Can I improve my headphone experience while gaming?

[bbeatty172]

Im confused and I know I am at the right place to get straightened out

I am an avid FPS gamer and positional audio is a must. For over a year I have been using the Logitech G930 Headset and was somewhat happy with the performance.

I have now upgraded (so I thought) to a Soundblaster Z PCI soundcard and HyperX Cloud gaming headset. The sound is much more robust, clear and overall I hear smaller less noticeable sounds more, so this was a huge improvement. But during gameplay I am disappointed in the positional sounds. They seem to work, but not as clearly as the Logitechs.

I have played a youtube video that claims to test headset surround sound and while playing the video the sound is easy to hear in different areas, so I think the headset can handle.

Is there a way to improve my positional audio experience while in game? Are there some settings within the soundblaster software that will help? Is there a better headset that would improve my experience? Should I have upgraded differently for overall performance?

Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

 

[RCFProd]

From the Soundblaster software you should be able to set your sound to ''Surround 5.1/7.1'' instead of ''Stereo'' which it is likely on. However I would stay on stereo, because the audio quality feels much better. However it will make you hear directions better.

 

[envy14tpe]

First, don't trust youtube videos. They are unprofessional and biased. Second, soundcards have kinda gone by the way side, onboard sound is great on new mobo.

If you want the best gaming sound, buy a good set of headphones then install a cable that has mic. Gaming headsets are not good for real sound quality. Also, you could add an external DAC/AMP. But since you invested in Soundblaster you might want to finding ways to tweak what you have.

 

[RCFProd]

First, don't trust youtube videos. They are unprofessional and biased. Second, soundcards have kinda gone by the way side, onboard sound is great on new mobo.

If you want the best gaming sound, buy a good set of headphones then install a cable that has mic. Gaming headsets are not good for real sound quality. Also, you could add an external DAC/AMP. But since you invested in Soundblaster you might want to finding ways to tweak what you have.

The HyperX Cloud are good audiophile headphones if you're not aware. So in this case his gaming headset is good for real sound quality. They are rebranded Takstar Pro80S/Gemini HSR-1000 headphones.

 

[bbeatty172]

Thank you taking time to review and offer assistance. After tinkering with settings, EQ and the virtual surround I have come to the conclusion that although I have improved sound quality drastically with this new setup I have lost a significant amount of positional audio.

I really want that positional audio while gaming.

Any suggestions on a gaming headset that has virtual 7.1? I will be going away from the Soundblaster and rely on whatever soundcard that will be associated with the new headset.

Thanks again!

 

[RCFProd]

I think there is uncertainty based on your last post. What do you mean ''Rely on whatever soundcard that will be associated with the new headset''? You have one sound card in your motherboard and that's it. We don't know which motherboard you have, if you have a cheap old chipset motherboard it might be a very crappy sound card that's built-in, so then selling your Soundblaster is really not a good idea.

Have you tried to change in-game settings to surround? Like not only through Soundblaster? You missed a very important step if you didn't.

 

[bbeatty172]

The Logitech G930 that i went away from and almost all of the other "7.1 virtual surround" are simply a plug in play USB device. If i understand this correctly they dont rely or require onboard sound or soundcard. So the statement "rely on whatever soundcard" was directed to the onboard sound that these gaming headsets utilize.

I did play with the in game settings as well as the soundblaster and windows settings. But no luck.

In game with the current HyperX and Soundblaster I am able to hear positional audio well. But if I change the position of my FPS character, the sounds dont move thru or around the headset. Kind of hard to explain. Sorry.

 

[RCFProd]

Anyways those headsets are software based surround 7.1, not true hardware based surround 7.1. Bit of a gimmick imo.