Audio novice here, was just curious if anyone has had experience with this and to hear peoples takes:
Context
Recently wanted to shift off of using over-ear headphones as my daily driver (WFH and game a decent amount, the clamp and pressure is getting to me). Did some light research and picked up some Chi-Fi IEMs (Moondrop Aria) as an entry point to see how things go.
My previous headset was a SteelSeries Arctis 7, and I was using SteelSeries Sonar as a virtual mixer because I liked being able to split out the game / chat channels, etc. I was using their Spatial Audio (virtual 7.1 channel audio) for gaming because I felt like it gave me better imaging (I think that’s the right word?) for footsteps and directional audio cues when playing comp FPS.
Now, with my new IEMs I was playing around with using SteelSeries Sonar even without their headset. I set up an EQ profile that people pointed Aria users to online, thought it was nice, and still use a separate profile for gaming that I prefer as it’s tuned a bit more for that in-game imaging. Effectively, I have a profile for most daily use (music, videos, movies, with Spatial Audio off) and then one for gaming (Spatial Audio on).
When playing around with it however, I feel like using Spatial Audio on even my non-gaming sound profile gives a “broader” sound? Like it feels a bit more full and opens up the sound a bit? I feel like I’m using imprecise terms and so I’m here to ask what other people may have thought about it and if they use any kind of virtual 7.1 audio with their IEMs (or other single driver headphones) and if they like/dislike it?
TL;DR:
- Switched from SteelSeries Arctis 7 to Moondrop Aria IEMs to stop dealing with clamp/pressure.
- Still using SteelSeries Sonar as virtual mixer
- Have different audio profiles for gaming vs casual use
- Spatial Audio (virtual 7.1 audio) is used with gaming profile but I’m finding that I like it with casual use too.
Does anyone else have experience using virtual 7.1 audio with their single driver headphones for non-gaming, and do you like it? Am I missing out on anything by doing this?
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Regardless if headphones or IEMs have single or multiple drivers for each side, surround sound in headphones is still just 2 channels, with simulated 7.1 effects through software. There isn’t anything special about “7.1 surround headphones” in terms of driver technology, it’s all in the software and processing.
So, yeah, you can pair the software with pretty much any headphone type, and it will probably sound more spacious and might have more accurate imaging for games
Do whatever you like. I’ve always found surround virtualization just sounds like shit.
This stuff is mostly subjective to each peraon. Yeah I have been pretty unimpressed with all the simulated 7.1 stuff. I have tried a handful. I think the SBX one is the best in my opinion but still not great. Pretty awful for music and hit or miss for games I have been impressed with.DTSX Headphones and Dolby Atmos for games that support 3d audio like cyberpunk or uncharted 4. There is plenty more but I don’t play competitive games so I’m not so sure about footsteps and positioning but I do enjoy it for the added environmental immersion. Just give a try.
Oh Returnal on steam has the absolute best execution of 3d audio in my opinion.