Windows sonic vs plain old stero sound ? Is there actually a difference ? Is it more noticeable with higher quality headphones

[Overbuilder]

Hi everyone, i was just wondering whether you noticed a difference when gaming/watching movies with this feature enabled ? I have never tried it...

[SupaKomputa]

it enhances the sound output, but the quality depends on the quality of the end device (headphone / speakers).

Good Signal -> bad speaker = bad sound.

Good Signal -> good speaker = good

Bad signal -> good speaker = bad

[Overbuilder]

Ok, interesting. So do you think there will be any difference through my monoprice 8323 headphones ? Supossedly the audio qualtiy rivals that of much more expensive headphones...

[an actual squirrel]

Windows sonic for headphones allows you to get a better sense of direction when listening to headphones. This is because it uses hrtf to represent additional directions, whereas on stereo, you only have left and right.

 

There are certain requirements that have to be met for it to work. For gaming, you have to be using an application that uses a somewhat recent version of the xaudio2 api, which is pretty common with modern windows games. You will see this message when you click on the volume icon in the toolbar when it is working: https://imgur.com/3gtCZXH

[rice guru]

I find windows sonic kinda bad. It's good for virtual bsuround a d is compatible with the built in virtual surround of many gaming headsets but for content  like movies videos and music it sounds awful