Surround headphones - 5.1 vs 7.1, what should I get anyway?

[Groov3st3r]

I'm looking for a decent (and by decent I mean great-to-amazing sound quality) surround headset.

I have read an article on *a rival enthusiast website* which stated that Creative Blaster 3D Sigma was the best budget buy and the Vengeance 1500 was the ultimate way to go.

But further research left me feeling a bit undecided, due to bad reviews of software-based 7.1 surround and the general consensus that if it's not ''true'' surround, it's no good. One argument that brought the ''true'' 5.1 down for me was that when you have 4 tiny speakers in each ear, your sound will be pants compared to 2 large, decent drivers - which won't be true surround and people tend to complain of that, and so on and so forth...

So I just don't know.
I want opinions of true enthusiasts and hear your experiences - if you had any - with these systems.
A theoretical budget of up to 100$, preferably a lot less.


As a bonus, I will award 50 man-points (no cash value, or any value at all) for the best noise cancelling as my computer is practically a jet engine, stuck on full throttle. No, it's not 120dB but it generates substantial noise from high speed fans. And clear sound benefits from well-filtered background noise.

 

[anhikilator]

Hey,

I have the following:
- Razer barracuda, true 5.1
- Razer carcharias
- Beats by Dr Dre
- Bose qc15
- Plantronics gamecon 780

What I can tell you is that the true 5.1 was ok but I'm actually using the carcharias since I can really tell the difference. Being headphones and the around the ear area so small, there's actually no difference.

What I can confirm is that different headphones are more oriented for music and other for gaming. The Beats and the QC15 are great for music and movies but not that great for games.

The other thing is that I can tell the difference from the surround sound coming out from the onboard audio card vs a Creative or Asus card. The separate cards have more specific hardware to simulate surround sound in your headphones.

I hope this information can help, feel free to ask more specific questions about the headsets I have.

Kindest regards,

Ank

 

[Knufire]

Don't bother with true 5.1/7.1 unless you're getting speakers. Jamming that many drivers in that small of an area isn't going to help sound quality one bit. Go virtual with a sound card.

In the audio enthusiast world, both Bose and Beats have nearly the same reputation at being over marketed meh products at crazy prices.

Quality sound is quality sound, no matter music or gaming. However, there are certain sound signatures that lend themselves better for gaming . You generally want a bright detailed sound with a very wide soundstage (sounds seem like they're coming far away), these give a more realistic effect with the virtual surround.

Quality sound is also expensive. Your budget of $100 might not cut it if you need a good pair of cans and a sound card.

 

[anhikilator]

In the audio enthusiast world, both Bose and Beats have nearly the same reputation at being over marketed meh products at crazy prices.

Have you tried them?

 

[satandole666]

I'm interested in hearing your guys' recommendations as well.. I watch movies and listen to music as much as I game, making it impossible for me to narrow my search down to one pair.

 

[Aynjell]

For headsets, I recently tried the Roccat Kave. i was pleasantly surprised. not audiophile grade, and doesn't compare to my HD650's, but at 130$ it compares very favorably with high end headphones in it's price range, even in 2 channel mode.


As a note, every other headset has been crap that I've tried, siberia, razer stuff, etc... all of it garbage. The kave passes cursory examination and that's more than any sub 200$ headset has done so far. I'm not saying it's 'hi-fi', but if I didn't already have an AT2020USB for a mic and an HD650 for headphones, I'd probably consider them... but as it stands my mic alone is worth more.

 

[Mjolnir]

Agreed with knufire. Sorry but Bose and beats are overpriced and over hyped. Cut their prices in half and they might be where they belong in the market in terms of quality. Even then beats are just a giant neon sign saying hipster. Lol. No offense.

I always recommend a decent set of studio headphones with perhaps a desktop mic or clip on mic over headsets any day of the week. The soundstage on proper studio headphones is wide enough and open enough that they don't need this 5.1/7.1 surround crap because they can provide it with stereo drivers as is without the simulation.

For reference I run a pair of shure srh 840 headphones with a desktop mic. Paired with an Audioengine D1 DAC.

 

[Aynjell]

Agreed with knufire. Sorry but Bose and beats are overpriced and over hyped. Cut their prices in half and they might be where they belong in the market in terms of quality. Even then beats are just a giant neon sign saying hipster. Lol. No offense.

I always recommend a decent set of studio headphones with perhaps a desktop mic or clip on mic over headsets any day of the week. The soundstage on proper studio headphones is wide enough and open enough that they don't need this 5.1/7.1 surround crap because they can provide it with stereo drivers as is without the simulation.

For reference I run a pair of shure srh 840 headphones with a desktop mic. Paired with an Audioengine D1 DAC.

the SRH840. The single clumsiest headphone ever. I just sold my pair for 50$. They sound good, but terrible for gaming if you're a fairly excitable player, like to fall off your head a lot.

 

[Mjolnir]

Care to explain? It's a little top heavy yes. But sounds great. I bought them when they first released back in.. 2009? Still in great condition. I was planning to buy a pair of ATH AD900s but never got around to it.

But please explain .

Edit. Second part of your post was missing lol. I've never had that issue. If anything they clamp a little tight. :/.

 

[EarthDog]

Have you tried them?

I have.. and agree 100%. Overhyped and overpriced for sho. They sound better than cheapos though. You will find that opinion is common on most any a/v website.

 

[anhikilator]

I have.. and agree 100%. Overhyped and overpriced for sho. They sound better than cheapos though. You will find that opinion is common on most any a/v website.

Have you tried them in a plane up in the air?

 

[EarthDog]

Yes. The noise cancelling headphones do their job on a plane.

Some one pinch me as last I recall I was in a pc forum talking about a pc environment and not flying in an airplane.

 

[anhikilator]

Yes. The noise cancelling headphones do their job on a plane.

Some one pinch me as last I recall I was in a pc forum talking about a pc environment and not flying in an airplane.

Agreed, read my first post, I was talking about the headphones I tried and I didn't recommend those for gaming. I actually said the opposite, gaming and voice chatting a good stereo set does the job perfectly!

I believe music and movies may be different, as well as the noise around. The noise canceling function works great when it's a constant noise, like loud fans and a Plaine turbine.

 

[Mjolnir]

I prefer iems for aeroplane trips. Ultimate ear 700/shure se215 do the job for me fine. Smaller and more convenient for a plane trip as well. Isolate without the batteries. Also means I'm not limiting my head movement in a small area with large headphones. Found that out very quickly with my srh840s they weren't so great for flight.

 

[Aynjell]

Yeah, my noisy environment phone is westone um1.

 

[Knufire]

I've also had experience with both (Bose and Beats), can't recommend it. Again, neither are actually terrible, they're just bad for the price (and the Beats are just crazy out of balance).

Go to gaming headphone guide (remember, this is specifically written in the context of using a sound card for virtual surround sound. Pure stereo results may be different): http://www.head-fi.org/t/534479/mad...guide-updated-1-28-13-k702-65th-anni-ed-added

 

[Groov3st3r]

Okay, first off:

Thank you so much for all the replies

To clear something up, I was planning to either use the sound processing within headphones or my onboard sound processor, seen as im on a Z77 board and I was told by members of this community before that the quality of onboard sound has caught up with add-on cards.
And to be honest, I find that to be true, at least with the Sony headphones I have at the moment. I would really need to go overboard with spending to get something better and I just don't have the means to since my latest GPU upgrade.

I see that this subject has sparked a heated discussion and I am interested to see what the overall conclusion will be. Seeing as some real audiophiles are lending their opinions, this will be both informative and fun to see the results


Now, my current set consists of Sony MDR-XD200 stereo headphones and an Andrea NC-61 headset that I use purely for the microphone. It's not an amazing mic, but it does a really decent job and I haven't had any complaints of background noise or echo since I started using it. Don't even know how it came into my possession, to be brutally honest. It was just there. And the headphones were meant for quiet movie nights but they fare well in gaming. Not outstanding but they do sound pleasing.

Still, they don't do positioning too good since it's only a 2 channel set and for games such as APB, COD and DayZ, you would want to know exactly where your enemies are coming from before they show up. And that's the dilemma...


On a side note:
The mention of a plane came partially from me comparing my rig to a jet engine. It's very noisy, and being positioned on the ground floor, I can hear it without much trouble in the second floor bedroom. So you can only imagine what it is like to spend 4 or 5 hours in a constant, never-ending hum. Noise cancelling is a very important feature for me here, it could go a long way to reducing my headaches caused by all the noise over time.


Happy to see that mostly everyone here shares the view of Beats being a hipster accessory rather than a decent pair of headphones. Yes, they might be good, but price is mostly just for the brand sticker and not quality.


EDIT:
Thanks for the link Knufire, The demo video is going to be a big help.
It was interesting just to see how my stereo phones fared with audio positioning. It wasn't bad, but you can hear that channels unavailable to them were being omitted and sound can only come from left, right or centre. But if a software based 5.1 headphone set could cope with that same video with comparable quality and accurate positioning, I will be happy.

 

[Mjolnir]

I was about to ask why is your machine so loud.. Then I saw your sig. No offense but there's no way 2 GT AP 30's are going to help your temps THAT much on a 2500k compared to say; their AP 15 counterparts. I've got my 2500k at 4.5ghz at 1.3v with (Before) Noctua U9B SE2 with stock noctua fans running 1200 ish RPM; keeping temps 65 and below under Prime95. Now I run a H60 SE with a single GT AP 15 exhausting from the back of my TJ08-E keeping temps about 5 degrees cooler. Surely your 200mhz doesn't warrant jet engine style fans?

I'm merely suggesting perhaps fix the source of the jet engine before looking towards necessitating noise isolating cans?

 

[Groov3st3r]

I'm merely suggesting perhaps fix the source of the jet engine before looking towards necessitating noise isolating cans?

I already have noise cancelling cans and wouldn't ever go back either way.
Perhaps if I knew that a few weeks ago, I wouldn't have spent 40 quid on getting those fans but the temps have dropped.
20 degrees idle and 45 degrees under prime 95. some fluctuation between the core temps but I suspect that's due to my handiwork with the thermal paste more than anything else.

Eitherway, I was asking for headphones with 5.1 surround. they will have noise cancelling and even if my PC wasn't a jet turbine, I still want that feature. For me filtering any outside noise makes a difference, not just that it's being necessitated by my hunger for lower temps.

Could we go back to the headphone dilemma?


I looked at the guide posted by Knufire and I see that AKG is the brand to go for when doing surround headphones. But at prices between 200-330 GBP, that's a tad out of my budget. I could raise that money, obviously, but I don't want to spend more on my headphones than I did on my graphics card... It is a large expenditure.


On a side note:
Running 4.7 ghz for me requires 1.36-1.38v. When pushing for any more, that quickly rose to over 1.4, nudging 1.5 just to stabilize a x48 multiplier. This can have a dramatic effect of temperatures. the fans were recommended to me by other members of this community and I am pleased with their performance, having spent the last 3 years with a GPU fan running at a constant 100% with no way of fixing it - I got that card half price so it was a trade-off for power against comfort.
I suppose if I can find a PWM fan speed controller, the noise vs performance will no longer be an issue.

 

[Mjolnir]

Active noise cancelling or Noise decent noise isolation? Active noise cancelling would require power of some type, batteries perhaps. My Shure SRH 840 block out enough noise for my purposes; well enough really. Though if there's nothing going on in-game/no music, you'd hear some outside noises. If anything at all is going on noise wise from your computer though it'd be fairly isolated..

The Shure SRH 440's perform roughly the same as the SRH 840s when not amped; and you wouldn't have an amp. Could be one suggestion that's closer to your budget.

But as been discussed; actually going for 5.1 'surround' headsets are generally a gimmick. So let's get that out of the mindset. Let's just go for a decent set of cans with decent soundstage.

ATH A700X
ATH M50

Alternatively...
Corsair 1300 Analogue Headset
+
Asus Xonar DGX

Supposedly the Corsair 1300's go well with a low-end amp; such as the one built in the Xonar DGX. I dislike headsets in general, but I've recommended this setup before and people have been quite happy. Just another option.