Headphones Sound Slightly Distant

[JoebaltBlue]

I recently received a new pair of Sennheiser Game Zero headphones based on a lot of the reviews that I've seen. However, they don't entirely sound as perfect as the reviews made them out to be. Normally, the sound sounds slightly distant, whether it's music, talking, or whatever else. The best way to describe it is that it sounds like it's coming out of an old radio and not something designed for my ears. I read that people reported them sounding "less-full" without an amp, but that was for the 150 ohm version, and according to the site I bought them from, I bought the 50 ohm version. Is the default sound system on my motherboard not powerful enough? Or are there certain drivers/etc. I'm missing that prevent these from sounding how I want them to?

 

[ssddx]

the first thing i would do is to test them with multiple sources to see how they sound. it could very well be a case of them not sounding up to par because of amplification.

second i would make sure you have any virtual surround sound disabled and have them set to stereo only. disable any audio effects as well. this would rule out any variables.

hard to say if the reason for your displeasure is that you do not like the sound signature of them or if its a hardware problem. generally the biggest reported problem for hardware is tinny sounding which could point at either poor amp and getting a soundcard (which fixes this for most people) or just lacking the expected bass response some users seem to expect.

i suggest you do more testing and on different sources to try to get a better feel for how they are performing and whether you think its a hardware problem (your pc soundcard) or if you feel the headphones are not for you.

 

[JoebaltBlue]

the first thing i would do is to test them with multiple sources to see how they sound. it could very well be a case of them not sounding up to par because of amplification.

second i would make sure you have any virtual surround sound disabled and have them set to stereo only. disable any audio effects as well. this would rule out any variables.

hard to say if the reason for your displeasure is that you do not like the sound signature of them or if its a hardware problem. generally the biggest reported problem for hardware is tinny sounding which could point at either poor amp and getting a soundcard (which fixes this for most people) or just lacking the expected bass response some users seem to expect.

i suggest you do more testing and on different sources to try to get a better feel for how they are performing and whether you think its a hardware problem (your pc soundcard) or if you feel the headphones are not for you.

Thank you for the timely reply. I tested it on my phone, and it didn't sound correct there either. I then tested it on my laptop that has default sound drivers installed on it for Windows 10, and it sounded much better. Thus, I went into Device Manager and as you said uninstalled Razer Surround and Realtek. My best guess is that Razer Surround was the main issue here, as I've had that for a few months now.

 

[ssddx]

so does it sound good with razer surround gone? you said it did on your laptop but not if it did on your desktop. i'm guessing yes given the solution.

not everyone likes virtual surround. it seems you are one of those people.

 

[JoebaltBlue]

I realize that I didn't say that it works, but yes it sounds good now. I liked Razer Surround on my previous set of headphones, Astro A40, but I guess the way these headphones are set up that it doesn't feel the same. I've been playing a few games and even without the digital surround, it still feels like I'm hearing surround sound.