"Wear headphones for the best experience"

[Kapitein Gnapmans]

Why do many games say this? I don't get it. I have great speakers and I don't like wearing headphones. It's definitely a worse experience.

[DOOMGIRL69]

someone just loaded up senuas sacrifice

[Chaosolous]

Unless you have amazing hi fidelity surround sound; headphones are the recommended experience.

[TGC> The Games Collector]

Yeah, I keep wondering "is this what I bought a 7.1 surround set for? To wear headphones?"

[MinionJoe]

Most headphones aren't surround sound though.

[Iggy Wolf]

Technically speaking, some headphones have good quality sound that might rival someone's speakers. And games that recommend them usually have opted for a Dolby Atmos approach, in which headphones that support it gives you better 3D sound and acoustic quality. My headphones for example are open back. The sound comes out of both the headphone drivers in my ear and the back part of the headphones that face outward.

This gives the impression that the sound is all around me and is therefore 360 degrees. And it's not even placebo. I'll literally sometimes think that a sound is coming from my room as opposed to the game because it sounds like background noise coming from around me as opposed to in-game. Games that have a focus on sound design and atmosphere for example, tend to give a better experience through headphones. The Amnesia games are but one example.

[DoomsDay]

maybe because the sound is disturbing, developer inform you to not disturb other?

[Chaosolous]

I guess I forget not everyone buys high quality headphones. If you're just using basic bargain bin $20 headphones, maybe your speakers are better.

My headphones are pretty dope and you'd have to have a crazy over the top sound system to come even close to replicating their quality.

[Kapitein Gnapmans]

Publicado originalmente por Iggy Wolf:

Technically speaking, some headphones have good quality sound that might rival someone's speakers. And games that recommend them usually have opted for a Dolby Atmos approach, in which headphones that support it gives you better 3D sound and acoustic quality. My headphones for example are open back. The sound comes out of both the headphone drivers in my ear and the back part of the headphones that face outward.

This gives the impression that the sound is all around me and is therefore 360 degrees. And it's not even placebo. I'll literally sometimes think that a sound is coming from my room as opposed to the game because it sounds like background noise coming from around me as opposed to in-game. Games that have a focus on sound design and atmosphere for example, tend to give a better experience through headphones. The Amnesia games are but one example.

Interesting, I didn't know that existed. Do devs really expect everyone to have expensive, HQ headphones though? Seems a bit weird.

Mainly I just prefer not having anything on my head if I don't have to, I can't imagine any headphones to be so great that I would choose that over my speakers.

[Dracoco OwO]

My current headphones are too trash for that unfortunately.

[Pierce Dalton]

Even with good speakers there are some details that you'll not notice.

[76561198356019466]

i can't totally cut myself off from the outside world. it's just way too uncomfortable for me
of course, even if I wanted to my job prohibits it.

[Kapitein Gnapmans]

Publicado originalmente por tiny E:

i can't totally cut myself off from the outside world. it's just way too uncomfortable for me
of course, even if I wanted to my job prohibits it.

Yes that's my problem too. The "closed off" feeling it gives is not nice. The big ones are a bit better than the in-ear ones for that but they get hot on my ears. I know there are "bone conduction" ones which don't go on your ears at all, that seems interesting but also weird. Never tried those.

Edit: Seems like those are for sports and don't have great sound quality.

[Iggy Wolf]

Publicado originalmente por lankaras:

Interesting, I didn't know that existed. Do devs really expect everyone to have expensive, HQ headphones though? Seems a bit weird.

Mainly I just prefer not having anything on my head if I don't have to, I can't imagine any headphones to be so great that I would choose that over my speakers.

Not necessarily. I mean, for Amnesia, just having a decent set is good enough. A game's own sound mixing and sound design matters just as much. Amnesia's so good that even cheap headphones would suffice. The scares are more effective if you're immersed and not distracted by outside sounds. Then there are games that take advantage of Dolby Atmos and surround sound.

Those actually do sound better with surround sound headphones or 5.1/7.1 speaker systems. They'll still sound decent even with cheaper speakers or headphones, but sound mixing might not sound right as much (with some sounds being muffled or lower than they should be). For me personally, it's a matter of privacy and not bothering other people in the house, while drowning out any other sounds that might interfere with my immersion.

There's also the fact that my current monitor doesn't have any internal speakers. So the only way to get any sound is either through headphones or dedicated speakers, and the speakers I do have are lower quality than my headphones. They're also connected to my old computer and I use two PCs, with my new one being my main one. Easier to just reconnect headphones to whichever one I'm using than constantly reconnecting speakers behind PCs.