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[BWORM989]

if i have a creative xfi fatality champion series sound card for my pc should i buy the mixamp with the headphone. like would it make much of a difference?? Thanks

[ASTRO Warblade]

It all depends, do you use headphones currently? or are you using speakers?

The immediate benefit of headphones over speakers is that you can hear the slight nuiances of things like weapon reloads or footsteps (in MW2). Even things like players running through bushes stand out a bit more than when you're using speakers (especially since a lot of times bass from a subwoofer will drown out those noises).

With the A40s, the MixAmp uses Dolby Headphone technology to take the 5.1 sound via Dolby Digital and creates a simulated surround sound experience using a stereo headset. It's similar to the technology that Creative uses called CMSS-3D which is included on your I/O Bay expansion for that sound card.

Pasted below is some info I found on a website where someone was asking about 5.1 headphones (headphones with 4 speakers in each ear) and using CMSS-3D:


astrallite 12-27-2006 at 10:03:12 AM

This is how CMSS works for speakers.

You play a stereo (2-channel source) like music mp3s. It takes the signal, and mixes them up, and different combinations come out of the rear and center channels, time delayed so when it works well, it sounds like a sound source just went through several speakers sequentially.

This is supposed to be a (understandably flawed) attempt at surround sound (real surround sound is discrete channels, not stereo being remixed). CMSS as its sources as originally games were 4.0, and CMSS was created in an attempt to take advantage of newer 5.1 computer speakers. Some people also have come to use CMSS as a way to play "stereo remixed" to 5 channels.

In headphones, CMSS headphone does something similar, except its being played through a single source. The single driver ends up playing all the re-mixed sounds, but it still sort of works (not as well as CMSS through speakers) as the re-mixed parts are also time delayed.

5.1 headphones take all the channels (front, rear, center) and mixes them through multiple drivers.

So the difference here is "emulated" surround sound vs "real" surround sound, if you can call several discrete sources playing right next to your ear as "surround."

If CMSS-3D is enabled and you have true 5.1 sources playing, the result is generally a strange cacophony that I never really liked. It's taking the stereo channel, playing back all the remixed material through the rears and center at the same time while the "true" surround (rear, center) sources are playing.


So it's a mixed bag. I would tell you to do a little bit more research, as I'm not too familar with the CMSS-3D stuff, but from what I'm finding online, it doesn't work too well with an actual 5.1 sound, but that it only takes a stereo sound, then it'll try to simulate that to positional audio using stereo headphones.

How this differs from the MixAmp is that the MixAmp CAN receive and utlize a 5.1 Dolby Digital connection or a 5.1 Coaxil connection, then use the Dolby Headphone processing to product a spacial surround sound environment using stereo headphones.

[BWORM989]

yeah i'm using speakers right now and i have 7.1 but it nothing close to headphones i have a optical in and out on the card so im wondering if it would be better or worse without the mixamp