by J_Th4ng » Thu Nov 12, 2009 11:22 am
SoSheOhPathix wrote:Next question.
What's the best 5.1 headset?
I have an X-Fi card now, so I may as well get a good set for playing late at night, instead of the USB sets I've been using up till now.
There are a gazillion different ones on the web, but everyone claims theirs is the bestestest ever, and I have long since stopped believeing the shit people spout about their own products.
The first thing to be aware of is that any USB headset will not be utilising your X-Fi card at all. USB headsets have built-in audio processors which do their own sound decoding and processing. If you want to get the benefits of X-Fi, you need to get one that connects directly to the sound card – in the case of 5.1, it’ll have numerous jacks for front, back, middle etc.
I personally do not like 5.1 headsets. I don’t find that they add much immersion to games, and the positional audio is passable at best. I far prefer a headset that has high quality sound reproduction capability in stereo. That’s just my experience though, some people swear by 5.1 headsets – note though that a lot of these people won’t have X-Fi sound cards.
One thing to consider is that the power of the X-Fi card is in it’s ability to apply post processing to sound (through EAX) and also to provide positional audio. X-Fi has a functionality called CMSS-3D, which provides positional audio through stereo headphones. I have used it for a couple of years before now (pulled my X-Fi card about a week ago), and have found the positional audio to be very good indeed. Having said that, I do have a good pair of Sennheiser headphones.
For advice on 5.1 headsets, I’m sure someone will post here. However, if you are looking for a very good pair of stereo phones, you can’t do better than Sennheiser. The best Headset available right now is the PC-350, and it’s awesome. Scorp has a pair which I tested at rAge, and they are wicked!! They are pricey, but if you want a brilliant set that you can wear all night without discomfort, these are what you want. You can get them from Prophecy, who currently have a 15% off sale on all Sennheiser products:
http://www.prophecy.co.za/sennheiser-pc350-headset-p-28461.htmlHmmm, I may just buy myself a set of those...
EDIT: Just thought, some other stuff to consider.
I don’t know what OS your new rig is running, but it will make quite a difference to you when thinking of your sound card’s capabilities.
With DirectX 10, MS removed DirectSound from the included API’s. This means that EAX is no longer functional natively under Vista or Windows 7. In order to get the benefit of EAX in games, you’ll need to download an application called ‘Alchemy’ from Creative labs. This has profiles for a number of games, and enables EAX sound effects within these games. New versions of Alchemy are released periodically, with support for new games that are released. This was in fact one of the reasons that I chose to go with the ASUS Xonar ST as my replacement card, because they have built new APIs that are not DirectSound linked, and thus work in all games.
This does not however affect positional sound on stereo headsets. CMSS3D will work regardless of EAX availability.
BW, another request. Would still like to read the rundown on your new PC. What parts has your system builder put in there? I’m sure it must be an awesome rig!
[quote="SoSheOhPathix "]
Next question.
What's the best 5.1 headset?
I have an X-Fi card now, so I may as well get a good set for playing late at night, instead of the USB sets I've been using up till now.
There are a gazillion different ones on the web, but everyone claims theirs is the bestestest ever, and I have long since stopped believeing the shit people spout about their own products.
[/quote]
The first thing to be aware of is that any USB headset will not be utilising your X-Fi card at all. USB headsets have built-in audio processors which do their own sound decoding and processing. If you want to get the benefits of X-Fi, you need to get one that connects directly to the sound card – in the case of 5.1, it’ll have numerous jacks for front, back, middle etc.
I personally do not like 5.1 headsets. I don’t find that they add much immersion to games, and the positional audio is passable at best. I far prefer a headset that has high quality sound reproduction capability in stereo. That’s just my experience though, some people swear by 5.1 headsets – note though that a lot of these people won’t have X-Fi sound cards.
One thing to consider is that the power of the X-Fi card is in it’s ability to apply post processing to sound (through EAX) and also to provide positional audio. X-Fi has a functionality called CMSS-3D, which provides positional audio through stereo headphones. I have used it for a couple of years before now (pulled my X-Fi card about a week ago), and have found the positional audio to be very good indeed. Having said that, I do have a good pair of Sennheiser headphones.
For advice on 5.1 headsets, I’m sure someone will post here. However, if you are looking for a very good pair of stereo phones, you can’t do better than Sennheiser. The best Headset available right now is the PC-350, and it’s awesome. Scorp has a pair which I tested at rAge, and they are wicked!! They are pricey, but if you want a brilliant set that you can wear all night without discomfort, these are what you want. You can get them from Prophecy, who currently have a 15% off sale on all Sennheiser products: [url=http://www.prophecy.co.za/sennheiser-pc350-headset-p-28461.html]http://www.prophecy.co.za/sennheiser-pc350-headset-p-28461.html[/url]
Hmmm, I may just buy myself a set of those... :hmmm:
EDIT: Just thought, some other stuff to consider.
I don’t know what OS your new rig is running, but it will make quite a difference to you when thinking of your sound card’s capabilities.
With DirectX 10, MS removed DirectSound from the included API’s. This means that EAX is no longer functional natively under Vista or Windows 7. In order to get the benefit of EAX in games, you’ll need to download an application called ‘Alchemy’ from Creative labs. This has profiles for a number of games, and enables EAX sound effects within these games. New versions of Alchemy are released periodically, with support for new games that are released. This was in fact one of the reasons that I chose to go with the ASUS Xonar ST as my replacement card, because they have built new APIs that are not DirectSound linked, and thus work in all games.
This does not however affect positional sound on stereo headsets. CMSS3D will work regardless of EAX availability.
BW, another request. Would still like to read the rundown on your new PC. What parts has your system builder put in there? I’m sure it must be an awesome rig!