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csch1992 t1_j1m5as9 wrote

Reply to comment by SandMan3914 in I am not an audiophile, so I wonder if I'm in the wrong here. by PraviPero

i can game verry well with my hifiman sundaras. actually one of the best gaming headphones i ever used. footsteps are super clear and explotions actually scare me sometimes :D they sound super realstic

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DreamDropDistancia t1_j1n42d7 wrote

Again with the "footsteps".

Why does every "is good for gaming" review of headphones have to include how well footsteps come through? How many of us are actually pro gamers, really?

Also, have you heard a lot of real-life explosions? You'd have to have, to know if an explosion sounds "super realistic" or not.

I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure any loud, sudden sound is going to be scary, more often than not.

Also, sound engineers for games don't always make "realistic" explosions - they take artistic liberties to modify and twist sounds to make them however they want - including explosions. I mean, if you're playing Halo, and a plasma-something explodes... how in the world are you going to have a base line for how that's supposed to sound, this sci-fi, made up thing?

tl;dr - there's more to gaming than footsteps and explosions, and explosions are not always mixed to sound "real" to begin with, so this praise of Sundara isn't reliable data. In the end, you should always try a headphone and see if you like it.

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LOTM t1_j1n68jw wrote

Because it's probably the most sound-focused thing to check for? If you're playing any competitive FPS, it's a common sound you're looking for, and competitive FPSs are one of the most popular genres in the world. What's another gaming-specific sound that people care about hearing clearly that's not specific to a certain game?

In some ways, footsteps are essentially the "Vocal clarity" of gaming. Plenty of people listen to music without vocals, just like a lot of people play games where footsteps don't matter, but it's a nice marker that a lot of people care about.

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DreamDropDistancia t1_j1nha5t wrote

It's barely a metric.

Foot steps are a function of volume - whether or not the dev balanced that particular sound to play loudly or not/whether or not the software/third-party software allows the player to adjust the levels of specific sounds/frequencies or not.

Volume is not a measure of headphone quality.

Most video games (especially the ones you're referencing) also have dialog/character chatter, gunfire or weapon clashing, motor vehicle engines, etc. I'm not saying people don't care about footsteps. I'm saying being able to hear them is subject to highly diminishing returns, and are not the measure, or a significant measure of a headphone.

$2 earbuds at the checkout lane at Walmart will let you hear footsteps more than fine.

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MoonbyulBias t1_j1nqljz wrote

Aren't people also looking for the soundstage and imaging in headphones when describing being able to pinpoint footsteps? I'm not sure if you play any FPS, but it isn't just about hearing footsteps. It's about being able to tell where they're coming from.

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DreamDropDistancia t1_j1o0l5u wrote

I've played a thousand hours of CSGO, and I'm sure several thousand more hours of Halo.

Where the footsteps are coming from is super obvious in literally any headset or IEM/earbud. That's why people crouch, because you're either stomping around, or you're silent - there is no nuance or in-between.

Good directionality comes from the engine, first and foremost.

And in no game are there, like, octagonal intersections? - it's almost always normal cardinal directions. That's how maps are setup. Nobody is using pinpoint accuracy to know that a person is 36 degrees to their left, rather than 38 degrees.

99.999999% of competitive shooters in gamesense, prefiring at headshot level, and strategy/effective teamwork and use of in-game skills and items. You actually have to be pro, or incredibly try-hard, for hyper-accuracy in sound directionality to matter even a little bit.

I guarantee you, pros could be out there smoking folks with no sound at all. It's a big part of the game. Not that big, though.

You really think people are out there playing truly competitively in noise-controlled rooms, with high end headphones, rather than some Razer sponsored garbage?

Really?

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LOTM t1_j1nxn7u wrote

Yea, my understanding is more about the differentiation of that particular sort of high-mids most of the time. Having headphones or such with clear imaging and a reasonable EQ that doesn't cut that portion of the spectrum can matter to some people, in much the way that OP was disappointed with how a vocal/instrument studio headphone pair sounded empty and weird.

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