I bought myself a Logitech G933 headset for its wireless capabilities and build in mic of more than decent enough quality. Just can't stand wires around me and the fiddling with separate mics when racing. So for me personally this is a very good solution. The G software (and posibly partly hardware DAC?) is capable of doing DTS X and Dolby Surround for headphones. Which speakersetup in R3E is optimal for this kind of stuff? Stereo, 5.1 or 7.1. Or isn't there a benefit to divide audiochannels for this kind of headsets and is the in game setting stereo always the best option and let the driver do all the surround interpretation? Just like to try it out properly and see if it adds immersion or not. Does anyone knows the technical correct answer to this? Have done a little search, but more times than not it ends in pure hypothetical opinions from the pro and against "camps" primarily based on just internet-opinions. But almost never an answer from technical perspective. Or, maybe I have search wrong and didn't find the right sources in the muddied waters of the very strong opinions about this topic. That's always a possibility too. P.s.: so to set things straight, this isn't a topic to discus hifi earphones vs game headsets or stereo vs surround. It's just a question from technical perspective. Not about (personal) preferences.
I'm not familiar with your headset specifically, but I'm quite faimiliar with virtual surround. Generally, to get the best directional cues out of any virtual surround system, you want a 7.1 or at least 5.1 source. So you have to configure the audio card (in your case the headset) to 7.1/5.1 in Windows, and then, if the game offers such setting (as R3E does), match that setting in-game. If you set it up any other way, you're losing spatial information.
Indeed! I already found out that Logitech G Suite uses all channels to create virtual surround and it's correct to set R3E to 7.1. But about 2.0 sound sources it's vague. I know that Razors virtual surround utility will make it's own interpretation from a 2.0 sound source. Which I don't like because 2.0 is 2.0 and 7.1 is 7.1. But luckily I found out in my quest to the answer to my question that I can set soundprofiles per game. So I set standard mode to 2.0. R3E to 7.1 DTX wide surround, RF2 the same, Assetto Corsa to 2.0 etc. So that's a great standard solution in the Logitech G Suite!
Patrick, do you get a good spatial sound with the virtual 7.1 surround in R3E ? Im interested in buying virtual surround headset (HyperX Cloud II) but not sure a virtual surround gives the sufficient spatial effect
It does give extra spacial awareness, although I guess it can't ever and will not ever beat true surround through a decent setup were your system is connected via an digital output to a decent amplifier with ditto speakers. Most important is that the headset works independent from your (onboard) soundcard and thus from it's own USB interface. And further is the software of the manufacturer important, because that makes the difference with mediocre experience of virtual surround or a good experience with virtual surround. And although companies wil say it's best when al channels got their own speakerdriver in the earcup. It isn't. Best virtual surround is experienced from a single speakerdriver per earcup (or 2.0). Because frequencyseperation that close to your ears is unpleasantly noticable. You get harsh frequency splits. And that's my knowledge so far with virtual surround headsets.
thanks for the detail answer. I read some say the virtual surround is a flop, so i wanted to hear an experienced opinion from sim racer. I was thinking over a quality regular headset or a virtual surround gaming headset. Real 7.1 surround is not an option for me. If u say the virtual surround gives extra spacial awareness then i will go for it
Most virtual surround solutions can work with 2.0 source (some even don't allow you any other option with headphones), but it always sounds a lot more vague than when working with a 5.1 or 7.1 source. Which is only logical as with 2.0 source, the surround solution is basically guessing the sound cue direction, while with 5.1/7.1 source there's no "guessing". @nirt77 As a headphone user, I am a big fan of virtual surround and I'd never go back to simple stereo. The thing is, though, that different virtual surround solutions work for different people. I didn't really find anything better than Dolby Headphone for me, despite a slight reverb it adds to the sound, because I feel like it gives me the best overall feeling and I can also tweak it using the virtual speaker shifter utility exactly to my tastes. But other people really like say SBX Surround the newer Creative cards offer - I don't like it as much and on the Creative labs side, I much prefer their older THX Surround, which is kinda similar to the SBX, but still different in certain aspects. So it's the question of finding the solution (and setting) that suits you best. I have some old comparisons on my YouTube channel. For a while now, I've been trying to do a much more comprehensive new comparison, but I still couldn't get to it (and I'm still missing some of the hardware I'd like to get my hands on for the comparison to be as complete as possible )
Hello. Thanks for the great topic. I am thinking of purchasing a set of Corsair 7.1 headphones today and just want to make sure that I do not need anything else to get true 7.1 results from them. Looks like I need - 7.1 headphones. - set PC to 7.1 - set R3E to 7.1 thats is it? I do not need a 7.1 sound card as the headphone amp is doing that work?
That's it. Although it never will be true 7.1 since almost all headphones have only one driver (speaker) per side. Besides some ridiculous expensive headphones which have multiple drivers, there aren't multi driver headphones at normal pricepoint which are any good. But good manufacturers software/hardware will do an excellent job to let you experience 7.1 sound.
Thanks Patrick. Doing some reading it seems as though multi driver headsets are not preferred as they cause phase issues? Do you use a 7.1 headset? Which one?
That's correct, shifts in frequency which cause a change from the one driver to the other driver will cause unpleasant and unnatural effects. I personally own the Logitech G933 wireless headset. Which is imho a great set. Pricy compared to middle of the road headsets, but very comfortable, great sound and great software. Good controls in software for various surroundsettings and great equalizer. And settings can be applied per game. And no wires interfering when racing is also a great thing!
Nice. I just got a great deal on a Corsair Void. Excited to try it out. I am potentially more excited about wireless as well.
Not sure if it is set up right. Still seems stereo. I don't think I have 7.1 enabled on my PC. When I go to sounds and click on the voids the configure button is grey and not clickable.
If you right click on the Windows volume icon in the tray, select Playback devices, find your headset, right click and choose Configure speakers, can you set it to something like 7.1 (or maybe 5.1)?
Here a little how-to... have you set your headphone as default output device? https://www.online-tech-tips.com/windows-7/setup-surround-sound-in-windows-7/
I don’t know how the software configuration of the Void have to be configured, but when it’s like Logitech, you have to configure it in it’s proprietary software (and in case of my G933 with a lot of usefull possibilities which can be set per game). Hopefully it helps you a little bit in the right direction.
Maybe your headset also disallows actually settting your speakers to 7.1, like many other virtual surround solutions seem to do nowadays. Can you maybe post a screenshot of your headset's control panel settings (the proprietary one)?