Lets talk about: Sound.

Mussels · May 2, 2009

ChaoticAtmosphere said:
I would like to add that while headphones might put you in the centre of the action (in your head) surround sound is incomparable.....PERIOD.

Since I set up my Z-5500s I am in awe.

Someone please tell me how you can hear someone sneaking up on you when you have headphones on.

by having good headphones

BumbleBee · May 2, 2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX_kcHTFYSo

he just has a sour taste in his mouth because of the Trittons. I don't blame him.

here is a good quote I couldn't of worded it any better.

What About Surround Sound Speakers?
Surround sound speakers certainly have their place in the gaming world. But they’re more skewed towards social interacting for when you’re gaming with mates, or enjoying a single-player title. The problem with surround sound speakers is, short of expensive equipment and perfect placement, it can be difficult to pinpoint sounds as accurately as with headphones. Sure, you’ll be able to differentiate your front left from your rear right, but you’ll usually have trouble distinguishing the various levels (game world heights or lows) of sound. When it comes to the online arena, you may be surprised by how much a pair of 5.1 (at least) surround sound headphones can make a difference.

ChaoticAtmosphere · May 2, 2009

BumbleBee said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX_kcHTFYSo

he just has a sour taste in his mouth because of the Trittons. I don't blame him.

here is a good quote I couldn't of worded it any better.

Can I add a linky to a lame video of my speaker system??

imperialreign · May 2, 2009

oily_17 said:
Well what about using car audio speakers for a home setup (custom boxes)...how you think they would stand up against mass produced items.??

modern car audio speakers can produce some amazing sound . . . but getting them to work properly in a home environment can be challanging. For starters, car speakers tned to have a lower resistance compared to home speakers (usually 2O or 4O compared to 6O or 8O); generally, car speakers have a higher nominal wattage requirement, as the drivers for the speaker itself tend to be a lot larger and more robust - car stereos therfore, are designed to push the proper amount of power to these units, whereas home stereos and recievers are designed for the higher impedance and lower power requirements of home speakers.

Not saying it can't be done - just that a proper setup would be a challange.

Then, there's the issue of an enclosure . . . car audio speakers tend to have very, very rigid cones - these, in turn, move a lot of air, both in front of, and behind the speaker itself. If the enclosure isn't matched well for the speaker, it can muddy reproduction - in some cases even canceling out certain frequencies.

ChaoticAtmosphere said:
Someone please tell me how you can hear someone sneaking up on you when you have headphones on.

you'd have to hear it to believe it. 5.1 headphones are much better for this, but, Creative's CMSS-3D feature, and having the console set up for headphones, can be quite amazing in itself. Although, any 3D positioning feature is best suited for the more number of speakers you have, Creative's solution, IMHO, is better than any other manufacturers so far . . .

and it has a lot to do with their acquisition of Aureal and Aureal3D years ago, who had perfected many of the features that Creative used for EAX . . . most especially, sound positioning and occlusion.

I've heard CMSS-3D able to accomplish thigns with simple 2-channel headphones that ASUS' and Razer's 3D positioning can't even touch . . .

ktr · May 2, 2009

imperialreign said:
you'd have to hear it to believe it. 5.1 headphones are much better for this, but, Creative's CMSS-3D feature, and having the console set up for headphones, can be quite amazing in itself. Although, any 3D positioning feature is best suited for the more number of speakers you have, Creative's solution, IMHO, is better than any other manufacturers so far . . .

and it has a lot to do with their acquisition of Aureal and Aureal3D years ago, who had perfected many of the features that Creative used for EAX . . . most especially, sound positioning and occlusion.

I've heard CMSS-3D able to accomplish thigns with simple 2-channel headphones that ASUS' and Razer's 3D positioning can't even touch . . .

That is the problem with all of the 5.1 USB headsets, your stuck with its own audio positioning software. But if one is to get a non USB 5.1 headset and use a X-FI sound card...I do bet the audio positioning will be pretty good.

imperialreign · May 2, 2009

ktr said:
That is the problem with all of the 5.1 USB headsets, your stuck with its own audio positioning software. But if one is to get a non USB 5.1 headset and use a X-FI sound card...I do bet the audio positioning will be pretty good.

I can't say ALL USB headsets . . . Razer's HP-1 is good . . . it only uses the USB connection to power the small speaker amp - each individual's channel is connected directly to the sound card mini-jacks.

But, not every manu's 5.1 headset is the same.

. . . and, I'm still patiently awaiting Razer's 7.1 . . .

would you believe I do actually use every sound setup I have laying around?

TBH, it's great for working with audio mods for games and such - I like to make sure everything sounds right for the most common setups :toast:

ktr · May 2, 2009

imperialreign said:
I can't say ALL USB headsets . . . Razer's HP-1 is good . . . it only uses the USB connection to power the small speaker amp - each individual's channel is connected directly to the sound card mini-jacks.

But, not every manu's 5.1 headset is the same.

. . . and, I'm still patiently awaiting Razer's 7.1 . . .

would you believe I do actually use every sound setup I have laying around?

TBH, it's great for working with audio mods for games and such - I like to make sure everything sounds right for the most common setups

I was referring to headsets that use USB for signal and power.

Kursah · May 2, 2009

ktr said:
I found the headset I WANT! http://www.sennheiserusa.com/newsite/productdetail.asp?transid=502141

Not bad if you don't like bass, I've heard overall for mids and hi's they're great, bass is half-way non-existant even for some that amp the headset. I almost bought a pair when I gave my first HPA2's to a friend that needed a headset (he just had a kid and all..). There was a user here on TPU that had problems getting good sound out of them, I've read good and bad about them but they do look very comfy to say the least. I wish there was a place in town that had more headsets on display to try out for myself though, I will spend the time it takes to get the sound I desire or as close to it as possible out of whatever drivers I'm using. Definately not all bass, but enough to have a well rounded sound output is what I listen for.

For now I'll stick with my HPA2's, they sound great, go loud, have decent positional audio that works well for movies and games, they come with a powered amp, just kickass. I've treated them pretty rough and they've held up very well.

:toast:

ktr · May 2, 2009

Kursah said:
Not bad if you don't like bass, I've heard overall for mids and hi's they're great, bass is half-way non-existant even for some that amp the headset.

A couple of minutes with the equalizer will solve that. My cheap HD202 can pump some phat bass if once you up the low range.

Kursah · May 2, 2009

That's what I've heard about other Senn's, but quite a few said the PC350's were lacking in comparison to some older Senn's, and getting an HD series w/o mic would be better if you wanna spend money on a pair of Senn's cans. I agree a little time with an EQ should get the job done though.

Mussels · May 3, 2009

ktr said:
A couple of minutes with the equalizer will solve that. My cheap HD202 can pump some phat bass if once you up the low range.

the 202's have more bass than most sennheisers, i used to own a pair.

BumbleBee · May 3, 2009

me too. hated them. love my HD515. reason why I didn't buy the eDimensional AudioFX 5.1 over the Cyber Snipa Sonar 5.1 because I didn't want my blood vessels to pop every time a grenade went off. you know what would be cool? if they had some kind of directional audio in gaming engines have it related to the texture of a wall ie wood, steel, concrete. because it's cheap to crouch behind a concrete wall and hear someone 50 ft away.

ChaoticAtmosphere · May 3, 2009

BumbleBee said:
me too. hated them. love my HD515. reason why I didn't buy the eDimensional AudioFX 5.1 over the Cyber Snipa Sonar 5.1 because I didn't want my blood vessels to pop every time a grenade went off. you know what would be cool? if they had some kind of directional audio in gaming engines have it related to the texture of a wall ie wood, steel, concrete. because it's cheap to crouch behind a concrete wall and hear someone 50 ft away.

That's too much....why is everything true funny or funny true???

imperialreign · May 3, 2009

BumbleBee said:
me too. hated them. love my HD515. reason why I didn't buy the eDimensional AudioFX 5.1 over the Cyber Snipa Sonar 5.1 because I didn't want my blood vessels to pop every time a grenade went off. you know what would be cool? if they had some kind of directional audio in gaming engines have it related to the texture of a wall ie wood, steel, concrete. because it's cheap to crouch behind a concrete wall and hear someone 50 ft away.

The software for such features is available - it's up to devs if they want to use it or not. The two biggest audio SDKs available:

Creative have EAX, which includes the ability to have occlusion effects.

OpenAL is available for free - although many of the effects aren't as great as EAX 5.0HD, it's better than nothing.

Some game engines have ambient effects coded into the engine itself. Crysis is one such game - it doesn't make use of either EAX or OpenAL, but has some astounding environmental and occlusion capabilities. For the most part, any dev team using someone else's engine which has these capabilites could use them as well - if they'd just learn how to use them.

Some game engines use a combination of a major audio SDK, as well as their own tweaks.

Again, I stand behind my theory that most game devs simply overlook audio effects as not being worht the hassle, when, quite the contrary, it adds to the immersion level. When audio is developed well, it helps add polish to what might be a great game.

I was never much impressed with Crysis - either gameplay or graphics - but the audio capabilites were great and very well done. There's only one little annoyance that bothered me, but for the devs to have developed everything on their own, without making use of an major audio SDK, is very impressive, IMHO.

Wile E · May 6, 2009

imperialreign said:
I can't say ALL USB headsets . . . Razer's HP-1 is good . . . it only uses the USB connection to power the small speaker amp - each individual's channel is connected directly to the sound card mini-jacks.

But, not every manu's 5.1 headset is the same.

. . . and, I'm still patiently awaiting Razer's 7.1 . . .

would you believe I do actually use every sound setup I have laying around?

TBH, it's great for working with audio mods for games and such - I like to make sure everything sounds right for the most common setups

HP-1 = shit. I hate mine. I should've bought the Turtle Beach 5.1 set.

Grings · May 6, 2009

Speakers. Tannoy 611 Front, 607 Rear, Acoustic Energy Aegis Evo Centre
Amp. Yamaha RXV795a (had a sony strdb 940b(uk) stolen a while back...

)
Soundcard. Auzentech Xplosion (in DTS via digi co-ax)
Former Audiophile, I have actually been considering replacing all this gear (though i love my tannoys too much, had them for about 14-15 years now)

vbx · May 6, 2009

I have a logitech 5.1 system and it's horrible. Basically has no tweeters in any of the 5 speakers. Nothing but mids...

ChaoticAtmosphere · May 6, 2009

vbx said:
I have a logitech 5.1 system and it's horrible. Basically has no tweeters in any of the 5 speakers. Nothing but mids...

Sad to hear that, are they the Z-5500s?

My Z-5500s sound spectacular!!

vbx · May 6, 2009

ChaoticAtmosphere said:
Sad to hear that, are they the Z-5500s?

My Z-5500s sound spectacular!!

No they are the x530. As you can see, no tweeters.

Those little tweeters that the creatives speakers have makes a huge difference.

Mussels · May 6, 2009

vbx said:
No they are the x530. As you can see, no tweeters.

http://www.logos.ba/shop/products_pictures/X530Velika.jpg

Those little tweeters that the creatives speakers have makes a huge difference.

i had those. upgraded to the X-540's, they sound quite a lot better.

department76 · May 6, 2009

vbx said:
No they are the x530. As you can see, no tweeters.

Those little tweeters that the creatives speakers have makes a huge difference.

rofl. a friend of mine has those and he thought they were awesome when he got them, especially the sub. then again, he's one of those people that didn't acknowledge the problem of having the two surrounds 12ft behind the listening location, spread only 2 ft apart, and aimed at the ceiling :laugh:

personally i thought they sounded like cardboard, but i guess that's typical for a lot of low-end computer speakers.

edit: was just reading the description from logitech on those... they make the "FDD2" crap sound more like they are splitting up the spectrum somehow and treating one of those little woofers as a tweeter and leaving the other as mid/midbass. LOL! but it looks fancy to have 2 identical drivers in each speaker!

Studabaker · May 6, 2009

vbx said:
I have a logitech 5.1 system and it's horrible. Basically has no tweeters in any of the 5 speakers. Nothing but mids...

If you don't have a multi-band Equalizer with your audio hardware, get something good and tweak the EQ. The problem is not with the speakers.

vbx · May 6, 2009

Studabaker said:
If you don't have a multi-band Equalizer with your audio hardware, get something good and tweak the EQ. The problem is not with the speakers.

They system I have included everything even this 5.1 speaker. Sony also included this "Mastering Studio equalizer" which allows you to set up, up to 8 different bands. or whatever.
No matter how I adjust it, there is no clean/crisps "highs" that a couple of tweeters can give you.

morpha · May 6, 2009

I like the logitech x530's... my new z5500's sound much better than them. But the x530's are a great CHEAP set of speakers.

vbx · May 6, 2009

Can I pop open 2 of the speakers and connect some car tweeters onto the 2 front speakers?

Or, I can just sell them and get the Creative T6100.

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Lets talk about: Sound.

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