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Why "5.1" headphones are a scam (with pictures!)

81K views 84 replies 52 participants last post by  balli1990 
#1 ·
There seems to be a lot of confusion over this topic. Most of the 5.1 users will tell you their headphones sound amazing, and its because they are 5.1.

Unfortunately sound quality is highly subjective. If you pulled an average person off the street and let them try HD 201s or Koss PortaPros they would probably say they are the best things they've ever heard, while most audiophiles wouldn't touch either one.

"5.1" headphones sound good because most of them aren't the cheap crap you get with mp3 players, and not because they are "5.1".

Now, there are two types of "5.1" headphones, USB and non-USB.

USB headphones are a complete scam because most of the time they aren't even 5.1 headphones.

Take the Creative Fatal1ty headset for instance. Its not even a 5.1 headset! Its only using 2 drivers, and because its USB its not even using your sound card. Its using software to emulate the same effects you get from features like CMSS-3D on X-Fi cards. A quality stereo headset with a dedicated X-Fi sound card will do a much better job at simulating 3d sound.

Then there are the headphones that actually stuff multiple drivers into their headset. Turtle Beach does this.

However if you stop and actually think about how you perceive sound you'll realise how stupid that it.

The human ear has the ability to tell the direction and distance of sound, that is why when you get a nice 5.1 home theater system you spread the speakers out:



The red squares represent the speakers. The angle θ represents the separation between the speakers. Becauseθ is large it is easy to tell the direction a sound is coming from, and you get a true surround effect.

Now lets look at a "5.1" headset:



This time the angle, φ is small. In fact its so small its pretty much insignificant, so it doesn't matter how many drivers they cram into the housing, because to your ear its only going to sound like a single source.

And whats worse is that because they are using more drivers, the quality is going to suffer.

For example, the Turtle Beach Ear Force FX uses 6 drivers, 3 in each ear, but because they are so close together they aren't going to sound any different than if they just used 2 drivers, so you're paying 3 times as much as you should be.
 
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#2 ·
Is there some hard science behind this? I would think it would all be relative to the way sound reacts at different angles/directions, you can simulate the angles by setting the drivers to the very front and back of the headset and adjusting volume/angle of the driver, as for the distance I am not sure. Maybe some type of scientific principle to demonstrate other than just telling us this. I understand what you are saying but I think you would need to back it up more based on physics.
 
#4 ·
I think 5.1 headphones are not worth the money too; 5.1 sound can be done with good headphones and a sound card features that can emulate 5.1 so that for instance when you turn around in a game, the sound goes smoothly from one can to another without giving the user the feeling that one side turned off right away and the other one picked up the sound.
 
#7 ·
Is it just me? Or are the sound channels swapped on that video? Or is it my MS lifechat messing up things? When he does the clicking, on the left and right, it comes from the other side. Yet when I do the speaker test, they come from the correct sides...
 
#8 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by allikat View Post
Is it just me? Or are the sound channels swapped on that video? Or is it my MS lifechat messing up things? When he does the clicking, on the left and right, it comes from the other side. Yet when I do the speaker test, they come from the correct sides...

have you tried.....wait for it.................putting your headphones on the right way?
 
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#11 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by _02 View Post
Speaker test works right so that can't be the issue.
Maybe your headphones are flipped the wrong way lol.
Or if you're using earphones, you have the right bud in the left ear, and vice versa.

Works great for me.
 
#14 ·
PIECE OF CRAP cheap, fake headset. I LOVE tj's vids, but this is just rediculous. He obviously never used anything other than generic ipod headphones / headphones.
 
#16 ·
I heard the virtual haircut a while ago, and that was convincing enough. 5.1 headphone/headsets are a gimmick, and nothing more. I honestly do not see how you could distinguish between a center, left, right, left rear, right rear, and a subwoofer with the drivers so close together. My stereo headphones coupled with my X-Fi Titanium provide surround sound all on their own. Now a true 5.1/7.1 home theater setup makes sense, but with the drivers just mm apart? Makes no sense to me whatsoever.
 
#17 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by smoothjk View Post
Maybe your headphones are flipped the wrong way lol.
Or if you're using earphones, you have the right bud in the left ear, and vice versa.

Works great for me.
It's a Micro$oft lifechat LX-3000 headset, and it's on the right way round. Maybe it's an issue with my beta version of flash...
 
#18 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by c00lkatz View Post
I heard the virtual haircut a while ago, and that was convincing enough. 5.1 headphone/headsets are a gimmick, and nothing more. I honestly do not see how you could distinguish between a center, left, right, left rear, right rear, and a subwoofer with the drivers so close together. My stereo headphones coupled with my X-Fi Titanium provide surround sound all on their own. Now a true 5.1/7.1 home theater setup makes sense, but with the drivers just mm apart? Makes no sense to me whatsoever.
The man speaks the truth
 
#20 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by litho View Post
I would have to disagree with op to some extent. There are true 5.1 headsets like this below. He even explains how the 5.1 on this headset work.

YouTube- Psyko 5.1 Headset Review

http://www.psykoaudio.com/
That doesn't mean it's any good. That thing looks supremely uncomfortable, and would probably just give me a headache. Besides that, why are ALL the speakers in the headband? There's no way to accurately distinguish between channels with a normal 5.1 headset, but having the drivers mashing the top of your skull, and those audio channels pushing sound through the casing, is much worse. I'd rather get an AD900 for the price of that.
 
#21 ·
Also, when it comes to music 99.99% is sold as stereo. Stereo, contrary to popular belief, is not simply 2 speakers, it is in fact using 2 speakers to create a feeling of being surrounded in sound (not to be confused with emulating surround sound).

To put it more simply... if your music is encoded in 2 channels, why listen to it in 6? Its like watching a DVD quality movie on a 1920x1080 screen, it looks grainy and nasty (in a bad way).

This may be off topic but as we are ranting about people assuming things they don't know I thought I'd throw something in
 
#22 ·
Why does everyone so passionately bash 5.1 headsets. Not everyone uses their computer to simply listen to music and stereo audio. I love a good pair of sennheiser's, they sound amazing, I also own beats for my ipod.. But to be honest I also LOVE 5.1 headsets. I got a Razer Barracuda about a year and a half ago, and that blew me away, I used it until it broke after after an accident in the house and now own a Roccat Kave which I love more than the Barracuda's.

In games that support 5.1, I notice a huge difference in directional sound and the ability to pick it up, that may just be me... but I'm sure the people that own them love them for a reason. but for those that only listen to music / movies on a pc, maybe they're not your best choice. I don't think the good 5.1's have been marketed towards music anyway, more of a gaming utility?
 
#23 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Pankie View Post
Why does everyone so passionately bash 5.1 headsets. Not everyone uses their computer to simply listen to music and stereo audio. I love a good pair of sennheiser's, they sound amazing, I also own beats for my ipod.. But to be honest I also LOVE 5.1 headsets. I got a Razer Barracuda about a year and a half ago, and that blew me away, I used it until it broke after after an accident in the house and now own a Roccat Kave which I love more than the Barracuda's.

In games that support 5.1, I notice a huge difference in directional sound and the ability to pick it up, that may just be me... but I'm sure the people that own them love them for a reason. but for those that only listen to music / movies on a pc, maybe they're not your best choice. I don't think the good 5.1's have been marketed towards music anyway, more of a gaming utility?
The point is you don't need 5 speakers for directional sound, even in gaming. The two stereo speakers do that all by themselves.

Not to say that all 5.1 headsets suck. They probably sound good. But the point is it's not because it has 5 speakers. It's because the speakers it does have sound 10x better than the $5 headphones/ear buds you've probably been using since you bought your first MP3 player (not "you" specifically, "you" in general).
 
#24 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Pankie View Post
Why does everyone so passionately bash 5.1 headsets. Not everyone uses their computer to simply listen to music and stereo audio. I love a good pair of sennheiser's, they sound amazing, I also own beats for my ipod.. But to be honest I also LOVE 5.1 headsets. I got a Razer Barracuda about a year and a half ago, and that blew me away, I used it until it broke after after an accident in the house and now own a Roccat Kave which I love more than the Barracuda's.

In games that support 5.1, I notice a huge difference in directional sound and the ability to pick it up, that may just be me... but I'm sure the people that own them love them for a reason. but for those that only listen to music / movies on a pc, maybe they're not your best choice. I don't think the good 5.1's have been marketed towards music anyway, more of a gaming utility?
Except that directional sound can be accomplished just fine with stereo headphones, and you're getting something of far better quality.

The people who own them don't know any better. They fall for marketing and hype. Just like those people who buy hybrids because they're supposedly saving the environment.
 
#25 ·
Directional sound from 3 speakers in each ear is obviously better than one in each, you can't really say otherwise. I know that good stereo's emulate surround sound but at least the 5.1 headphones have multiple drivers. And I have heard good stereo headphones, and like I said they're great, but I don't find that they compare to a 5.1 headset for the indented use of the 5.1's
 
#26 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Chunky_Chimp View Post
That doesn't mean it's any good. That thing looks supremely uncomfortable, and would probably just give me a headache. Besides that, why are ALL the speakers in the headband? There's no way to accurately distinguish between channels with a normal 5.1 headset, but having the drivers mashing the top of your skull, and those audio channels pushing sound through the casing, is much worse. I'd rather get an AD900 for the price of that.
I don't think you watched the video fully, It is meant for gaming, not music or movies. Of course it's not for you avg gamers, but they do exist, and not only they exist but they make a difference. This is why I said, I disagree with you partially. Although most 5.1 are a gimmick, there are some like the ones I posted above that are truly 5.1. Until you experience them don't bash them.
 
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