Sound is improving but hardware counts too

[IckyATLAS]

Sound has improved in the game over the years and it continues which is an excellent thing. Sound is one very important immersion sense.

But I have also seen how important the hardware for sound can be. I decided to invest a little in that. I bought recently a Sennheiser R175-U. It has an optical input, Surround system and bass amplification. I have coupled it to my Creative Soundblaster XAE-5 Plus card and you start really getting the roaring sound of the engines, and the guns firing, explosions, sounds become also with a lot of volume and presence. The top system of this type would be the Sennheiser 195 with the Creative Sounblaster AE 9. But here the two together bring the bill to an eye watering 700 Euros for both or nearly double mine, not sure it is double better too. My ears have some limits too ? 

[Guest]

Next step, bass-shakers.

[RossMarBow]

4 hours ago, IckyATLAS said:

Sound has improved in the game over the years and it continues which is an excellent thing. Sound is one very important immersion sense.

But I have also seen how important the hardware for sound can be. I decided to invest a little in that. I bought recently a Sennheiser R175-U. It has an optical input, Surround system and bass amplification. I have coupled it to my Creative Soundblaster XAE-5 Plus card and you start really getting the roaring sound of the engines, and the guns firing, explosions, sounds become also with a lot of volume and presence. The top system of this type would be the Sennheiser 195 with the Creative Sounblaster AE 9. But here the two together bring the bill to an eye watering 700 Euros for both or nearly double mine, not sure it is double better too. My ears have some limits too ? 

Get wired headphones and power them with an amp.
Far better price performance. 

Bluetooth or whatever just doesn't have the guts.

 

Also why are you running two dacs.

 

This post just screams clueless "audiophile".

 

Congratulations on your purchase though.

Edited March 31, 2023 by RossMarBow

[IckyATLAS]

2 hours ago, RossMarBow said:

Get wired headphones and power them with an amp.
Far better price performance. 

Bluetooth or whatever just doesn't have the guts.

Yes I agree that directly wired is better, but in my physical desk and flying gear configuration it is not a practical option to pass a cable that has also to be long, I need to be wireless.

The distance is better covered with a fiber (no loss) between the PC Tower and the Headphone base. The headphone base is then at max 1mt from the headphones.

 

[DragonDaddy]

13 hours ago, Hetzer-JG51 said:

Next step, bass-shakers.

Indeed! I get excellent sound via good, wired headphones and an external sound card. And I use a FF stick. But adding two bass shakers, with SimShaker Wings, brings immersion to a totally new level. Give it a try!

[RossMarBow]

On 3/31/2023 at 7:08 PM, IckyATLAS said:

Yes I agree that directly wired is better, but in my physical desk and flying gear configuration it is not a practical option to pass a cable that has also to be long, I need to be wireless.

The distance is better covered with a fiber (no loss) between the PC Tower and the Headphone base. The headphone base is then at max 1mt from the headphones.

 

are you in a simpit? 
how do you attach your head tracking?
I velcro mine to one of the cups

 

But I'm getting annoyed with my current headphones it doesn't take too long for them to give me a headache and the extra weight of the head tracker speeds that up.

 

I just run my headphones with two cables attached together with a double ended 3.5mm to give me the length I need.

 

 

Honestly considering virtually everything these days is high (enough) grade, comfort is king and it sounds like you have a comfortable solution.  

Edited April 3, 2023 by RossMarBow

[IckyATLAS]

9 hours ago, RossMarBow said:

how do you attach your head tracking?
I velcro mine to one of the cups

I use open track. It is extremely light, runs wireless too and it is velcro on the cup.

But I think the final solution when perfected will be the face tracker. This means no more need to wear any stuff.

The camera will recognize your face and where you are looking and move the image on the screen.

I wait when the solution will work flawlessly and then buy it.

[RossMarBow]

This is very true.

Unless I can get some magically comfortable headphones, it is really putting me off playing the game.
I'm considering going back to using mouse for head tracking.
It also puts me off trying out VR.

 

Infact I prefer to game standing up so even though I really like my rudder pedals, having to sit down while wired up just isn't appealing fun game time anymore for me.
 

Have not looked into face tracking but I will take your word that it is not ready.

[IckyATLAS]

6 hours ago, RossMarBow said:

Have not looked into face tracking but I will take your word that it is not ready.

There is a product you can buy Sensor V2 from TrackHat, but delivery is long due to high demand and the performance is not optimal yet. It is a new product so I would wait a little.

 

Check their website below:

 

SensorV2 | TrackHat

 

[RossMarBow]

8 hours ago, IckyATLAS said:

There is a product you can buy Sensor V2 from TrackHat, but delivery is long due to high demand and the performance is not optimal yet. It is a new product so I would wait a little.

 

Check their website below:

 

SensorV2 | TrackHat

 

Only 60hz for that price seems a bit steep. 
 

Gluing a big L to my forehead seems like a way better option. 

[KevPBur]

On 4/3/2023 at 6:17 PM, IckyATLAS said:

I use open track. It is extremely light, runs wireless too and it is velcro on the cup.

But I think the final solution when perfected will be the face tracker. This means no more need to wear any stuff.

The camera will recognize your face and where you are looking and move the image on the screen.

I wait when the solution will work flawlessly and then buy it.

 

I have been using aitrack for 2 years now. Flawlessly tracks my face with glasses on and a wonky eye! And completely free