surround sound and binaural

[thebigj_a]

On the Dev's site they mentioned the audio was recorded binaurally (if you don't know this basically records sound the way your ears hear it, so you get very accurate "surround sound" with just stereo headphones, like here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUqqU48ElxQ You can hear the effect even with just 2 channels).

What I'm wondering is, does that mean I should turn off the virtual surround on my gaming headset (logitech g930, specifically). I'm no audiophile, so Idk if they work together

[SubUmbra]

Audiophile nerd with a $2500 headphone rig here. Definitely disable any surround or post processing to your sound output to enjoy the full benefit of binaural audio. Let us know how it sounded!

[thebigj_a]

Thanks. I'm just wondering if they recorded everything that way. I figure virtual surround is sniffed at by some, but I much prefer the sound to not seem to come from inside my own skull, is why I use it.

Now if this would hurry up and unlock, I can find out. :)

[SubUmbra]

The best way with headphones to get a "loudspeaker" type experience is to try a pair with an open back driver enclosure as opposed to a closed one. But for sure experiment to find out what sounds best to your ears.

[LoucMachine]

Thx for in info guys !!

[thebigj_a]

It sounds quite good with surround turned off, actually. But I think it's just good audio design. It doesn't seem to have that positional effect binaural does.

Unfortunately I can't compare it to my headset's surround, as it doesn't work in this game. The switch does nothing. There's something weird about this game, as every other game either reads my headset as multichannel. Edit: no, now it works again, sort of. Had to restart, though it still doesn't sound right it is at least positional and external unlike without it.

I think they must have only recorded some things with a binaural method.

[thebigj_a]

UPDATE:

I'd posted roughly this same question on Frictional's website. I just now got a response:

"The binaural processing will be most noticeable on the player character's dialogue - particularly when they are wearing a diving helmet. The effect of the binaural on the player's dry dialogue is that it sounds like the voice is coming from your position, in front of the camera. It shouldn't be effected by the 5.1 settings. One of the principle protagonists has some fun 5.1 processing on their voice and surround is a huge part of the sound of the game in general [and hugely important for the genre], so I'd leave it set to 5.1! :)"

[Cybolic]

Where can this be set? The games audio menu only has volume sliders.
I have a 5.1 surround headset and a pair of studio mixing headphones - which should I use and how do I know which setting the game will pick?

EDIT: Holding back playing until I figure this out; audio is very, very important for me so I don't want the "wrong" experience.
EDIT2: I see that SOMA only sends stereo sound in the menu on my 5.1 headphones - is this how it should be?
EDIT3: In the ~/.local/share/frictionalgames/Soma/Main/[userstuffhere]_user_settings.cfg the audio setting is <Sound Device="-1" Volume="1.000000" MaxSoftwareChannels="64" MaxVirtualChannels="1000" ForceShowSubtitleCharacterName="false" ShowSubtitles="false" SpeakerType="HomeCinema" />, so I assume I'll be getting 5.1? Can anyone from Frictional confirm?

[thebigj_a]

Originally posted by Cybolic:

Where can this be set? The games audio menu only has volume sliders.
I have a 5.1 surround headset and a pair of studio mixing headphones - which should I use and how do I know which setting the game will pick?

EDIT: Holding back playing until I figure this out; audio is very, very important for me so I don't want the "wrong" experience.
EDIT2: I see that SOMA only sends stereo sound in the menu on my 5.1 headphones - is this how it should be?
EDIT3: In the ~/.local/share/frictionalgames/Soma/Main/[userstuffhere]_user_settings.cfg the audio setting is <Sound Device="-1" Volume="1.000000" MaxSoftwareChannels="64" MaxVirtualChannels="1000" ForceShowSubtitleCharacterName="false" ShowSubtitles="false" SpeakerType="HomeCinema" />, so I assume I'll be getting 5.1? Can anyone from Frictional confirm?

For me it's usually automatic, especially if there's no setting in the menu. When I turn on the switch for "7.1" on my headset, games read it as a multi-channel source (I know that's not the same for all "surround" headphones, some just take stereo and process it) if they're 5.1-capable.

Just put on the surround headphones, make sure it's set to surround in whatever software or hardware your headset uses, and play the game. You'll know withing seconds whether it's surround or not. As to which is better, that totally depends on you. For me, for gaming, having direction is more important than having super-clear sound. I'll take a good multi-channel headset over a superb stereo headset if that's the trade-off. Listening to music would be the opposite.

[Cybolic]

I figured it would be 5.1 and started playing the game and it seems to be correct. It's not quite as directional as I would expect, but it sounds good so I'm not complaining.
Thanks for the push thebigj_a :)

[thebigj_a]

cheers