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Author Topic: Get the most out of your computer sound  (Read 21545 times)

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Offline Spanky

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Re: Get the most out of your computer sound
« Reply #15 on: Thursday, December 20, 2012, 17:50:39 PM »
I'm of course talking about having a nice sound to spot your enemies easier...

Of course :) You're talking about a Creative product (I didn't know they finally retired X-Fi). They've never been known for quality. Just gimmicks for people that don't know any better. They're trying hard to gain back the market from most all developers moving to CPU-based audio rendering.
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Offline eKC0mm

Re: Get the most out of your computer sound
« Reply #16 on: Thursday, December 20, 2012, 18:20:01 PM »
I have an X-Fi. All ill say is that everything sounds great. I have no complaints. (maybe this is just because i haven't heard anything better than an X-Fi)

To hear all in AA, just get a decent headset with a wide frequency. Then change some equalizer settings so that your mids are up. BOOM you can hear stuff.
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Offline Possessed

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Re: Get the most out of your computer sound
« Reply #17 on: Thursday, December 20, 2012, 18:54:44 PM »
last time I tried equalizer to play AA it was rly annoying, not to mention that a simple smoke fuked up everything lol.
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Offline Spanky

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Re: Get the most out of your computer sound
« Reply #18 on: Thursday, December 20, 2012, 18:55:56 PM »
I have an X-Fi. All ill say is that everything sounds great. I have no complaints. (maybe this is just because i haven't heard anything better than an X-Fi)

To hear all in AA, just get a decent headset with a wide frequency. Then change some equalizer settings so that your mids are up. BOOM you can hear stuff.

We've been over this in other threads before :) For those that haven't seen those threads, I will agree that in some circumstances an X-Fi or other dedicated sound card can be better than onboard audio. The reason behind this is that just like onboard graphics, onboard audio improves with time. If you have an older motherboard then getting a X-Fi, you will hear improvements. That's generally due to the DAC, opamps and other chips. That's not because it's an uber gamer 1337 card with led's and a quad core audio processor. That's all marketing hype. The fact is, audio semiconductors get better with time just like other semiconductors. Faster, smaller, lower voltage, better performance.

My second point is that there are no quality headsets unless you start looking at aviation equipment. There are fantastic quality headphones to be had anywhere between $100 and $150. ekcomm, didn't you get a pair of those Audio-Technica headphones? I know a few people here have and that's pretty much one of the best ways you can get more quality. In laymens terms, you need 2 things to have a real kick-ass beginner setup:
- Drivers (in speakers or headphones) that do a good job of replicating signals. The major differences are in smaller steps. When you go from a $15 store-bought headset to a $150 pair of headphones, the differences will blow your mind. But going from a $150 pair of headphones to a $500 pair, it will be better but it's not as big of a leap.
- Power, this is where the sound card comes in. You need to supply your drivers with adequate power so they can replicate signals properly. Think of a light bulb on a dimmer switch. Low power, you can't see jack shit. Crank the power up and all the details start coming out.

When your equipment starts replicating audio properly, your ears will no longer be fatigued and you can hear details that were muddled before. No equalizer needed.

I also want to point out that no equalizer can compensate for shitty headphones/headsets. If they could, recording studios and sound engineers would buy their equipment at Walmart.
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Offline Alex

Re: Get the most out of your computer sound
« Reply #19 on: Thursday, December 20, 2012, 19:19:30 PM »
For Christmas I'm thinking about getting a DAC and either a pair of Audio Technica AD700's or Grado SR80i's.

Offline eKC0mm

Re: Get the most out of your computer sound
« Reply #20 on: Thursday, December 20, 2012, 19:26:03 PM »
Audio-Technicas indeed. Noticed a big difference. I mean there good for the game and stuff. BUT i see what people are saying when they say the bass isnt too great. You can tell when you watch movies and play music that they just dont pump the bass well.
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Offline Spanky

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Re: Get the most out of your computer sound
« Reply #21 on: Thursday, December 20, 2012, 20:03:06 PM »
Audio-Technicas indeed. Noticed a big difference. I mean there good for the game and stuff. BUT i see what people are saying when they say the bass isnt too great. You can tell when you watch movies and play music that they just dont pump the bass well.

Yea, at $100-$150, you have to kind of pick and choose what style you want. There's bright headphones, great movie headphones and open vs closed, just all kinds. It's up past $300-$400 where things even out and become a real good balance, or so I've heard. I loved my Beyerdynamic DT770's but the highs were pretty distorted and sibilant. Great bass though.
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Offline 1m50ry

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Re: Get the most out of your computer sound
« Reply #22 on: Thursday, December 20, 2012, 22:16:20 PM »
spanky u look like u understand alot so please can u post here some cool eq settings which are shit for movies and music but good for aao?

Offline Spanky

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Re: Get the most out of your computer sound
« Reply #23 on: Thursday, December 20, 2012, 22:28:46 PM »
You probably want it like a bell curve, no lows or highs to blow your ears when you crank the volume. Aside from that, I can't really help. I never tweaked for AA so I don't know what sounds best and now, there's no way I can tweak or alter my audio with my setup now.
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Offline krIz+

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Re: Get the most out of your computer sound
« Reply #24 on: Thursday, December 20, 2012, 23:29:57 PM »
I realy dont see a point in buying a 300-400$ Headphones, for games or movies, for music creating, like cubase, abletone is legit.

Offline Spanky

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Re: Get the most out of your computer sound
« Reply #25 on: Thursday, December 20, 2012, 23:44:23 PM »
By themselves, headphones that expensive are useless. You need an amp and a dedicated DAC at that point. But with that equipment, they're not pointless. Most music producers use studio monitors anyway, not headphones.
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Offline eKC0mm

Re: Get the most out of your computer sound
« Reply #26 on: Thursday, December 20, 2012, 23:46:31 PM »
spanky u look like u understand alot so please can u post here some cool eq settings which are shit for movies and music but good for aao?

Alot of people use different EQ's. There was a bunch on gotfrag a few years ago. a bell curve favoring the highs is what i use. but i have seen people use a straight diagonal line from low to high and love it. I also play with some guys who dont use EQ's at all and hear more than i do. EQ boils down to preference and what your comfortable hearing. Experiment for yourself to see. I believe raising the mids allows you to hear footsteps more distinctly. and of course bass doesn't help you hear anything. high treble helps you hear clicks and doors.

Be careful not to make your ears bleed. I wouldn't venture beyond 50% volume if you have an x-Fi and especially if you using a recon. If you have any form of SVM (sound volume management) that helps alot. You don't want any sharp loud noises.
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Offline B@lestra^

Re: Get the most out of your computer sound
« Reply #27 on: Thursday, December 27, 2012, 04:46:02 AM »
I'm very interested in good sound quality while gaming. I mostly play with headphones, because the aao sounds can really be loud and i don't want to get on the nerves of my neighbours.
I've used for quite some time the 5.1 Speedlink Medusa Surround headset and variants of it and connected it with my creative x-fi extreme gamer soundcard. I was quite content with that configuration. A while ago, for a year or l a bit longer, i switched over to the arctic p531 headset which is connected via usb and has an integrated surround chip, up to 7.1 if i'm not wrong. I'm quite happy with that headset too. Positioning works well, but footsteps are a bit too quite and overall ambient and gunfire sounds too loud. I haven't played with the EQ settings yet, maybe i will give it a try. But, what headphones can you really suggest if you already own an x-fi card? I haven't heard fo these audio technica products yet. I'd appreciate it, if you can give me some tips on up-to-date gaming headphones wthin a price range of 50-150€. Either if it's from audio-technica or other companies

Offline teddy_grizzly_bear

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Re: Get the most out of your computer sound
« Reply #28 on: Thursday, December 27, 2012, 06:52:34 AM »
I think the reason your new headphones' ambient and gunfire is too loud is because of the headphones' own integrated sound chip. While x-Fi has SVM (don't remember what it stands for) in the drivers, which pretty much cuts down the maximum noise when there's a lot of it, but I'm guessing your p531 doesn't have that option (or you haven't enabled it). Since the p531 has its own sound chip, it doesn't go through your x-Fi card and the options you use there don't make any difference.

And I don't know anything about modern/good headphones.

I used to have Medusas as well, but Spanky said they're crap (pretty much). I believe him, but I don't have money for an amp + good pair of headphones anyway.
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Offline Mixk

Re: Get the most out of your computer sound
« Reply #29 on: Thursday, December 27, 2012, 07:18:34 AM »
Turtle beach use to sell a cheap $25 headset that did a great job of sound reproduction for what they were. Them along with my x-fi were all the sound equipment I ever needed, and didn't have the equalizer and volume set to ear bleed status, to hear all there is to hear. Only problem was turtle beach made swivel point at the ears so damn cheap they break constantly. Last time went to get a new set they had discontinued them and now offering a $75 pair that look to be made better but the sound reproduction is total crap.
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