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5.1 headphone

post #1 of 29
11/2/04 at 6:49am
Thread Starter 
can anyone suggest a very good 5.1 headphone please? all reviews out there are very contradicting. i'm so confused about what to buy .

thanks
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post #2 of 29
11/2/04 at 9:26am
stay away from the Zalman 5.1 they are made cheap....http://www.compuadds.com/product.asp?prodcode=D-ZMRS6F
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post #3 of 29
11/2/04 at 11:46am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the advise. So what is your suggestion then? In australia, we have Mentor and HitVDOLab, apart from Zalman. I can ask my other half to get it from England. In England, they have MedUSA speedlink, Gainward and Trust.
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post #4 of 29
11/2/04 at 12:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnimalDoc
Thanks for the advise. So what is your suggestion then? In australia, we have Mentor and HitVDOLab, apart from Zalman. I can ask my other half to get it from England. In England, they have MedUSA speedlink, Gainward and Trust.
Can't give you one. All I can tell you is that I had the Zalman's and with careful handling one of the speaker wires broke\seperated, inside the wire sleeve. Now I know that the wires are small gauge copper wire, but to break in a few months, is BS. They did, as probably all 5.1 headphones, work great for games as you could hear people sneakin up on you and know which direction were they were comming from. As for Music they kinda sucked.
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post #5 of 29
11/2/04 at 2:57pm
5.1 headphones are just not a popular thing that companies have made and those Zalmans are really the only 3 cable, 6 channel (5.1) analog input headphones that I've seen. Since they are cheap phones, they're really just good for gaming with precise positional audio, but not very good for music or DVDs when you want a full range of sound.
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post #6 of 29
11/3/04 at 4:57am
Thread Starter 
thanks for the reply.
but but but.....if I need to get one for my laptop, the one that is good all around, which one I should go for?
I don't mind if I need to pay extra $100-200 (if need be ) because I am living in a flat where I can't really afford for the full size home theatre system. Also I want to have some portability and mobility of the 5.1 headphone, so that I drag it along to wherever I go.
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post #7 of 29
11/6/04 at 11:20am
Thread Starter 
I've read every bloody review avaialble on the internet about 5.1 headphone both low-end like Zalman, Gainward, MedUSA speedlink, Mentor, HitVDOLAB, etc.to high- end from Sony to Pioneer. If you want something for movie, I recommend only the high-end one (judging from the reviews, and seems like Pioneer is more believable than Sony).

I, myself, am looking for such those headphones too. Ifirst one for my laptop coz I'm traveling a lot so I need something portable like this. I will hook it up with my laptop (Dell I9100) and Audigy external sound card (haven't got it yet).

If you want to get the budget 5.1 headphone, my impression is that Gainward is the best (from all reviews and feedback), you do need a decent sound card (Audigy 2) though. It only works best for gaming but they say it works well for movie and music too (still not comparable to real high end ones). I am ordering both low-end (Gainward) and high-end one (Pioneer) from England. They will probably arrive here next week or so. If you need my feedback, please let me know.
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post #8 of 29
4/4/05 at 7:26pm
where can you get one of those medusa in america?
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post #9 of 29
4/4/05 at 9:13pm
i just bought a set of Kinyo's KY-100 5.1 headphones from newegg ($40.49 + $0.99 fedex saver shipping) - they havent come yet but i bought them for a few reasons - the user reviews seem pretty good with the only problem being background white noise when no sound is playing due to interference from other devices (i.e. monitor, etc.) which can be solved by moving the amp (yes it comes with an amp) or placing a faraday cage over it (something i learned in physics - basically a metal cage, does not have to be solid and screen mesh works)

i should get them sometime this week then i will write up a review here

EDIT

sorry - forgot the link:

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduc...401-016&depa=3

yeah - on the amp there's a nice bypass for your speakers so you dont have to keep unplugging them everytime etc
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post #10 of 29
4/4/05 at 9:41pm
well, all I can say is I swear by Grado Labs headphones... They are not 5.1 advertised, but I use them gaming a lot and LOVE them. Their SR80's are what I have, the best $95 I've ever spent... Seriously, read reviews on pricegrabber and amazon. They beat out like $200 sony's and the like. The sound quality (after break-in) is simply amazing, with good bass, but the ability to hear a pin droping in the background... I would SERIOUSLY check them out. If you are interested in even BETTER quality, look to maybe the SR125's and above. Google them and you will quickly see that they are the audiophile's choice. The ONLY downside is people around you can hear them (open air, not closed in, but makes it more comfortable) if you have it at 100% (which still probably wont crackle, but will make your head explode), but still quieter than speakers for sure... Just might not use at loud volumes on a plane or something... Just my advice,


-bazzel
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post #11 of 29
4/4/05 at 10:42pm
lol i saw these $12,000 pair of Sennheiser headphones with this huge amp that requires a key to start - but back on topic i should be getting a tracking number soon for the Kinyo's i listed above
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post #12 of 29
4/5/05 at 12:21am
I own the 5.1 Kinyo headphones you are refering to, and I think they are ok. They have their pros and cons, and for the price $40, you get what you pay for. Over all, I like them, the Bass is really cool, but I am still waiting for the perfect or a really good designed true 5.1 headphones.

I recommend this 5.1 Headphone discussion here:

http://www.headwize.com/ubb/showpage...num=1&tid=6772
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post #13 of 29
4/5/05 at 4:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by joes
stay away from the Zalman 5.1 they are made cheap....http://www.compuadds.com/product.asp?prodcode=D-ZMRS6F
I totally disagree. The ZALMAN's are sweet and are fantastic for the money. Put those suckers on while playing DOOM 3 or HL2 at night with the lights turned off and you'll sh!t your pants. Test them yourself and you'll see how good they are. NO DISTORTION, GREAT SURROUND SOUND, INCREDIBLE BANG FOR THE BUCK. DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU HERE. There is no better 5.1 surround sound headphones for the money then the ZALMAN's...
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post #14 of 29
4/13/05 at 1:48am
alright - im gonna write the review under a new thread now so wait a few minutes or so
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post #15 of 29
4/13/05 at 8:22pm
here it is:

http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=75674
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post #16 of 29
4/13/05 at 9:05pm
IGN rated the Thrustmaster T510 Dolby Digital 5.1 Decoder + Dolby Headphone very high (9,0). http://gear.ign.com/articles/583/583114p1.html It is kinda hard to find them though
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post #17 of 29
4/13/05 at 9:14pm
Krisna - you cannot have 5.1 with headphones...not true 5.1 at least. All the DSP crap going on to give you the "impression" of surround is just a gimmick. Ever heard of crossfeed?

Basically - in the right channel you will have a little bit of the left channel that has been delayed by a small amount of time. In the left channel you will have a little bit of the right channel that has been delayed by a small amount of time. Add in a few filters to compensate for the bass and treble roll-off (because of the filtering action of the crossfeed electronics) and there you have it...

If you want 5.1 - get speakers OR wait for true surround (using Binaural recordings - do a google for this).

Normal headphones in stereo give you excellent spatial presentation (you can tell positions in the horizontal plane) in games because the audio in the game is pre-processed.

gs
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post #18 of 29
4/13/05 at 10:31pm
no there are 3 speakers in each headpiece i believe making for 6 total speakers and then they just replicate the subwoofer through two of the channels - i'll double check though
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post #19 of 29
4/13/05 at 10:32pm
here in the manual it says: "Headphone includes six (6) speakers and two (2) force feedback elements delivering full frequency life like sound"

so i donno

you may be right b/c i saw these thrustmaster 5.1 headphones that just had 2 drivers and used an external decoder to do basically what you said above

EDIT

"Headphone:

Speaker of Front Channels: 40mm x 2/64 Ohm/20-20000Hz
Speaker of Rear Channels: 30mm x 2/32 Ohm/20-20000Hz
Speaker of SUB-Woofer Channels: 30mm x 2/32 Ohm/20-20000Hz
Speaker of Center Channels: 30mm x 2/32 Ohm/20-20000Hz"
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post #20 of 29
4/13/05 at 11:11pm
It can have 3/6/9/12 speakers...doesnt change anything.

Surround sound is basically the ability for the brain to interpret the sound and decide where the source of the sound is - relative to the body. The sound from the source travels around your head...through your hair...around the ear pinnae...through your unique ear canal...and to your ear drum. All these factors affect how you place and perceive this sound.

This is why I say that BINAURAL recordings using your own specific measurements is the ONLY accurate way to reproduce what you would actually hear - using two mics instead.

Dont get me wrong - you can create the "illusion" of surround sound with several speakers...this is acceptable to an extent. But 6 headphone drivers all pouring the same info into the same set of ears without any HRTFs (Head Related Transfer Functions) coming into play "physically" (dont know what they do with DSP but this will not be unique to your physiology) doesnt warm up to me as a suitable substitute.


I hope you understand what I am saying...I am not saying these are crap - just dont expect true surround sound...this headphone cannot replace good speakers or a binaural recording.

If you want samples of binaural recordings I have several and I can host a download for you.


gs
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