Does Anyone Know: New 10 Driver 7.1 Analog headsets coming out soon?

Urzu1000 · Oct 27, 2015

Hey guys! I'm in the market for a new headset/headphones, and I'm pretty picky about the surround sound. I've been using the Tiamat 7.1 for a couple years, and while the audio quality was amazing....the build quality hasn't proven as solid.

At this point, I need to buy a new headset, but I still want a true 7.1 (not virtual) headset, with analog. So far, there's only two true 7.1 headsets on the market, and that is the Tiamat 7.1 and the ASUS Strix. Of those two, the Tiamat seems best overall.

It really urks me to buy the same headset that just failed me though.

Has anyone "in the loop" heard of any new True 7.1 headsets in development, that will be released in the next year or so?

basroil · Oct 27, 2015

Urzu1000 :

No, nobody makes analog 7.1 headphone for several reasons:
1) Crosstalk/emi using tiny cables packed together in a tight place ruin sound quality
2) Using normal sized cables would make the ah heck heavy as hell
3) 3 speakers plus a buzzer in a tiny space sound like garbage no matter how "amazing" you think they are
4) Nobody really buys them so the market for analog versions is tiny
5) You have two ears, not 7

If you want quality for a reasonable price, go with a good set of regular (two channel) headphones like the HD558 or Sony MDR7406 (and a dozen other models between $50 and $300) and then get a proper sound card that has high quality headphone mixing. After that, set your games to stereo mix mode and the game will calculate the correct distortions necessary to provide decent positional audio (frequency, loudness, and latency of sounds going to each ear). You will be amazed at just how much better that works than the lazy "7.1" headsets.

Urzu1000 · Oct 28, 2015

basroil :

I've heard mixed answers involving this. However, I'm inclined to disagree. Two drivers can only produce so many different sounds at one time. I may have two ears, but I'm listening for many things at one time. And while virtual 7.1 may artificially distort the sounds to create directional audio - that won't be as clear as if it came from a different angle. Our ears have shapes to interpret sounds from different directions. They're not just two holes.

The downside to this is that the quality of the individual drivers fall in order to make manufacturing costs reasonable. If I didn't play FPS games, I would absolutely get myself some quality Sennheissers, and call it a day. Flat responses are great, especially for music and movies, but that's just not what I'm looking for.

basroil · Oct 28, 2015

Urzu1000 :

Not true at all. You can only produce one certain pressure in a given spot at a certain time, and you have only two "spots" (bit more complicated since different distances respond to different frequencies ). It's a physical property that can't be changed, and good headphones+audio codecs can produce enough information.

Urzu1000 :

Indeed, and why binaural recordings are made... to be played back on "regular" headphones. The sad fact is that most headphones simply don't have enough size to actually make any appreciable impact, and of course the head shadow effect is impossible to replicate physically, and difficult in software without hardware support for applying the correct transfer functions (and that same hardware would be capable of accounting for ear shape too).

Here's what you should do, go somewhere where they have a 7.1 audio (probably USB is best) headset and good stereo headsets, and try them out with a game you know supports both. Most likely you'll see that they are about the same in terms of position

Urzu1000 · Oct 30, 2015

@basroil I've had some virtual 7.1 headsets in the past, and they were good. They paled in comparison to my current pair though. That said, individual headphones can, of course, fall short. It isn't unreasonable to consider that a headset I've used in the past would fall short of other similarly spec'd options that you may be referring to.

Another problem is that I must have a good analog headset. It can't be USB. USB gives too much feedback for my preferences, and I have a decent sound card which I would hate to leave unused.

basroil · Oct 30, 2015

Urzu1000 :

I would hardly compare headsets like the MDR 7506 or HD558 to the pretty much horrible "7.1" headsets out there (which often cost more). There is a huge difference between "gamer" devices from kingston/razer and true audio equipment from companies that have decades of experience in designing good audio hardware like Sennheiser and Sony.

Go somewhere where you can test those two models against a "7.1" headset, you'll see that positional audio will be clearer, and you'll even be able to hear things you never knew were supposed to be playing.

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Does Anyone Know: New 10 Driver 7.1 Analog headsets coming out soon?

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