Which headphone setup offers great positional surround and bass?

LGabrielPhoto

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So let me start by saying that I have tried the Mobius and was very disappointed with that one. Bass was so so and the Waves 3D was nothing special.

I am looking for which headphone/headset offers the best soundstage with great positional accuracy and have BASS. It seems to be hard to find such a setup. Maybe the Astro A40?

Also, when it comes to PC games..I am always confused how to get Dolby Atmos or the best 3D surround with headphones. I have tried Stereo then setting Dolby atmos option but even watching a dolby atmos demo does not seem to give very good surround performance. Maybe I am spoiled by my HT room.
Sure if I use my SXFI gamer with the xfi option the sound feels more coming from the room but that is also pretty echo heavy. Maybe there is nothing really much better?
Right now I was leaning towards the old G933 (bonus points for syncing with my SignalRGB themes) or the A40 with the box.

Anyway, hopefully I can get some feedback about this.

Thanks

PS I understand that if the game offers a "surround" or headphone options already, I should be using that one, rightt? But if it does not..that is where my doubts begin.
 
problem seems to be nobody is making multi-driver headphones anymore. they all are using single drivers with some sort of virtual surround. so youd need to hunt for a pair or try some current ones. the RIG series by plantronics come with atmos and seem to get good bass but the positional effect was mixed reviews. Sennheiser makes some nice sets too. razor has their own surround thing that seems ok. razor also made a 7.1 set with multi drivers that actually did work good, if you want to hunt for a used pair or old stock...
 
problem seems to be nobody is making multi-driver headphones anymore. they all are using single drivers with some sort of virtual surround. so youd need to hunt for a pair or try some current ones. the RIG series by plantronics come with atmos and seem to get good bass but the positional effect was mixed reviews. Sennheiser makes some nice sets too. razor has their own surround thing that seems ok. razor also made a 7.1 set with multi drivers that actually did work good, if you want to hunt for a used pair or old stock...
So the old 7.1 with actual multi speakers did work? I always thought they were gimickky. I need to find one :)
 
problem seems to be nobody is making multi-driver headphones anymore. they all are using single drivers with some sort of virtual surround. so youd need to hunt for a pair or try some current ones. the RIG series by plantronics come with atmos and seem to get good bass but the positional effect was mixed reviews. Sennheiser makes some nice sets too. razor has their own surround thing that seems ok. razor also made a 7.1 set with multi drivers that actually did work good, if you want to hunt for a used pair or old stock...
Yea no. They aren’t made anymore because they were gimmicky and most reviewers, consumers and gamers said they weren’t effective at surround. But it makes sense. You can’t effectively, positionally place micro drivers in a headset and expect actual 7.1 surround.

Anyone who thought that worked, never had a proper, nice 7.1 home theater setup.

Headphone surround was a gimmick and the market proved that by basically almost all companies giving up on selling them.

You can have decent simulated surround, or excellent stereo.

OP- I have a few pairs of higher end headphones and a decent dedicated external dac along with a matching headphone amp.

I have some nice open back planar headphones and they provide excellent spacial awareness. Just an idea. The market moved away from “surround” headphones for a reason.
 
Yea no. They aren’t made anymore because they were gimmicky and most reviewers, consumers and gamers said they weren’t effective at surround. But it makes sense. You can’t effectively, positionally place micro drivers in a headset and expect actual 7.1 surround.

Anyone who thought that worked, never had a proper, nice 7.1 home theater setup.

Headphone surround was a gimmick and the market proved that by basically almost all companies giving up on selling them.

You can have decent simulated surround, or excellent stereo.

OP- I have a few pairs of higher end headphones and a decent dedicated external dac along with a matching headphone amp.

I have some nice open back planar headphones and they provide excellent spacial awareness. Just an idea. The market moved away from “surround” headphones for a reason.
i thought i covered all that... minus the stereo. the razor ones that i specifically mentioned do work decent, ive used them. but no, nothing will be the same as a good HT but this is about headphones.
 
Focus on getting good stereo headpones and a nice soundcard or USB DAC/AMP to power them. Then use software to get your virtual surround via something like SBX, DolbyHeadphone etc etc etc

This is a pretty great thread with allot of insight on a bunch of the various tech out there.
https://forums.guru3d.com/threads/chastitys-review-of-virtual-surround-solutions.436597/

Personally, I've found SBX to be pretty decent and easy to use. But better than that, or any headphone surround tech, though is when games actually have HRTF built in with some actual 3D audio. Kinda rare these days, although Fortnite has a pretty decent implementation if you wanted to hear what it's like.
 
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problem seems to be nobody is making multi-driver headphones anymore. they all are using single drivers with some sort of virtual surround. so youd need to hunt for a pair or try some current ones. the RIG series by plantronics come with atmos and seem to get good bass but the positional effect was mixed reviews. Sennheiser makes some nice sets too. razor has their own surround thing that seems ok. razor also made a 7.1 set with multi drivers that actually did work good, if you want to hunt for a used pair or old stock...
Mad catz Tritton is still making them current model is the Ark Elite. 5 speakers per cup
I knew a few people that had the older Ax 720 and Ax pro they liked them
 
So the most convincing virtualization I've found, so far, is Redscape Audio with the head tracker. The problem with non-tracking solutions is that your brain is used to sounds staying put as you move your head, and that doesn't happen with headphones (the sound rotates with your head) which sounds wrong. It isn't 100% convincing to me, but it is the best I've heard, the thing that gets the closest to actual surround speakers. Works with any headphones, though the better the phones the more convincing the simulation will be.
 
So the most convincing virtualization I've found, so far, is Redscape Audio with the head tracker. The problem with non-tracking solutions is that your brain is used to sounds staying put as you move your head, and that doesn't happen with headphones (the sound rotates with your head) which sounds wrong. It isn't 100% convincing to me, but it is the best I've heard, the thing that gets the closest to actual surround speakers. Works with any headphones, though the better the phones the more convincing the simulation will be.
You were not kidding..so far I am very impressed with it. I may even try the tracker.
Thanks
 
You were not kidding..so far I am very impressed with it. I may even try the tracker.
Thanks

Glad you like it. I've been very happy with it, particularly since I'm real fussy and want my HD800s headphones and am not interested in any of the phones which have some kind of built in surround. Also if you aren't equalizing your headphones you might want to use the in-built EQ to flatten them out, it can help make it more convincing. The Oratory1990 presets seem to work quite well in my experience.

With the tracker there are two things I would note:

1) If you are a headphone person it may sound "weird" because you are used to the idea of the sound stage turning with your head. I'm a speaker guy so I want things where the sound stays put as my head moves, as it does with real-world sound sources. However if that is not what you are used to it can sound weird.

2) The head tracker is wired, and the cable is a little stiff, so it does make the headphones feel different. While a wireless one would be nice, Waves did that and the wireless tracker didn't work very well (too slow to update) so I'll give Redscape credit as this solution works better.

You can also adjust a lot of stuff in the software, including things like the angle your virtual speakers are at. If you have physical speakers, and set the virtual ones to match their position, it tricks your brain in to thinking the sound is out of your head even more.
 
Glad you like it. I've been very happy with it, particularly since I'm real fussy and want my HD800s headphones and am not interested in any of the phones which have some kind of built in surround. Also if you aren't equalizing your headphones you might want to use the in-built EQ to flatten them out, it can help make it more convincing. The Oratory1990 presets seem to work quite well in my experience.

With the tracker there are two things I would note:

1) If you are a headphone person it may sound "weird" because you are used to the idea of the sound stage turning with your head. I'm a speaker guy so I want things where the sound stays put as my head moves, as it does with real-world sound sources. However if that is not what you are used to it can sound weird.

2) The head tracker is wired, and the cable is a little stiff, so it does make the headphones feel different. While a wireless one would be nice, Waves did that and the wireless tracker didn't work very well (too slow to update) so I'll give Redscape credit as this solution works better.

You can also adjust a lot of stuff in the software, including things like the angle your virtual speakers are at. If you have physical speakers, and set the virtual ones to match their position, it tricks your brain in to thinking the sound is out of your head even more.
I did play with a headsett that had the tracker before plus I have an HT room with Atmos as the place to watch all my movies so I think I can enjoy the tracker. Where is that option for the speaker angle? I cant seem to find it so far. Is it the Stereo Spread?
Thanks!
 
I did play with a headsett that had the tracker before plus I have an HT room with Atmos as the place to watch all my movies so I think I can enjoy the tracker. Where is that option for the speaker angle? I cant seem to find it so far. Is it the Stereo Spread?
Thanks!
Yes, Stereo Spread. It is stated a little different than most, generally you'll see speaker angle listed at "30 degrees" meaning they are 30 degrees off of center, Ryan lists them as the total spread between them. 60 degrees spread in Redscape (30 degrees angle) is very normal and is the Dolby recommended setup for speakers. Also happens to be right about where they sit if you have a 38" widescreen monitor :D
 
Yes, Stereo Spread. It is stated a little different than most, generally you'll see speaker angle listed at "30 degrees" meaning they are 30 degrees off of center, Ryan lists them as the total spread between them. 60 degrees spread in Redscape (30 degrees angle) is very normal and is the Dolby recommended setup for speakers. Also happens to be right about where they sit if you have a 38" widescreen monitor :D
Thanks again for the recommendation. I can even use my Focusrite headphone jack with this where I couldnt do it with Dolby Atmos for example.
 
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