Gaming Headsets: Myth, Truth and How We Test

1 - Einführung und Übersicht 2 - Alles über Schall und Frequenzen 3 - Räumliches Hören, Surround und viel Voodoo 4 - Sounding: Markting-Gag oder Skill-Verstärker? 5 - Menschliche Sprache, Tiere, Bewegungen 6 - Typische Kampf- und Transportmittelgeräusche 7 - Wie wir messen und urteilen 8 - Fazit und Zusammenfassung

Weapons noises are very complex, because besides the muzzle bang there are air and flight noises and, in the opposite case, also reflections. THE weapon sound does not exist and depending on the calibre and direction, each weapon sounds different.

Shotgun, single shot

The performance is broadband and voluminous, but requires the entire frequency spectrum for good playback, because we see very characteristic peaks of individual frequencies despite the overall size.

Explosion bang

A rod C4 sounds completely different, it is rather a kind of fading pink noise after a very high initial level.

Tank Cannon, Single Shot

The relatively dull cannon of a front-rolling tank is closer to the image of the explosion and also spatial location is difficult, as the stereo spectrum clearly shows. However, if the brighter-sounding C4 explosion is still up to 20 kHz, the tank cannon with the spectrum up to 12 kHz is duller and more voluminous in itself.

Long-range precision rifle (Sniper Rifle), single shot

The noise is based on two acoustic pillars: the broadband muzzle bang with the peak at about 500 Hz and the flight and air noise with the peak at about 2.5 kHz. If you hit the usual 400-600 Hz hole and the 3-kHz peaks, the muzzle bang goes down and the sound becomes more like that of a brighter sounding short weapon.

Short-term pistol (9mm), single shot

The brighter-sounding pistol is very wide-banded and almost reminiscent of white noise. Any sounding would have a noticeable impact on the character of this weapon. Small games at the equalizer disqualify this pistol to the small calibre (too much height elevation) or even make a fat Colt out of it (too much upper bass and lower middle).

Automatic weapons, long MPi salvo in closed room

Like our next graphic zeight, a longer MPi salvo of approx. 20° left in terms of spatial location quite problematic, since the staccato-like muzzle explosions completely superimpose the reflections that would help us in orientation and a mixture to a loud bang. It’s just loud.

Games in which such a salvo can be easily located even in smaller, enclosed spaces at such lower angles are far from reality; here was a lot of help.

Automatic weapons, three short outdoor MG salvos

What happens outdoors when the reflections disappear? An MG salvo uses the whole spectrum very evenly during the bang, but the subsequent noises are still up to approx. six kHz simimually linear. Below approx. 350 Hz then only happens a little bit at the Münungsknall. An excessively high bass elevation up to the upper bass allows such salvos to mutate into true cannon strikes.

Whether it’s firearms of all kinds or a pure explosion of an explosive device, nothing is more broadband than a bang! Sounding contributes nothing more than to distorting the perception and loss of the sound character of a weapon. After all, it definitely doesn’t help with orientation. Too strong bass also destroys every reality and leaves a muddy dull legacy. Too many heights do the exact opposite, equipting the battlefield with silly small-caliber weapons.

With many headset sound interpretations, which are mainly advertised with FPS qualities, one wonders everywhere whether the participants in the sound design have ever heard a weapon in reality. Eating mud instead of pizza and fries would certainly have helped from time to time.

Passing truck

The engine and rolling noises of the tyres merge into a relatively wide-band overall work of art, which is quite bass-heavy. However, the upper areas of the spectrum are also important for the rolling noises, otherwise each road surface quickly becomes a musty sand dune.

Passing tracked vehicle (tanks)

In contrast to the dull truck, something really happens here! In addition to the engine noise, it is above all the chains whose typical and very complex noise demands the playback devices. Various frequency ranges are also used more extensively, so that their detailed reproduction is particularly important.

Flying jet

Nice to look at: the so-called Doppler effect when flying by! Engine and air noise satison is also combined here to create an interesting potpourri.

Stationary hovering helicopter

We already had a passing pretty robber at the beginning, here now the variant hovering above our head. The most striking are the broadband and/or high-frequency rotor and demolition noise of the air, the motor then gives the very bass-heavy base background.

Complex situation: Battlefield with MG fire, detonations and tracked vehicles

That’s just noise – or isn’t it? If you put this material into low- or higher-quality headsets, you will open your eyes to the really good specimens if you are only used to cheap acoustic mud. This is precisely where what I have already written on the second page for resolution and detailed playback takes hold.

Only the best (and above all level-resistant) drivers can cope well with such a complex accumulation of acoustic events. The listening to individual sound sources and their spatial location are due to the high school of headphone reproduction and solely to the quality of the drivers. The whole Dolby-Kram hardly helps here without the right substructure, quite the contrary.

Complex situation: Schachtfeld with flying aircraft squadron

Not only a jet, but several make the battlefield complete. Otherwise, the same applies: The best headphones are just good enough for this!

Especially in complex situations, the focus is on perfect resolution, detailed mapping of the frequency spectrum and a high level strength. The subsequent influence of individual frequency ranges by the headset also makes it difficult to locate so many rather broadband sound sources.