[LifeBerry]

....

 

[Oggranak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LifeBerry /img/forum/go_quote.gif I want the best positional audio, that is all. Like, crisp, beautiful sound is great, but if I can't tell where the people are based on sound then they are useless for gaming.

It's kinda funny how there are two distinctly different views on gaming headphones.

The Utilitarian: Great positional audio is preferred as well as bass/treble emphasis for ease of picking out footsteps/etc. The more they help me play, the better.

The... uh... other one: Pulls you in, sounds "real". The more immersive, the better.

Hence why saying headphones are for gaming is sorta useless. I propose new terms for secifying headphones types: Competetive Gaming and Immersive Gaming.

The obligatory useful information:
Supposedly MDR-F1s are among the best for FPS gaming. I have tried DT880 2005s and AD700s, and to be honest, I find both do a good job with gaming, and can't really say one is better than the other for strictly competetive reasons. Maybe the AD700.

 

[kool bubba ice]

IMO the MDR F1 are the closest you will get to speakers. You can tell the location.. Above and behind, but you really must train your ears to get the postional cues.. Simulated 5.1 DSP's make this easier. About the foot steps being jumbled.. Thats the headphone. With my DT48 I can hear each pair of foot steps. 6 foot steeps, 3 enemies. Not saying this is totally easy on first try, but my DT48 has better seperation then the AD700, but with the DT48 you would lose the spaciousness and great vertical depth offered by the AD700.

 

[Oggranak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kool bubba ice /img/forum/go_quote.gif IMO the MDR F1 are the closest you will get to speakers. You can tell the location.. Above and behind, but you really must train your ears to get the postional cues.. Simulated 5.1 DSP's make this easier. About the foot steps being jumbled.. Thats the headphone. With my DT48 I can hear each pair of foot steps. 6 foot steeps, 3 enemies. Not saying this is totally easy on first try, but my DT48 has better seperation then the AD700, but with the DT48 you would lose the spaciousness and great vertical depth offered by the AD700.

I have never had trouble gaming with DT48Es. It's not as spacious and nowhere near as comfortable as the DT880s, but it just seems to sound more 'right' to me. The DT880s sound a little muffled and bassy. I usually use my DT48Es until my head can't take it any more, then switch to the 880s.

Works for me, lol. And I kind of like it that way, since going DT48 -> DT880 feels really awesome, like changing from heavy, thick clothing into pajamas. It's weird, I guess, but that's how I feel about it.

Oh, but the #1 reason I use DT48Es when gaming: My Xbox 360 is way too loud.

 

[LifeBerry]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kool bubba ice /img/forum/go_quote.gif IMO the MDR F1 are the closest you will get to speakers. You can tell the location.. Above and behind, but you really must train your ears to get the postional cues.. Simulated 5.1 DSP's make this easier. About the foot steps being jumbled.. Thats the headphone. With my DT48 I can hear each pair of foot steps. 6 foot steeps, 3 enemies. Not saying this is totally easy on first try, but my DT48 has better seperation then the AD700, but with the DT48 you would lose the spaciousness and great vertical depth offered by the AD700.

What I mean by jumbled is not too many footsteps. I am referring to one person. But say I am waiting in a spot and someone is moving around me, I should be able to hear his footsteps and tell he is moving toward me from my left. With these headphones, I can tell there is one guy but I cannot tell his position. It sounds like he's in both sides of my headphones instead of being clearly in my right ear.

 

[Bryson]

Sounds like something is wrong with your settings. Perhaps someone can chime in here. There should be an option in windows to output to 5.1 or 2 channel headphones. I forget which one you're supposed to set it at.

 

[Xxtest83]

Hello,

i have a X-Fi Titanium as well and use it in games with a DT 880 (through optical out to a Benchmark DAC). I have it set to game-mode, headphones, xi-cmss-3d activated and can locate footsteps in games (for example css) quite exactly, including forth/back and even up/down to a certain degree.

I tested this setting with my Yuin PK1 and UE-11 as well, and all do the job. The UE-11 almost even better than the DT-880, but the shrinked soundstage of non-fullsize headphones and therefore the harder seperation between your own and others footsteps makes it quite a pain.

 

[1Time]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oggranak /img/forum/go_quote.gif Supposedly MDR-F1s are among the best for FPS gaming. I have tried DT880 2005s and AD700s, and to be honest, I find both do a good job with gaming, and can't really say one is better than the other for strictly competetive reasons. Maybe the AD700.

The associated equipment used likely influences whether a particular gamer prefers one headphones over another for immersive and competitive gaming.

What works best for a particular gamer for immersive gaming is quite subjective.

However, what works best for competitive gaming for a particular gamer is objective, determined by success.

 

[LifeBerry]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryson /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sounds like something is wrong with your settings. Perhaps someone can chime in here. There should be an option in windows to output to 5.1 or 2 channel headphones. I forget which one you're supposed to set it at.

I have them set at 5.1, but truthfully they arent 5.1 headphones. Can anyone give me the settings?

 

[Superfrag]

I have used the ad700 with the x-fi , and it had perfect positional audio.
the settings I used however, was entertainment mode, cmss and eax and EVERYTHING disabled, only EQ enabled...
also, I used the EQ to emphasize more on the treble.. I used to get brilliant positional audio..

 

[ear8dmg]

Use CMSS-3D headphone and select headphone mode in X-Fi control panel with Windows and CSS both in 5.1 or 7.1 mode.

It works far better than 'true' 5.1 headphones.

 

[LifeBerry]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ear8dmg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Use CMSS-3D headphone and select headphone mode in X-Fi control panel with Windows and CSS both in 5.1 or 7.1 mode.It works far better than 'true' 5.1 headphones.

So the final answer is: AD700 with those settings will be better positional competitve gaming headphones than any true 5.1 gaming headphones?

 

[ear8dmg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LifeBerry /img/forum/go_quote.gif So the final answer is: AD700 with those settings will be better positional competitve gaming headphones than any true 5.1 gaming headphones?

Heh... I've not tried all 5.1 gaming headphones. I have tried Speedlink Medusas. Just about any decent set of stereo headphone with CMSS-3D on a Full Spec X-Fi will beat the medusas because the quality's not great.

Edit: at the moment 5.1 headphones (with multiple drivers) use a 5.1 mix designed for speakers. With 5.1 speakers. You hear sounds from each speaker with both ears. When you do this with headphones, it sounds un-natural because you generally hear the satellites with one ear. Ergo - virtual surround technologies like CMSS-3d headphone and dolby headphone sound more natural than having 4 speakers strapped to each ear.

Has that Psycho Acoustic headset surfaced yet? That looked like it might solve some of the problems associated with multiple-drive surround headsets.

 

[LifeBerry]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ear8dmg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Heh... I've not tried all 5.1 gaming headphones. I have tried Speedlink Medusas. Just about any decent set of stereo headphone with CMSS-3D on a Full Spec X-Fi will beat the medusas because the quality's not great. Edit: at the moment 5.1 headphones (with multiple drivers) use a 5.1 mix designed for speakers. With 5.1 speakers. You hear sounds from each speaker with both ears. When you do this with headphones, it sounds un-natural because you generally hear the satellites with one ear. Ergo - virtual surround technologies like CMSS-3d headphone and dolby headphone sound more natural than having 4 speakers strapped to each ear. Has that Psycho Acoustic headset surfaced yet? That looked like it might solve some of the problems associated with multiple-drive surround headsets.

so for the cmss3d panel it has a bar that goes one way to stereo and one way to surround. where do i put it at? what are the other settings?

 

[43st]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LifeBerry /img/forum/go_quote.gif so for the cmss3d panel it has a bar that goes one way to stereo and one way to surround. where do i put it at? what are the other settings?

See here.