I hope y’all are keeping well and at least staying safe in Azeroth.
My question regarding Atmos is regarding settings. After playing around with the equalizer and pre-set options and not getting the results I wanted (too much treble), I decided to ask you - my friends - if you’d share with me the settings you use - equalizer or preset doesn’t matter.
The equalizer the app provides is “clean”, so one has to “trial and error” the sound, but after trying several settings, I still get a “too bright” sound.
There’s no universal equalizer settings. It depends on what you’re using to listen from, plus if you’re listening on a poor quality source device(such as a low quality laptop). If you had purchased a good headphone, sometimes a poor source device can improperly power it and make them sound weak/bright/thin, among other things like distortion, etc. Some headphones are on the brighter side, it’s a good idea to know what you’re looking for before purchasing(if you recently purchased a new headphone) so you don’t have to dabble with equalizers and such. There are a few sites that do measurements, they’re not always perfect, but it’s something to go off of.
You can use equalizer settings of anyone, but you definitely won’t be hearing the same thing, even more so if they’re not the same headphone/earphone. It helps to know how the headphones/earphones you’re using ‘measure’ to get an idea of the frequencies you aren’t liking.
Generally a ‘bright’ sound can come from treble, but also upper midrange frequencies. It helps to know what you’re listening on so you can look up graphs online for frequency measurements to get an idea of what frequencies you’re hearing as ‘bright.’ If you’re using any common headphone, there’s definitely measurement data on the headphones, that you can use as a guide.
Not sure what the equalizer in that looks like, but any half-decent equalizer should tell you the frequencies at the bottom. If your equalizer doesn’t even mention the frequencies at the least, I’d probably skip it.
If vocals and instruments are too forward in the sound, a drop to 1K and 2K can reduce presence in the sound. 2K can add more clarity to vocals, but can add thinness. Dropping 2K can make things sound distant. The 4K slider is more how aggressive the sound can be brightness wise. Some prefer a 4K drop for a more laid back sound, but it can make things a little more hollow. The one for 8K is more for overall treble intensity. It can clean up the sound a bit, but it can make things sound a little bright. The one for 16k(assuming you’re not high up in age and can no longer hear it), is where the really bright ringing tones are, meant to add a sense of ‘space.’ I only wrote explanations as best as I could for the frequencies of most typical equalizers, there are some in between frequencies not covered by equalizers usually that involve shoutiness(like everything is screaming at you) as well as sibilance involving harsh S or sh sounds, etc.
Dolby Atmos is already a bass boost from what I’ve read, I could be wrong though since I’ve never used it. Some headphones aren’t meant to boost bass very well, which can lead to distortions.
Additional Info: If this is a headphone, make sure you get a good fit. A poor fit can lead to a bit of a shrill sound. If you happen to be using glasses, that doesn’t help for a lot of headphones. If you’re a glasses wearer, it’s sometimes preferred to have a headphone with a little more bass than usual to account for the loss of seal. I guess the whole fit thing also applies to earphones as well, in which case I’d suggest you’re using the right eartips for your ears, and they’re not easily falling out.
If you’re ever purchasing a headphone, etc. usually most major brands have a ‘sound’, which means most headphones in a headphone line will have similar characteristics, to an extent. For instance, some brands may go for a more bright and clear sounds, while some go for a ‘veiled’ sound, etc. Some brands do whatever though.
Darknesself, I feel like I’ve just come from a seminar on sound! Thank you very much for taking so much time to explain what I seem to have been taking for granted.
Yes, this is not a headset, although it does have a mic which is never used. The brand name is Sades and up until I tried to DTS -X and ATMOS, I was about to spend about $150.00 for what I thought was a “better sound”. While I am sure that (in another thread), the Philips headphones would have given me a great sound, when I tried the aforementioned “apps”, I found the present 'phones to be a very good (and economical) alternative. My settings give me the “spatial” (Channelling “Church Lady”) options of either the DTS or the ATMOS, so I’ll be playing with the settings of both.
One other question, if I may. I currently run the GTX 1050 graphics card and will be upgrading to the 1660 next week. Both of these mention sound in their settings, but I haven’t been fooling with them because I’m always afraid my technical knowledge isn’t up to the task of resetting something if I mess it up (Read that as "I don’t know what I’m doing, so I don’t do anything). So the question is: Do the NVidia sound settings improve the sound of the game?
Darknesself, my thanks once again for that very knowledgeable discussion. It was very kind of you to take the trouble!
One thing I forgot to mention in my last post, is that sometimes even basic software can have a negative effect on the sound. I bought a desktop temporarily from HP, and its built in audio software wrecked havoc on the sound quality. It was unusable with the software. Make sure nothing like that is interfering.
Ah, those Sades aren’t exactly all that great. The Philips SHP9500 are about $80 USD, but you may not like them. Philips generally has a more aggressive sound, but they’re not like a low end headset like a Sades. There are even cheaper options if you wanted to just dip you toes in and mess around. You might want to look into the Koss series of headphones, not everyone loves them, but they’re a good starting ground for ‘open’ headphones for cheap. You can pick up a set of a Koss Porta Pro(or KPH30i) for about $30. Just something to dip your toes into the water if you didn’t want to spend too much? The one mentioned is often described as a ‘warm’ sounding headphones. I just threw the option up just because, I didn’t look back before posting to remember if I was missing any other cheap headphones that may be for you.
If you like the sound after the settings, then go right ahead. I personally try to use as little software to change the sound as much as I can, because I often find I deviate way too far off from where I should be lol, and I often go insane constantly tweaking stuff. There’s usually only so much you can do to these cheap headphones though(especially those extremely cheap gaming headsets), as they usually have a lot of sound issues.
In regards to your graphics card question, you’re talking about the graphics card sound drivers? From my understanding, that’s just if you connect say a TV/monitor with speakers/audio output to your graphics card using a HDMI cable(which carries both audio and video). That doesn’t do anything for when you’re connecting your headset to your computer directly. I just leave the audio drivers uninstalled for that because I don’t need them. I leave the box un-ticked during nvidia installation and have them uninstalled. They don’t really do anything, they’re just there so you have audio when using say a TV over HDMI.
There’s a new thing called RTX Voice, but I don’t believe you’re referring to that, since I don’t think they say anything about that for those cards from Nvidia themselves.
Yes, it was the graphics card sound drivers I was thinking of. I’m a big believer in the KISS way of doing things, so when I saw those options mentioned, I just “skimmed” them, but got curious afterward.
I don’t know if it was you or someone else (in the other headphone thread) who mentioned the website “GPU Check” ( a ratings site for hardware), but I bookmarked it and have referred to it often. The Koss name doesn’t appear there, but I remember the name from my college “Radio Days”. They were considered the “workhorse” of the broadcasters’ world.
I get your point as to the Sades and I wanted to throw this in, because I feel it is important: I allowed myself to be “seduced” by the “7.1 Surround Sound!” ad headlines. I think in the final analysis, it doesn’t matter what the ad says - what do your ears and head tell you?
Being on a fixed income, it’s very important for me to seek out and “listen” to opinions and experience from folks like you and recently I have learned I can actually save money that way.
I’ll take a look (and listen) to the KPH30i’s you mentioned, Darknesself and report my opinions here.
Nah, that must have not been me. There are a few sites like RTings that test headphones and show you the measurements(their measurements aren’t perfect, but it’s something). There are a few other sites as well that you’ll come across when looking up headphones.
It’s easy to get a little carried away with software and flashy words in advertisements. Very few software solutions actually work right. If you have to use one, I’d say stick to one at most, a lot of weird things can happen lol. It’s always a good idea to have a reference of how you thought something sounded best. Listen to see what sounds the most realistic and go from there. Things sounding artificial or ‘off’ is an easy way to tell you’re going in the wrong direction. Sometimes coming back a day later and listening again can expose flaws you didn’t hear the day prior, because you got used to it.
I’d highly suggest you go on YouTube and listen to the reviews for those KPH30i. There are a few videos that compare them to the other Koss headphones(such as the Porta Pro), so you can get an idea of what’s best for you or if you’d even like them. There are loads of these videos on these headphones.
I’d suggest this video as a starting point - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBaAabzgoSk
They’re obviously not the be-all-end-all, but I think you should at least see an improvement over your current headset without spending too much. I understand cost is a concern, but hopefully those aren’t too far out of what you can spend. As always, buy with a good return policy in case you don’t end up liking them(because after all, just because they’re popular doesn’t mean you’ll always like it as well, as well as possible sound differences based on what you’re plugging it into). Also pro-tip, when testing a new headphone, make sure you’re not using software of any kind before judging the sound, it’s easy to forget. It’s not really a good idea to spend big bucks on stuff sound wise anyway, until you poke around and figure out what you do and don’t like.
I just hope your experience with your Sades isn’t being made even worse by a poor audio solution on the device you’re using :(.
Thanks for the link to the video, Darknesself. I’m just coming off from watching it, and yeah - the costs seem reasonable, but I’m “old school” to the point where I like my ears surrounded by the pads. Maybe “enclosed” would be a better word.
Also, the guy keeps referring to his “Walkman”. Does he mean iPod, or does he really still wear a Sony Walkman with a cassette? I may be waayyyy too old if there’s a newer version and I somehow missed it.
As I watched, I kept wondering which one he would wind up choosing? I picked the Porta-Pros - he didn’t.
Finally, what I think I’d better do is actually go to Best Buy or somewhere similar and try some out without, as you say, any software. Until then, I chose the Atmos “music” setting, because I listen to music a lot while I’m playing. I get that one is supposed to hear an NPC sneaking up on one’s character, and I do hear that at the gaming setting so what I guess I’m doing is “compromising” and using both at different times.
Thanks again for the intensive seminar on headphone sound, Darknesself. When this “Captain Trips” thing is over, I’ll go to a reputable store armed with the knowledge gathered here, and hopefully speak with a rep as knowledgeable as you before I make my decision.
Just as a PS: I guess you prefer “on the ear” phones?
I wouldn’t say that necessarily. It’s just two different options. On-ear vs over-ear. On-ears aren’t as common as over-ear, because some people don’t like the fit, more so with the ones like Beats on-ears sort of style.
There are actually newer ones(like an iPod), but they’re not very common because well, they’re niche. I guess he mentions it mainly because both the Koss and a walkman are sort of ‘retro.’ I don’t get the point of them anymore honestly.
I went to Best Buy a few months ago and I poked around some of their headphones. They all sounded like garbage to me to be honest(they mostly only had bad brands on display). It doesn’t help that many of these bluetooth headphones were connected by wire, when they use built-in equalizer set by the manufacturer when using bluetooth to fix really broken sounding headphones. Side note, I doubt you’ll find a single open-back headphone in a typical Best Buy and such.
Not necessarily. I don’t usually like full-sized headphones at all, because I hate having something on my head.
The Koss aren’t even particularly accurate in their soundstage and imaging for both cost and on-ear reasons, but a lot of people like their soundstage on some of the models, even if it’s not truly accurate or real. However, it should generally be a leap over your Sades in terms of raw sound quality if you like a ‘warmer’ leaning sound for not too much money.
For a good sound-stage, you need both an open design(a.k.a. how the koss has many holes on the back or have the whole side opened) and then over-ear. But there’s a catch, not all open/over-ear headphones are described as ‘wide’ such as many Sennheisers(except for their very expensive top of the line one). You honestly start going into some bigger bucks to get an actual realistic soundstage, it’s basically an endless rabbit hole.
I wouldn’t expect things to be a complete 180 given the circumstances, but you should notice a decent more open sound if your current headset sounds like everything is all smashed together inside your head. Basically, keep your expectations grounded, especially for the price.
In regards to on-ear vs over-ear preferences, a lot of people generally prefer over-ear in regards to comfort.
Does this help any? Sometimes I go on tangents lol. But basically, I don’t think there’s really anything better at that low price point, just keep your expectations in check(don’t expect a miracle at that price), but you’ll likely see some kind of difference. There are technically other possibly better options around that price, but they’re more often more ‘bright’ leaning sound signature headphones.
There are recordings on YouTube meant to show off soundstage/imaging, such as the one I linked below - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTPZ2vt3884
But that sort of recording is meant to sound ‘better’ on a lot of stuff, because of how it’s recorded. You get a sense of the hand and pencil moving, and the paper flipping. Where most headphones struggle is in-between, where it becomes more left and right focused, with little movement in between.
You should also listen to “Binaural recordings” of cities, it should give you a sense of being there, with people/cars passing by you and such. The rain moving on the umbrella, etc., people talking from different directions/angles.
I like this one - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZe4Q_58UTU
Check it out if you have time !
A binaural recording is a recording where they use two microphones to create a more realistic experience(such as two ears left and right, paired with two headphone drivers - 2.0, left and right). This is how recordings/songs/etc. can create a more realistic sound. No 7.1 software shenanigans.
Edit #434343 = I removed a bit of stuff I wrote about here, because I didn’t want to drown you with info lol. I think I’m done editing this post now lol.
Edit #428283482 = Actually, I lied, one more edit :). I wanted to mention something important. Having a dark/bass focused signature can sometimes make things seem less ‘open’, but a bass signature can make things sound more immersive when done right. It’s important to find a good balance. Hopefully you get the chance in the future to check out some other headphones possibly, preferably open-backed ones to see what ones you like or don’t like before any kind of purchase.
There is no best setting for sound, it’s your personal preference. If your looking for software based EQ’s, try googling “Peace Equalizer”, and just tinker with it til you get a sound setting you like
I don’t feel “drowned with info” in the least and I thank you very much for taking the trouble to help me, Darknesself. My problem is in *retaining * the information, so to help solve that problem, I usually try everyone’s recommendations ASAP, so I don’t forget your taking the time and trouble!
Thanks, Shrew, I’ll take a look at “Peace Equalizer” and see if that meets my needs.
