Question Are non gaming headsets still okay to game with

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Ramza394

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I currently have the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones and I'm wondering if a gaming headset is worth the extra money of if I should stick with the Sony headphones. I was looking at the HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless headset as an alternative. Are non gaming headphones any good for gaming?

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Ramza394 said:
I currently have the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones and I'm wondering if a gaming headset is worth the extra money of if I should stick with the Sony headphones. I was looking at the HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless headset as an alternative. Are non gaming headphones any good for gaming?

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Do those headphones sound good to you?
If so, there is no reason to change to "gaming" headphones.
 
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Ramza394 said:
I currently have the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones and I'm wondering if a gaming headset is worth the extra money of if I should stick with the Sony headphones. I was looking at the HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless headset as an alternative. Are non gaming headphones any good for gaming?

​

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The word gaming added to anything is just a marketing ploy.
 
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Ramza394 said:
I currently have the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones and I'm wondering if a gaming headset is worth the extra money of if I should stick with the Sony headphones. I was looking at the HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless headset as an alternative. Are non gaming headphones any good for gaming?

​

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They aren't just not better, they are generally worse. Computer accessory companies are not making headsets themselves, they outsource it to some other companies, mostly Chinese, to make them and they are most often mediocre as compared with products made by manufacturers who know how to make sound devices (like Sony, Bose, Sennheiser, etc).

But nowadays you just have to put "gaming" in the name of a product and everybody (reviewers included) gets excited about it.

Three years ago, I decided to try a well rated gaming headset (an HyperX actually). It had great reviews by both customers and pro reviewers so I thought it was a safe choice. Oh I was wrong. It was terrible and sounded worse than my 50$ Cowin headset for both musics and games. I couldn't believe I spent 200$ for that. I returned it and got a slightly more expensive Sennheiser model instead and wow! Day and night. I still have it and if it dies I gonna buy the same.
 
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The others are correct. A good set of headphones will work well for anything, including gaming, and products that are marketed as for gaming often go rather for a particular aesthetic than for anything else specifically good for gaming. That's not to say that gaming headsets can't be good, just that something not being marketed as for gaming does not make it unsuitable for it.

However, I feel I should warn you about your XM5 headphones. I have a pair of WH-1000XM4, their predecessor. After about a year of heavy use of them and their noise cancelling feature, one day I was randomly blasted by an insanely ear-splitting feedback sound. After that, I couldn't use the noise-cancelling without that feedback occurring, and it is absolutely loud enough to permanently harm your ears. My experience is not an isolated event; there are widespread reports of that occurring. And I would not be surprised if they never fixed the issue with the newer model, since as far as I know they never acknowledged it with the XM4s.

Roland Of Gilead said:
Rather than buy a new headset, you could also try out DTS: Sound Unbound through the MS Store. Although it does cost 15$ for the licence, it provides surround sound through any headset. This is great for audio positioning in game. Makes a real difference.
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How does that work? As far as I know, a big part of how we perceive directionality of sound comes from small changes to sounds made from slight head movements and small changes that occur because of how the sound interacts with our ears when coming from different directions. Regular headphones would not be able to simulate those things unless I am much mistaken.
 
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ThereAndBackAgain said:
The others are correct. A good set of headphones will work well for anything, including gaming, and products that are marketed as for gaming often go rather for a particular aesthetic than for anything else specifically good for gaming. That's not to say that gaming headsets can't be good, just that something not being marketed as for gaming does not make it unsuitable for it.

However, I feel I should warn you about your XM5 headphones. I have a pair of WH-1000XM4, their predecessor. After about a year of heavy use of them and their noise cancelling feature, one day I was randomly blasted by an insanely ear-splitting feedback sound. After that, I couldn't use the noise-cancelling without that feedback occurring, and it is absolutely loud enough to permanently harm your ears. My experience is not an isolated event; there are widespread reports of that occurring. And I would not be surprised if they never fixed the issue with the newer model, since as far as I know they never acknowledged it with the XM4s.


How does that work? As far as I know, a big part of how we perceive directionality of sound comes from small changes to sounds made from slight head movements and small changes that occur because of how the sound interacts with our ears when coming from different directions. Regular headphones would not be able to simulate those things unless I am much mistaken.
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There's a trial version available. Try it out, see of you like it.

It uses spatial tech, which is about as much as I know. But it certainly works.
 
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ThereAndBackAgain said:
Yeah, I'm curious. I don't know that I would actually pay for and use it, since I'm a bit of a purist, but it would be interesting to hear how it changes things.
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Well, you can use the free trial to test. I'm not an audiophile, so alot of it passes me by (pardon the pun). Worth a try for sure.

I defo hear a difference when playing in Cod bo 6 for example. Specially when prone. I can hear footsteps and weapon swaps when they are close.

Edited.
 
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Roland Of Gilead said:
Well, you can use the free trial to test. I'm not an audiophile, so alot of it passes me by (pardon the pun). Worth a try for sure.

I defo hear a difference when playing in Cod bo 6 for example. Specially when prone. I can hear footsteps and weapon swaps when they are close.

Edited.
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I read that only a few games natively support it, and the rest treat it as a 5.1 or 7.1 set-up. Also that it uses Microsoft Spatial Audio. Seems kind of complicated.
 
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ThereAndBackAgain said:
I read that only a few games natively support it, and the rest treat it as a 5.1 or 7.1 set-up. Also that it uses Microsoft Spatial Audio. Seems kind of complicated.
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Not complicated at all. I think the list is really dated and I'm sure games have been added, because I mainly use it for First Person Shooters, and it works great with BO 6 which isn't on the list.

You only need to change one setting in windows:

https://imgur.com/a/9STNmTe
View: https://imgur.com/a/9STNmTe


That's it! Easy Peasy, Lemon Sqeeuzy :grinning:
 
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