5.1 Headphones question

[rof3]

OK, so I want to get some nice headphones so I can frag loudly while my roommate is asleep, but I'm not looking to spend a fortune. I don't have a soundcard; however, my motherboard says it supports 5.1 sound. I have an AOpen AK89 Max mobo, which has onboard Realtek AC'97 5.1 Channel sound. When I actually look at the back of the board, I have the green speaker jack, the red mic jack, and a blue one that has the same little logo as the speaker jack. In case you haven't guessed by now, I don't really know anything about audio stuff. So, my question: Will 5.1 headphones work with my PC without a sound card? If not, what if I get the Kinyo KY-100 headphones that come with all this stuff? Thanks.

 

[Matthias99]

I have an AOpen AK89 Max mobo, which has onboard Realtek AC'97 5.1 Channel sound.

Will 5.1 headphones work with my PC without a sound card?

This about this one real hard for a minute.

You may need to enable 5.1 sound in your drivers. The microphone and line-out jacks will be used as the surround and center/subwoofer channels.

 

[rof3]

Thanks. What I had meant to say was "without a sound card or an adapter"...I guess the answer is yes.

If the mic jack is being used, what about 5.1 headphones that have a built-in mic? Battlefield 2 is going to have VOIP support...

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: rof3
Thanks. What I had meant to say was "without a sound card or an adapter"...I guess the answer is yes.

If the mic jack is being used, what about 5.1 headphones that have a built-in mic? Battlefield 2 is going to have VOIP support...

Then I think you're going to be in trouble.

 

[rof3]

Damn. Well, thanks. There's no way to get around that with an adapter, I presume...?

 

[aatf510]

You pc do have a SOUNDCARD, it is only intergrated on your motherboard.
If you don't have a soundcard, you wouldn't be getting ANY sound from your computer, and you won't see any audio/speaker jack.
Your soundcard is Realtek AC'97 5.1 Channel sound, so it DOES support 5.1 channel sound as stated in its name.
Also, do you actually KNOW what it means by 5.1? It means 5 speakers + 1 subwoofer. It means that you could get sound to come to you at 5 different directions, therefore you will need 5 physical speakers.. therefore, I don't think there will be a 5.1 headphone because we only have 2 ears for the headphones.

 

[eaxfour]

actually, there are 5.1 headphones out there. the only one i can think of right now are made by Zalman but i know there are others. personally, i dont think they sound as good as a nice set of stereo headphones with a nice quality sound card, but to each his/her own.

 

[deveraux]

I've been looking into this as well. eaxfour is right about the 5.1 headphones made by Zalman. However, if you run a search, you'll find that most people that have 5.1 headphones tend to agree that the Medusa 5.1 (made by SpeedLink) are much better than the Zalman's solution. Try googling it and you should get more information on it.

 

[vitec]

There is another 5.1 headphone that comes along with a decoder as well - Thrustmaster T510 Dolby Digital 5.1 Decoder + Dolby Headphone. It retails for 150$. Here is a review for the headphone - http://gear.ign.com/articles/583/583114p1.html

 

[rof3]

Thanks guys...$150 is a little more than I would like to spend, which is why I was looking at the Kinyo's. But for the sake of knowledge, what does a decoder do?

 

[0roo0roo]

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=40&threadid=1569817&enterthread=y
5.1 headphones are a gimmic. get these instead.

 

[slightlyhuman]

i just ordered my second pair of zalman 5.1 headphones with the mic for 59 bucks shipped w/ free 2 day delivery. their worth every bit of it...

zipzoomfly.com has the cheapest right now


get them. pick up an SBLive! 5.1 and pair it with the zalman headphones and mic an you're golden.

 

[slightlyhuman]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=40&threadid=1569817&enterthread=y
5.1 headphones are a gimmic. get these instead.

their really not. i can hear people coming from behind me just as good as my 5.1 surround speakers only it's closer and easier to hear.

 

[rof3]

What about something cheap like this? Although that has 5 jacks, so how does that translate into 5.1 sound and a mic? Or would I use those 5 jacks for the surround sound and then the mic jack on my mobo for the mic? Or would I have to disable the mobo jacks to install a sound card?

Thanks for all the help with this.

 

[slightlyhuman]

Originally posted by: rof3
What about something cheap like this? Although that has 5 jacks, so how does that translate into 5.1 sound and a mic? Or would I use those 5 jacks for the surround sound and then the mic jack on my mobo for the mic? Or would I have to disable the mobo jacks to install a sound card?

Thanks for all the help with this.

that will work. most people will say BUY AN AUDIGY. if you're not big on audio(like me) that card you linked or a sblive 5.1 will be plenty. if you buy that card you posted and say the zalman headphones( or any other 5.1 headphones) you will disable your onboard sound through the bios then plug the mic and the headphone cables all into the new sound card.

pink- mic
orange- bass/center
green- front
black- rear

i'm not certain on orange and black, it could be vice versa.

 

[rof3]

Awesome, thanks. I appreciate all the help and advice.

 

[rof3]

OK, so another question. Do all 5.1 headphones have the vibration feedback as a result of having woofers, or is that just some 5.1 headphones?

 

[Auric]

Originally posted by: DP
their really not. i can hear people coming from behind me just as good as my 5.1 surround speakers only it's closer and easier to hear.

Positional effects do not require more than stereo.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: rof3
OK, so another question. Do all 5.1 headphones have the vibration feedback as a result of having woofers, or is that just some 5.1 headphones?

"vibration feedback"?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

doh! double post...

Well... it should cover the same frequency range as your average headphones set but I don't think it will be going any lower. Generally the big vibrations from sound come from a subwoofer outputting below 20hz, the threshold of human hearing. A sub has to move a lot of air to get decent output at that range. I don't think you're going to get anything like vibrations from a set of headphones.