Is 5.1 sound necessary for gaming?

[RedRooster]

Recently got rid of cable and my cable box, and noticed my audio receiver is making a high pitched sound. Never heard it before with the sound of the PVR hard drive next to it. But it's a small annoying thing. Plus I'm looking for a reason to buy a new receiver even though this one works fine.

Do you really need 5.1 sound to play games, or is a powerful 2.0 system more than sufficient? Was thinking I could get tower speakers and a much better receiver, but may not necessarily be interested in getting the rear speakers, center channel and sub as well. I'm still cheap you know.

 

[effowe]

I've been using the same 2.0 system for ~14 years now, no problems. The 5.1 will give you more immersive sound, but it's not necessary.

 

[Drako]

Necessary? No.

It is really nice to have for certain games though.

 

[giantpandaman2]

Or you could just get a decent set of earphones. I, personally, love my surround system for gaming, but it's definitely not necessary.

 

[Fardringle]

5.1 (or more) sound isn't even necessary for a home theater. Sure, it's nice and improves the experience, but it's not absolutely necessary.

 

[Bonesdad]

sleeping with a supermodel might be fun too, but it isn't necessary. or is it???

 

[Zorander]

Not necessary. The immersion factor is nice (main difference is rear speakers alerting you of something coming from behind) but a well-executed stereo setup can have just as good or better imaging. I game on both a stereo setup and a surround setup, and feel no strong preference for either one.

At a given price though, the stereo setup should have the better sound quality and I'd personally go with this.

 

[TheReaWarmonger]

2.1 is good enough

 

[purbeast0]

tomb raider in 3.2 was fucking insane when i played it. didn't have my rears when i played it but now i do so the next game will be played in 5.2!

 

[RedRooster]

Not necessary. The immersion factor is nice (main difference is rear speakers alerting you of something coming from behind) but a well-executed stereo setup can have just as good or better imaging. I game on both a stereo setup and a surround setup, and feel no strong preference for either one.

At a given price though, the stereo setup should have the better sound quality and I'd personally go with this.

I should've mentioned, my current setup is a 5.1 Sony HTIB and I'd probably move to a good Denon/Pioneer receiver of some sort with a couple decent tower speakers.
My main concern is immersion, but I'd imagine the quality would be an upgrade enough that it wouldn't be as drastic a change as I'm scared of. I hope?

 

[purbeast0]

I should've mentioned, my current setup is a 5.1 Sony HTIB and I'd probably move to a good Denon/Pioneer receiver of some sort with a couple decent tower speakers.
My main concern is immersion, but I'd imagine the quality would be an upgrade enough that it wouldn't be as drastic a change as I'm scared of. I hope?

a somewhat decent 2.0 setup will be better than most 5.1 htib setups imo.

 

[Anubis]

you dont need a 5.1 but when set up and the game is made for it it sure is fun. Battlefield 3 is quite insane running a full surround setup

my PC is only 2.1 and its also pretty good. if you go with just 2 speakers definitly get a sub as well you will want it

a somewhat decent 2.0 setup will be better than most 5.1 htib setups imo.

also agree with this

 

[Oyeve]

Decent headphones

 

[cmdrdredd]

I absolutely love 5.1 gaming. I'm kind of a sucker for great sound though. That said, if you didn't have room or could not really afford the setup you want it's not gonna kill the game.

For me something feels right when I pan around and hear things move from speaker to speaker around you. However you could get away with two really good tower speakers and just do stereo. The bonus is you have a great setup for music as well. Most HTIAB kits are pretty decent for the positional audio in a smaller room, but they are relatively small speakers without a lot of power. So they don't do music all that great IMO.

 

[rancherlee]

I have a decent 7.1 setup with an Yamaha Aventage reciever and Polk Monitor speakers and I still just use my TB X41 headset. Though that is mainly due to never having the house to myself....... I personally love surround for gaming an my "K/D" ratio took a big jump up when I got my surround headset.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Headphones never give me the same separation and most of the ones that bare marketed to gamers are pretty mediocre sounding IMO. I have some sennheiser pc360s that i do occasionally use when I must keep it quiet. They are the only gaming headset I found that is good enough quality for me. Otherwise I would just buy pro studio monitors and use them.

 

[gorcorps]

I don't think I've had a good enough system to make that call, but I've never felt the need.

 

[KentState]

I mostly notice when playing games that have good imaging. Being able to hear where the enemy is with 5.1 makes it invaluable to me. I often find myself lost or staring in the radar when playing with 2.1 on the computer.

 

[Cuda1447]

Not necessary at all. Nice to have though.

 

[Aikouka]

It's pretty rare for me to even pick up on any surround noises in games. The only games that stick out are Action RPGs. I can recall Diablo III having quite a bit of surround sound, and I think Torchlight II does as well. I'll need to check some FPS games.

 

[_sandy_]

its totally depend on your wish but for me is not necessary at all

 

[dagamer34]

Necessary is the wrong word. Few things are necessary. Heck, are speakers necessary when you can read subtitles?

Better question is if 5.1 surround sound is worth the money, and that's really down to your finances. However, I'd say you should first spend money buying a strong 2.1 setup before pursing surround sound. If you're on a tight budget, buy into a new system, don't buy 5 crappy speakers at once (which is why I strongly dislike HTIB sets, they aren't reusable in higher-end systems).

 

[pathos]

I am far from being an audiophile. Even so, I still have a hard time listening to anything through my tv speakers anymore.

I ran a 5.1 system with an onkyo receiver, polk speakers, and a yamaha sub for years. Just moved, and managed to kill my receiver in the process. Figured it was time to just go ahead and replace it, rather than just fix it, so I ordered a denon. Took 3 days to come in, I think. And I spent a lot of time those 3 days finding other things to do, rather than watching tv, or playing games. I just didn't want to listen to anything through those tv speakers.

Mandatory? No. Will it enrich your gaming experience? Most definately yes.

If you do decide to build a system from scratch, I'd take the previous posters advice, and build it a bit at a time. Much easier on the wallet that way. Oh, and research what you want to get thoroughly.

Oh, also consider buying a factory refurb, as far as the receiver is concerned. Both the onkyo and denon I bought were both factory refurbs, and were just like new, and work great. Ended up getting both for like 50-60% of the new purchase price that way.

 

[Malak]

That's like asking if 250hp is necessary in a car. No, you can get around town in a little 50cc moped all day long. There's a reason why people don't.

 

[PliotronX]

Spatial sound is greatly enhanced by it but full range stereo speakers do an admirable job. I've been replaying Condemned 2 on a 2.1 setup and I still get the "holy **** what was that behind me" feel from the sound. I remember Doom 3 supposedly being the first game truly designed with 5.1 sound in mind and it really pulls it off well. Every horror game since then has gotten more geared for it. Mandatory no however.