problem because there are a lot of games that don't let you change the speaker setup, they automatically set up the game speaker configuration from Windows. 
 
I found a way though to force an unlink, first you need to go into the startup tab inside the Msconfig application and uncheck the "CTxfiHlp", reboot before the next step. Next change your Creative console to Game Mode, go ahead and set up the Creative console speakers to 2.1, that will automatically change the Windows to 2.1 aswell, don't close the Creative window yet.
 
Now you want to go to Windows control panel and the sound program, click 1 time on Speakers and then click on Configure, that will bring up the Windows speaker configuration which should be in stereo. Don't touch anything yet. Now with both Creative and Windows speaker configurations opened, hit control+shift+escape to open Windows task manager. Go into the processes tab and find the CTxfispi.exe process, go ahead and end this process. 
 
The creative control panel now should be freezed and locked up, if that is the case, then it's time to change the Windows speakers to 5.1, just keep hitting next until it's done, after that just reboot the computer again and you should have the Windows in 5.1 and the Creative in 2.1 with CMSS3D Virtual working. Good news is you just have to do this 1 time. You can also change modes without worries, for example you can change to audio creation mode and use windows in stereo, when you go back to game mode it will change to 5.1 again without changing the Creative speakers.
 
One last thing, sometimes in rare occasions the Windows changes back to stereo, I believe it may happen when some games crash or something similar, check the speaker config from time to time to make sure it's correct. If it has changed to stereo just change it back to 5.1 and it won't affect the Creative panel, you don't have to do everything again.

 

[ShooTa]

am just wondering from your testing how you have configured your games?
 
by that i mean what were your settings for the xonar st when it comes to windows and ingame settings?
 
is the sound accuracy for positioning better when  youve had 5.1/7.1 ingame and similar on windows
or better when youve had headphones ingame and in windows
 
this is beacuase atm im trying headphones in windows headphones in ST and headphones ingame - this setting is good but am wondering if it can be bettered. - also i do not have the H6 Extension Board  as its not for sale yet over here in the UK

 

[BlutoSlice]

 
Quote:

am just wondering from your testing how you have configured your games?
 
by that i mean what were your settings for the xonar st when it comes to windows and ingame settings?
 
is the sound accuracy for positioning better when  youve had 5.1/7.1 ingame and similar on windows
or better when youve had headphones ingame and in windows
 
this is beacuase atm im trying headphones in windows headphones in ST and headphones ingame - this setting is good but am wondering if it can be bettered. - also i do not have the H6 Extension Board  as its not for sale yet over here in the UK

 
In game its best to set audio to 5.1 / 7.1, some times refered to a home cinema mode  this should be matched in the Asus control panel and is mainly best for FPS where positional audio is key. Setting output to headphone 
 
The "headphone" ingame option will normally result to just stereo being passed to your essence.  Stereo can still be quite good depending on how the game sound is produced and mixed and this can have pro logic enhancement as well. Best try all of the options and see which settings sound best for you.
 
My default xonar settings are    # Audio Channel = 8 channel     # Analog Out = Headphone    # Dolby Headphone active on mode DH1 or DH-2 or DH-3 depending on the game.

 

 

[ShooTa]

thankyou the game is counterstrike source.
currently working with 6 channels (windows 5.1) 5.1 ingame and then dolby headphone with dh2 and some tweaks in the EQ for trble and highs. - clearer for hearing footsteps and cutting out the loud bangs.

 

[NRWalker]

I found that an interesting read, especially because I'm near the start of my quest. Like you, I play games competitively, attend tournaments, and have finally come to the realisation that there are better sounding headphones than a pair of Plantronics Audio 310s. Also, like you, I tried the Logitech G35s - but this is where we disagree - I found them to be utterly disappointing. The fit was slightly uncomfortable, the highs were painfully tinny, and enabling the Dolby Headphone surround sound did virtually nothing to aid positional awareness (even if it did do something the sounds were so muddled it was utterly futile). Picking through the wreckage, the few pluses I could salvage are that they were built solid as a tank and the microphone was absolutely flawless. However, that wasn't enough to save them from an almost immediate re-package and re-listing on ebay. That's the last time I trust the reviews on "gaming" websites.
 
Thank god, I've since discovered head-fi. After reading countless reviews I settled on the AD700s with a USB Xonar U1 since I'll be playing out of my laptop most of the time. I'm really excited about embarking on my quest to find the holy grail of gaming sound and these are my first tentative steps. 
 

 

[Mikesin]

How did you find the K701/2's?? Other guides about the ultimate audiophile gaming headphone suggested the AD700's or AKG K701/2's .

 

[JasonD]

Guess I couldn't really tell while I was trying to read through.. Do people tend to advice not to use an external DAC for gaming?  Regardless of the surround effects like Dolby Headphone (I mostly play StarCraft2).. does a DAC add a significant delay/lag compared to a sound card?

 

[Sxperm]

Quote:

Guess I couldn't really tell while I was trying to read through.. Do people tend to advice not to use an external DAC for gaming?  Regardless of the surround effects like Dolby Headphone (I mostly play StarCraft2).. does a DAC add a significant delay/lag compared to a sound card?

Same question here.  I know that external DAC is a great enhancement for music under 2.0 / 2.1 channels.  However my doubt is about gaming - will it make those movies and games better in 2.0 / 2.1 channel?  I am currently using external headphone amplifier (Maverick A1) between XtremeMusic (0460) to my headphone (SHP8900 / HD598) and I thought  it was a good improvement but wondering if DAC could adding more improvement to overall system.

 

[Phos]

If I plug a DAC/amp combo into my X-Fi's Optical out, will all the audio options still work?  Will it just output audio to both digital and analog?  

 

[nakaroxx]

i totally disagree with g35, for me it was very bad and uncomfortable, when i used to play left 4 dead with g35 i could never pinpoint precisly where was the zombies, it was very confusing.

 

[mbelly]

Hi I total noob but after reading many reviews, tests etc. I decided that Beyers DT880 are best for me ( games only ). I have only one question. Which should I buy?
1. Beyers DT880
2. Beyers DT880 Pro

 

[Alghazanth]

The holy grail of gaming sound? Through the mixamp w/ DH:
 
Competitive: HD800, T1
 
Single Player: T1, D7000
 
Overall: T1.
 
Out of every can in my profile, plus many headsets, this is the best there is for gaming. OP loves the DT880, and the T1 is like a vastly improved version of that headphone. I don't know why he hates X-fi so much, CMSS-3D on my Platinum Fatal1ty Champion is very good though not quite as good as DH, but nowhere near as bad as he makes it out to be.