New headphones sound awful ??

  • Thread starter Thread starter S.Boardman
  • Start date Start date
S

S.Boardman

Hello, I'm desperately disappointed - my headphones sound awful.

I have the non-usb version, Medusa Speedlink 5.1, connected to a Creative
SoundBlaster Live! 5.1. This were recommended as good mid range headphones
by PC Gamer, so I bought them.

Listening to music, the bass sounds terrible and drowns out the vocals. Is
there any way I can fix this please? As they were recommended, I feel it
must be something I'm doing? Or do you think they are faulty?

Thanks
 
S.Boardman said:
Hello, I'm desperately disappointed - my headphones sound awful.

I have the non-usb version, Medusa Speedlink 5.1, connected to a Creative
SoundBlaster Live! 5.1. This were recommended as good mid range headphones
by PC Gamer, so I bought them.

Listening to music, the bass sounds terrible and drowns out the vocals. Is
there any way I can fix this please? As they were recommended, I feel it
must be something I'm doing? Or do you think they are faulty?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Do you have access to a regular stereo system to test the headphones? Do
they have a normal stereo mini-plug like most headphones? If you find you
can't stand them, go find yourself a set of Sennheisers. You'll never regret
it.

http://www.sennheiserusa.com/newsite/default.asp?transid=1357
 
S.Boardman said:
Hello, I'm desperately disappointed - my headphones sound awful.

I have the non-usb version, Medusa Speedlink 5.1, connected to a Creative
SoundBlaster Live! 5.1. This were recommended as good mid range headphones
by PC Gamer, so I bought them.

Listening to music, the bass sounds terrible and drowns out the vocals. Is
there any way I can fix this please? As they were recommended, I feel it
must be something I'm doing? Or do you think they are faulty?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Hi Sue. if you`ve got your creative software installed, you should be able
to play with the settings. Environmental audio etc. perhaps they are not set
up to optimum.
bw..OJ
 
Hello, I'm desperately disappointed - my headphones sound awful.

I have the non-usb version, Medusa Speedlink 5.1, connected to a Creative
SoundBlaster Live! 5.1. This were recommended as good mid range headphones
by PC Gamer, so I bought them.

Listening to music, the bass sounds terrible and drowns out the vocals. Is
there any way I can fix this please? As they were recommended, I feel it
must be something I'm doing? Or do you think they are faulty?
Click to expand...

I doubt they're faulty, many of the game and (how do I put
it?) younger-adult-marketed headphones tend to have
exaggerated bass, which does indeed ruin the sound.

In some cases, this bass is a flaw in the amp rather than
the cans, if amp had higher current potential it would
result in tighter bass... can't say for certain about that
set but it isn't an uncommon problem. What's the impedance
and efficiency of those?

As for what you might be doing wrong, if you have a sound
mixer that's configured to add special effects, an EQ or
something, naturally that has the potential to alter the
sound. If you do have these settings options just set the
EQ flat and turn off any other sound effects to judge them
with the audio as unmolested as possible.

Personally I wouldn't put much stock in headphone reviews
done by a Gaming oriented magazine. Doug's suggestion of
Sennheiser is a good one, they make several good cans at
various price ranges... though you still have to decide
exactly what you want, open vs sealed, weight, cost, earpad,
etc, etc. Not that there aren't any other good brands, but
generally the best sound quality will come from cans meant
for audio/audiophile use, rather than proclaimed "gaming"
sets... though gaming sets tend to be the only ones (I
recall) that have > 2 channel support.
 
Doug Kanter said:
Do you have access to a regular stereo system to test the headphones? Do
they have a normal stereo mini-plug like most headphones? If you find you
can't stand them, go find yourself a set of Sennheisers. You'll never regret
it.
Click to expand...
If I was buying them for listening to music - I would get these, I know they
are good. This is not the case. I'm buying them for gaming. It comes with a
shed load of different cables. I had it set up with the amp box, three leads
from the 5.1 sound card to the back of the amp (excluding mic), then a 9 pin
to the headphones.

I used one of the other cables to connect to my cd player, and it's fine, so
it must be something with the cabling/amp?
 
old jon said:
Hi Sue. if you`ve got your creative software installed, you should be able
to play with the settings. Environmental audio etc. perhaps they are not set
up to optimum.
bw..OJ
Click to expand...
Good point I'll check this
 
kony said:
I doubt they're faulty, many of the game and (how do I put
it?) younger-adult-marketed headphones tend to have
exaggerated bass, which does indeed ruin the sound.

In some cases, this bass is a flaw in the amp rather than
the cans, if amp had higher current potential it would
result in tighter bass... can't say for certain about that
set but it isn't an uncommon problem. What's the impedance
and efficiency of those?

As for what you might be doing wrong, if you have a sound
mixer that's configured to add special effects, an EQ or
something, naturally that has the potential to alter the
sound. If you do have these settings options just set the
EQ flat and turn off any other sound effects to judge them
with the audio as unmolested as possible.

Personally I wouldn't put much stock in headphone reviews
done by a Gaming oriented magazine. Doug's suggestion of
Sennheiser is a good one, they make several good cans at
various price ranges... though you still have to decide
exactly what you want, open vs sealed, weight, cost, earpad,
etc, etc. Not that there aren't any other good brands, but
generally the best sound quality will come from cans meant
for audio/audiophile use, rather than proclaimed "gaming"
sets... though gaming sets tend to be the only ones (I
recall) that have > 2 channel support.
Click to expand...

Sennheiser used to make a model 424 or 414 - I don't recall, and can't go
look at mine because the cat's so comfortable resting on my left arm. I'd
call the company and ask which current model is closest to those. They were
not the most expensive at the time. They're sort of a hybrid in terms of
design. The earpiece is almost as large **in diameter** as the ones you see
football coaches wearing on the sidelines, but they're very flat, foam
covered, and sit on, but not around your ears. They're unbelievably
comfortable. And, Sennheiser sells parts for their products, so if you ruin
a cord or the foam wears out (that took 10 years for mine), it's all easy to
replace.
 
kony said:
I doubt they're faulty, many of the game and (how do I put
it?) younger-adult-marketed headphones tend to have
exaggerated bass, which does indeed ruin the sound.
Click to expand...


it's just loud it's... awful !
In some cases, this bass is a flaw in the amp rather than
the cans, if amp had higher current potential it would
result in tighter bass... can't say for certain about that
set but it isn't an uncommon problem. What's the impedance
and efficiency of those?
Click to expand...

Amplifier box:
Power supply:7.5 V DC /500mA
Output power: 500 mW x 6
Signal/noise : - 60dB
Distortion: <0.5%

Microphone:
Capacitor microphone: dia.9.7 mm
[omnidirectional]
Impedance: 2200W
Sensitivity: -60dB +/- 2dB
Frequency response: 30Hz~16 kHz
Working voltage: 4.5 V
As for what you might be doing wrong, if you have a sound
mixer that's configured to add special effects, an EQ or
something, naturally that has the potential to alter the
sound. If you do have these settings options just set the
EQ flat and turn off any other sound effects to judge them
with the audio as unmolested as possible.
Click to expand...
Nothing as far as I know.
Personally I wouldn't put much stock in headphone reviews
done by a Gaming oriented magazine. Doug's suggestion of
Sennheiser is a good one, they make several good cans at
various price ranges... though you still have to decide
exactly what you want, open vs sealed, weight, cost, earpad,
etc, etc. Not that there aren't any other good brands, but
generally the best sound quality will come from cans meant
for audio/audiophile use, rather than proclaimed "gaming"
sets... though gaming sets tend to be the only ones (I
recall) that have > 2 channel support.
Click to expand...

Ummm, I do want them for gaming. I used my brother's headphones (Philips
brand), that produce very nice sound, but it doesn't have a mic, and my
brother wants them back :( I wasn't overly happy with the game sounds from
these new ones, but when I played an mp3 it was dire, the same problem is
probably affecting the gaming sounds too.
Each ear piece has four speakers, and when it's set up right it's supposed
to be really good. I read somewhere about reversing one of the channels.
Would this fix my problem?
 
In some cases, this bass is a flaw in the amp rather than
the cans, if amp had higher current potential it would
result in tighter bass... can't say for certain about that
set but it isn't an uncommon problem. What's the impedance
and efficiency of those?
Click to expand...

Amplifier box:
Power supply:7.5 V DC /500mA
Output power: 500 mW x 6
Signal/noise : - 60dB
Distortion: <0.5%

Microphone:
Capacitor microphone: dia.9.7 mm
[omnidirectional]
Impedance: 2200W
Sensitivity: -60dB +/- 2dB
Frequency response: 30Hz~16 kHz
Working voltage: 4.5 V
Click to expand...

I meant of the headphones themselves, an Ohm and dB rating
for them? It might be something like 32 Ohm, 105dB, or
different.
I don't know the specifics of these headphones and amp
together, are you able to plug them directly into the sound
card output without going through the amp box? (and if so,
how does it effect sound?)


Ummm, I do want them for gaming. I used my brother's headphones (Philips
brand), that produce very nice sound, but it doesn't have a mic, and my
brother wants them back :( I wasn't overly happy with the game sounds from
these new ones, but when I played an mp3 it was dire, the same problem is
probably affecting the gaming sounds too.
Click to expand...

Well I suppose the obvious answer is to buy same thing your
brother has? I meant, if Philips makes a set with a Mic
built on too, a similar looking set is likely to have same
drivers when considering commodity grade gamer headphones
rather than audiophiles phones (though some of the latter
may also have same driver in different models, having really
paid enough attention to this).
Each ear piece has four speakers, and when it's set up right it's supposed
to be really good. I read somewhere about reversing one of the channels.
Would this fix my problem?
Click to expand...

I don't see how it would fix such a problem, IMO reversing
one of the channels would tend to cause a distracting effect
like your brains are being shoved from one side and sucked
from the other (though I haven't gamed with them like this,
who knows... might be an interesting effect in some games).

What if you simply unplug the sub channel?

This Tom's Hardware review mentions an issue with one
variant where the center and sub channels are reversed;
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/07/14/headsets_gamers_can_love/page3.html

I suppose if you wanted to continue trying different things
to use these then you might do the opposite of my prior
suggestion to make an EQ flat and deliberately reduce bass
output.
 
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