I would like to purchase a set of “true” (not virtual) surround-sound headphones. I believe I want the 7.1 wired ones (so I can hear “enemies sneaking up behind” me - as the ads all read). After trying my best to research what I want, I am more confused than ever, so I am hoping that you, my friends, can straighten me out as you always do.
One of my questions has to do with the title. Can my Graphics card actually support 7.1 'phones? I haven’t been able to google this with any success.
Secondly, I plan to upgrade my graphics card to a GTX 1660 as soon as I can anyway, so will THIS card support 7.1 phones?
I am currently playing my sound through an old Logitech Surround-Sound theater system, and the third “half” of my question concerns the plugging-in of the headphones: I currently use Atmos by Dolby, so the current headphones plug in via USB. Would it make a difference if I plugged any headphones directly into the control unit of the theater system?
I am including the specs of my machine in hopes it will help someone to assist me in buying the correct product.
As always I really appreciate y’all!
Bill
PS: “My brain hurts!”
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64-bit
CPU
AMD FX-8300 78 °C
Vishera 32nm Technology
RAM
16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 (11-11-11-28)
Motherboard
Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. GA-78LMT-USB3 R2 (Socket M2) 40 °C
Graphics
LCD TV (1176x664@60Hz)
2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (MSI) 36 °C
Storage
1863GB MB2000EBUCF ATA Device (SATA ) 44 °C
Optical Drives
ATAPI iHAS324 F ATA Device
Audio
High Definition Audio Device
Meh I had those and wasn’t that impressed, my regular philips earbuds sounded better when I plugged them in my LG v40 phone (built in DAC)
But when I bought my Logitech Z906 speakers, I retired my Sennheisers immediately, I can hear and FEEL when rogues stealth.
Every time I go to the heart chamber, the floor shakes when you hear the heart “beat”. Even when I am on the other side of the house using the restroom or something, I can still hear the walls shake.
I’m not sure what you mean by this to be honest, the graphics card supporting 7.1, unless you meant the HDMI transferring sound or something?
Thanks for the replies, friends! In the past 24 hours, I have gotten a HUGE education about what’s virtual and what’s “true” surround sound and it seems to me that if what you want is “true SS” you’d better be prepared to wear a helmet at least as big as an astronaut’s.
So here’s what I have learned: There’s something called “DTS-X For Headphones” (like Atmos, which I also have, but better IMHO). I am trying it out now and I have never enjoyed sound as good as this.
To put this service “through its paces” , I not only am playing WoW sound better than ever, I also am right now listening to my favorite Dave Brubeck album and it sounds awesome! “Take 5” especially!
So before I close I wanted to let you know that my present 'phones are Sades [Sades SA902 7.1 Channel Virtual USB Surround Stereo Wired .
Long story short, I think I’ll keep these for now, but if y’all don’t mind, I have one more question: Would the Philips model phones SHP9500 Stereo 'phones which Shrew recommends give me the same kind of “surround sound” I am now getting? Is that even possible - going from only two channels?
My thanks once again for taking the trouble to help this ol’ “Geezer” out with your expertise!
Bill
Edited To Add: For You: Yes, that’s what I was talking about . The card has a “3-D Sound” option which I have never messed with, because of my memory problems. If I don’t leave some “bread crumbs” behind what I do to change something, I find I get into bigger trouble than what I was in before - so I didn’t bother with it. — Thanks
In terms of actual soundstage without spending too much, I do hear the SHP9500s being pretty good for the price in that regard. I also see the DT990s mentioned a lot, but those are a bit… umm. bright(harsh sounding) and require EQ to sound pleasant lol. It is true though that the SHP9500s do have bass roll-off however, but that doesn’t affect imagining. These options do not have a microphone if you plan to use voice chat, otherwise you’ll need other options.
You shouldn’t need to feel footsteps however, because that’s unrealistic. You should however be able to clearly hear each step and be able to tell where it’s coming from.
When it comes to virtual vs real soundstage, many virtual processing does it very wrong. For true well produced soundstage, you will 100% require an open-back headphone. However, how a headphone produces it will vary. Some will tend to sound close up, while some sound more far away than others. There’s things such as height, which means how high you can ‘detect’ a sound coming from.
There’s also imaging, which kind of goes with soundstage. Imaging is basically just how precisely objects within the soundstage are placed. A poor imaging headphone will make sounds come from directions that they weren’t exactly coming from. Earth shaking bass while it can create the illusion of a greater soundstage(more of a placebo), it can greatly dampen the perception of good imaging, causing some objects in the soundstage to become less accurate.
With real soundstage, it’s just a stereo image(2.0). You just need 1) A good headphone with good soundstage - some cheaper Sennheisers are said to have a small soundstage, while the expensive HD 800 is said to be one of the largest(perhaps overly unrealistically large), having good imaging(good drivers that are also well matched, A.K.A. good quality control), and having an open headphone is a necessity. It’s impossible to create a wide soundstage with a closed back/in-ear headphone without manipulating frequencies to create an illusion of one. Sometimes the perception of soundstage can be influenced by your own ears as well.
I’ve tried software solutions before just for fun a few times and left being pretty unimpressed. There are a few good ones, but you have to keep in mind that they are basically manipulating the sound in ways unintended to force sound devices to play them with the illusion of being ‘wider.’ If you’re looking for good sound, you should avoid all of these softwares like the plague. They completely ruin how things sound most of the time. I think the only one I saw that looked decent is maybe that Creative software one. I don’t know how Dolby Atmos is on desktop, but I once heard from another person who is pretty smart with audio stuff, once think their favorite headphones sounded broken, and it was because of Dolby Atmos. From what I’ve read(can’t comment on it myself), Dolby mostly just is an extreme bass boost more than anything.
TLDR:
Leave all sound processing off for a pure realistic sound. You want open back headphones(some sound ‘wider’ than others).
Some other notes -
It’s generally preferred to be using something that is bass sub-bass light(the big booms and rumbles), as that generally can create an illusion of a worse imaging headphone.
Some say that having a headphone that has a ‘mid-rangy’ sound with a treble spike can help you hear footsteps.
If things just sound like boom boom boom with no sense of movement or if everything is mashed together, hard to pick out certain objects, then you probably have awful imaging.
With a good imaging/soundstage headphone, you should be able to -
Be able to tell how far away things are. Things should only sound close up if they are close up, otherwise they should sound like they’re not right inside your head.
When listening to songs, you should be able to hear stringed instruments being played more than just a ‘sound’, you should hear the movement.
Objects above you should sound actually above you or behind you.
I could go on and on, but I think I’ve wrote enough, and probably repeated myself 10 times lol.
But I lastly just wanted to mention that in the end, a good 2.0 recording is the way you’ll get the best soundstage, software will try to ‘fix’ it, but it does it at the expense of many other things. No software can turn an awful headphone into anything better however. There is some newer software on the horizon promising better performance, but I don’t have hopes, but I guess we’ll see…
Edit: I said I was done with this post, but I just wanted to make it clear. Anything that isn’t 2.0 headphones are not ‘true’ headphones. The 2 is basically the number of speakers in the headphone, 1 for left, 1 for right. Anything advertising 7.1 is virtual software, limited by 2 speakers, trying to recreate the experience of 8 speakers, but it doesn’t work like that.
I feel like those z906 speakers blew my mind, sounds great, bass is amazing, everything sounds much clearer vs my old speakers (if you remember 2 years ago when I showed my desk)
I can’t comment on your speakers, because I can’t find any reputable review for them. Not saying they’re bad though, because I can’t since I don’t know about them. Just trying to say that having a lot of bass doesn’t really help the perception of imaging on headphones. Your speakers are probably good for surround if you set them up properly(make sure you have them in the correct spots). I know you had the Logitech Z313 in the past from your photo, and I’m pretty sure the Z906 are basically a massive upgrade over that lol. The subwoofer on the 313 is pathetic, at least the Z906 produces real sub-bass from what I can imagine. I’m pretty sure your first reaction was probably “wow” when you first switched them out lol.
Edit: I remember you were thinking of getting the Creative soundbar. I’m happy you chose something other than a soundbar at least. The subwoofer for that soundbar set didn’t look very good, I don’t think you would’ve been as impressed.
Edit 2: Quoted wrong post
Oh, no I was talking to the other guy about surround and such and went off topic sorry about that
But for OP, still think he could invest in some Seinheisers like you suggested if he wants that nice sound imaging, the ones I have would probably match his expectations (HD 599 SE)
The Philips one, I had them before but I didn’t think they met my expectations TBH, when I tried them on, I kinda expected them to be… Louder TBH based on how many people said it was good.
They are, 3 in the front two in the back. Subwoofer on the floor
They are, if you watch this video
Skip to 1:40, even though you may not be able to hear the bass from this video, depending on watching on phone/other speakers, you can see how much vibration the bass is doing.
Yeah I’m glad I didn’t get those either
I got these speakers in early March, went to Microcenter, and decided to get these speakers, they were $500, I managed to get them price match it to $239.99 because Amazon was that low at the time. Took them an hour trying to make sure Amazon’s price was correct, and managed to get them at $240 plus tax
That’s the thing about the Philips. I’m guessing they have a weird impedance curve, which makes them sound different based on what they’re being powered by. Some people also have loose fits with them as well, so I’ve read some have purchased some specific replacement pads, I believe the replacement ones are angled or something.
I’ve heard some other options, like the Audio-Technica ATH-AD700X specifically for footsteps and such, but looking at the data for them, I wouldn’t expect them to sound that good outside gaming. Some in the open back AKG lineup are generally regarded as ‘wide’ soundstage, but those generally have a certain ‘taste’ sound, which is more bright and sparkly, which some like and some don’t.
I believe I’ve seen that video before. I watch a lot of speaker videos to get an idea of them, even though that doesn’t necessarily tell the whole story, it’s interesting at least. A crazy setup of studio monitors with an added subwoofer is an insane setup though. That was out of your budget though. I think you did ok though for the purpose of having an immersive setup.
I have them set low when I’m playing WoW, I can still feel the rumble from the bass but I made sure it wasn’t loud outside the house
I also have these speakers connected to my TV too since it has 5 profiles, so I been going through some old GameCube/Wii games I played long time ago on the TV, playing Super Mario Galaxy was a big major difference with these speakers.
Edit: TBH, I almost bought the sound blaster X Kratos S5, so glad I didn’t
of my question concerns the plugging-in of the headphones: I currently use Atmos by Dolby, so the current headphones plug in via USB. Would it make a difference if I plugged any headphones directly into the control unit of the theater system?