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What do you use for your gaming audio?

Represent.

Represent.

Represent(ative) of bad opinions
Just as having a great TV enhances the gaming experience, having great sound is equally important.

What do you use currently? Do you like it?

Surround sound set up? 5.1? 7.1?

Headphones?

Sound bar?

TV Speakers? :messenger_expressionless:

I’m looking to upgrade my sound quality but im not trying to break the bank.

Suggest some good sounding mid range price sound options :messenger_smirking: headphones, surround sound, soundbars all welcome
 
nightmare-slain

nightmare-slain

Gold Member
don't have a console but would just use the speakers on my LG OLED.

on pc my monitor has speakers but they suck. i bought a creative stereo set of speakers. not the greatest but i'm happy with them.

i tried using my headphones to play games but there is a lot of latency.
 
Fbh

Fbh

Gold Member
Mostly the speakers on my C1 TV. It's not the best sound ever but I think it's decent enough.
If I'm playing late at night or online I use the Playstation Gold headset, though one of the hinges broke so I might replace it soon.
 
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John Marston

John Marston

GAF's very own treasure goblin
Speakers on my Sharp 55' TV during the day.

During evenings or night I got my SteelSeries on PS5 or my Turtle Beach headset on Xbox.
 
Rambone

Rambone

Member
Seeing as I game mostly from PC. Whichever headphone/earphone I have on my desk at the time. Normally I like using a Final Audio A4000 IEM but last week I've been playing around with a lot of Hifimans. 4XX, 400se, Sundara, Deva Pro, HE6se V2 and Edition XS.

For my TV, I just use my Sony XT-2 sound base mostly.
 
Magic Carpet

Magic Carpet

Gold Member
Denon Receiver with 7.1 Atmos. Polk Speakers (the cheap ones) 5 speaker surround with 2 ceiling height speakers and 1 sub. More than enough to fill the living room and rumble you off the couch.
I've run more wires in the ceiling and back wall just in case I ever upgrade to more speakers.
I got all consoles, PC and Apple TV running through the Denon then out to my Samsung TV.
The Denon passes the HDMI 2.1 goodness through.
One Samsung remote to control the entire setup. That little remote is amazing.
 
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HTK

HTK

Banned
Regular TV speakers for the occasional single player games, headphones majority of time playing multiplayer based games.
 
Dr.brain64

Dr.brain64

Member
61+btxzpfDL._AC_SL1500_.jpg


Sony XM5. Granted, not only for gaming.
 
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H4ze

H4ze

Banned
A Logitech wirless Headset on PC and a soundbar on my TV for consoles, nothing special but I enjoy both ways.
 
Kurotri

Kurotri

Member
I have headphones that I connect to my PC via bluetooth. When I game I just pair them with my TV and that's it really.
 
soulbait

soulbait

Member
RoadHazard said:
5.1 setup. Would like to have 7.1 or some Atmos stuff, but my living room can't really handle that. Couch is up against the back wall etc.
Click to expand...

You could do a 5.1.2 setup if you use some up-firing speakers (depending on room layout and ceiling). That is what I have now. It is not the best Atmos setup, but it does improve the standard 5.1 setup.
 
DonJorginho

DonJorginho

Banned
Generally the built in speakers on my LG C1 but if I'm gaming late at night or want to be immersed I use my HyperX Cloud Alphas which are phenomenal.
 
RoadHazard

RoadHazard

Gold Member
soulbait said:
You could do a 5.1.2 setup if you use some up-firing speakers (depending on room layout and ceiling). That is what I have now. It is not the best Atmos setup, but it does improve the standard 5.1 setup.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've thought about it, but I've also read it's a bit shit unless you have a very low ceiling so you can get a good direct sound bounce. My ceilings are about 2.8m I think, and also not entirely smooth (they have that rough texture that's pretty common on ceilings), so I'm not sure how cleanly the sound would bounce back down.
 
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soulbait

soulbait

Member
RoadHazard said:
Yeah, I've thought about it, but I've also read it's a bit shit unless you have a very low ceiling so you can get a good direct sound bounce.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say shit, but direct speakers in the ceiling are better. However, they are still better than without them. You are really in a "sound bubble" with them. I enjoy it.

When talking to audio people, it is very much like talking to console loyalists. They have not only their preferred brands but also setups, and anything else is trash. I mean when you invest so much money into these things, you want to believe you have the best possible setup, but the reality is there are other setups that are good as well. May not be the best, but they still are an improvement over others. At least that is how I look at it.
 
I

itsjustJEFF

Member
Currently use IEMs (In Ear Monitors). They're basically those earphones that a lot of performers use when they're on stage or recording and stuff. I figure if they're good enough for performers... probably good enough for me lol

I have the FiiO FH3's and they're pretty legit. Great sound separation and bass. I've tried speakers in the past, but SF places are VERY close together so that would make it hard to play at night. I've tried headphones, but hate headphone hair and I wear glasses so they tend clampdown on my glasses. I kinda fell into IEMs by accident and I'm loving them. They're great for music and movies too.
 
CeeJay

CeeJay

Member
Just a bog standard stereo soundbar and subwoofer for me connected to the TV, my gaming laptop just the crappy on-board speakers. The rest of the family are always moaning at me to turn it down as it is so no point getting anything more fancier. Headphones for late night or when playing something where you want to pinpoint the direction of the sound.

nightmare-slain said:
don't have a console but would just use the speakers on my LG OLED.

on pc my monitor has speakers but they suck. i bought a creative stereo set of speakers. not the greatest but i'm happy with them.

i tried using my headphones to play games but there is a lot of latency.
Click to expand...
Fbh said:
Mostly the speakers on my C1 TV. It's the best sound ever but I think it's decent enough.
If I'm playing late at night or online I use the Playstation Gold headset, though one of the hinges broke so I might replace it soon.
Click to expand...
Zelphyr said:
Speakers on my Sharp 55' TV during the day.

During evenings or night I got my SteelSeries on PS5 or my Turtle Beach headset on Xbox.
Click to expand...
HTK said:
Regular TV speakers for the occasional single player games, headphones majority of time playing multiplayer based games.
Click to expand...
I'm not a huge audiophile but how do you guys with fancy TVs and no external sound manage with just the crappy TV speakers? Seems a bit strange to me to invest so much in the picture quality but completely disregard the audio. Since we moved away from CRTs there just isn't enough airspace inside the flat panel TV case to get anything other than thin and tinny sound.
 
Mr Hyde

Mr Hyde

Member
Samsung soundbar 5.1 with Dolby Atmos and subwoofer. I also have two different sets of headphones. Sonys Pulse 3D headset and Sonys XM3.
 
Magic Carpet

Magic Carpet

Gold Member
RoadHazard said:
Yeah, I've thought about it, but I've also read it's a bit shit unless you have a very low ceiling so you can get a good direct sound bounce. My ceilings are about 2.8m I think, and also not entirely smooth (they have that rough texture that's pretty common on ceilings), so I'm not sure how cleanly the sound would bounce back down.
Click to expand...
I first tried the up fire speakers for a year before running full ceiling down fire. My ceiling is 10 feet, I can say that it does indeed work, but I wasn't satisfied. The sound seemed to come from the front more than up above.
 
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plip.plop

plip.plop

Member
7.1 Setup
Onkyo Receiver
Dahlquist DQ-10 up front and Anthony Gallo A'Diva for the center channel and surround
 
rofif

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
I used to use fiio e10k dac with Koss Porta pro headphones.
I swear by these headphones.

But my life is now so much better and care free.
I use Sony Pulse 3d for amazing audio without wires and lg c1 built-in speakers. These are no joke. Set to cinematic mode, with crap turned off, these sound about 95% the same as presonus e3.5 did (which I happily sold).
So also no wires!
I love the clean setup now. And yes. I did a whole lot of A/B/C between koss porta pro, pulse3d and other headphones and pulse3d sounds almost exactly like koss but a bit better near low end. nice
 
Patrick S.

Patrick S.

Banned
For console, my TV speakers. On PC, a cheap 2.1 Logitech system or nice hi-fi Audio Technica headphones. Both connected to a Focusrite Scarlett audio interface.
 
Rayderism

Rayderism

Member
I'm not really an audiophile when it comes to video game sound.

Most of the time I use headphones. I just use the TV's built-in bluetooth to a pair of Soundblaster Jam v2's. I know a lot of people would likely think that sucks, but I need headphones that lets me hear what's going on around me if the phone rings or someone knocks at the door.

On the rare occasion when I'm the only one home, I use a 2.1 soundbar.

I suppose if I really want to be obnoxious, I could bluetooth into the home stereo, but I've never actually done that.
 
RoadHazard

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Magic Carpet said:
I first tried the up fire speakers for a year before running full ceiling down fire. My ceiling is 10 feet, I can say that it does indeed work, but I wasn't satisfied. The sound seemed to come from the front more than up above.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's what I'm afraid would happen. I already have very competent floor standing front speakers, I definitely don't need more sound coming from the front.

I guess this also depends on how close you are to the speakers, since I think they typically have a fixed angle? So you'll want to sit in just the right spot. Too far away, and the bounced sound will "land" in front of you, I would think.

I don't think I could do in-ceiling speakers, as I live in an apartment with upstairs neighbors.
 
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Mahavastu

Mahavastu

Member
I have a 6.1 system, there are windows where the speakers of a 7.1 system would be.
I am still using the decent boxes I got around 2008. I even have to use them way below their potential to avoid being killed by my neighbors, so an upgrade makes no real sense :messenger_sad_relieved:
Not sure if today I would rather use Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 system instead of 7.1, but I don't know if it makes sense with a PS5, which does not really support this. Maybe the AV receiver can upscale it to something useful?
 
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Hohenheim

Hohenheim

Member
Steelseries arctis nova pro wireless headphones.
Very satisfied with these. Great DAC included as well. When not using headphones, I use my studio monitors when on PC, and plain TV sound when on my OLED TV.
 
RoadHazard

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Mahavastu said:
I have a 6.1 system, there are windows where the speakers of a 7.1 system would be.
I am still using the decent boxes I got around 2008. I even have to use them way below their potential to avoid being killed by my neighbors, so an upgrade makes no real sense :messenger_sad_relieved:
Not sure if today I would rather use Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 system instead of 7.1, but I don't know if it makes sense with a PS5, which does not really support this. Maybe the AV receiver can upscale it to something useful?
Click to expand...

What does 6.1 mean? 🤔 Dual center speakers? Or a single rear speaker (in addition to the two side speakers of 5.1)?
 
DonF

DonF

Member
On the ps4 I had a turtle beach dss2 and used a pair of xm3 or the Phillips shp9500, which sounded great. Now I used both of those headphones with the dualsense. I've read only that the audio is supposed to sound like trash out of the dualsense, I actually feel it's less dynamic and has an inferior positional audio, but it's my current setup. I would love to improve it, but I honestly don't know how.
 
Mr Hyde

Mr Hyde

Member
Laptop1991

Laptop1991

Member
Surround sound 5.1 and Headphones, still got my Logitech Z-5500 speakers from over 10 years ago, they still work flawlessly.
 
Mahavastu

Mahavastu

Member
RoadHazard said:
What does 6.1 mean? 🤔 Dual center speakers? Or a single rear speaker (in addition to the two side speakers of 5.1)?
Click to expand...
3 in the front (2 main + 1 center), 2 on the side, 1 behind.
7.1 would be 2 loudspeakers from behind, but it did not work because of the windows in my room.

Most sources on Bluray or Streaming are only 5.1 I think (at least they were a few years ago), but the receivers have upscalers to 7.1 or 6.1...
There are also upscaler for 5.1 -> Atmos 5.1.2 but I do not know if it works "good enough" to be useful
 
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