Do earphones have this?

[Borky1051]

So i've had enough with headsets, they break all the time so i'm going to get in earphones. I mainly game so i was wondering (not to sure what this feature is called not an audio expert) will i be able to hear for example will i be able to determine where footsteps are coming from? I dont know what this feature is called but its quite important in Gaming especially in fps games.

[sonarctica]

Get headphones

[DrunkAssassin]

You could get steteo earphones and use razor surround.

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Tapatalk

[miyabwah]

Well, they may not have "positional sound" unless they were designed to or something.

[Carolus Rex]

Its enitely possible, since there is alot of regular headphones that only have one driver in each cup that can have virtual surround. For example the Corsair gaming headsets. But when it comes to in-ear headphones i only know of is the Astro A *Star that specificly advertises virtual surround, and even then reviewers weren't impressed with the positional audio. So there would have to some sort of software solution to do it in that case, like Razer Surround.

[ShearMe]

So i've had enough with headsets, they break all the time so i'm going to get in earphones. I mainly game so i was wondering (not to sure what this feature is called not an audio expert) will i be able to hear for example will i be able to determine where footsteps are coming from? I dont know what this feature is called but its quite important in Gaming especially in fps games.

 

When you say earphones, do you mean headphones or earbuds/IEMs? 

To "hear footsteps" you really just need to up the EQ in the band where the footsteps' frequency is, which can vary from game to game. However, I think you may be thinking of Virtual Surround Sound for "positional" audio...? You can use Razer Surround with any headphones/earbuds/IEMs if you want that effect, but most games have virtual surround included already (all you need to do is select headphones in the audio options).

 

Also, do you have a budget in mind?

[TheProfosist]

I would like to point out that as long as stereo is done properly it is quite positional.

[Timmyfox]

Just get some good headphones.

Sennheiser HD 558's are real good if you can afford them. You don't really need to use any virtual surround software as their wide soundstage make the positioning really great and accurate.

 

In my experience (using HD598's) virtual surround such as Dolby Headphone and similar doesn't sound very good with such high-quality headphones. It helps on lower end ones, but a good headphone with a wide soundstage offers better positioning with just stereo. Adding virtual surround may improve it for you but I find it to just make everything sound like it has a weird reverb and is lacking depth.

[TheProfosist]

I think what he wants in earbuds or IEMs if thats the case please stop suggestiong headphones some people just dont like them. Or you can be like me and not like earbuds/IEMs which is due to that fact that I have quite waxy ears.

[Timmyfox]

I must say that my experience with IEMs is that they sound worse than many headphones, get earwax all over them (which degrades acoustic performance).

 

You say that you're tired of headsets breaking all the time? Honestly, most earphones seem even more prone to breakage than cheap headsets in my experience..

It's always the LEFT earpiece that sounds muted or stops working.

[Borky1051]

Guys yes i do want earbuds. I just want to know if there is positional sound or not. If not i might get another pair of a40's because they sound great.

[Aphexx]

as stated earlier the game itself has positional audio encoded into it. its there already, open up the ubiquitous virtual barber you don't need any soundcard or additional virtualizers to hear it. 

 

the quality of your headphone or how optimized it is for soundstage will dictate how well you detect positional audio. 

[Timmyfox]

Guys yes i do want earbuds. I just want to know if there is positional sound or not. If not i might get another pair of a40's because they sound great.

The soundstage on earbuds is usually pretty bad compared to headphones. More expensive models like the Sennheiser IE series and others in the $150+ range have pretty nice soundstage but it's really hard to make earbuds with good soundstage.

If you don't know what soundstage is, it's how "wide" the sound it, you may have noticed how some headsets sound like everything is just inside your head where others it's more "around you". That's soundstage, it's like a natural 3D-effect.

 

Positional audio with or without virtual surround should work with just about any game with earbuds, but it may not sound as good as it does with a good pair of headphones.

[ShearMe]

Mr. Timmy is obviously biased against IEMs...

OP, have a look at JBL J33's.

[Aphexx]

I too dislike IEM's but I've heard the soundstage on the audio technica cks series to be surprising for an IEM

[Timmyfox]

Mr. Timmy is obviously biased against IEMs...

OP, have a look at JBL J33's.

Yep, went through 4 different pairs back in 2011 by different brands, all in the $150 range (issues and issues, I returned them and chose a new pair each time).Currently I got a pair of Sennheiser IE80's ($300 and Sennheiser's at the time most high-end pair of in-ears) which I used for about 6 months until' replacing them with some Sennheiser Momentums. I also have a pair of HD598's which I've had for 2 years now. Both the Momentum and HD 598 sound significantly better than the high end IE80, has had less issues and problems than any earbud I've ever used in terms of comfort, quality, breakage, earwax etc..

 

To some it up, The last 1½ years I've really been into earphones for music because of the portability and all and I really wanted to give them a chance, but.. As explained, my experience with them is fairly bad. If it works for you, more power to you, but myself I have a hard time recommending any earbuds. Especially since they seem to often cost much more than most headphones with similar sound quality.

 

---

If anyone is interested in the full story of me using so many pairs of earphones, here it is:

First I got a pair of Sennheiser MM80i's which seemed fairly decent and had a built-in mic, these are sorta entry-level. The problem I found was that the microphone nor the headset controls functioned, so I returned it as an RMA and got a fresh new pair of the same model - Same issue. I did some research on the web and found that it didn't work because iPhone and Android phones work differently, so the MM80i which is made for iPhone was electrically incompatible with my Android phone despite having the same 3.5mm connector.

 

I kept them for a few weeks though before the left earphone just stopped working for no reason (despite taking good care of it). So I went back to the store and they told me I could either get a new pair or I could choose a different one in the same price range - I chose the Klipsh S4. These worked fairly well, but the tips kept falling off way too easily, so I ended up losing the ones that I found the most comfortable. I gave them to my brother who had smaller ears than me and bought yet another pair by Jabra. A few weeks passed and guess what - Left earpiece broke.

 

Then I got them exchanged for a pair of Sennheiser CX880s. These sounded pretty well, but the inline volume control was useless and kept making static noise whenever you turned it to change the volume. They were also very prone to tangle and collected a lot of earwax. Unfortunately I lost these on the a bus few months later.

 

Finally I went for the Sennheiser IE80 which, at the time, were regarded as one of the best ones under $300. Having gotten more into hifi audio and all that over the past year (Including getting the Sennheiser HD598's and some home theater speakers with dedicated AVR) I was fairly eager to try them. My Initial impressions were positive but over time I less and less liked their very bassy sound signature. I had to make like a diagonal curve in the EQ to make them sound more balanced.

After just a few days however they started to sound really muffled and the volume was fairly imbalanced. I figured out that this was due to earwas getting into them.. The bundled carry case was really beautiful but getting them out and tucking them away was really slow unless you wanna just jab them down your pocket.

 

Eventually I just got the Sennheiser Momentum half a year ago for portable use and I have yet to look back.

[ShearMe]

Yep, went through 4 different pairs back in 2011 by different brands, all in the $150 range (issues and issues, I returned them and chose a new pair each time).Currently I got a pair of Sennheiser IE80's ($300 and Sennheiser's at the time most high-end pair of in-ears) which I used for about 6 months until' replacing them with some Sennheiser Momentums. I also have a pair of HD598's which I've had for 2 years now. Both the Momentum and HD 598 sound significantly better than the high end IE80, has had less issues and problems than any earbud I've ever used in terms of comfort, quality, breakage, earwax etc..

 

To some it up, The last 1½ years I've really been into earphones for music because of the portability and all and I really wanted to give them a chance, but.. As explained, my experience with them is fairly bad. If it works for you, more power to you, but myself I have a hard time recommending any earbuds. Especially since they seem to often cost much more than most headphones with similar sound quality,

Are you sure you got a genuine IE80? I purchased a fake one which was terrible, but luckily got my money back. Now I have an IE60 and it's great - very similar to my HD 650.

[Timmyfox]

Are you sure you got a genuine IE80? I purchased a fake one which was terrible, but luckily got my money back. Now I have an IE60 and it's great - very similar to my HD 650.

I believe my pair was genuine yes, I got them from a fairly reputable retailer and I live in Sweden which is a fairly small country.

I looked it up nevertheless and didn't find a single thing that seemed off. None of the common traits of the fakes were on my pair. If they were fake, whoever made the fakes made them identical to the genuine ones., including the packaging,

[ShearMe]

I believe my pair was genuine yes, I got them from a fairly reputable retailer and I live in Sweden which is a fairly small country.

I looked it up nevertheless and didn't find a single thing that seemed off. None of the common traits of the fakes were on my pair. If they were fake, whoever made the fakes made them identical to the genuine ones., including the packaging,

My pair were identical in every way except sound and one tiny detail on the package. Overall, the biggest difference is just the quality of the packaging itself which you'd mostly only notice by comparing side by side to a genuine package (package is the same on the IE60 and IE80, so I've experienced this first-hand). You'd be surprised how far reaching the counterfeit market reaches; some store owners are selling products they believe to be real.

[TheProfosist]

Please stop tryong to convince him to switch way from earbuds or IEMs thats not what hes asking about or for so why even bring it up. Its like ive decided I want a hatchback lets go look at some. Dealer take person out *here are some suv's, what do you think?*