Hot answers tagged audio-hardware
10
Perhaps you should look at Jeff Atwood's blog on sound cards from May 4th, 2011.
The default, built-in sound chips on
most motherboards have evolved from
"totally crap" to "surprisingly
decent" in the last 5 years. But
besides that, in this era of
ubiquitous quad core CPUs nearing 4
GHz, it'd be difficult to make a
plausible case that you ...
7
I agree with the above comment about this being a subjective question. With that being said I will provide you my personal opinion after having used 5.1 digital surround sound headphones for gaming for around 2 years.
I can't recommend them enough if the money isn't an issue. The headphones help substantially in a couple different ways.
First: The ...
7
I found a good reference to what the BLASTER environment variable is looking for at this link. To determine these parameters you're going to have to check the set up of your card ... this was always the hardest part of getting these games to run correctly.
Alternately you could load Quake in DOSBOX and not worry about it.
SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 T3 P330 H6 ...
6
For the greatest benefit in gaming in terms of being competitive, headphones are the best choice for first person shooters. I am making the assumption that you are playing FPS games due to your concern on knowing where sounds come from.
With headphones, the sounds are closer to your ears so that you can play quiet enough to still be able to think, and you ...
6
Audio quality is somewhat subjective, although it's my opinion that the Roland MT-32 produced superior music quality. You can compare them with a number of videos on YouTube, here's one for Space Quest 3:
Sound Blaster:
...
6
Boxer.app, a popular DOSBOX wrapper for Macs, has recommendations for preferred sound systems in the help file. They are (in order from best to worst)
Gravis Ultrasound / Max. Not many games offer it, but it's the best choice when they do.
General MIDI (MPU-401). Better music. Can be paired with Sound Blaster 16 for digital audio.
Roland MT-32. Predecessor ...
5
If you specifically bought an xbox 360 HDMI cable it comes with one of these. Essentially what it does is it plugs in above the hdmi cable and allows you to have both analog (red and white) as well as digital (fiber optics).
So your HDMI cable will fit nicely into the back of the xbox, then this specially flattened audio adapter will fit above it, this ...
5
I found a forum thread that suggests that you can do this: use the HDMI XBox cable to carry the picture through an HDMI-to-DVI converter, and then use the other XBox cable to carry sound (red and white wires).
However you may need to remove part of the connector base of one of the XBox cables so that both will fit in the XBox at the same time; apparently ...
5
I use them consistently for Call of Duty, do they help? Absolutely. The sound quality is magnificent! In addition to strong sound quality they also block out a significant amount of background noise which I find vastly helps my concentration (I imagine this is true for most headsets though).
If we are talking about a game like Mass Effect, it probably ...
4
Audio-wise, you are in luck, since you wish to use two different connectors and the PS3 can be instructed to output audio through several connectors. Simply connect both sound systems to the PS3 at the same time and turn on Audio multi-output and you should be good to go.
Video is another matter, since you only have 1 HDMI connector on the PS3. The only ...
4
"What features would distinguish a gaming audio system from the regular one?"
In my experience, there aren't any such features. I have a music studio, lots of audiophile equipment and lots of gaming gadgets. I sometimes use them interchangeably.
'Gaming' gear is usually targeted at people's perceptions or desires rather than their requirements. If there ...
3
While you could probably solve this particular problem and get a little bit closer to running Quake, you're likely to run into further problems later on down the road. It's a lot of work that can be easily avoided!
I'm going to suggest trying one of the many Quake clients that have been updated since the open source release of the Quake engine years ago. ...
3
5.1 will give you much better spatial resolution so you'll be able to ascertain the sounds' origin more easily (assuming the game's sound engine outputs like that, but almost everything with a decent budget nowadays does).
But the answer is also pretty subjective - a lot of people don't need/want/care about more precise sound, the same as not everybody ...
3
In Rock Band 3, only one controller is used for vocals, no matter how many mics are connected. (Also, if you have "All Instruments Mode" on, then no controller is used for vocals.)
If you select Solo, then singing is mostly the same as in Rock Band 1 and 2, with a single track for the vocalist. (While there are differences between older RB tracks and RB3 ...
3
You will need the Microsoft Wireless Receiver. Using this you should be able to use both the wireless headset and the wireless controler with your PC. I'm not sure if you can use it with your Droid though.
3
In my experience desktop microphones are terrible verses headsets for gaming purposes.
If you are using Sennheiser and want to keep the quality, Sennheiser does offer gaming headsets.Sennheiser PC 160 Gaming Headset for instance
3
When you play a movie file, the sound is usually encoded in DD/DTS, so all the card has to do is just pass through the signal to your receiver and the receiver does rest of the work. Most PC games I've played, however, don't support audio out as a DD signal, only as 5.1 discreet channels, and that cannot be delivered on optical connection.
Luckily for you, ...
3
On your PS3 Go to Accessory Settings -> Audio Device Settings. You'll find options for microphone volume there. Try adjusting it to the highest level. Also make sure the Input device is set to Wireless Headset (and not, for example, the USB camera). Make sure you confirm your settings by choosing OK, not by exiting pressing O.
Also, I recommend doing the HQ ...
2
My kids use a music stand.
They fold up the bit where the music sits and wrap the wire around the mic to hold it in place.
This works best for the youngest as it's not that high, but the other two put the stand on a box to raise it to their level.
Yes, it does look a bit Heath Robinson but it does the job.
2
I'm sorry, there is no definitive answer for the general case of USB mics.
Here an echantillon of my search:
Since you're on Wii, not too many mics
have been made for it (at least here
in the u.s.) MOST usb mics will work.
I own a GH and a RB mic along with a
Disney Logitech mic and they all work
with RB and GH.
So it's a case of Trial and ...
2
Headset mikes are a lot more convenient for gaming purposes (especially if you go to LANs at all). They usually result in more consistent transmit volume too, given the fixed distance from your mouth.
Try to get one that folds away or retracts, if you do take your headset out a lot. That way you can leave it put away when not in use (and avoid poking ...
2
I see two possible (although awkward) options:
1) connect the PS3 AV Multi Out -> Y-Adapter -> female2female TRS -> your headphones. See details here: http://www.portfolioofpb.com/blog/connect-ps3-xbox-to-ps-computer-speakers-with-surround-sound
2) connect the TV Coaxial audio out -> Coaxial2Analog Converter -> Y-Adapter -> ...
(I found a converter here: ...
2
I don't have any evidence to show that it is NOT possible, I can however link you to an eHow of how you CAN. It seems to be simple enough:
Plug in the headset.
Go to the Audio Device Settings on the PS3 and set the headset as both Input Device and Output Device.
2
My vague knowledge of Dolby Pro Logic is that the surround signal (4+ speakers) is encoded into the 2 stereo channels.
The decoder, if it supports Pro Logic, reconstructs the surround signal. If it does not, the stereo signal can just be played as-is.
Dolby Pro Logic is an analogue technology, so I'd suggest using analogue cables (eg. RCA), selecting ...
2
This will be one of two things;
A dodgy cable connection in the microphone cable or plug - you can confirm this is the case by using an alternative microphone and see if the problem still occurs. If it does;
A dodgy connection inside the microphone socket - this will require either some handy DIY to fix it (I am not recommending that you do this) or a ...
1
I concur with Jeff. Game audio processing is just math, whether it's plain old mixing or the fanciest of DSP or EAX effects. Given the virtual explosion in CPU power, it's difficult to see the advantages of having a dedicated DSP for audio. Software is not only powerful, but it also lets you choose from a huge variety of very cool audio effects, either that ...
1
Since the need for headphones is generally a personal preference and assessed on a case by case basis I'll share my experience:
I have a really nice 5.1 system I absolutely love it and would always laugh at my friends who would put on these clunky $200-300 head phones. I mean on the surface it sounds like such a waste when you already paid hundreds or ...
1
Using a headset definitely helps when playing first person shooters, this goes all the way back to CS 1.6.
The biggest advantage of using a headset is that it gives you a much more focused sound projection and your ears give you a better gauge of where the sound is coming from. If the sound is emanating from your speakers, you won't be able pick up as ...
1
This question is somewhat subjective, as what type of audio people prefer tends to vary from person to person. From personal experience, I have a 5.1 system where one of the rear speakers broke, so I've been using it as 2.1 for a while. I can't say it makes a noticeable difference to the gaming experience. If there is a difference between 5.1 and 7.1 ...
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