Sound Immersion

[NotAnAverageBo]

I got to thinking about sound design and its effect on immersion and 'feeling' what's in the game. I used to have a quality home theatre sound system that had a beefy 10 inch sub; and whenever I were to play a shooter, or any action game with explosions for that matter, the one thing that stood out the most or I felt the most was the punch of the bass in my chest or whole body. Or, for example, in battlefield when a helicopter were to fly over, feeling the rumble as if you were there to experience it. It always added an element of weight or meaning to what was happening on screen, if something was large and looming or threatening because of sounds it made, then it felt that way, you didn't have to be convinced by it looking that way.

 

The point is, I have headphones that I use instead now, as the subwoofer has since blown multiple capacitors; and although they have an amazing bass response and clarity and frequency range, they do not pack the whole body punch that a separate sub does.

 

How do I get this element of immersion back? Feeling the rumble in the chest or whole body, the concussive feeling of explosions or shots, or simple thunder rolling in the distance. I'd want to keep using my headphones, so not just go back to the home theatre system, but still get the effect.

 

Is there any way to get the feeling while still using headphones? Maybe get a sub by itself and somehow duplicate the lower frequencies to play at the same time as my headphones? Or is there something other than a sub that can give you this experience?

 

Any notes or comments or discussion is appreciated, thanks.

[vong]

8 minutes ago, NotAnAverageBo said:

I got to thinking about sound design and its effect on immersion and 'feeling' what's in the game. I used to have a quality home theatre sound system that had a beefy 10 inch sub; and whenever I were to play a shooter, or any action game with explosions for that matter, the one thing that stood out the most or I felt the most was the punch of the bass in my chest or whole body. Or, for example, in battlefield when a helicopter were to fly over, feeling the rumble as if you were there to experience it. It always added an element of weight or meaning to what was happening on screen, if something was large and looming or threatening because of sounds it made, then it felt that way, you didn't have to be convinced by it looking that way.

 

The point is, I have headphones that I use instead now, as the subwoofer has since blown multiple capacitors; and although they have an amazing bass response and clarity and frequency range, they do not pack the whole body punch that a separate sub does.

 

How do I get this element of immersion back? Feeling the rumble in the chest or whole body, the concussive feeling of explosions or shots, or simple thunder rolling in the distance. I'd want to keep using my headphones, so not just go back to the home theatre system, but still get the effect.

 

Is there any way to get the feeling while still using headphones? Maybe get a sub by itself and somehow duplicate the lower frequencies to play at the same time as my headphones? Or is there something other than a sub that can give you this experience?

 

Any notes or comments or discussion is appreciated, thanks.

There's tactile transducers (bass shaker) that you can look into like the Buttkicker.

 

[Froody129]

4 minutes ago, vong said:

There's sound transducers that you can look into like the Buttkicker.

 

I'm buying whatever this is just because it's called the Buttkicker

[Ahoy Hoy]

Like vong said. There basically speakers which you attach to your chair and when there is a low frequncy it shakes the chair. You cant hear it since its normally frequencies below human hearing but you feel it.

[anothertom]

47 minutes ago, Ahoy Hoy said:

Like vong said. There basically speakers which you attach to your chair and when there is a low frequncy it shakes the chair. You cant hear it since its normally frequencies below human hearing but you feel it.

I do believe that at some point there was either a mock up of or an actual product which turned a bike saddle into an inductive speaker (I.e vibrate the body to transfer sound).

 

1 hour ago, NotAnAverageBo said:

-snip-

There's not really anything which stacks up to a proper hifi which isn't an even better hi-fi/pa, sadly.

[NotAnAverageBo]

The bass shakers are sounding like a really viable option. Question though, do they really provide the same whole body feel like a sub does, or does it basically turn your chair into a massage chair?

 

Which is better for the immersive experience I suppose is what I'm asking.

[anothertom]

2 hours ago, NotAnAverageBo said:

Question though, do they really provide the same whole body feel like a sub does, or does it basically turn your chair into a massage chair?

I would think that if you aren't hearing enough of the frequencies it would be weird to just be shaking slightly.

 

Paired with a suitable sub it would reinforce the bass allowing the actual sub to be run slightly quieter.

2 hours ago, NotAnAverageBo said:

Which is better for the immersive experience I suppose is what I'm asking.

As much physical PA as possible, then move to a surround setup, until you can't move for speakers, then move into Dolby atmos.

[NotAnAverageBo]

On 1/6/2017 at 6:50 AM, anothertom said:

I would think that if you aren't hearing enough of the frequencies it would be weird to just be shaking slightly.

 

Paired with a suitable sub it would reinforce the bass allowing the actual sub to be run slightly quieter.

As much physical PA as possible, then move to a surround setup, until you can't move for speakers, then move into Dolby atmos.

Physical PA? Also what is there to know about Dolby Atmos? Any useful information? best approach? Where does it come into play?

[anothertom]

31 minutes ago, NotAnAverageBo said:

Physical PA? Also what is there to know about Dolby Atmos? Any useful information? best approach? Where does it come into play?

Physical PA as in good speakers, a buttkicker won't make you hear anything, so on its own will feel strange.

 

I went slightly off at a tangent, Dolby atmos is one of the standards used in cinemas, and when set up properly sounds absolutely amazing. It comes into play when you've dedicated a large room to just be a movie room with no compromises (and have a whack ton of money to spend).

[Ahoy Hoy]

2 hours ago, anothertom said:

Physical PA as in good speakers, a buttkicker won't make you hear anything, so on its own will feel strange.

 

I went slightly off at a tangent, Dolby atmos is one of the standards used in cinemas, and when set up properly sounds absolutely amazing. It comes into play when you've dedicated a large room to just be a movie room with no compromises (and have a whack ton of money to spend).

DING DING DING.
Dolby Atmos in cinemas is well regarded as being dreadful for cinema sound systems.

In most cases they come in with a reference microphone take a sample recording, then just EQ this living shit out of the sound system until it is flat. But they only take one sample in one position so it will only sound good in that position he took the recording and every where else will sound the dirtiest dog shit you will ever hear.

[anothertom]

2 hours ago, anothertom said:

Dolby atmos is one of the standards used in cinemas, and when set up properly sounds absolutely amazing.

 

26 minutes ago, Ahoy Hoy said:

DING DING DING.
Dolby Atmos in cinemas is well regarded as being dreadful for cinema sound systems.

In most cases they come in with a reference microphone take a sample recording, then just EQ this living shit out of the sound system until it is flat. But they only take one sample in one position so it will only sound good in that position he took the recording and every where else will sound the dirtiest dog shit you will ever hear.

Read what i wrote you knob-jockey, I didn't say it is always implemented well, or that there aren't people setting it up who have no idea about its principles. I said *cough* when it's set up properly.