Best 5.1 gaming headphones advice..

[BISHI]

Looking for some 5.1 ( or more) headphones for gaming and movies. Has anybody used the turtle beach cans or the pioneer ones ( that I can't find a uk price for anywhere).

[24 P]

I own these TRITTON Technologies, Inc. - TRIGA611 AXPRO they are good not great, what makes them good, not great is the fact they can become uncomfortable to wear, also cables, many of them.
I have owned turtle beach psuedo 5.1, Razor 5.1, these ones are the best so far, the AT Pro.
Why, total immersion, they are true 5.1 digital, they come with their own DD 5.1 decoder, they are fully customizable with independent levels for each channel, also adjustments for delays for centre and rear..
A tad soft for movies, but great for games, I crapped myself playing dead space,I had finished it already, but found myself playing it all over again purely because of these cans..

Like I said, uncomfortable to wear and cable management is the trade off..
I have 2 other pairs of cans, sen HD 25 and HD 600, they all do different things..But none do 5.1..

Hope this helps..

[crazy8s]

You may begin to see more responses advising you to avoid 5.1 headphones and buy a pair of quality stereo headphones (depending of course on your budget) and pair them with a surround sound adapter such as the JVC SU-DH1 or the Astro A40 mixamp

[Drubbing]

I always advise gamers to try stereo phones instead. "5.1" headsets do not do 5.1. It's technically impossible.

Widgets like decoders, adding delay, echo and reverb effects isn't the same thing; they are there to market them and jack the price up - you cannot replicate 5 separate channels and a sub, with a couple of cheap, extra drivers crammed into an ear-cup. They don't do true sound-staging any better than stereo.

at least going with stereo phones, you'll get a lot better product for your (less) money that will sound far better for music as well, when you're not gaming.

[24 P]

I doubt you can have an opinion on the Trittons unless you have used them, have you??
I was using them last night playing ODST, and I was easily absorbed into the game.
I was using my Senn HD 600s 1st, and then the Trittons, and guess what, the 5.1s were simply stunning. so people before write these cans off without having listen to them, do just that...Listen to them...

[BISHI]

Originally Posted by 24 P

I own these TRITTON Technologies, Inc. - TRIGA611 AXPRO they are good not great, what makes them good, not great is the fact they can become uncomfortable to wear, also cables, many of them.
I have owned turtle beach psuedo 5.1, Razor 5.1, these ones are the best so far, the AT Pro.
Why, total immersion, they are true 5.1 digital, they come with their own DD 5.1 decoder, they are fully customizable with independent levels for each channel, also adjustments for delays for centre and rear..
A tad soft for movies, but great for games, I crapped myself playing dead space,I had finished it already, but found myself playing it all over again purely because of these cans..

Like I said, uncomfortable to wear and cable management is the trade off..
I have 2 other pairs of cans, sen HD 25 and HD 600, they all do different things..But none do 5.1..

Hope this helps..

Are you saying the tritton ones are the best you owned..........I used to have a pair of trittons ( must be the old round version of these) but I had to keep fiiddling with the dials for each channel. Got rid of in the end cos they the wires got on my wick !!!

[BISHI]

I have some old sennhis that are great stereo headphones. I used to plug them into my old Yamaha dspax 5.1 amp and it had a special surround sound feature for the headphone socket that was utterly superb. I upgraded to an onkyo for the HDMI input but i doesn't have the virtual surround sound feature. I know Pioneer do some amazing 5.1 headphones but I just cant seem to locate them in the UK.

[24 P]

Out of all 3 5.1 cans I have owned, the Trittons win..
Turtle beach pseudo 5.1 but with the 8 drivers, Razor HP1s I think, they went back for repair, never got them back, the woofers failed, and they were not digital in, plus to take advantage of them, what a nightmare..
As for the Trittons, bit like having dinner with Pamela Anderson, not much conversation, but wait for after dessert, that is the whole idea..
If you can get past the cables, and uncomfortable factor, these cans, NOT HIFI, but give that certain immersion that just can't be beat, I find them easy to use, but in saying that, I must put some time into using them.. Be prepared to sit down and play, and you are rewarded..
If 5.1 is not your thing, then obviously stereo cans win hands down for clarity...
Can't have both..
Oh and I have tried DD headphone through my pc, man it had some serious issues, I thought I had blown my HD 600s, replayed the movie, same spot all the time, left driver, massive crackle...
It was the decoding...
My cans, luckily enough were not damaged...



If Pioneer have some cans I would be interested in seeing them, do you know the model number??

[Drubbing]

Originally Posted by 24 P

I doubt you can have an opinion on the Trittons unless you have used them, have you??
I was using them last night playing ODST, and I was easily absorbed into the game.
I was using my Senn HD 600s 1st, and then the Trittons, and guess what, the 5.1s were simply stunning.

I don't need to have listened to every set of "5.1" on the market to know the whole market is built on overpriced bling with widgets. So long as people understand they'll pay over the odds for something a set of stereo can do just as well as regards positional audio and clarity (not to mention comfort) for less, then bling away. I'm not telling people what to buy, but offering a counter opinion so they can make a decision based on both sides.

You've got plenty of complaints yourself about these; the cables are an issue, they're uncomfortable and the sound isn't hi fi (it never will be with games anyway) so what what do they do to create "immersion"? I get the same thing from my music with my phones due to their quality and presentation, 5.1 has nothing to do with it.

It's one thing to be absorbed in the game - virtually anything with 2 speakers can do that. It's the soundstaging and 5.1 thing - it's a crock. 3 cheapo drivers mm from your ears will not produce 5.1, no matter how super bling the decoder is.

As for your HD600, massive $$$ overkill for games, but would still be superior to '5.1' for immersion and positioning. If that didn't do it for you, I'd have to ask how you were amping them? At 300ohms they need plenty of grunt to open them up.

[24 P]

4 drivers not 3, they open up a sound stage, I am using them now on WET xbox 360, that is what I mean by immersion, sound field, the sound stage is very open, as if the cans are bigger than what they really are...
As for the 600s, I run a Hybrid vavle SS amp, TW 2.6.. drives 1 watt @ 150 ohms, so I get 500 mw out of them..
The trittons aren't bling, they work, and you can control the delay in the rears, they give a different effect from stereo..
Like I said, my complaints are, uncomfortable, cables, and not hifi, but for games they work great, even movies, yes the quality wil never be the same as stereo, but you can hear things with these, ie rears, and pin point...
I bought these on a blind buy, after reading up on them for 6 months, some what dissapointed, but they have grown on me...
Halo is fantastic with them, like I said, they seem bigger than what they are, ie sound field..

[Drubbing]

It doesn't matter that there are only 2 drivers per side; they're still cheaper drivers than you'll get in good quality phones. Soundstage and positioning is achieved with better drivers, not more. You pay for the blingy looks, widgets and extensive marketing that these headset makers have to recoup.

And you cannot 'buy' more soundstage from games with better phones or effects; you can't extract from the files what isn't there in the first place. A 100 pair of Audio Technica AD700 will extract the same soundstage from games as a HD600, or whatever top end phone is regarded as having the most expansive.

All the things you're saying about these, points to the widget effects they produce - which you clearly like, and that's fine. But having a delay feature isn't increasing soundstage.

While you like the effect, it's not the same as them being technically better than stereo. I think some could find them unnatural and distracting to over-tweak things with delay, echo, reverb etc, which some of these thing do.

[24 P]

Incorrect, there are 4 drivers per side, 2 for l & r rear, 2 for subs, 2 for l & r fronts & 2 for centre...
Are you aware that the trittons come with there own dolby digital decoder??
Thus each driver in dolby digtal gets the same sound field as a proper 5.1 set up??
This is what I am sayiing re sound filed, some thing a stereo pair of cans can not accomplish with DD headphone sound filed on a suitable amp, I have done the intensive testing...

I am currently playing an xbox 360 Dolby digital game with a decoder giving me 5.1 proper dolby digital sound stage...

i don't think I can explain it better than that..

[Drubbing]

Man, you're missing the point; 2,3, or 4 driver per side; what's the difference, the more there are, the crappier they'll be. You're arguing semantics and missing my main point. I'll reiterate and leave it here, as you seem only to ant to tell everyone you much you like these, and gloss over the real issues.

Soundstage and clarity is not about buying MORE drivers, it's about buying BETTER ones. And this will ALWAYS be limited by the nature of games files. Simple effects of footsteps, explosions etc are not hard to reproduce with accuracy.

Please, headphone drivers have a sub in there? C'mon. You're back on the marketing stuff - it matters not how many decoders and whatnot you have in there, you do not get 5.1 out of headphones. Period.

All you have described is those widget effects, which produce rear delay or whatever. Fine, you like the effect. But don't mistake that for 5.1. You simply cannot replicate 5 satellite speakers placed around a room with adequate space between them, and a full size sub, with headphones.

Again, you like the effect, fine. If other like the sound of that, then they'll get the Titton. But don't try and tell anyone true 5.1 surround sound and extra mega wide soundstage comes out of cheap drivers right next to your ear. Your ears simply cannot audibly process the difference between sound coming from one driver or another when they are crammed in right next to each other.

This effect is just as equally produced by quality drivers producing separation effects through better design, quality and build. Your ears can be fooled into gaining the same effect, for far less cash, with stereo. Because the drivers do it better than '5.1' in the first place.

I haven't heard many of these sets, don't need to, because they're all shades of the same flavour. I've also had many discussions about this with someone who was a competitive Pro gamer for 15 years, and who only ever used good stereo phones. He now owns a headphone store and still games. He stocks a few 5.1s, because no matter that he tells gamers, some want bling and toys to play around with. And despite his advice and experience, if that's what they're set on, better he sells one to them after spending his time to give that advice.

So that's all I'm saying, these things are no better for gaming. You might like them, but technically stereo can do it all just as well, or better, for less. Plus, as you've already said these sets aren't about hi fi. So after gaming if someone wants to listen to music, phones will do this better too.

I'll leave readers to make up their own mind, but people should know what they're buying isn't technically superior.

[24 P]

I have 3 different pairs of cans and I know what I can achieve from all 3, you're preaching to the choir...
Tell some one else that cares, I can't believe you have gone to this effort...
You can get 5.1 you just don't understand how...
But each to their own.
Back to topic, to OP, if anyone you know has a set of 5.1 cans, I suggest you listen to them...
I have 3 pairs that do very different things, and all do those different things very well..
Trittons are pricey, I bought them on a blind buy an it took me awhile to get to like them..
But I had money to throw away, it all depends on what you expect to gain from these cans, as others have suggested, you can't get real 5.1 from cans, but how would they know if they don't own them??
All I can say is, I am using them now, and this is over a set of Sen HD 600s with external amp...
Your choice, but if it is stereo reproduction you want, go for a set of stereo pair, if you want to invest in some 5.1 digital cans, then do some solid research as it could work out for you as an expensive mistake..
I actually researched these for a year before taking the plunge, but I have owned 3 different pair of 5.1 now..
I do know what I am talking about as I have done many experimenting...
Each to their own..

[BISHI]

I really want something like this -

Amazon.com: Pioneer SE-DIR800C Wireless Headphones with Dolby Headphone Technology: Electronics