Razer Tiamat 7.1?

[Shindo]

I've been doing lots of research on the Razer Tiamat and I'm a bit confused on the verdict. Some say that the multiple drivers set a new standard in surround experience while others say they prefer using commercial airline heaphones. I think the people who get bad quality out of them are the ones using a bad sound card. If i paired that with a Xonar Phoebus would I get good sound quality? I don't need anything studio audio quality (I already have seinheissers for music composition) just something that will immerse me in the game. Has anyone tried them with their full potential and say that the heaphones are great for surround? I know the microphone is awful, but I already have a yeti which is alrite for gaming if positioned correctly. I just feel as if having the full thing is better than mimicking it. 

[Moredeath]

I own a pair and with a good sound card, it's pretty nice. You can pick up a PC363D from Sennheiser, if you don't like them.

[Lyons]

Nope, it's just really not very good. Soundcards have nothing to do with it. If you already have a good microphone then spend all that money on something worthwhile like the Sennheisers you have. For around the price of the Tiamats you can get something like Audio Technica ATH-M50's, ATH-AD700X's, Sennhieser HD558's, Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro's, Shure SRH840's, etc.

 

 

 

[fletch to 99]

I personally own them and they are a great headset. Atleasy much better than my old microsoft one :P

 

One thing I like about it is you can manually adjust the volume of each speaker.

[Moredeath]

Nope, it's just really not very good. Soundcards have nothing to do with it. If you already have a good microphone then spend all that money on something worthwhile like the Sennheisers you have. For around the price of the Tiamats you can get something like Audio Technica ATH-M50's, ATH-AD700X's, Sennhieser HD558's, Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro's, Shure SRH840's, etc.

Hey you, do you own a pair? If not, your argument is invalid

[Moredeath]

I also own 7 other pairs of headphones, including HD598's (daily use) and my HD800's, and I own a SAMSON C01U, but i got a Tiamat because it was a nice concept. Great overall experience as far as surround goes, it is a bit overkill to buy a surround gaming headset but it was worth it for me.

[xToFxREAPER]

I have used a pair and have many friends that have used them and although they were pretty nice i found that paying the extra coin for those extra drivers wasnt worth it, i ended up settling on the blackshark expert 2.0 headset with razer surround and im far happier with that

[Lyons]

Hey you, do you own a pair? If not, your argument is invalid

Excuse me? I've tried them, as well as most other Razer headsets. Really nothing special, there are much better value alternatives out there.

[Moredeath]

I didn't say they were better, I said it was a great experience. Read please.

[Moredeath]

You are arguing about my personal preferences? Really? Ok :/ I also said he should look into PC363D's but obviously you read over that.

[Shindo]

Hmm from what I'm reading it's that most people don't think the extra drivers add a difference if you have a good surround simulator. Of course I didn't want to dish out $160 for something risking it sucking. A 2.1 headset is going to sound much better than any headset with more than two drivers for the same price. I've been using a DSS2 for consoles and sometimes pc gaming and it's alrite; but I can definitely tell the difference between 5.1 and 7.1 and the immersion factor is fantastic. Looking at the PC363Ds they are by no means cheap but when it comes to audio there's no one I trust more than seinheisser again this topic seems to have no clear answer. Some people love while others hate it; sometimes I wish companies can just send you a product to use for a week to see if you like it or not -__- but at the end of the day if you have a great soundcard will you have any different of an experience with multiple drivers than not?

 

Also I wanna thank you all for the replies! means alot :D 

[Shindo]

 

looks as if Linus himself is against multiple drivers

[ShearMe]

Hmm from what I'm reading it's that most people don't think the extra drivers add a difference if you have a good surround simulator. Of course I didn't want to dish out $160 for something risking it sucking. A 2.1 headset is going to sound much better than any headset with more than two drivers for the same price. I've been using a DSS2 for consoles and sometimes pc gaming and it's alrite; but I can definitely tell the difference between 5.1 and 7.1 and the immersion factor is fantastic. Looking at the PC363Ds they are by no means cheap but when it comes to audio there's no one I trust more than seinheisser again this topic seems to have no clear answer. Some people love while others hate it; sometimes I wish companies can just send you a product to use for a week to see if you like it or not -__- but at the end of the day if you have a great soundcard will you have any different of an experience with multiple drivers than not?

 

Also I wanna thank you all for the replies! means alot :D

 

I would just like to note, 2.1 headphones are even more of a gimmick than 5.1/7.1

 

It would cost more money to implement a specified bass driver properly than to make a single full range driver of similar quality.

[Shindo]

I would just like to note, 2.1 headphones are even more of a gimmick than 5.1/7.1

 

It would cost more money to implement a specified bass driver properly than to make a single full range driver of similar quality.

 

I actually did a "test" where I closed my eyes and used different objects to create nose close to where the different drivers of the Tiamat would be. Then I used my imagination to think if that was a dragon roaring would it sound more realistic (by now you're probably thinking I have way too much free time). Then I went and did some virtual surround tests, and as cool as they sounded it felt as all it was, was it having an echo to trick yourself to thinking where a sound is comming from. It was just reverb and echo. I did some research on how the ear works and different waves coming from a location tell us where that sound is coming from. I'm guessing Razer (being as prestigous as they are) engineered it in a way that it sounds as if you're actually in the battlefield. You're going to need a good soundcard to reproduce that, but it should be well worth it. The price of this headset isn't something you need to sell your kids for, but being a penny pincher I did enough research to see if this was opening my wallet for. End of the day I think it's well worth it. For once I can say that Linus is wrong  

[ShearMe]

I actually did a "test" where I closed my eyes and used different objects to create nose close to where the different drivers of the Tiamat would be. Then I used my imagination to think if that was a dragon roaring would it sound more realistic (by now you're probably thinking I have way too much free time). Then I went and did some virtual surround tests, and as cool as they sounded it felt as all it was, was it having an echo to trick yourself to thinking where a sound is comming from. It was just reverb and echo. I did some research on how the ear works and different waves coming from a location tell us where that sound is coming from. I'm guessing Razer (being as prestigous as they are) engineered it in a way that it sounds as if you're actually in the battlefield. You're going to need a good soundcard to reproduce that, but it should be well worth it. The price of this headset isn't something you need to sell your kids for, but being a penny pincher I did enough research to see if this was opening my wallet for. End of the day I think it's well worth it. For once I can say that Linus is wrong

 

I'm not saying having multiple drivers in one earcup is outlandishly wrong or impossible, just that I don't think Razer of all companies is able to engineer it to have sufficient sound quality as stereo headphones in the same price range. There are high end products with multiple drivers per ear.

[Aphexx]

I dislike surround virtualizers as well... however the razer surround is the one I dislike the least and I feel as you feel, it just makes a bunch of reverb and makes things vague and cheezy sounding. 

 I opt for taking in game sound raw through a soundstage optimized headphone. sound engineers in game companies spend a lot of time constructing the sound and a lot of work on the directionality of that sound. and with a quality headphone you do get a real 3d experience with your ears. the virtualizers are just bloat that sits on top of that. 

 

to me its like going to a steak house and paying for a real expensive steak, aged and spiced with expertise. which is what you get from the sound engineers from the game studios. and then adding a sound virtualizer on top of that is like throwing on some BBQ sauce or HP sauce on top of it. 

 

so if your test is taking a bunch of sound virtualizers and messing around with them then you need to retest things with a proper headphone. 

[ShearMe]

to me its like going to a steak house and paying for a real expensive steak, aged and spiced with expertise. which is what you get from the sound engineers from the game studios. and then adding a sound virtualizer on top of that is like throwing on some BBQ sauce or HP sauce on top of it. 

 

Best Analogy of the Year 2013

[Aphexx]

Best Analogy of the Year 2013

wasn't sure if the rest of the world got HP sauce as well. 

 

sadly eating out with friends there was one friend that got a steak and then covered it in sauce. it bothered me that I didn't know the guy well enough to yell and scream at him for doing that.... I had to vent somehow

[ShearMe]

wasn't sure if the rest of the world got HP sauce as well. 

 

sadly eating out with friends there was one friend that got a steak and then covered it in sauce. it bothered me that I didn't know the guy well enough to yell and scream at him for doing that.... I had to vent somehow

 

I never heard of HP sauce, but it's some kind of sauce.

 

Not much of a condiment guy, I eat everything dry other than ketchup with bad fries.

[Shindo]

I dislike surround virtualizers as well... however the razer surround is the one I dislike the least and I feel as you feel, it just makes a bunch of reverb and makes things vague and cheezy sounding. 

 I opt for taking in game sound raw through a soundstage optimized headphone. sound engineers in game companies spend a lot of time constructing the sound and a lot of work on the directionality of that sound. and with a quality headphone you do get a real 3d experience with your ears. the virtualizers are just bloat that sits on top of that. 

 

to me its like going to a steak house and paying for a real expensive steak, aged and spiced with expertise. which is what you get from the sound engineers from the game studios. and then adding a sound virtualizer on top of that is like throwing on some BBQ sauce or HP sauce on top of it. 

 

so if your test is taking a bunch of sound virtualizers and messing around with them then you need to retest things with a proper headphone. 

I might have made the mistake of address what I was trying to do poorly xD. My mistake. However I did some research on sound localization:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_localization

 

The brain determines the position of the audio based on factors such as tone and time lag. It doesn't have an indicator that tells you were the audio is coming from. Of course multiple drivers does give the "true" surround sound approach better than virtualized surround (or it has the potential to be better). As you said the work done on the game will determine the audio. The question is, does the Tiamat's multiple drivers aid in the surround experience (paired with the Phoebus), or should I look for a fantastic virtualizer. 

[ShearMe]

I might have made the mistake of address what I was trying to do poorly xD. My mistake. However I did some research on sound localization:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_localization

 

The brain determines the position of the audio based on factors such as tone and time lag. It doesn't have an indicator that tells you were the audio is coming from. Of course multiple drivers does give the "true" surround sound approach better than virtualized surround (or it has the potential to be better). As you said the work done on the game will determine the audio. The question is, does the Tiamat's multiple drivers aid in the surround experience (paired with the Phoebus), or should I look for a fantastic virtualizer. 

 

You should look at multiple speakers placed fairly far away from you if you want great surround sound.  ;)

[Shindo]

You should look at multiple speakers placed fairly far away from you if you want great surround sound.  ;)

that is absolutely true. For surround you can never beat a speaker system with any headphones; potentially speaking. But this is probably the best I can get so far XD. Living with a bunch of gamers you would think they understand, but no sir :P 

[Aphexx]

 or should I look for a fantastic virtualizer. 

you should already know my stance on virtualizers. I mean you should have seen a link to the virtual barbershop somewhere in the audio subforums already. and did you have to run that through virtualizer with pretend 5.1 reverb and pretend 7,1 reverb for you to experience the barbershop experience? even via a shitty medium like youtube you were able to perceive that experience. 

 

instead look for a fantastic headphone 

 

soundstage is the buzzword you should be charmed by and not the fake terms that these marketing departments are trying to feed you 

[Lyons]

you should already know my stance on virtualizers. I mean you should have seen a link to the virtual barbershop somewhere in the audio subforums already. and did you have to run that through virtualizer with pretend 5.1 reverb and pretend 7,1 reverb for you to experience the barbershop experience? even via a shitty medium like youtube you were able to perceive that experience. 

 

instead look for a fantastic headphone 

 

soundstage is the buzzword you should be charmed by and not the fake terms that these marketing departments are trying to feed you 

 

It doesn't take magic 

 

[Shindo]

It doesn't take magic 

 

Just an italian barber XD