Question Help setting up my headset for gaming please?

[Adam_233]

Hello

I just purchased the Plantronics RIG 800HD wireless headset and am having trouble getting the sound to work properly. I'll list what I have encountered so far:

1. No driver, documentation or software online. W10 had driver already and has named headset correctly.
2. Wireless receiver plugs in via USB and also optical into mobo, no sound card.
3. Came with Dolby Access code so i installed and have it selected in spatial sound.
4. In speaker properties un the advanced tab the format only goes up to 16bit 48000hz. When i click the test button it sounds horrible and crackly!
5. Play some surround tests on youtube like dolby and listened to 8d music. Everything sounds amazing!
6. played some FPS games like Rianbow 6 siege and Hunt: Showdown and quality is bad. The position is fine, so i can always hear where people are but footsteps sound like low quality soundbites from a 90s/00s game. Plus the noise from my own footsteps muffles everything else!
7. Tried all different sound options on the headset itself and in dolby atmos app but they are all equally bad.
8. Wanted to buy a sound card to see if it would enable 24bit format for better sounds but read that wireless headsets can't use sound cards because of the USB aspect of them.

I owned the Plantronics 780 before which was virtual 7.1. Although not true 7.1 positioning and not great on the bass, the 780 had crystal clear sound quality that sounded life like, not all kinda boxed in and muffled like my new RIG 800HD.

I can't seem to get any improvement using the optical cable, is this only for crossfading? Part of me thinks that just buying and analog headset with a sound card would be better but surely this kind of quality was not intended for this headset?

Does anyone know if there is a way to improve sound or if I am doing something wrong? Is there a way to increase from 16bit to 24bit? Why do some thing like dolby sound tests and some movies sound amazing but FPS games are terribly muffled?

Remember point 4 about the test button sounding crackly and distorted, this has to be part of the issue if it can't even play a ding sound properly?

Thanks you in advance and hope to hear from someone with more knowledge than me.

 

[hang-the-9]

Did you contact Plantronics support to see what they suggest you try? Since these work through wireless you are limited to the headphone and wireless adapter they use. If you used a wired headset then the sound quality settings is based on the sound card you use and how they sound and do footstep clarity is based on the headset itself.

Best quality is a nice wired headset without any fancy 7.1 virtual sound stuff built in.

Sennheiser GSP 500 or the GSP 600 closed back are good, so is their Game ONE headset.

Steelseries 5 and 7 models are good.

I also like both the HyperX Alphas and Cooler Master MH751 (752 is same set with a USB DAC for virtual surround sound).

If you want to get really into the top tier of gaming headsets there is the Audeze Mobius.

 

[Adam_233]

Thanks for the reply mate. They offer support through a third party company that sell their gaming headsets for them. Support was limited to basic IT questions - to which I had already done.

The headset is growing on me more now as I am replaying Witcher 3 atm and the sound is amazing! I've realised that some game are just poorly optimised for surround sound also.

The other issue I have is that I'm a tiny bit deaf in my right ear which means I feel more of a vibration rather than hear clarity of sound on my right side. I'll have to live with this if I want any headset that isn't virtual surround. Alas though, even in games that fully support Dolby atmos, sometimes the sound effects can be amazing but voices might sound dim and low quality! Maybe if I spent more cash on a headset you mentioned, the overall quality would be better. I do wish now that I went the sound card and 3.5mm Jack route.