Post by TRUE EB0LA on Apr 15, 2014 19:12:11 GMT -5
There seems to be a lot of misinformation going around about headphone surround sound and how the Xboxone is going to utilize any of these technologies, so I'm going to try and clarify some things for folks.
Note: I may make some generalizations here, and I aware of that. This is to be used as a guide to help people understand the terminology, not as the be-all-end-all on the subject. There's never a true consensus on many audio related things. Also, I am not an "expert" or know-it-all, and have not used every headphone on the planet, so if you catch a mistake, let me know and I will fix.
Headphone Types:
First off, there's two kinds of popular headphones themselves. Standard "Stereo Headphones" and "True Surround Headphones".
Some recent common examples of "Standard Stereo Headphones" (from a gamers perspective) are: Steelseries Siveria V2 : steelseries.com/us/products/audio/steelseries-siberia-v2
Astro A40: www.astrogaming.com/a40
Turtle Beach Earforce XP500: www.turtlebeach.com/product-detail/xbox-360-headsets/ear-force-xp500/6
Polk Audio Melee: www.polkaudio.com/products/melee
Then there's the "True Surround Headphones", which have multiple drivers inside each earpiece. Some examples:
Tritton AX Pro: www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826235005
Razer Tiamat: www.razerzone.com/gaming-audio/razer-tiamat-71
Stereo Headphones usually utilize two drivers (1 for each side) for sound reproduction, are the most common, and have been made for years. These headphones are capable of "Virtual Surround Sound" due to Digital Signal Processing (DSP), which could be from Dolby Labs (Dolby Headphone), SRS/DTS CS Headphone, and Yamaha Silent Cinema to name a few.
True Surround Headphones take the 5.1 sound from a dolby digital (or DTS) track and send it to the applicable speakers in each ear. It still needs a DSP unit to convert the sound for use with the headphones, it just processes it differently.
Now, there's many misconceptions out there, and some of them are due to how the headphone makers market their products. For instance, the Turtle Beach XP500 is listed as a "Dolby Digital 7.1" headphone. Yet, it's only a Stereo Headphone design. People mistakenly think that since it's a DD 7.1 set, it has multiple drivers. It doesn't. The reason they can market this set as such is because the DSP processor that drives this set takes the Dolby Digital output from your xbox/ps3/bluray and converts it into "Virtual Surround Sound". And, this goes for others as well. If the headphones have a DSP unit that can convert the Dolby Digital sound from an optical or HDMI source for use in their headphones, they can be labeled as a Dobly Digital 5.1/7.1 set regardless of whether the headphones are "Stereo" or "True Surround" types.
So, what does this mean?
Well, you can't judge a set of headphones just by whether it's listed as a Dolby Digital set or not. Why? Because ANY HEADPHONE can be used with a DSP unit for surround sound (and Dolby Digital if applicable). And moreover, if you are buying a set of headhones that do not come with a DSP unit, they will never be listed as Dolby Digital (or the like). You never see Dolby Digital listed on home speakers for the same reason: It's a type of sound processing, which has nothing to do with the speakers.
Well, that's a lot of info. What kind of headset is better?
That depends on you. The general consensus is that, surprisingly, a good set of Standard Stereo Headphones that's using a good DSP unit will sound superior to a True Surround headset. There's a few reasons for this.
1: Stereo Headsets usually have larger drivers in them that create more impact.
2: There's been research into Virtual Surround Sound for many years now, and it's gotten very, very good.
For me personally, I can attest to the accuracy of good surround virtualization even going back to gaming sessions many years ago. When I was a PC gamer, with my Beyerdynamic DT-770s' (and an expensive headphone amp), I was accused of cheating countless times for having a wallhack in Counterstrike because I could pinpoint where people were to an uncanny degree. That was 12(?) years ago. Virtual Surround Sound has gotten even better than that.
Now, with audio, it always comes down to personal taste. And if you have listened to both types, and prefer the True Surround sound type headset, then go for it and never look back. There is no right or wrong answer here.
I will say, though, that I think in 5-10 years, True Surround headphones will eventually eclipse the sound quality that the Stereo Ones with virtual sound currently employ. We're just not there yet.
So, how does this all tie in with the Xbox One
Right now, we know that any headset that meets the CTIA criteria for a 4-pole 3.5mm plug will work with the XboxOne adapter. In other words: any headset that you can plug into a phone and answer calls with will work on the new Xboxone adapter. Just plug it in and go. If you have a PC Gaming headset that has separate mic and audio jacks, you can purchase a cheap converter to allow them to be used as well.
But, will they have surround sound?
There is no definitive answer right now. I have read from multiple sources that Microsoft will be adding an audio update that will allow for virtual surround via headphones at some point. (I would assume when the chat adapters are launched, but who knows). If this is true, then any Stereo Headset would have Virtual Surround Sound when plugged into the adapter puck.
Here's a link to some correspondence on the Polk Audio website about their 4 Shot headphones. www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?157577-POLK-AUDIO-4SHOT-XBOXONE-Comparison-verses-other-HEADSET&p=2007855&viewfull=1#post2007855
Below is an excerpt from the above thread:
Polk Engineer: "The audio signal received by the Xbox One controller is two channel only. ANY headset that plugs into the controller will have access to only L and R audio signals. The Xbox One simulates surround (surround to stereo processing) internally before being sending audio to the controller wirelessly. This will change once a multichannel wireless signal is available directly from the console, but Microsoft has not announced when or exactly how that will happen."
Notice what I put in BOLD above. This is the same thing your EARFORCE DSS and Astro Mixamp do before sending the signal to your headphones. Thus, it does not matter whether Dolby Digital is employed; as long as they have a DSP algorithm that works well (and since they were working with Polk, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt) then we should get great Virtual Surround via the controller plug-in. As long as it gets updated to incorporate it.
Optical Out and existing DSP processors
Currently, the Xboxone is not outputting in Dolby Digital via the optical out, which renders most of the options currently on the market that utilize this method not able to output the same quality of Surround Sound (no matter what headphone type). This will be taken care of in an update, but MS has not given a time frame on it.
Completely Wireless Solutions
Since MS decided to forgo bluetooth for wifidirect, there are currently no "complete wireless" solutions available. And when I say complete wireless, I mean no wire to the controller, either. But, if you read the excerpt from the Polk Audio boards above, it appears that we may get an option sometime in the future. If I was guessing though, I think it will be a ways off
Source: www.reddit.com/r/xboxone/comments/1xoom4/a_hopefully_useful_guide_to_xboxone_headset/
Note: I may make some generalizations here, and I aware of that. This is to be used as a guide to help people understand the terminology, not as the be-all-end-all on the subject. There's never a true consensus on many audio related things. Also, I am not an "expert" or know-it-all, and have not used every headphone on the planet, so if you catch a mistake, let me know and I will fix.
Headphone Types:
First off, there's two kinds of popular headphones themselves. Standard "Stereo Headphones" and "True Surround Headphones".
Some recent common examples of "Standard Stereo Headphones" (from a gamers perspective) are: Steelseries Siveria V2 : steelseries.com/us/products/audio/steelseries-siberia-v2
Astro A40: www.astrogaming.com/a40
Turtle Beach Earforce XP500: www.turtlebeach.com/product-detail/xbox-360-headsets/ear-force-xp500/6
Polk Audio Melee: www.polkaudio.com/products/melee
Then there's the "True Surround Headphones", which have multiple drivers inside each earpiece. Some examples:
Tritton AX Pro: www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826235005
Razer Tiamat: www.razerzone.com/gaming-audio/razer-tiamat-71
Stereo Headphones usually utilize two drivers (1 for each side) for sound reproduction, are the most common, and have been made for years. These headphones are capable of "Virtual Surround Sound" due to Digital Signal Processing (DSP), which could be from Dolby Labs (Dolby Headphone), SRS/DTS CS Headphone, and Yamaha Silent Cinema to name a few.
True Surround Headphones take the 5.1 sound from a dolby digital (or DTS) track and send it to the applicable speakers in each ear. It still needs a DSP unit to convert the sound for use with the headphones, it just processes it differently.
Now, there's many misconceptions out there, and some of them are due to how the headphone makers market their products. For instance, the Turtle Beach XP500 is listed as a "Dolby Digital 7.1" headphone. Yet, it's only a Stereo Headphone design. People mistakenly think that since it's a DD 7.1 set, it has multiple drivers. It doesn't. The reason they can market this set as such is because the DSP processor that drives this set takes the Dolby Digital output from your xbox/ps3/bluray and converts it into "Virtual Surround Sound". And, this goes for others as well. If the headphones have a DSP unit that can convert the Dolby Digital sound from an optical or HDMI source for use in their headphones, they can be labeled as a Dobly Digital 5.1/7.1 set regardless of whether the headphones are "Stereo" or "True Surround" types.
So, what does this mean?
Well, you can't judge a set of headphones just by whether it's listed as a Dolby Digital set or not. Why? Because ANY HEADPHONE can be used with a DSP unit for surround sound (and Dolby Digital if applicable). And moreover, if you are buying a set of headhones that do not come with a DSP unit, they will never be listed as Dolby Digital (or the like). You never see Dolby Digital listed on home speakers for the same reason: It's a type of sound processing, which has nothing to do with the speakers.
Well, that's a lot of info. What kind of headset is better?
That depends on you. The general consensus is that, surprisingly, a good set of Standard Stereo Headphones that's using a good DSP unit will sound superior to a True Surround headset. There's a few reasons for this.
1: Stereo Headsets usually have larger drivers in them that create more impact.
2: There's been research into Virtual Surround Sound for many years now, and it's gotten very, very good.
For me personally, I can attest to the accuracy of good surround virtualization even going back to gaming sessions many years ago. When I was a PC gamer, with my Beyerdynamic DT-770s' (and an expensive headphone amp), I was accused of cheating countless times for having a wallhack in Counterstrike because I could pinpoint where people were to an uncanny degree. That was 12(?) years ago. Virtual Surround Sound has gotten even better than that.
Now, with audio, it always comes down to personal taste. And if you have listened to both types, and prefer the True Surround sound type headset, then go for it and never look back. There is no right or wrong answer here.
I will say, though, that I think in 5-10 years, True Surround headphones will eventually eclipse the sound quality that the Stereo Ones with virtual sound currently employ. We're just not there yet.
So, how does this all tie in with the Xbox One
Right now, we know that any headset that meets the CTIA criteria for a 4-pole 3.5mm plug will work with the XboxOne adapter. In other words: any headset that you can plug into a phone and answer calls with will work on the new Xboxone adapter. Just plug it in and go. If you have a PC Gaming headset that has separate mic and audio jacks, you can purchase a cheap converter to allow them to be used as well.
But, will they have surround sound?
There is no definitive answer right now. I have read from multiple sources that Microsoft will be adding an audio update that will allow for virtual surround via headphones at some point. (I would assume when the chat adapters are launched, but who knows). If this is true, then any Stereo Headset would have Virtual Surround Sound when plugged into the adapter puck.
Here's a link to some correspondence on the Polk Audio website about their 4 Shot headphones. www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?157577-POLK-AUDIO-4SHOT-XBOXONE-Comparison-verses-other-HEADSET&p=2007855&viewfull=1#post2007855
Below is an excerpt from the above thread:
Polk Engineer: "The audio signal received by the Xbox One controller is two channel only. ANY headset that plugs into the controller will have access to only L and R audio signals. The Xbox One simulates surround (surround to stereo processing) internally before being sending audio to the controller wirelessly. This will change once a multichannel wireless signal is available directly from the console, but Microsoft has not announced when or exactly how that will happen."
Notice what I put in BOLD above. This is the same thing your EARFORCE DSS and Astro Mixamp do before sending the signal to your headphones. Thus, it does not matter whether Dolby Digital is employed; as long as they have a DSP algorithm that works well (and since they were working with Polk, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt) then we should get great Virtual Surround via the controller plug-in. As long as it gets updated to incorporate it.
Optical Out and existing DSP processors
Currently, the Xboxone is not outputting in Dolby Digital via the optical out, which renders most of the options currently on the market that utilize this method not able to output the same quality of Surround Sound (no matter what headphone type). This will be taken care of in an update, but MS has not given a time frame on it.
Completely Wireless Solutions
Since MS decided to forgo bluetooth for wifidirect, there are currently no "complete wireless" solutions available. And when I say complete wireless, I mean no wire to the controller, either. But, if you read the excerpt from the Polk Audio boards above, it appears that we may get an option sometime in the future. If I was guessing though, I think it will be a ways off
Source: www.reddit.com/r/xboxone/comments/1xoom4/a_hopefully_useful_guide_to_xboxone_headset/