Are 5.1 headphones any good?

[brisck1]

Im anticipating the release of HL2 in the next couple of weeks and I already have a nice beefy 5.1 Digital surround sound speaker system in place, but as my home has pretty thin walls, and I intend to be playing HL2 well into the night, im thinking of investing in a good pair of headphones.

Something I dont want to loose in HL2 is the amazing sound quality and surround sound FX with a pair of crappy earphones and I have heard some people mention that you can now get '5.1' surround sound headphones.

Are they any good? Do they 'simulate' 5.1 or are they a true 5.1 experience.

Reason i ask is if they are crappy, I already have a pretty high quality pair of stereo 'phones and I dont want to waste my money if they aren't up to scratch.

Cheers in advance

 

[Prone]

I own the Medusa 5.1 Headset by Speed-Link and they are pretty good. Gives you real Dolby Surround sound, perfectly locatable (sp?). Problem is that surround headsets are really bad for your ears if you don't adjust them perfectly (low sounds, bass, subwoofer)...

 

[[Matt]]

not a patch on even a merely okay 5.1 speaker set though...

 

[JimmehH]

I don't have the space for 5.1 speakers and my floor is already a tangled mess of cables. I find my Zalman 5.1 headphones to be good although there seems to be a lot of noise in my case. If I had a USB soundcard it would be perfect.

 

[DJ_Cheeba]

I have really enjoyed my Zalman theatre 6 headphones, they really seem to reproduce the sound field accuratley. I am in a apt with all wood floors, and my Klipsch 4.1s are a little too loud to be playing games with So I got these badboys a few weeks ago. You have to tweak your sound settings a little, but after that they are a charm.

 

[brisck1]

How much and where did u get them from Cheeba

 

[KagePrototype]

For headphones, my Medusa headset is fantastic. They're nothing compared to the real 5.1 experience, but they do a damn good job in games like Doom 3.

 

[PvtRyan]

Yup, Zalman's 5.1 headphones are pretty decent, avarage surround (noticable tho) great stereo and nice bass.

 

[Warbie]

I actually prefer normal headphons to a 5.1 setup ...... decent 5.1 headphones sound ideal

 

[Ecthe|ioN]

I also own the Zalman 5.1 headphones. After a lot of tweaking, it sounds great. The sounds coming from the rear is kind of low though. But you'll just have to tweak tweak tweak

 

[Acert93]

I have the Gainward Hollywood 5.1 (bought for $27 at Newegg.com) and they are nice. I have an Audigy 2 ZS and in BF1942 the sound separation with HW Accellaration enabled is very good.

I do not have room for full 5.1, so the headphones are great. I hate using my 2.1 setup now :frown: They are that good.

 

[Max_Payne]

i bought the logitech 5.1 z-640's surround sound speaker system. AMAZING sound quality, plus these things can crank! defiantly a good buy if u can find them.

PEACE

Mike