Medusa 5.1 Surround Headset

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Sorry for butting in but y r u charging back the retailers. They only sell what the manufacturers send them. If the manufacturer screwz up then attack them.
Reading your post it sounds like practically every reseller will be put out of business for false advertizing with your actions then who we gonna buy from.
 
If a retailer buys a ton of defective headphones. It's his problem because he chooses to carry and sell it. He should have to go back to the manufacturer and complain, not the consumer. The consumer should charge back the retailer and the retailer should then decide whether to cut his losses or go after the manufacturer. This is the risk and responsibility of a retailer. When you buy something at Best Buy and its defective, who do you return it to?

Your credit card company will agree. They will charge back the retailer, not the manufacturer. The key word is 'false advertising.'
 
If a retailer buys a ton of defective headphones. It's his problem because he chooses to carry and sell it. He should have to go back to the manufacturer and complain, not the consumer. The consumer should charge back the retailer and the retailer should then decide whether to cut his losses or go after the manufacturer. This is the risk and responsibility of a retailer. When you buy something at Best Buy and its defective, who do you return it to?

Your credit card company will agree. They will charge back the retailer, not the manufacturer. The key word is 'false advertising.'
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Reguardless of the accuracy of your quote in this context, your description above is mostly correct. Again not focusing any blame on medusa-usa but they are implying a relationship with the manufacturer, just given the name of their organization. Speaking in generalizations again, there is a gray overlap area of responsibility of a product between a distributor/reseller and the manufacturer. Also you bring up "false advertising" which in this context also says "false marketing/manufacturing" as medusa-usa doesn't make the boxes that the products go into. If the boxes are incorrect they are merely representing mis-information from the manufacturer.

I take no stance on this issue, just pointing out stuff for the sake of the 'discussion'.
 
Has anyone confirmed for sure it is faulty wiring and that if you get a replacement, the problem is fixed? I just recieved my ProGamer 5.1's today and yea, they sound like crap with COD2. the sound is "flat", more specifically when i have my back to an explosion, gunfire or any other noise. Any help is greatly appreciated.

p.s. yea i dont notice anything that the vib controll does either, any info there?

To clarify what i have:
Audigy 2 Gamer ZS
Medua 5.1 ProGamer

...add BF3 to the list of games that sound horrible on the headphones. The sound coming out is like listening to a walkie talkie kinda? not staticy but just no "depth" in the audio like in regular stereo headphones. I just dont understand how some people swear by these and yet some people have all these problems.
 
As regular visitors to this forum know I am a very fair and understanding kind of chap and as CEO of Medusa-USA take very seriously any reports of faulty merchandise and try my utmost to solve any problems that do inevitably occur from time to time. However when someone attempts to blackmail me into giving them free sets I think it is time to speak out and put the record straight.

A little background first. A customer who we shall name 'Fred' purchased three sets of Medusa Headphones for himself and two friends.

5 weeks after receipt I received the following email from 'Fred'...(although it seems it was actually written by Supertim1337)

"I purchased a set of three medusa 5.1 surround sound headphones from you a month ago. However, all three headphones are defective. The rear channels on each of the headphones are tinny and are lacking base. From the specifications, the front channels and rear channels should be the same size and power. The sound that comes from them do not match. I searched online and found that other people have had the same problems, namely in the toms hardware forum. I would like to exchange these headphones as they are defective."

At that stage not realising that there was a typing error in the user manuals I replied to 'Fred' with installation tips and also the address for return in order for the sets to be tested.

I then received the following email from 'Fred' himself...
Thanks for the very quick responses... This is actually 'Fred', the person sending the messages before was the 3rd buyer in our 3 headset pack (supertim1337). Me, personally, have no idea how to test these properly... I let him do them cause he was so sure on what the problem was. Let me explain to you in greater detail about what's happening. How he is testing them is, he is plugging the front plug into the front outlet on the amp and in the rear outlet on the amp. what he says is that the "rear" speakers are not putting out as much sound and bass as the front speakers. However, when we tested them on my other friends PC, his headset seems to work fine...

So it appears that from initially all three sets being defective we now only have the set owned by supertim1337 suspect.

After many negative and un-constructive posts from supertim1337 I finally received the blackmail PM below which quite blatantly is bribery and uncovers why supertim1337 has been so venoment in his postings..

'Fred' is not responding to me either. I have already given him my set to send back to you and he has given me my money back. I am puzzled as to why he has not returned it to you. I am assuming if he hasn't contacted you already, he might not pursue a refund.
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You have your money back and so the Medusas have cost you nothing. Instead of spending your time trashing the product and trying to put other people off why not just buy a different headset that suits your needs.

I later got another set from someone else and have taken that apart to find the wiring issue. I was very sore in that the headphones you are selling did not meet the description (speaker specifications). I initially thought they were by mistake but instead I found out this was done intentionally. This made me even more upset because then you can claim they weren't defective because they were done intentionally, when however they were sold under a different description.
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I have yet to speak to a customer who purchased the Medusa Headsets 'purely' on the fact that the specification quoted 30mm front speaker rather than the 40mm it actually is. The manufacturer have held their hands up to a mis-print in the user manual and marketing material and that has now, or is currently, being corrected.

You gave us your word that if they were defective, you would refund our money and give us new sets free. Although you can use that loophole to claim they weren't defective. I still feel I am entitled to a free set. However, 'Fred' is not contacting either of us back and so this is where we're at.
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This offer still holds good to 'Fred'. When he returns the headsets they will be tested and if any fault is found other than the larger speaker issue they will be replaced.


I want to be as fair as possible so I would like to offer you two deals.

Deal 1: Replace all speaker specifications on your website with the correct ones. Images like this one needs to be changed to reflect the true product. Include in your eBay descriptions the
correct speaker specifications. Also add an paper insert or sticker on the box of future headsets with the corrected specifications. Doing this at the very least will get you out of legal and credit card problems that other people might pursue.
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As mentioned above, the manufacturer has now corrected the typo error on the specification sheet. The Medusa-USA website also now carries the correct specification. Any customer who genuinely purchased the headphones purely for the 30mm front speaker quoted rather than the 40mm fitted will be offered a full refund on return so legal and Credit Card issues do not come into it.


In exchange for this, I will stop posting negatively about your products and company.
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Speed-Link and Medusa-USA take this kind of 'threat' very seriously and will not bow to pressure from Bribery or Blackmail and your comments have been passed to the Toms Hardware Forum Administrators for action.


Deal 2: Send me what I feel I am entitled for. I would like a set of Medusa headphones free of change. (I will re-wire them myself.) In exchange, I will not only know you are a honest man. I will delete all my posts and replace them with an excellent review of your product. In the review, the different speaker sizes will not have to be mentioned because your new descriptions will be correct.
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Again I emphasise that Speed-Link nor Medusa-USA bow to pressure from Blackmail and your comments have been passed to the Toms Hardware Administrators.

Please respond with what you think.
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I think you are only after one thing - A free headset, and will stop at nothing including bribery, blackmail and negative postings to get what you want. You have already stated that you have received another set from someone else, why not simply re-wire those to your preference.


To conclude here are the official specs for the range of Speed-Link Medusa headsets..

* Rear/Centre speakers: dia. 30mm x 2; 32Ω 20Hz-20kHz
* Front speaker: dia. 40mm x 2; 64Ω 20Hz-20kHz
* Subwoofer: dia. 32mm x 2; 8 Ω 20Hz-20kHz

The rear speakers are lower in output to the fronts by design and intended. What sets the Medusa's apart from other 5.1 headsets is that the Medusa's utilise the rear speakers as effect speakers rather than just exact duplicates of the fronts.

Speed-Link have apologised profusely for any confusion caused by them incorrectly mixing up the centre and front specifications in earlier manuals.


Matt Mason-Phipps
CEO
Medusa International
 
WOW....Well done Matt, I admire the way you handle your business. If I was to read this forum without any comments from you I would be skeptical about a purchase of Medusa 5.1 headphones but with the way you have backed your product I have no doubt where my $125 will be spent for my new headphones. You have proven to me that even if I did have a problem that it would be resolved efficiently and professionally. I am looking forward to receiving my new headphones soon as I am building my new gaming rig next week.

Paul
 
So it appears that from initially all three sets being defective we now only have the set owned by supertim1337 suspect.
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No, no no. That's because the other two were using the 3.5mm adapter instead of hooking the headset to the amplifier. I personally went to 'Fred's house and hooked his up and his friends to let them test out true surround sound and they noticed the back speakers too. All three were defective, given the specifications as I explicitly mentioned in my first email to you.

After many negative and un-constructive posts from supertim1337 I finally received the blackmail PM below which quite blatantly is bribery and uncovers why supertim1337 has been so venoment in his postings..
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un-constructive? Read again what I wrote earlier...

They have the front channels hooked up to the 40mm speakers, the center speaker hooked up to the front 30mm speakers and the rear speakers hooked up to the rear 30mm speakers. That is why when you compare the front speakers to the rear speakers, there is a huge difference!!! You are comparing the 40mm speakers to the 30mm speakers.
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How am I un-constructive when I figured out the problem?

You have your money back and so the Medusas have cost you nothing. Instead of spending your time trashing the product and trying to put other people off why not just buy a different headset that suits your needs.
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This isn't about an issue about getting my money back. This is about FALSE ADVERTISING. People are buying this product under FALSE descriptions.

The manufacturer have held their hands up to a mis-print in the user manual and marketing material and that has now, or is currently, being corrected.
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That's what I freakin asked for in my Deal 1! Thank you.

This offer still holds good to 'Fred'. When he returns the headsets they will be tested and if any fault is found other than the larger speaker issue they will be replaced.
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See, thats the loophole you're trying to get me into. I initially said, these headphones are defective, given the specifications that the front and rear channels should be the same size and power. I claim a defect as not adhering to the specifications. You replied that you would refund and give us free headsets if they were defective. After I could prove this fact as I did. You then came out and said, oh, they're suppose to be that way, the specifications were wrong, hence, no more defect. What a CHEEK! as you would put it.


As mentioned above, the manufacturer has now corrected the typo error on the specification sheet. The Medusa-USA website also now carries the correct specification. Any customer who genuinely purchased the headphones purely for the 30mm front speaker quoted rather than the 40mm fitted will be offered a full refund on return so legal and Credit Card issues do not come into it.
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Three days ago, I took this screenshot of your website...



I see that from my PM to you that you changed your website from this to this taken today.



I see my efforts are not in vain. My intent from my Deal 1 was for this and it worked. Am I still un-constructive? I am trying to prevent others from falling into the same trap as I did. I see it worked.


Speed-Link and Medusa-USA take this kind of 'threat' very seriously and will not bow to pressure from Bribery or Blackmail and your comments have been passed to the Toms Hardware Forum Administrators for action.
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Do you think this is a threat or blackmail? Deal 1 was just to do what you should have already done, that is correct your errors. Deal 2 was to resolve a revised personal agreement with me. Have you even considered why I split it up to two deals? Why didn't I lump them together to 1 deal? Because I knew Deal 1 was what you should do no matter what and that Deal 2 was something you do just for customer satisfaction. Since you escaped out of your loophole of what 'defective' means even though I clearly defined what kind of defect I saw in your product initially. I split them up because I already knew you would say no to deal 2. I didn't want that to effect the outcome of deal 1 because that effects other consumers. There's no blackmail or threat involved.


You have already stated that you have received another set from someone else, why not simply re-wire those to your preference.
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I bartered one from someone in Hawaii and rewired it and made my own amp from spare parts I had lying around. I have my headset. This isn't about a free headset or money. It's about you doing what you should as a retailer and not deceive customers. It's the principle of the deal you made with me. As I have seen the changes in your site due to my PM, I am satisfied. As for you rejecting my deal 2, I know what I already know. You have horrible customer service skills.

To conclude here are the official specs for the range of Speed-Link Medusa headsets..

* Rear/Centre speakers: dia. 30mm x 2; 32Ω 20Hz-20kHz
* Front speaker: dia. 40mm x 2; 64Ω 20Hz-20kHz
* Subwoofer: dia. 32mm x 2; 8 Ω 20Hz-20kHz

The rear speakers are lower in output to the fronts by design and intended. What sets the Medusa's apart from other 5.1 headsets is that the Medusa's utilise the rear speakers as effect speakers rather than just exact duplicates of the fronts.
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Thank you. And if it wasn't for me, no one would be the wiser.
 
You are amazing supertim1337. So everyone in here is supposed to think that just because YOU say so, then not only Toms Hardware reviewers are wrong but so are the xsreviewers too. ?
I guess you will be going over to that site now and trying to blag a free headset off them. Grow up.
You are complaining that the manufacturer advertised one of the speakers as only being 30mm when in fact it was 40mm. WOW we get an extra 10mm for free, thanks Speed-Link.
Glad I didnt pay ANY attention at all to the specs when I bought a set, who cares if the speakers are 10mm bigger or smaller. Just took Toms Hardware reviewers advise and have never regretted it. My set are perfect and I didnt have to blackmail anyone.
 
I never said the reviewers are wrong. I said that if you compare the front speakers to the rear speakers, the rear speakers are gonna sound crappy comparatively. Are you gonna insist that his is a bad pair and that he should return his?
 
Deal 2: Send me what I feel I am entitled for. I would like a set of Medusa headphones free of change. (I will re-wire them myself.) In exchange, I will not only know you are a honest man. I will delete all my posts and replace them with an excellent review of your product. In the review, the different speaker sizes will not have to be mentioned because your new descriptions will be correct.
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To state you would remove your old posts shows you cant stand behind what you stated from the beginning and to suggest that you would put "excellent reviews of your product" in exchange for merchandise is by definition blackmail. Why would you want something for free that you dont even believe works correctly even if you would take the time to re-wire them correctly in your words. You may have had good intentions at the beginning but saw what you percieved as an opportunity to get something for free and now you have been caught with your hand in the cookie jar... Sad for you.
 
(using a audigy 1 in 5.1 mode with 5.1 enabled for windows as well)

I picked up the medusa 5.1 pro gamer edition (USB or wall outlet powered, and inline amp instead of the amp box). I was confused at first what the "VIB vol" knob was for. Many people on this forum have said its used to adjust the internal bass volume, but I get NO difference from having this at a 0 or a 10.

Is the VIB vol knob supposed to control bass?

I too have tinny rear speaker and did assume that this was a pseudo feature, but man it sounds like crap in COD2 when an explosion goes off behind me (possibly also because my base channel isn't working as stated above)
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I would like to note some observations I have come up with since posting this:

I hooked my center/bass channel up to my right/left channel and was finally able to experience what the Bass should feel like, The VIB knob did respond at this point. I then hooked the headset up the proper way and decided to:
MAX the bass out in the speaker settings
set Bass Redirection ON
Set crossover frequencey to MAX (i.e. 200hz)

Now I am able to get some difference in adjusting the bass setting, I would note however that it doesn't pound nearly as hard as a 10 hooked up this way as say a 3 or 4 when the center/bass was hooked to front left/front right.

So that's my observation, MATT you might want to post this as a faq on your site, at least for an Audigy (previously I was setting the crossover frequency to mid way or below mid way and was getting no bass effect)...And I might ask the community: would my bass redirection improve if I upgraded to a x-fi card, or is it approximately the same?

I am Thrilled with my Medusa 5.1 Gamer headphones, I do admit that having a tinny-er rear speaker helps easily distinguish when something is behind me, and see that this can be considered a feature for gaming.
 
Thanks for the tip Brodyhill. I have updated all the Medusa International support pages with your suggestion. (and credited you too)

Matt
 
Why would you want something for free that you dont even believe works correctly even if you would take the time to re-wire them correctly in your words. You may have had good intentions at the beginning but saw what you percieved as an opportunity to get something for free and now you have been caught with your hand in the cookie jar... Sad for you.
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Because Medusa_USA said this to me in an email...

I give you my guarantee in writing here and now that should all three
sets prove faulty not only will I send you brand new replacements free
of charge but I will refund every single cent you have paid.
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Read what I said above about how he used a loophole to get out of this deal. It turns out that everyone's headsets were defective, given the original specifications. I only asked what he offered me to begin with. My hand is in the cookie jar only because he promised me a cookie.
 
Thats just why none of us in here can quite understand your point.

According to my dictionary, defective means... Having a defect; faulty: a defective appliance. Marked by subnormal structure, function, intelligence, or behavior: defective speech.

Both Speed-Link and Matt at Medusa have explained that the headsets are not and never have been defective. The only thing that was wrong was a discrepency in the specifications which from what you keep banging on about only improves with the correct specification.

Originally they stated Front and Rear speakers are 30mm. Now we learn that all along the fronts have been 40mm. That to me sounds like an improvement. I could 100% understand if they had stated 30mm and only put 20mm ones inside.

Anyways if your very quick I have just seen that the top two biggest on-line retailers in Europe still show the old spec. They both have forums too so maybe you can get in there quick and destroy their threads and then hold them to ransom to remove all your posts. One of them is bound to give you a free one to shut you up.
 
Exactly where did Matt say that you have to remove your posts and write friendly ones in return for him giving you free product. I missed that line.
 
According to my dictionary, defective means... Having a defect; faulty: a defective appliance. Marked by subnormal structure, function, intelligence, or behavior: defective speech.
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defective given the original specifications. That was my line and they still are defective given the original specifications as in having a defect and being faulty in meeting those specifications.
 
Originally they stated Front and Rear speakers are 30mm. Now we learn that all along the fronts have been 40mm. That to me sounds like an improvement. I could 100% understand if they had stated 30mm and only put 20mm ones inside.
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I can play devil's advocate and say the center channel was advertised as 40mm but really they're 30mm. What do you say to that? That to me does not sound like an improvement. Do you 100% understand?
 
Ok, would someone other than supertim please help me out :) I will say that i am not satisfied with the absolutely crummy sound i am getting while gaming (specificaly in the rear and center) yet i would much rather fix the problem and use these bad boys like all the reviewers have used em. I find it hard to believe major sitest such as tomshardware would review these things as great and yet they sound like what i have, which leads me to believe mine have either a setting off or are deffective. On that note, i do not want a refund, i want working headphones :) So on with my question:

Does anyone have fully working headphones where all sounds have "depth" and bass? I understand the rear speaker is smaller, ok, but why is there absolutely no bass at all so gunshots just "pop" (if that makes any sense)

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

P.S. - Matt i contacted speedlink support like you said and just waiting to hear back from them, ill let ya know how it goes.
 
Ok, would someone other than supertim please help me out :) I will say that i am not satisfied with the absolutely crummy sound i am getting while gaming (specificaly in the rear and center) yet i would much rather fix the problem and use these bad boys like all the reviewers have used em. I find it hard to believe major sitest such as tomshardware would review these things as great and yet they sound like what i have, which leads me to believe mine have either a setting off or are deffective. On that note, i do not want a refund, i want working headphones :) So on with my question:

Does anyone have fully working headphones where all sounds have "depth" and bass? I understand the rear speaker is smaller, ok, but why is there absolutely no bass at all so gunshots just "pop" (if that makes any sense)

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

P.S. - Matt i contacted speedlink support like you said and just waiting to hear back from them, ill let ya know how it goes.
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pps. Here are my sepcs again:
Audigy 2 zs gamer
Medusa 5.1 ProGamer

-one more thing, does everyone get crazy sound "bleed" out of the headphones? like the headphones dont keep the sound well to themselves, as in my roomates hear my music and games loud and clear when i am listening to them.
 
while i am not going to badmouth matt (because he has offered to replace my headphones, and my money if i so wish, and yes i did keep the emails), supertim does have a point. gunhost, what you are failing to see in tims point is that the 40mm up front, and only 30mm in back contributes to the crappy sound that we are experiencing, myself included. the rear speakers have ZERO bass, have ZERO depth, and generally sound like DOGSH!T. they should not sound that bad compared to the front. how do i test this?

1) take hook the headphones up to the amp, and hook each of the three wires to an ipod, and take a look at the sound difference. BIG difference in the front, center, and rear.

2) go into cs:s, and drop a grenade, then turn around. then, drop a grenade, and look right at it. you will HATE the difference in the sound.

I have tried EVERY imaginable thing to get these sounding better. i worked on these for 1 week straight. and as my gf and roomie and work can tell you, when i have a problem, the world goes on hold until i either fix shit, or find out i cant. and i can't fix these.

let me ask you this: do you have a set of 5.1 speakers? if so, do the rear speakers sound like DOGSH!T, or do they sound the same as the front? The medusa's should sound the same.

All i wanted when i first bought these medusa's was to have a pair of 5.1's that sound as good as my zalman 5.1's, but with a built in mic. I still want that. If i can't then i will get my 150$ (100 for the headphones, and $25x2 for shipping) and i will get another pair of headphones that meet my needs.
 
The Zalmans are NOT built the same as the Medusa's in the fact that the Zalmans do not have a seperate sub-woofer speaker instead they build in the bass to all the other speakers. Zalmans have six speakers in total, Speed-Link's Medusa's have eight.

""Zalman's ZM-RS6F headphones is a real 5-channel headphones incorporating a total of 6 speaker units, 2 each for Front, Rear, Center channels respectively. The subwoofer feature corresponding to the '.1' in '5.1 Channel' as the bass sound of 5.1 Channel is not physically functional through the speaker unit of our headphones. However, Zalman has made it possible to disperse the sound to all channels each in order to generate bass sound.""

taken from here... http://www.zalman.co.kr/usa/product/ZM-RS6F_FAQ.htm

Taking the above into account is it fair to compare them both side by side as they are quite obviously different beasts and possibly why the Medusa's always seem to win hands down when review sites compare them. I dont know ??

Also just another quick question Rhohan, your email says that you have sent the headsets back via FedEx 3 day service. Just checked their site and it shows the following...

All packages are being shipped from 84057, U.S.A. to 85338, U.S.A. (Zone 4) FedEx Express Saver® 4:30pm in 3 business days to most cities $14.28 . (USPS priority 2 day is even cheaper)

Why they charged you $25 I have no idea.

Due to the Medusa's being buit differently to the Zalman's they will never sound the same so I have already instructed the support desk to refund your payment instantly the moment your set arrives as it would be pointless sending you another set if you only want Zalman specification.

Matt
 
Does anyone have fully working headphones where all sounds have "depth" and bass? I understand the rear speaker is smaller, ok, but why is there absolutely no bass at all so gunshots just "pop" (if that makes any sense)

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

P.S. - Matt i contacted speedlink support like you said and just waiting to hear back from them, ill let ya know how it goes.
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pps. Here are my sepcs again:
Audigy 2 zs gamer
Medusa 5.1 ProGamer
.

As far as the lack of bass, the rear speakers will lack outputting their own bass. I.E. If you unplug the bass/center a directional explosion in front of you will have bass(produced from the FL and FR speakers) and an explosion from behind you won't (as the RL and RR speakers don't seem to output much bass).

You can still have bass produced by the sub, please see my information about how I was able to get effects from the VIB knob.

I hooked my center/bass channel up to my right/left channel and was finally able to experience what the Bass should feel like, The VIB knob did respond at this point. I then hooked the headset up the proper way and decided to:
MAX the bass out in the speaker settings
set Bass Redirection ON
Set crossover frequencey to MAX (i.e. 200hz)
Click to expand...

Play with the settings and report back, if your findings are different on an Audigy 2 card make sure to ask Matt to put it in the faq to help out future purchasers!

one more thing, does everyone get crazy sound "bleed" out of the headphones? like the headphones dont keep the sound well to themselves, as in my roomates hear my music and games loud and clear when i am listening to them
Click to expand...

I believe these headphones are considered open aural headphones and do not create a suction to enclose your ear. You can also see that the sides of the headphone are not closed off (hence open aural) allowing sound to more easily flow thru them.. For more specifics on the benefits and negatives of open/closed I suggest Checking out Head-fi.org 's forums:

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=2
 
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