SpeedLink Medusa 5.1 Headphones & xbox

[mug]

Hi

Is it possible to use these headphones with the optical out of a xbox and get 5.1 into the headphones. If not is there any other solutions ?

Thanks,
Marcus

[fallenangle]

I doubt it very much. You may be able to do it via your PC but otherwise you need a stereo amp (probably with Dolby decoding too) with an optical input to make use of the XBox optical audio output.

IMHO these surround sound headphones etc are a waste of money. I bought a purpose designed games orientated Thrustmaster set which comes with a really dinky portable battery run 5.1 true Dolby Headphone decoder. It works but it's surround sound effect is feeble and the battery life a joke.

You are MUCH better off forgetting about surround sound through your headphones and instead buy a surround sound cinema amp/decoder/receiver and using that with a properly decent pair of headphones. You may even find one now which features true Dolby Headphone decoding and get a pseudo surround sound result if that is still what you're really after.

[JayList]

Originally Posted by fallenangle

I doubt it very much. You may be able to do it via your PC but otherwise you need a stereo amp (probably with Dolby decoding too) with an optical input to make use of the XBox optical audio output.

IMHO these surround sound headphones etc are a waste of money. I bought a purpose designed games orientated Thrustmaster set which comes with a really dinky portable battery run 5.1 true Dolby Headphone decoder. It works but it's surround sound effect is feeble and the battery life a joke.

You are MUCH better off forgetting about surround sound through your headphones and instead buy a surround sound cinema amp/decoder/receiver and using that with a properly decent pair of headphones. You may even find one now which features true Dolby Headphone decoding and get a pseudo surround sound result if that is still what you're really after.

I have a 5.1 surround setup, which is great when I can be arsed. Also I have kids now so have to have the sound down to low.

I bought some Zalman 5.1 headphones, and they do a pretty good job. They have 6 speakers to simulate the 5.1 sound (bass is through all of them).

I bought them cause they were the only ones that looked like having true surround.

It is better through my pioneer amp and speakers , but as mentioned I'm not allowed to much noise anymore

The zalman headphones work from your pc, but you can buy a connector box that lets you get 5.1 from the xbox and other consoles.

check out quietpc for the Zalman headphones.

[fallenangle]

The thing I found with 5.1 headphones is that the effect is unconvincing and not particularly useful. With a speaker set up you get all that fantastic directional stuff you want. With 5.1 headphones the sound sort of moves just outside your head, there's no real sense of space and it simply sounds wrong.

Give me a reasonable stereo/home cinema amp + good headphones in preference anytime.

[mug]

I got the SpeedLink Medusa 5.1 Headphones today. Don't rate em at all I'm gonna chuck em on ebay and and stick to my senn px200's.

[InsertNameHere]

Originally Posted by mug

I got the SpeedLink Medusa 5.1 Headphones today. Don't rate em at all I'm gonna chuck em on ebay and and stick to my senn px200's

Could you expand on this a little? I'm looking for a headset myself and the Medusa's are a pair I've shortlisted (along with the Icemat Siberia's and Plantronics' GameCom1). Was it the USB version you bought or the one with the amp? Also have you had experiences with any other headsets (to compare them with)? I don't know how good they are you see. From your reaction it sounds like some decent headphones (e.g. Sennheiser PX100's) coupled with a mic would be the better option.

Thanks in advance.

Alex

[davecabezo]

Hi M8's,

Too late was the cry.

I've bought a set of Medusa 5.1 headsets and have come onto the forum to see how I can connect them to my system. I've not heard them yet but the reason I bought them was because I've moved to Tenerife and my Yamaha AVX 700 is too loud for the neighbours, I've got a neighbour on both sides.

The problem is that the Yamaha has only speaker outputs for the front but does have output jacks for the centre and rear. If I kept the volume to min would I still blow the supplied headphone amplifier. I do not want to waste any more money, if possible, due to the bad vibes in the posts above. Any help would be appreciated.
Regards,
Dave

[davecabezo]

Can anyone help with the post concerning the headphones and Yamaha amp.
Cheers,
Dave