Hi i recently bought a Asus Xonar Xense bundle, After playing with the settings, I'm still completely lost for what settings i should be using with games and movies atm 2 channel seems to sound the best for both games, music and movies, But in games the bass sounds really flat, I'm not using any speakers with my setup just the PC 350's, I just wanted to know if these are the best settings i should be using or are there better ones that others are using, It can become a pain alt tabbing out of games to mess with the settings every time, Thank you
"Settings" are relevent to the individual, and a process we all go through. Nobody can tell you what sounds good to you, and if they try they're blowing hot air. I'd recommend just playing with the EQ. The Xense is a fantastic soundcard, and the headphones bundled with it are solid also. If you're feeling adventurous you could always try the Hero Mod: http://www.head-fi.org/t/406187/modding-the-sennheiser-pc350-headset
I'm not really a DIY kind of guy, I don't understand how some people say use 8 channels for games on a stereo sound card, So what are all the fps and racing settings for if there useless?, i been messing with the settings for about a week and its like having to mess with all the settings to get it too sound right on different games, really i shouldn't have to do all this each time i wanna game right?
Here's a solid article to read if you don't mind doing a little research. http://www.head-fi.org/t/593050/the...-audio-with-binaural-headphone-surround-sound Pay special attention to the Binaural section. You shouldn't have to do that much to enjoy your setup, you're right. Different people like different things, sound signatures especially. It may be a case that you simply dislike how your headphone sound, and if that's the case it's a shame. I doubt that's true, but don't rule it out. The PC350's are a little infamous for bass that isn't fantastic, thus the mod. Have a read of the link and play a little more, get used to the software. Especially the surround related stuff.
Ok i have read through the binaural section, its just the surround sounds effects that are confusing stuff like environment size, generic or plain, I thought it would be install click and play and you wouldn't have to do alot of messing around with the settings hence World’s First Total Audio Solution Optimized for First Person Shooters. I have read reviews were they say the bass is incredible explosions are loud, i have yet to experience this with this setup, I dont know if i should keep them or send them back, it just doesnt seems to value the price tbh, the sound feels like its about 5 m away from when i shoot my gun, from my understand equipment for gaming this expensive should really be in another level, Or is it just the PC 350 are horrible for gaming which doesnt make much sense to bundle them. Im coming from siberia v2 with usb soundcard which wasnt really the best setup, but was alot better then the cave or hollow hallway effect im getting from the Xense, Should i be using speakers with them or?, This is the first time i have owned a internal soundcard, i have been through a few trying to find a good one. I first bought a Creative XFI Titanium HD - Which turned up DOA I then went for the Xonar DG - had hissing sound on mic I then went with the Essense STX - Sounded like in a cave, same performance as the Xense Now using the Xense and im still in the same boat just feels like im 5 m away from sound, no wow factor sound no vibrating my ear drums from explosions, Just a lingering feeling of is this bundle really what they say it is?
I have a similar setup but I have the 595 headphones and I don't experience the large room effect your having issues with. I do suggest starting from the beginning and then working your way to everything installed to rule out defective equipment (this will also save you time troubleshooting). I would first uninstall all the extra software addons like Rapture 3D, Asus Audio Center so you basically only have the bare minimum drivers installed to get the card running. Also make sure there is no Enhancements turned on that are provided from Microsoft (there shouldn't be any on the Asus card's properties, but my Nvidia ones do that I use for my hdmi tv, I'd still disable them for any other onboard audio you still might have enabled in the bios). After your running just the bare minimum then try and play a game and see if your still getting the same hallow sound your experiencing. If you are then it sounds like its hardware or the headphones are not to your liking but I haven't heard anyone else complaining about them with this problem. If they sound fine, then install the extras one at a time and play a game you know where you were having the issue with the sound. Once you start hearing it again, its almost certainly something to do with the last installation of software so go in there and see what settings it has applied.
So what settings are you guys using to get the best optimal performance?, I don't understand the amp Xense gain as its really low volume, I probably have them setup wrong, btw are any of you using speakers with the card?, i still have the STX in my room, so would i be better keeping the STX and getting some different headphones? "EDIT" I tried to install just the barebones, But windows wouldnt detect the drivers automatically
Ok while being on the Main tab in the Asus Xonar Audio Center, Set all your settings up to the same as what you see in the picture below. I do not bother with the buttons that i have circled in white, I just leave them. As you can see my selected Audio output is my headphones but you can change this to speakers if you want too. Hit this button that the white arrow is pointing too. Then this box will pop up, Make you set it to Seenheiser 350 as it is in the picture below. Moving on to the Mixer tab i just leave everything set as it is in the picture below. Next moving on again to the Effect Tab, Make sure everything is set like in the picture below. The areas i have circled make sure all the buttons are set to generic otherwise you will get echoing effects depending on what you have selected. Also set the Graphics sythesizer to Soft Rock as i find this gives the best bass without being to distorted or lack of Mid range/Tweeter. And Finally on the Flex Bass Tab hit the two buttons below( ON and Large) this will give good Bass. Feel free to experiment with any of the settings but these settings i have shown you should give you a good start.
Wow thanks mate!, but how comes 8 channels on stereo sound card matey that confuses me, thanks for your help, If i cant seem to get it to sound right to my ears what should i do?, go for a pheobus or stick with the stx and send the xense back?, thanks for your help mate and Merry Christmas! Should i use DH-2?
Just a quick q, does the xonar control centre have a +15db in the bass section thing like in the Creative drivers? Thanks, RagDoll.
Doesnt matter. Those options just emulate the speakers being spaced farther apart. Personal preference.
No its doesnt Ragdoll. If you look at the last picture that i posted that is all there is regarding bass, Only other thing you can do is mess around with Synthesizer. Experiment with different settings to see what you like.
2 Channels, 44.kKHz is "standard" if you will, though I'm not sure if your headphones have some surround simulation thing going on. Dolby headphone and the other stuff are just effects, like making it sound you were listening through speakers in different settings. Same goes for the effect tab, except the equalizer, that's where you want to adjust bass and what not. Me myself I've got the low freqs really high (like almost at +20DB) with my HD555s, sounds too discant without. You don't want to use LFE crossover with headphones, what it does is it sends LFEs (low frequency effects) to the subwoofer channel from your other channels (since your normal speakers aren't designed to reproduce LFEs), it will only remove all "bassy" sounds from your headphones since you have no subwoofer in there But since someone suggested that, it might be your headphones work differently. I myself like to keep everything "standard", that is; native channels (so 2 for headphones or 6 for 5.1), no dolby effects unless I watch a movie with bad mixing for my setup (sometimes I can barely hear speech but all effects blow my ears off the dolby things kinda help there), no "concert hall" or any DSP modes/effects. All I touch is the EQ and the sampling rate accordingly to what I'm listening. I choose a nice flac song with lossless playback from foobar2000, listen to it on a pretty high volume and do my adjustments there. For gaming I usually use the Dolby Headphone thing, I believe DH-1 but that's preference. And like others have said, this is all personal preference. Go to the EQ and slide the low freqs up 15 DB? :d
Thanks, but that's no good, because that only boosts 1 set of frequencies, whereas the creative 15db is for the LFE only and boosts all LFE frequencies... thanks anyway, RagDoll.
