How do I get 3D sound in games?

[Thready]

I don't know anything about audio and sound. I've heard of 3D sound but I'm not quite sure what that is or how to get it.

 

I have a Soundblaster Omni which I plug speakers and headphones into. Do I need extra hardware? Do games even utilize it to a significant degree to make it worth it to get?

[Streetguru]

7 minutes ago, Thready said:

 

All headphones are going to already give you surround sound in games, other gimmicks really don't matter.

[Thready]

13 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

All headphones are going to already give you surround sound in games, other gimmicks really don't matter.

Oh. So it's not really anything special? It's just a fancy way of saying surround sound?

[Streetguru]

1 minute ago, Thready said:

Oh. So it's not really anything special? It's just a fancy way of saying surround sound?

Pretty much, what exactly are you referring to?

[Thready]

Just now, Streetguru said:

Pretty much, what exactly are you referring to?

I keep hearing how games are using 3D sound and I'm not sure what exactly that is or how to activate it. I just read that Windows 10 implemented 3D sound support in 2017 but I'm not sure what hardware I need for it to work properly.

[Streetguru]

1 minute ago, Thready said:

I keep hearing how games are using 3D sound and I'm not sure what exactly that is or how to activate it. I just read that Windows 10 implemented 3D sound support in 2017 but I'm not sure what hardware I need for it to work properly.

There's definitely some audio demos and stuff for "3D sound", but you pretty much only need headphones to make it work
 

 

[Thready]

Just now, Streetguru said:

There's definitely some audio demos and stuff for "3D sound", but you pretty much only need headphones to make it work
 

 

Oh. Well that's good. I wonder how my external soundcard handles it. Thanks for the help. I'm checking this vid out now.

[Thready]

9 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

There's definitely some audio demos and stuff for "3D sound", but you pretty much only need headphones to make it work
 

 

So I assume that Dolby Atmos is also available for any headphones? Would that be worth $15 for the download?

[Streetguru]

6 minutes ago, Thready said:

So I assume that Dolby Atmos is also available for any headphones? Would that be worth $15 for the download?

Not sure what you are referring to again, but probably not. That's more a thing for speaker set ups and not headphones I think.

[Thready]

43 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

Not sure what you are referring to again, but probably not. That's more a thing for speaker set ups and not headphones I think.

You can buy Dolby Atmos functionality for Windows for $15 from the MS App store. But upon further research I've decided that it's not worth it unless you have a 7.1 setup. 

[Streetguru]

3 minutes ago, Thready said:

You can buy Dolby Atmos functionality for Windows for $15 from the MS App store. But upon further research I've decided that it's not worth it unless you have a 7.1 setup. 

Even then things already support 7.1 surround sound, it's likely not much better.

 

also pretty sure your source for the audio needs the atmos support anyways.

[Thready]

1 minute ago, Streetguru said:

Even then things already support 7.1 surround sound, it's likely not much better.

 

also pretty sure your source for the audio needs the atmos support anyways.

Yeah the more research I do the more I'm understanding this stuff

[an actual squirrel]

14 hours ago, Streetguru said:

All headphones are going to already give you surround sound in games, other gimmicks really don't matter.

No, by default headphones are stereo devices. This is one dimension, left to right. To get 3d sound, the game has to utilize hrtf to stuff in extra dimensions into the audio. The hrtf is specialized for headphone users only, so this is typically optional as to not screw up the audio for speaker users, if it is available at all.

 

If there is no hrtf available in the game at all, say like in Apex Legends, then often the game supports something like 7.1 or 5.1 surround sound. You can then use hrtf on that to have a better front-back dimension. That's how virtual 7.1 works.

[Thready]

1 hour ago, an actual squirrel said:

No, by default headphones are stereo devices. This is one dimension, left to right. To get 3d sound, the game has to utilize hrtf to stuff in extra dimensions into the audio. The hrtf is specialized for headphone users only, so this is typically optional as to not screw up the audio for speaker users, if it is available at all.

 

If there is no hrtf available in the game at all, say like in Apex Legends, then often the game supports something like 7.1 or 5.1 surround sound. You can then use hrtf on that to have a better front-back dimension. That's how virtual 7.1 works.

Oh boy now I'm doubly confused lol

[rice guru]

15 hours ago, Streetguru said:

Not sure what you are referring to again, but probably not. That's more a thing for speaker set ups and not headphones I think.

I does have Dolby Atmos for headphones great for movies and games that have it available.