Medusa 5.1 Surround Headset

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Holy crapolla Sancti0n, that's one helluva review, very nice...maybe PC Gamer will read this and contact you :lol: This product/Matt deserved a post like yours.

I told my wife that the only thing missing with this headset/wrapping was a silk nightie <<<<<<:idea:
 
I have a audigy 2 zs.
I had a lot of the same problems a lot of you seemed to have: tinny rear, not enough base. Plus a few of my own: sound to the front and a littel to the side swicthed sudenly from the side speakers tot he front and the side sounds seemed to come out from about 15 degrees to about 90 with no discernable change in position. Front speaker also seemed to be above me.

Well, after messing with it for a few dyas i got it good, then today i got it perfect. steps:

1. set all the volume knobs on the headset dongle to 5
2. open thx console and set all distances to 3", fron r/l speaker angles to 60, set speaker to above monitor (mine had been set to below)
3. disable the checkbox in the Speaker Setttings tab labeled speaker calibrator selection ( and do not use the claibrator)
4. disable cmss and everything else in the eax panel
5. in speaker setting window, bass management tab: subwoofer vol max, check bass redirection and max that.
6. disable graphic equalizer
7. open surround mixer, set bass and treble to the 50 arrow mark they got
8. switch to the advanced tab and set front right/ left to 65, front center to 80, rears and sub to 100

What this seemed to do is steal bass from the right and left speakers to tin them out, then pump the bass from the sub which i could barley even hear by default. If you go above 5 on the dingle for sub( called Vib) the headset shakes (is cool but a little unnerving).

It also seemed to spread the side speakers out so i didnt get a large swath with sound only from the side speakers making it hard to tell where sounds were comming from in the front quadrants.

setting speaker to above monitor helped the sounds stay in front of me, rather than sound like above, i suspect the front speakers may be "high" in the headset.

I used rightmark 3d sound to help me out in a lot of this, it is very cool, just make sure you set it to eax 3 or 4 before you start.
 
What this seemed to do is steal bass from the right and left speakers to tin them out, then pump the bass from the sub which i could barley even hear by default.
Click to expand...

So basically instead of trying to add bass to the rear speakers, you're settling with trying to make the front speakers sound as crappy as the back ones? With your setup, you are only making the upper frequencies surround sound and the mid and lower frequencies mono sound.

Can I ask you if you switched the center channel and subwoofer channel? The default setup the headphones come in are opposite with most audio cards forcing you to use the phono plugs to swap these signals.
 
i got a new set of medusa 5.1's. i can not get them working correctly with my x-fi.

* i did get them working flawlessly with an audigy 1.
** i have read over the medusa-usa.com/support.php page and followed their x-fi setup


the rear channel does not want to work correctly. they sound very very quiet, and without bass. I have a pair of zalman 5.1's that work fine, so i am not sure what the difference is with these medusa's.

any help would be appreciated.
 
So basically instead of trying to add bass to the rear speakers, you're settling with trying to make the front speakers sound as crappy as the back ones? With your setup, you are only making the upper frequencies surround sound and the mid and lower frequencies mono sound.

Can I ask you if you switched the center channel and subwoofer channel? The default setup the headphones come in are opposite with most audio cards forcing you to use the phono plugs to swap these signals.
Click to expand...

Well, i wouldn't say they sounds crappy, and you cannot determine the position of lower frequencies very well in real life anyway. Most surround sound setups are premised on this with the separate Subwoofer.

I will admit it isn't the best solution, but i have tried it and it sounds very good.

Note that there is still base comming from all the speakers, just not the lowest frequencies, and some is still directional. I especially notice when i am sitting in the m1a1 tank that the low frequency engine sounds are directional (on the right i think) I attribute this to haveing two subwoofers?

Interestingly i did ask MAtt what the frequency response of the speakers were, cause i just could't beleieve that the front l/r and rear l/r were the same. here is his quote:

Front and Rear 30mm 32ohms 20Hz-20 kHZ
Sub-Woofer 32mm 8ohms 20Hz-120kHz

Certainly seems to say the rear l/r and front l/r are the same speakers. I have noticed that center channel speakers also seem to be tinny.


I didn't have to switch the center/sub channels, is that unusual? I read about that on the FAQ, and it seemed to imply creative cards would work normally and that its was other cards or onboard sound that had this effect. I did pay attention and check this.

to rohan:
All i can suggest is pumping up the volume on the rear channel in creatives tools (or lower the other channels if everything is already maxed).


Ok. i went back into some testing with the cuttoff frequency. I set it to 20Hz which is supposedly the bottom of the response range from the frent and rear speakers. Front speakers sound fine, rear speakers wake that fuzzy sound like there blown.

I ran the cuttoff in steps up to the max of 200Hz (which is what i recommended). they stop making the distortion around 100 Hz but still don't sound as full till around the 200 Hz mark.

I would therefor conclude the numbers i got from Matt are incorrect, but i am not going to take apart the set to find out. Either that or i got a bumb headset with blown rear speakers. Interestingly the center channel is distorted at 20, but clears up around 50 Hz.
 
Hello Matthew (Medusa_USA ) !

I have read this discussion and many reviews on the Internet about headphones Speed Link Medusa 5.1 Surround Headset. Including the review on http://www.thg.ru/game/200507291/index.html

It that just is necessary for me for computer games (I admirer Everquest2:) and viewing of films on DVD!
I want to buy these wonderful headphones. Unfortunately in Russia (city of Moscow) where I live was not present on sale of this model: (
In Russian Internet - shops they for some reason too are not sold. Only model Speedlink Medusa 5.1 USB, and I want to buy Medusa 5.1 Surround Headset.
I tried to be registered on your site http://www.medusa-usa.com, but in the column "Country" for a choice is accessible only " United States ".
Whether I can buy in your shop Medusa 5.1 Surround Headset?

Very much I hope for your support. Thanks.
 
I would therefor conclude the numbers i got from Matt are incorrect, but i am not going to take apart the set to find out. Either that or i got a bumb headset with blown rear speakers. Interestingly the center channel is distorted at 20, but clears up around 50 Hz.
Click to expand...

The numbers Matt gave you match what was in the manuel and website. I highly doubt they are incorrect. I seriously doubt these headphones would have gotten such good reviews from everyone if the rear speakers were like this. I'm sure there has to be a mistake somewhere.

Digital_Seraph, if you can wait a few days, I'm sure Matt will have a response. We've been emailing and we're working on a solution.
 
I've had mine for about 3 months, and just recently they appear to have stopped outputting to the Front Right Channel. Front Left and all the others are fine, but no matter what i do, Front Right is dead as a Dodo. If I just use th e3.5mm adapter and plug the headphones in as a standard pair of Stereo headphones there doesn't seem to be a problem, it's as soon as the App is involved AND the headphones are set to 5.1.

If I then switch the front and rear cables around, I gain both front channels again but i have then lost rear right. I can't find the right combo (or the reason) why I'm not getting all the channels.

I'm using a Audigy in 5.1 mode on a Asus A8N-SLi Premium
 
Arcolite, it sounds like you have a problem before it gets to the amplifier. Try using different cables. If that doesn't work, it might be your sound card. Test your sound card.
 
I think your right, it's something my setup i think, but i can't seem to find what it is.

Last night after an hour of fiddling I managed to get it to output on all channels but the front right is muffled. I can't seem to get much better than that currently.
 
Please refer to the support page for procedure to follow in contacting
the manufacturer.
http:/www.medusa-usa.com/support.php

Regards

Matt
Click to expand...

This is the response i got from matt. he wants me to contact the manufacturer. Hey Matt? Do you speak german? If so, could you please decipher that it says on their kontak page for me? No? You live in canada and don't speak german? Odd.

Here is what i wrote:

i have purchased a set of medusa 5.1 (non usb). i have tried these on an
audigy 1, an audigy 2, and an x-fi. i am getting very very low bass out
of the rear speaker. they are also very quiet compared to the front.

i have messed with every imaginable setting in the creative tools. i
have setup the creative software as suggested here:

http://www.medusa-usa.com/creative_xfi_connect.htm

nothing i do makes a difference. i can take care of the low bass
(mostly) but the rear speakers are always very very quiet. i have tried
multiple pieces of software to test this (bf2, counter strike source,
rightmark sound tester, the xfi, audigy 2zs and audigy 1 software).

i have been reading on the tomshardware forum, where this issue seems
common. i have been reading on the creative forum, where this is common
as well. Is there a fix for this?

my zalman 5.1's work flawlessly. 0 troubles.
Click to expand...

so apparently, they don't support these at all.

IF I BUY SOMETHING FROM YOU, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SUPPORT, REPLACE, FIX, OR DO WHATEVER YOU NEED TO TO MAKE THE CUSTOMER HAPPY. nice job matt.
 
Chill rhohan, I have the same problem. He's informed me that we are waiting for one of Medusa's tech guys to analyse this problem. Just wait for his response. As far as I can tell, he's doing the best he can.
 
... i suppose i *should* chill. however, i spent 100 bucks on this thing. while i dont' mind spending money on quality items, this has yet to be that.

his "oh well talk to the manufacturer" answer was, irratiting to say the least.
 
Hi Rhohan

If I may I would like to clarify some points in your posts.

Your initial email to me this morning came via the sales section of the website rather than the support page. As a result I had no way of knowing who on earth you were as you did not identify yourself apart from an email address which on searching through the sales database drew a blank. I had to assume at that stage that you were not actually a customer of Medusa-USA (if you are then I apologise for not finding your details).

As a result I directed you to the support page where even if you were not one of our customers you could have utilised the numerous FAQ's to help with your problem or failing that contact the manufacturer for assistance.

Speed-Links site is very simple to use and had you clicked the English flag icon at the top of the page you would have been able to read the whole site in English. I am not Canadian by the way I am British and yes I do speak a little German but that is totally beside the point.

You fail to mention on your posting exactly when you purchased your headset but you do make a big point of saying..

* i did get them working flawlessly with an audigy 1.

but then go on to contradict yourself by commenting....

""i spent 100 bucks on this thing. while i dont' mind spending money on quality items, this has yet to be that""

Not sure now which it is. Worked flawlessly or dont work at all ??


From what you have written I think I have to assume that your problem has only arisen since the introduction of the X-Fi card into your system.

As I, as the owner of a company that simply re-sells the Medusa Headsets, neither make nor even pretend to know the finer intricacies of either the X-Fi card or the Speed-Link headsets how can you expect me to provide better diagnosing than the manufacturers ?

supertim1337 mentioned I am awaiting results back from Speed-Link regarding a similar problem but still you seem to think that my directing you to the manufacturer was the wrong thing to do.

Guess I cannot win. Maybe I should stop trying.

Matt


IF I BUY SOMETHING FROM YOU, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SUPPORT, REPLACE, FIX, OR DO WHATEVER YOU NEED TO TO MAKE THE CUSTOMER HAPPY. nice job matt.

Please identify yourself as a customer and I will do all I can for you.
 
my buddy reported them working on his audigy (well, my audigy in his computer). i did not confirm this report.

i earlier today, put the audigy in my computer, removing all drivers (blah blah usual hardware replacement routine), and lo and behold, it doesn't work right in mine either.

my initial comment was a bit rude. i apologize. again, spending 100$ and 4days or so trying to get this working was not exactly fun, you know?

i work in support. if i were to give the answer "talk to the manufacturer", my boss would kill me.

if you are indeed looking into the issue, i will leave it with you. i will be checking back here every day. if i haven't heard anything in a week, i will bug you again, this time from the email address i purchased it from (didn't know you NEEDED that).


NOTE: the "contact us" does not explicitly say "only for sales". please edit your page so this confusion can be avoided in the future.
 
I'd like to add my experiences here too, since this seems to be almost only place in the net I've found similar experiences about these headphones.

I got the headphones yesterday and it took whole evening for me to try different wire setups/software settings. I'm pretty sure they are now connected/set up as they should be. Still, I'm having same problems than others here.

1. Rear speakers miss "fullness" especially in bass and they sound more like an old radio (without the hiss and such though). They sound like they are limited same way than my old Dolby Pro Logic mono back channel is in my old amp.
2. Same thing with center channel, but not as bad as in rear.
3. When audio source moves from side to front, it feels like there is a small gap at the mix position -> volume decreases and rises back, but this might be only because the side/center sources has a different "feel".

I've even tried crossing the wires and have tried the motherboard soundcard outputs also. My soundcard is SB Audigy 4 by the way.

I'm located at europe, but this power adapter thingie is probably not the problem.

Maybe it is just a matter of taste, but I like the stereo scenery more than 5.1 with these headphones. I take test DVD from work to test singals through DVD player this evening and come back here then.

One thing to add here. Some webpages mention a CD/DVD switch on the inline remote that makes a big difference in sound. Mine doesn't have it although the manual shows that the switch should be there. Is that because I have a newer version of the headphones and thus the switch is omitted. ???

- Hannu
 
i would like to make one thing clear, incase it was skipped over:

my current setup works 100% with my zalmn 5.1 headphones, and my creative inspire 5.1 speakers. it is just the medusa that does not work.
 
Here is the response from the speedlink tech support in germany:

Hello,
please enable n the Soundcard Software the Bass Redirection. Does this not help try another PCI Place in your Computer for the Soundcard.

H.W. Bahrenburg
Service & Support
Click to expand...

neither of these made a difference. I have done these both before asking for help. i suppose i will go back and forth a bit with them, until they exhaust their resources. at which point i hope they have a "level 2" group.
 
Hi,
I just thought I would mention I have just purchased these headphones and are having problems.
The front left, right and centre sound fine. However, both rear speakers sound weak, with little bass. Also, when I do a sound test for each speaker, there is no sound when the subwoofer is meant to be sounding.
I am using a Creative SoundBlaster Audigy.
I tried the headphones in counter-strike and the sound was quite odd. Footsteps are now not heard at all, with rear sounds being weak (like in the speaker test). CMSS 3D is off in the creative control panel.
These problems sound similar to problems others have had. Any ideas?

I am in the UK.
Btw, I think it is very good of Matt from Medusa to be talking on this forum!
 
NOTE: Like I already said in my earlier reply that it might be a matter of taste how the sound feels to one and it might be that my set up is faulty. So, if someone is decising between to buy these or not, I suggest they take my review below as just an one bad opinion between many good ones.

Ok, I made some quick tests and it seems that the rear speakers, or the signal they receive, have biggest problems between 200Hz-500Hz compared to side speakers. Bass redirect was on at its max 200Hz position and it worked well. Anyway, when side speakers are ok from 200Hz up, rear ones has quite big drop in sound pressure until 500Hz. Also, center channel got some distortion when listening 5.1 music with a bit louder volumes.

Anyway, when viewing movies, the overall quality was quite good.

But.

I bought these headphones mainly for playing BF2 and I have to say that I don't get them work in it like I'd like to.

The main thing I don't like is the totally different color of the sound in center and rear channels (at least when playing BF2). For example, if there's a tank near me, it has this nice soft and low humming when it is 90 degrees from my looking direction. But if I look staight at it, the bass is gone and I get only these weirdly filtered "old radio" frequencies. At 180 degrees bass is there (through redirecting I think) but the overall volume is low. This is most easily noticeable when close to artillery strikes: look straight at explosions -> huge bass and volume, look away -> the strike is more like hundreds of yards away and has very low bass. This coloring makes every vehicle and weapon sound different in different directions.

Until I get these work I'll be using stereo sound in BF2. I still try to fiddle the settings and such and if anything gets better I'll reply here.

- Hannu
 
for bf2 reversing the centre/sub and switching rear to front and front to rear gives the best sound. However, although switching the sub/centre using the cables provided activates the vibrate /bass chanel it isnt a straight switch as it prevents the centre speakers from working. Also switching rear with front , whilst providing the best sound , is obviously playing whats in front of you as though it were behind you. These units have been soldered wrong on the circuit boards i would say. i have tested this out with the creative inspire 7.1 speakers setup in 5.1 configuration. This is nothing to do with bass redirection or thx setup or tweaks - the equipment has manufacturing faults.
TEST audigy 2 ZS
Sub/centre input straight from sub output of audigy into medusa amp
all channel volumes to 0 in software apart from sub and centre
result no vibrate but centre speaker works fine
Sub/centre speaker "reveresed" using cables provided and inserted into medusa amp
result vibrate works fine centre speaker muted out (any 'centre' sound you hear is being produced by the subs)
As i mentioned before i used the the creative inspire speakers as a control.
I truly believe these units cannot be "tweaked" into submission and rather are a bad batch.
 
I can relate exactly to what you say hhoffren about the sound in games. To test the headset i decided to do the following:
Have the headset connected to the speedlink amplifier
Have all 3 stereo 3.5mm jacks into the inputs on the amplifier
Try the other end of each stereo lead into the headphone socket of a music player (I used my Creative zen micro MP3 player)
Play music on the music player and listen through the medusa headset to the sound when each lead from the amplifier is plugged into the music player.

I found that when the 'front' input of the amplifier was connected to my MP3 player, the sound was good. When then 'rear' input of the amplifier was connected to MP3 player, the sound was quiet and tinny (no bass, weak sound). When the 'centre/sub' input of the amplifier was connected to my MP3 player, the sound was OK, with good bass (as to be expected).

Does this not prove there is something wrong/something setup wrong with my headset? I am not sure about how well my soundcard works at present since I do not have any other type of 5.1 speaker system I can connect to it other than the Medusa's. I felt connecting each input of the amp to the same source (my MP3 player) in turn, would prove if the headset could be blamed.

All of the inline volume wheels near the headset are set to 7.
Am I right to think that my little test shows the headset is faulty? I did notice that the outer box seal had been cut before I got it and once I opened the box, the material under the headset was ripped around the edges... 🙁 I would be willing to look past this packaging if the headset itself worked correctly.
 
i have tested this as well. i took my chick's ipod, plugged it into each of the wires. the front were good (needs more bass) the rear were HORRIBLE, 0 bass, and VERY quiet, and the center/sub was very bassey, as you would expect.

identical to timlindop's findings. it is NOT DUE TO THE INTRODUCTION OF AN XFI INTO MY SYSTEM. MY IPOD DOESN'T HAVE DRIVERS, DOESN'T DO THX, DOESN'T DO DIRECTX, DOESN'T HAVE SOFTWARE THAT I CAN ADJUST FOR THE SOUND. it is a straight output. if it doesn't work on that, i am not sure what will.
 
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