These don't look to be sold in the UK. I've been looking at sennheiser own gaming headset's, specifically the zero and the one. Will either of those be a good fit for the gsx? I've also seen sennheiser do a 7.1 headset which oddly costs less than the one or zero, but I'm assuming that a headset offering 7.1 already will be adversely affected by the gsx so that's probably a no go.
yes I also think surround headphones sound terrible. very tin can and cheap sounding. I can't believe people like them, those people would love the gsx way more! The game zeros and ones do sound decent, and the gsx with them does pack a punch with their eq presets. The gsx only drives 150ohms. so You don't want anything too high end which will require more power then gsx can do, which means you would need another amp in that case. But my game zeros sound very good in them.
The main issue for me was everything sounded too muffled when I didn't have front focus on. With that on it sounds clearer and louder, I have no idea who would want rear focus, it sounds terrible. And the movies and music eq presets make it even louder and do make that bass really thump on my game zeros like I haven't heard from my mobo. But I still think thats just the very bassy eq presets they made, I usually prefer a little more clarity. Sennheiser probably assumes most gamers like the bass especially since alot of noobs complained the game zero's had none. The presets are not totally horrible but If there was only one improvement I could make. I would give people a CUSTOM EQ!!
I wasn't impressed with witcher 3's surround, but its there. but believe it or not fallout 4 felt very immersive with it lots of ambient noise all around. And like I said bf1 has awesome positional awareness with this thing, without it now I'm feeling kind of lost. Movies haven't impressed me yet. But maybe I need a good source with good surround. They do sound different. But here is the settings I'm using now.
BF1/battlefront: plain eq, front focus, 7.1, three plus side tone, one plus reverb
Music: music eq, balanced focus, 7.1, three plus side tone, no reverb
witchter 3/fallout 4: movie eq, front focus, 7.1, three plus side tone, three plus reverb
movies: movie eq, balanced focus, 7.1, three plus side tone, no reverb
three plus side tone settings are not really noticeable but recommended for closed back headsets like game zero so I turned them up. Also they default it on. I think if you listen really really closely you might notice it increasing soundstage like on a certain pitched high hat on youtube. But going to stereo now makes me feel claustrophobic.
Game ones vs Game zero, If you don't have a noisy room the sound stage on game ones are better. I literally would think something was making noise in the house when it turned out to be my game ones and would pull the headphones off. I've read others make the same comments. The game zeros don't have that feeling, but are good at isolating my noisy house, and compared other closed back headsets have a very good soundstage. Also the game zeros were way more comfortable for me, the game ones hurt my ears, the zeros are very plush. The game ones had deeper bass out the box I believe due to the open back design, but the game zeros have way more clarity, and I imagine would be the better choice for the gsx 1000 for that reason. Properly eq'd it would be hard to tell the difference between the two.
But I still truly believe you are giving up alot of clarity and sounds for the positional audio, regardless. But going back to stereo from this thing I really felt like I had no idea where anybody was anymore in bf1. I don't know why people would say stereo is better for positional audio, These same people also still believe no pc games support surround sound....lol, tThe positional audio for games that support surround is very very good with the gsx 1000. But like razer, it might sound too bassy/muddied and muffled to some. I'm still contemplating if I should keep it or not though, because I'm getitng used to it now, and bf1 definitely has a different feeling with it. (still wish i had a custom eq to add more clarity, another reason I think game zero is the better choice to match with the gsx) I got it for 180 so its not like I paid full price. The game zeros I got for 170. So is this combo worth 3-400 dollars? I really can't say. Its all personal preference and depends on your budget. Its growing on me though, i'm going to try out razers free software again and note the differences.
The game ones and zeros are like 130 dollar headphones with a 40 dollar mic. If you decide to get a 3-400 dollar pair of head sets alone, most likely you will need to buy an amp for it too, so maybe it is worth considering the zero/one + gsx combo if you do mostly gaming, because it might suit your needs better and actually be cheaper in the long run. surround sound is the sole reason to own the gsx.
