Arctis 9 Setup suggestions

[DudeWhatTheN]

Do some of you have a good eq for the Arctis 9?

I'm trying to get that huge audio room in my headphones similiar to my old G933

[Tigerleon]

3 hours ago, DudeWhatTheN said:

Do some of you have a good eq for the Arctis 9?

I'm trying to get that huge audio room in my headphones similiar to my old G933

Get open back headphones instead. No fake 7.1 that doesn't sound good at all with all that echo and sound degradation. Also EQ wont "fix" good soundstage.

[DudeWhatTheN]

Update: I did it!

So, I did some research.

Apparently, all Arctis headphones come with a little bit of configuration to do to make them sound good.

The equalizer on the Steelseries GG is pretty bad, so you'll have to install Equalizer APO and Peace Equalizer (Don't freak out if it looks hard, follow my steps.)

Then, you wanna open Equalizer APO and install it on the playback devices with the Steelseries name on them,

I used this configuration for my Arctis 9 and now it sounds fabulous, take a look and try:

I really hope this fixes your problem, enjoy your Arctis!

[Tigerleon]

30 minutes ago, DudeWhatTheN said:

I really hope this fixes your problem, enjoy your Arctis!

Well I sure hope not many people see this EQ graph... ^

This is the frequency response of the Arctis 9 wireless. You literally boosted the bass so much I am guessing you can barely hear any detail in sound cues at all. You made the headphones so V-shaped that I've never seen anything like it. My best recommendation for anyone owning the Arctis is actually to get better headphones but if not possible, look at the frequency response and tweaking the sound accordingly to that so it gets as close to the middle line as possible giving you a balanced sound. And you should definitely boost some of the treble since that is receeded a lot taking away important details in both games and music.

 

[Entropy.]

1 hour ago, Tigerleon said:

Well I sure hope not many people see this EQ graph... ^

This is the frequency response of the Arctis 9 wireless. You literally boosted the bass so much I am guessing you can barely hear any detail in sound cues at all. You made the headphones so V-shaped that I've never seen anything like it. 

 

Well I mean... If OP enjoys it, all good and fun I suppose. 

[Tigerleon]

3 hours ago, Brok3n But who cares? said:

Well I mean... If OP enjoys it, all good and fun I suppose. 

I know, sound varies from person to person but that is just super bad for anything you try to hear details with. Just a warning for people that want detailed and balanced audio.

[DudeWhatTheN]

4 hours ago, Tigerleon said:

Well I sure hope not many people see this EQ graph... ^

This is the frequency response of the Arctis 9 wireless. You literally boosted the bass so much I am guessing you can barely hear any detail in sound cues at all. You made the headphones so V-shaped that I've never seen anything like it. My best recommendation for anyone owning the Arctis is actually to get better headphones but if not possible, look at the frequency response and tweaking the sound accordingly to that so it gets as close to the middle line as possible giving you a balanced sound. And you should definitely boost some of the treble since that is receeded a lot taking away important details in both games and music.

 

Well, i mean, i already spent 200 dollars on these and i think that's enough. But, i'm curious, how do i tweak the EQ better to get more detailed audio? I'm a literal newbie to sound and EQs so i don't really understand much.

[Entropy.]

1 minute ago, DudeWhatTheN said:

Well, i mean, i already spent 200 dollars on these and i think that's enough. But, i'm curious, how do i tweak the EQ better to get more detailed audio? I'm a literal newbie to sound and EQs so i don't really understand much.

"Gaming" headphones are almost never best-in-class or for the price. At $200 provided you're willing to make certain concessions- such as not getting RGB, a wireless headset, or a "Gaming" design, you can get far superior sound. I think I'll leave the EQ explanation to tiger. 

[Tigerleon]

3 minutes ago, DudeWhatTheN said:

Well, i mean, i already spent 200 dollars on these and i think that's enough. But, i'm curious, how do i tweak the EQ better to get more detailed audio? I'm a literal newbie to sound and EQs so i don't really understand much.

Leave the bass and lower frequencies at 0dB gain and boost the treble a bit. You will get used to less bass since I can definitely see you are a basshead

[DudeWhatTheN]

1 minute ago, Tigerleon said:

Leave the bass and lower frequencies at 0dB gain and boost the treble a bit. You will get used to less bass since I can definitely see you are a basshead

Where's the bass and tremble slider? (Again, really sorry for these stupid questions, i'm a newbie).

 

[Tigerleon]

Just now, DudeWhatTheN said:

Where's the bass and tremble slider? (Again, really sorry for these stupid questions, i'm a newbie).

 

Bass is the lower number frequencies (Hz) Like to the left, to the right are the higher frequencies which are the treble. In the middle are the mid frequencies.

[Entropy.]

4 minutes ago, DudeWhatTheN said:

Where's the bass and tremble slider? (Again, really sorry for these stupid questions, i'm a newbie).

 

The Bass you're concerned about is more or less the first four/five sliders, you're going to want to bring that down to about the center, the treble is more or less the last three/ four sliders. 

 

 

[DudeWhatTheN]

Thanks, both of you.

This is the new EQ, hope this is more balanced.

[Entropy.]

Just now, DudeWhatTheN said:

Thanks, both of you.

This is the new EQ, hope this is more balanced.

This should be more detailed, however it might not be to your liking. If you want to, test out the sound profile and adjust it according depending on what you think it's missing. Do note that EQ won't be able to automagically make your headphone great or possibly fix some flaws that it has, so no matter what you do there might be some things you're not quite happy with, however like I said, feel free to play around with the EQ. How we experience sound is subjective, so we can't exactly tell you what'll sound the "best," or even "good," so you'll have to determine that mostly by yourself. 

[Tigerleon]

1 minute ago, DudeWhatTheN said:

Thanks, both of you.

This is the new EQ, hope this is more balanced.

I would definitely raise the 2000 hz a bit and same with the 1000. Just a bit over the line. Also go down on 20k 16k and 8k so they are lined up. They are too raised.

[Tigerleon]

3 minutes ago, DudeWhatTheN said:

Thanks, both of you.

This is the new EQ, hope this is more balanced.

You could also add on some on the 21Hz 42Hz and 83Hz frequencies a bit to add more bassy sounds since you liked more bass. But not too much maybe 1 or 1,5 rows up and again, lower the 3 last so they match 4000hz

[DudeWhatTheN]

5 minutes ago, Tigerleon said:

You could also add on some on the 21Hz 42Hz and 83Hz frequencies a bit to add more bassy sounds since you liked more bass. But not too much maybe 1 or 1,5 rows up and again, lower the 3 last so they match 4000hz

Is this good?

[DudeWhatTheN]

Hmm, that's weird. I noticed, while switching eq profiles, the sound didn't really change... I also tried to switch the EQ on and off multiple times to check for sound variations, but nothing.

[Tigerleon]

32 minutes ago, DudeWhatTheN said:

Hmm, that's weird. I noticed, while switching eq profiles, the sound didn't really change... I also tried to switch the EQ on and off multiple times to check for sound variations, but nothing.

Well, the sound should be more open and airy and give you better perception of sound cues in games etc because of the increased treble. You can increase the treble a bit more if you think it is too little.

[Tigerleon]

37 minutes ago, DudeWhatTheN said:

Hmm, that's weird. I noticed, while switching eq profiles, the sound didn't really change... I also tried to switch the EQ on and off multiple times to check for sound variations, but nothing.

Forgot to mention. Disable any surround sound stuff because that is just plain shit for audio quality.

[DudeWhatTheN]

7 minutes ago, Tigerleon said:

Forgot to mention. Disable any surround sound stuff because that is just plain shit for audio quality.

damn, really?

I really liked how it sounds. Also helps with footsteps

[Tigerleon]

2 hours ago, DudeWhatTheN said:

damn, really?

I really liked how it sounds. Also helps with footsteps

It really doesn't. Good EQ with the right in game settings, aka stereo or headphones or binaurally recorded "3D audio" and not fake 7.1 surround bs that sounds like shit after using stereo. Now granted your headphones don't focus on sound quality so I bet the stereo sound coming from those aren't very good for the price. Search up why 7.1 in headphones is bs and you'll understand

[Tigerleon]

2 hours ago, DudeWhatTheN said:

damn, really?

I really liked how it sounds. Also helps with footsteps

The reason why stereo and binaurally recorded audio played in stereo headphones is better is because the game's sound design is meant for stereo or real 7.1 or 5.1 speakers making it sound like crap with VSS (virtual surround sound). And again, let alone music, no one that knows a bit about audio uses VSS.

 

Putting VSS on a game that is meant for stereo or real speakers will make the sound cues unnatural and unpredictable making pin pointy accuracy harder. VSS can't help with vertical sounds, only good game audio design can. Therefore using stereo is the best and cleanest audio for the best accuracy as possible. You might feel like you can hear footsteps better but it is only actually EQ that the VSS is messing with. Do a good EQ with stereo headphones and you're golden.

 

Also the arctis 9 wireless are probably one of the worst headsets out there especially for the price. Hate to break it to you but a wireless headset or a gaming headset won't sound very good atm. Let's not talk about the mic, everyone knows steelseries mics' suck. Any gaming headset falls into this unfortunately