Hey guys,

I have read countless reviews about those and I am still confused.

If I get that headset and plug it to my motherboard directly, will it be surround sound? Because I do play other games than SC that require surround to fully enjoy.

I heard about the USB variant as well. But I also heard that if your motherboard support surround sound than you are better to just buy the 3.5mm version and just use the surround on the mobo.

Is that right?

pungk

Romania61 Posts

April 10 2013 15:43 GMT

Buy the usb soundcard... its way better than most integrated soundcards. Tho best would be to buy a dedicated soundcard.

vexXed

Hong Kong16 Posts

April 10 2013 16:12 GMT

Do NOT get this headset. Mine just died recently after about a year of use and I kept it in VERY good condition throughout. I was literally stunned at how it just ceased working one day for no reason. There was no sound out of the right earcup and no matter what I did it wouldn't work again.

I searched online and found SO many others with the same problem. Some people even kept buying a new pair over and over when their old ones broke again and again! Steelseries must laughing all the way to the bank as they aren't really that cheap for the build quality. It is a shame as I really liked the lightness of it. I won't be getting any 'gaming' headset from now on and will most likely go with a Sennheiser in the future. Trust me on this, you have been warned!

pungk

Romania61 Posts

April 10 2013 16:27 GMT

Indeed steelseries seems to have issues with the wiring. Had a 5hv2 with the same issue, but it started after about 2 years+ and i didn't really treat the headsets well...
Also went with Sennheiser (they have some really good models) but i still use the usb soundcard from 5hv2 ^^

DJFaqU

466 Posts

April 10 2013 17:33 GMT

You won't get surround sound with 2 speakers, which is what these headphones essentially are.

dUTtrOACh

Canada2339 Posts

April 10 2013 18:03 GMT

On April 11 2013 02:33 DJFaqU wrote:
You won't get surround sound with 2 speakers, which is what these headphones essentially are.

That depends. The 2 earphones could have more than 1 speaker in each, giving a 3-dimensional sound. I don't get the appeal, but somebody might.

sabas123

Netherlands3122 Posts

April 10 2013 19:52 GMT

when i use my siberia v2 with the 3.5 it has some surround, to amazing but still decent amount.

DJFaqU

466 Posts

April 10 2013 22:40 GMT

On April 11 2013 03:03 dUTtrOACh wrote:

Show nested quote +

That depends. The 2 earphones could have more than 1 speaker in each, giving a 3-dimensional sound. I don't get the appeal, but somebody might.

But they don't, which you can easily find out yourself by checking their website, and I quote: "A 50mm driver unit [...]". So, no surround.
If people say otherwise, they're just fooled by sound effects that are supposed to give you the impression of surround sound by making sound that's supposed to come from the back sound differently. It's still coming from the side. And, if I might add, these effects sound like shit.

Detri

United Kingdom683 Posts

April 10 2013 23:02 GMT

1 3.5mm jack = stereo sound as far as I am aware, unless some serious leaps in 3.5mm technology have happened

DPK

Canada487 Posts

April 11 2013 00:11 GMT

#10

On April 11 2013 07:40 DJFaqU wrote:

Show nested quote +

And that's exactly the purpose of the "3D positional surround sound" that comes with most gaming headset that says it have surround sound. I think its common sense to know that you aren't paying for real surround sound when you buy a 100$ headset that being advertise as "surround sound". The "3d surround sound" always comes from the sound card that comes with the headset and its not based on how many speakers each earcups have. It's an emulation of surround sound. You won't find the "3d positional surround sound" with a normal headset with a 3.5mm jack, it only on the ones who are usb and have their own sound card.

sLideSC2

United States225 Posts

April 11 2013 01:05 GMT

#11

these things are less than 40 bucks new on ebay, just letting you know. ordered mine a few days ago.

Rollin

Australia1552 Posts

April 11 2013 02:17 GMT

#12

Actually, binaural sound from a high quality headphone (read: not gaming branded) sounds way better than the shit that gaming companies try to market. You only have 2 ears, what makes positional audio so strong is the balance in sound, mixed with the slight delay between ears, mixed with the slight pitch differences. 50 speakers in each headphone will not improve positional audio. If you really want a quality pair for fps games, ath ad-700s are the go to pair for cheap (~$100). A creative or dolby card will probably help too, depending on the games you're playing.

Try reading this:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/483802/quest-for-holy-grail-of-gaming-sound

felisconcolori

United States6168 Posts

April 11 2013 04:53 GMT

#13

On April 11 2013 08:02 Detri wrote:
1 3.5mm jack = stereo sound as far as I am aware, unless some serious leaps in 3.5mm technology have happened

Actually, some of the 3.5mm jacks are 2 playback channels and one line in channel - mostly only applies to headsets and usually cellphones are the only place you'll find the correct plug to utilize the 2+1 connector.

But yeah, full surround on a 3.5mm jack would be a ridiculous feat of striping the connections. At that point, why bother? Just go full digital or phono connections.