5.1 Surround Gaming Headset with Analog (3.5mm) connections?

[stoo]

I have a Soundblaster Z PCIe card that I've used for many years. I like it and I don't want to "sidegrade" to some USB-based device.

 

The 5.1 headset I use - the ROCCAT Kave XTD 5.1 Analog - has begun to fail after 2.5 years of daily use. The right rear driver no longer seems to work. I've opened it up and checked all the wires but I can't see any solder breaks or problems of any kind.

 

I would happily buy another set, but it seems that Roccat has discontinued this line; they no longer make any 5.1 analog headsets, and I get it - it's a niche market. Unfortunately, it seems, nobody else makes them either.

 

My requirements are pretty simple:

 

• gaming headset
• 5.1 surround
• analog connections (front, center, rear and mic all 3.5mm jacks)
• ships to the UK without costing a fortune
• not total garbage

 

So, LTT forum people, can anyone suggest a replacement, or even point me to a supplier who has new-old stock of these?

 

Thanks for your attention.

[Himommies]

PC37X from Massdop

 

[stoo]

2 minutes ago, Himommies said:

PC37X from Massdop

 

Not 5.1 surround, sadly. It needs separate jacks for front, rear, center and mic (4 x 3.5mm jacks).

[Himommies]

6 minutes ago, stoo said:

Not 5.1 surround, sadly. It needs separate jacks for front, rear, center and mic (4 x 3.5mm jacks).

5.1 on headphones is completly useless since the drivers are too close together too make a diffrence,its a lot better to get 2 reliable drivers

[stoo]

1 minute ago, Himommies said:

5.1 on headphones is completly useless since the drivers are too close together too make a diffrence,its a lot better to get 2 reliable drivers

I disagree.

[toobladink]

I want to say that 5.1 hasn't really been explored because of what Himommies just said about the drivers being too close together.

 

Have you tried another nice headset to compare?

 

Any justification to not going to USB? Or is it because you just don't want to and want to extend the use of that PCIe card?

[toobladink]

I want to add - that if 5.1 on headsets was really that good - wouldn't it make sense for all those super gaming expensive headsets to tout that as a feature? But instead we have vibrating headphones now?

[Vandey]

Buy a more expensive pair of stereo headphones and attach a modmic to it... The virtual surround is nearly as good if not better as 5.1 when you have two decent sized drivers. I use the Sennheiser HD598 and don't regret it.

[rice guru]

I agree with what some people are saying headphones with more than 2 drivers are not worth it.

I've used some myself they kinda sound like trash as one the drivers are too close together but when trying to attempt surround sound it doesn't do it as well as a headphone with only 2 drivers as instead it sounds muddy.i would honestly nrather you grab some other headset or look into getting a proper headphone and a modmic.

[Tz000]

16 hours ago, stoo said:

I have a Soundblaster Z PCIe card that I've used for many years. I like it and I don't want to "sidegrade" to some USB-based device.

 

The 5.1 headset I use - the ROCCAT Kave XTD 5.1 Analog - has begun to fail after 2.5 years of daily use. The right rear driver no longer seems to work. I've opened it up and checked all the wires but I can't see any solder breaks or problems of any kind.

 

I would happily buy another set, but it seems that Roccat has discontinued this line; they no longer make any 5.1 analog headsets, and I get it - it's a niche market. Unfortunately, it seems, nobody else makes them either.

 

My requirements are pretty simple:

 

• gaming headset
• 5.1 surround
• analog connections (front, center, rear and mic all 3.5mm jacks)
• ships to the UK without costing a fortune
• not total garbage

 

So, LTT forum people, can anyone suggest a replacement, or even point me to a supplier who has new-old stock of these?

 

Thanks for your attention.

 

[pas008]

1 hour ago, rice guru said:

I agree with what some people are saying headphones with more than 2 drivers are not worth it.

I've used some myself they kinda sound like trash as one the drivers are too close together but when trying to attempt surround sound it doesn't do it as well as a headphone with only 2 drivers as instead it sounds muddy.i would honestly nrather you grab some other headset or look into getting a proper headphone and a modmic.

how its implemented is key remember many of the best in ears have multiple drivers too

but just like anything else sound wise is subjective

and some does take time to get use to, I know I tried a few of those headsets and after awhile I could start to tell the positional somewhat accurately, but I despise besides much greater power of choosing your sound style, headsets mic breaks what do you have? headphones, one of the cups break what do you have? a mic, separate that shit

[Vandey]

multi-driver in ear's aren't made for surround sound tho right? The only ones I've really seen that have multiple drivers are to balance the sound out. If you have one driver it may lack in bass or treble which is why they have a 2nd driver to compensate with what is needed. With a single larger driver of over the ear headphones you don't need multi-drivers because the single driver can cover a larger range of frequencies. Comparing the in-ear to over ear variety in this aspect probably isn't a great comparison.

 

That review that linus did showed that the software processing of sound was more accurate than having multidrivers. The "Virtual Surround" has come a long way, and with a decent set of stereo headphones sounds great. However if you're used to the multidriver method it might take you a while to get used to the virtual sound. Honestly if true 7.1 or 5.1 was a benefit to gamers you'd see a lot more options of true 5.1/7.1 headsets.

1 hour ago, pas008 said:

how its implemented is key remember many of the best in ears have multiple drivers too

but just like anything else sound wise is subjective

and some does take time to get use to, I know I tried a few of those headsets and after awhile I could start to tell the positional somewhat accurately, but I despise besides much greater power of choosing your sound style, headsets mic breaks what do you have? headphones, one of the cups break what do you have? a mic, separate that shit

 

[pas008]

1 hour ago, Vandey said:

multi-driver in ear's aren't made for surround sound tho right? The only ones I've really seen that have multiple drivers are to balance the sound out. If you have one driver it may lack in bass or treble which is why they have a 2nd driver to compensate with what is needed. With a single larger driver of over the ear headphones you don't need multi-drivers because the single driver can cover a larger range of frequencies. Comparing the in-ear to over ear variety in this aspect probably isn't a great comparison.

 

That review that linus did showed that the software processing of sound was more accurate than having multidrivers. The "Virtual Surround" has come a long way, and with a decent set of stereo headphones sounds great. However if you're used to the multidriver method it might take you a while to get used to the virtual sound. Honestly if true 7.1 or 5.1 was a benefit to gamers you'd see a lot more options of true 5.1/7.1 headsets.

 

how its implemented did you miss that part?

and if you have used many headsets with multi drivers you would be saying "close but no" also because the implementation is shit

I know how multidrivers in inears are to cover a range

but I also know many headphones suffer in one way are another is certain areas when you have many things going on

 

 

always been a longtime firm supporter of vss been in many arguments here on this and many other forums thoroughout the years use to link clear differences

 

have owned many headphones currently use he400, hd600, hd558, xpt100, cals, q701, dt770 others too

they all are great but lack in certain areas at times depending on what i'm playing and if music is going on too

used many dac/amps also currently just use x7 or o2 combo

vss, used them all thx to hesuvi lol

 

but back to the point sound is subjective period

some might like per channel driver in their ears know quite a few cant change their mind or even trick them they can tell or are use to it and have their ears trained for it

but multidrivers arent a negative thing when we use them in inears or with large speaker setups

over ear wise I dont think they implemented it correctly yet its always driver per channel but thats correct for some users i guess

 

 

 

 

[Vandey]

I agree with you that sound is very subjective... a lot of people dont notice the smallest differences. I really don't think that a 5.1 setup is any better than a quality pair of stereo headphones is all I'm getting at. But to change from a physical 5.1 system to virtual would probably take a little bit of training. But again there isn't enough evidence to show that a true 5.1 setup in headphones is even worth it. A lot of forums I've posted on all suggest saving your money on a true surround headphone to get a quality stereo set. I have used a few different pairs but haven't gotten any higher than my HD598's which I think have awesome sound. But I also don't really have equipment that will drive these 598's (which is probably mid tier) to their full potential.

 

All I'm going to say is keep in mind that you sound is only going to be as good as the source it's coming from. I notice a huge difference between onboard and soundcard audio... some people cannot!

[stoo]

So this topic kinda slid into the merits of multi-driver headphones, which I kinda expected.

 

Of course it's completely subjective, and it's probably just that I'm used to this setup. I will say that the SBZ has excellent sound quality - to my ears - and I'd be pretty annoyed to get a USB set with integrated sound and find that the sound characteristics were worse.

 

Yeah, maybe I'd be better off succumbing to the "virtual" surround offered by so many USB-based headsets, but the arguments against multi-driver headsets here bear a lot of similarity to the arguments made against high refresh rate monitors. Some people argue that you can't tell the difference. Some people are wrong.

 

In the end, I ordered a replacement set of ROCCAT Kave XTD 5.1 Analog from a seller in the US, getting shipped to my brother in Texas who will forward them onto me in the UK.

 

Yes, I realize this is a stop-gap measure; that eventually the replacement will also fail or driver support for the SBZ will end or something else will force me to change, but for now I'm happy with this setup. When I eventually replace my PC I'll probably look into the newest 7.1 USB sets.

 

I guess, in the end, the biggest obstacle is there is no cheap, effective way to evaluate different headsets and pick the one best suited to your needs and expectations; it's always a gamble. Maybe somewhere in the world a headset "showroom" with live demos of each headset would be commercially viable, but that place isn't here.

 

Better the devil you know.

[pas008]

15 minutes ago, Vandey said:

I agree with you that sound is very subjective... a lot of people dont notice the smallest differences. I really don't think that a 5.1 setup is any better than a quality pair of stereo headphones is all I'm getting at. But to change from a physical 5.1 system to virtual would probably take a little bit of training. But again there isn't enough evidence to show that a true 5.1 setup in headphones is even worth it. A lot of forums I've posted on all suggest saving your money on a true surround headphone to get a quality stereo set. I have used a few different pairs but haven't gotten any higher than my HD598's which I think have awesome sound. But I also don't really have equipment that will drive these 598's (which is probably mid tier) to their full potential.

 

All I'm going to say is keep in mind that you sound is only going to be as good as the source it's coming from. I notice a huge difference between onboard and soundcard audio... some people cannot!

I agree 5.1 true headset a driver per channel is junk for me and I wont take the time to train my ears on that junk either but multidriver headphones in general does not mean they are bad

like I said they arent implementing them right maybe if they tried for range like speakers and inears they might get decent

might is the keyword here

 

[Vandey]

10 minutes ago, pas008 said:

I agree 5.1 true headset a driver per channel is junk for me and I wont take the time to train my ears on that junk either but multidriver headphones in general does not mean they are bad

like I said they arent implementing them right maybe if they tried for range like speakers and inears they might get decent

might is the keyword here

 

I never said multidriver meant they were bad... 

 

Just said that multidriver for 5.1 hasn't been proven as a real benefit to the majority.

13 minutes ago, stoo said:

So this topic kinda slid into the merits of multi-driver headphones, which I kinda expected.

 

Of course it's completely subjective, and it's probably just that I'm used to this setup. I will say that the SBZ has excellent sound quality - to my ears - and I'd be pretty annoyed to get a USB set with integrated sound and find that the sound characteristics were worse.

 

Yeah, maybe I'd be better off succumbing to the "virtual" surround offered by so many USB-based headsets, but the arguments against multi-driver headsets here bear a lot of similarity to the arguments made against high refresh rate monitors. Some people argue that you can't tell the difference. Some people are wrong.

 

In the end, I ordered a replacement set of ROCCAT Kave XTD 5.1 Analog from a seller in the US, getting shipped to my brother in Texas who will forward them onto me in the UK.

 

Yes, I realize this is a stop-gap measure; that eventually the replacement will also fail or driver support for the SBZ will end or something else will force me to change, but for now I'm happy with this setup. When I eventually replace my PC I'll probably look into the newest 7.1 USB sets.

 

I guess, in the end, the biggest obstacle is there is no cheap, effective way to evaluate different headsets and pick the one best suited to your needs and expectations; it's always a gamble. Maybe somewhere in the world a headset "showroom" with live demos of each headset would be commercially viable, but that place isn't here.

 

Better the devil you know.

There are a lot of external USB sound cards now, all or probably most of them are going to deliver better results than on board audio. My next audio card I buy may even be a USB one because I haven't heard enough negative things about going with an external route... this would allow me to then take my audio card with me on the run if I wanted decent sound out of my laptop. 

 

Also, I have a sound blaster card as well. It does support a physical 5.1 setup if I had one. I actually used to have 5.1 speakers on it. However, in the sound blaster software you can enable the virtual surround (at least on my card you could) and it works very very well. If anything if your sound card is starting to get old, get a new sound card, and then get a decent set of stereo headphones. Like I said my HD 598's sound awesome when I game with them. However they are open back so it lets the sound travel to those around me. I was super nervous when I bought my headphones because I didn't know if I would like them. I know the fear, but I did my research and found a great deal on them and haven't regretted it.

[pas008]

51 minutes ago, Vandey said:

 I have used a few different pairs but haven't gotten any higher than my HD598's which I think have awesome sound. But I also don't really have equipment that will drive these 598's (which is probably mid tier) to their full potential.

598s are easy to drive most newer onboard should handle them perfectly fine

3 minutes ago, Vandey said:

I never said multidriver meant they were bad... 

 

Just said that multidriver for 5.1 hasn't been proven as a real benefit to the majority.

 

many bring up multidrivers crammed into the cup and so on

 

I love many inears multi driver or single but I cant wear them long time if I could I prolly would have dropped headphones completely

[rice guru]

3 hours ago, pas008 said:

598s are easy to drive most newer onboard should handle them perfectly fine

many bring up multidrivers crammed into the cup and so on

 

I love many inears multi driver or single but I cant wear them long time if I could I prolly would have dropped headphones completely

well multidriver in ears are also kinda a different animal like each driver has a different purpose like a BA driver could provide tighter better low end and a dynamic can do the rest both work together to create one sound. while on headphones 5.1 headphones attempt to create different sounds at different angles which we would call separation and soundstage for headphones  but because the drivers are so close together the result is a muddy mess

[pas008]

35 minutes ago, rice guru said:

well multidriver in ears are also kinda a different animal like each driver has a different purpose like a BA driver could provide tighter better low end and a dynamic can do the rest both work together to create one sound. while on headphones 5.1 headphones attempt to create different sounds at different angles which we would call separation and soundstage for headphones  but because the drivers are so close together the result is a muddy mess

If you read my other posts you would see the talk of implementation

[AngryBeaver]

Honestly OP, I would just pick up a pair of Arctis 3 or 5's and call it a day. My teenager has a pair of the 5's which will work on analog or usb. I have found using them with Dolby Atmos is about as good as it gets. So if you have windows 10 I would recommend spending the little money for Dolby Atmos and picking up a good set of analog or even usb headphones. 

 

The whole 5.1 or 7.1 surround headphone thing is just a gimmick anyways. Now if you use the Dolby Atmos or to a slightly lesser extent Windows sonic... then you will see decent results. That is because they are object orientated instead of directional. So instead of a sound being coded to come from the back left speaker or side right channel... they are instead placed in a 3d space. With headphones the speakers are generally in the same area(don't need to build the 3d space by configuring speaker locations) so it is easy to create the correct effects to place that item into a virtual 3d space. 

 

Now to elaborate on the above. We only have 2 ear drums, but somehow can tell direction of sounds. That is because of the way the sound shifts or hits our ears at different times. That is what Dolby Atmos taps into to create the 3d space and they are basically slightly changing the sound of each object to reproduce what you would hear naturally from that virtual position.

[Vandey]

 

17 hours ago, pas008 said:

598s are easy to drive most newer onboard should handle them perfectly fine

many bring up multidrivers crammed into the cup and so on

 

I love many inears multi driver or single but I cant wear them long time if I could I prolly would have dropped headphones completely

598s may be easy to drive, but the quality of sound on the onboard is shit compared to a dedicated sound card. I've never encounted a single on board audio device that sounds decent to me.

[pas008]

1 minute ago, Vandey said:

 

598s may be easy to drive, but the quality of sound on the onboard is shit compared to a dedicated sound card. I've never encounted a single on board audio device that sounds decent to me.

anything pretty much any decent mobo  in last 5 yrs does fine for 598s

prolly last 7

[Vandey]

 

1 minute ago, pas008 said:

anything pretty much any decent mobo  in last 5 yrs does fine for 598s

prolly last 7

my motherboard is probably 6 or 7 years old... and sounds like shit compared to my sound card so not sure...