Hello!

Has anyone else tried this? What do you think of it?

I personally love it. It's an affordable surround sound option for me. I don't have the space or money required for a surround setup, so this is a great alternative. You can get a decent pair of cans for a bill. The surround software is about $20; so that's about $120 for a surround system. Headphones themselves have their own advantages - like being able to turn up the volume as high as I like without neighbours banging on my door at 2 AM. Or not having external audio pollute the sound coming from the game.

It's not without its issues, though. Sometimes it places sounds in odd directions. I played a game recently, and it was putting the sounds of gunfire in spots that didn't make any sense (like over an empty ledge). I find its effectiveness varies from game to game. Generally speaking, newer games make better use of it.

Edit: title is supposed to be "Thoughts on virtual surround for heapdhones" I didn't realize the error until I clicked post. I apologize for this mistake.

Edit 2: Something I really should have added earlier. Virtual surround software claims you can use it for music. This is BS. Surround in sound music is actually very rare (to date, I haven't found any songs or bands I like that actually use it). This is because most people don't use surround setups to listen to their playlist, so musicians and audio engineers don't mix it for surround sound.

I am still using a old 7.1 speaker setup from Creative Labs / Cambridge Soundworks most of the time.
Back in the days it was very affordable and has good sound. These days 7.1 sets for computers are hard too find (everything's designed for home cinema) and are way too expensive.


But once in a while I also use headphones. My Asus soundcard has good virtual 7.1 sound. To have the most accurate sound (I also use them to listen to all kinds of music including orchestral one) I use studio headphones and not gaming headsets. For the small to medium budget the Superlux 681 headphones are an excellent choice, they're a 1:1 copy of a much much much more expensive headset and come very close to it's quality. But one should replace the ear cushions with ones made from velour. The originals cause to much sweating. That's 10 bukcs more and totally worth it.


What I don't really like are the virtual 7.1 surround sound chips integrated in USB headsets. They just aren't the real thing compared to a PCI (or external) sound card with a high quality D/A conver that also sounds good when turning down the volume.

Virtual surround could in theory also simulate sound from above and below. Back in 1996 (or 1997) I could try the first virtual surround sets at the Immaginá (multimedia computer exhibition) in Monte Carlo and it was quite impressive.
For some reason however that never made it into gaming. In gaming we still have 2D surround sound.

I love studio headphones. I remember using a budget studio headset, and the audio was great for the price.

The Superlux looks great. I might grab a pair if/when my current headphones break.

I agree that gaming headsets are pretty crummy. I have the Logitech G935. It's $160 now, but I managed to grab a pair for $75. The audio comes with a hiss when used wirelessly (regardless of what feature is enabled). It has DTS built in, but turning it on muddies the sound. For the record, this is not an issue I get when using the Sound Unbound software, or turning on DTS with my sound card. I don't know how common these issues are, but searching the web showed me other users are experiencing this as well, so it's probably not some defect.

Yeah. I use EqApo with the openAL impulse response from HeSuVi (all free software). But I haven't tried it for quite some time, since I have the luck to not disturb anyone with my multichannel speaker setup (4.1 with emulated center with EqApo). :)

I heard about that one. I haven't gotten around to using it, though :(

I forgot to mention: they have one weak point: the leather strap. The one on my first pair broke after a couple of years at the section where it's split into two thin straps. But maybe I just didn't pay much attention, the 681B which I bought for work are still in pristine condition. In any case, if you know how to reinforce it, do so as early as possible.

While most music is made for stereo, there are good softwares that optimize stereo content for surround. I think music sounds pretty good in surround from my NAD receiver. It has both Neo 6 and Pro Logic 2 software modes, which are both meant for "fake surround", and they work quite well. I think this might be a bit more tricky to get right in headphones though, but I haven't tried any myself.

I see, surround does work with music, it's just not so great with headphones. I'll keep the NAD receiver in mind if I ever get a more advanced audio setup.

Personally, i enjoy the logitech g x pro set i'm using. More then affordable and with a nice bling to it. After reading some product reviews, this set came out on top, defeating even more costly products, and i decided to give it a go. It only comes out when giving the adventure/action triple a titles from the named studio's a go.
Think titles such as Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Mass Effect Andromeda, Jedi Fallen Order, FF VII remade, Forspoken, Tomb Raider, etc etc.
I'm still not certain about the surround quality. I had only a couple of instances where i experienced something more similar to a cinema than your usual experience. This might have something to do with not being able to find the right personal settings per game.
If this set breaks down, i will try a more expensive option. Sound is importance and i don't have any room for a multiple speaker set-up.
With other games the soundbar i've set up on my desk is more than sufficient, providing the right ambiance.

edit

btw - as it just happened - The logitech software, Logitech G hub, just won't boot proper with the rest of the hardware support software. I've had this a couple of times now. Usually following on some Windows update. I tend to forget this uhm peculiar behaviour displayed by the logitech software installation. Without the software, the headphones are just an uninspired piece of work

Sorry to hear that. I don't use G Hub software that much, but I didn't have any issues with it. Contacting support might help. https://www.logitechg.com/en-ca/contact.html

Really? That is a very nice of you. Truth be told, I do think it adds to the charm of the machine <<Pray to the machine God