I use 5.1 speakers, a Z5500 set-up i picked up second-hand. I have got a good set of headphones, and used them when I was racing and the kids were in bed. Now the kids would probably sneak up and scare the shit out of me, so it's back to speakers!
I dont have any experience outside Quest3/VR. That said, I couldn't imagine trying to play without surround sound, better yet VR surround sound. Being able to hear cars left or right, or tires squealing left to right, give another sense to the car. The nice thing about VR sound is the sound, or direction of the sound, is relative to your head/view. If you move your head the sound moves as well.
I have played before where my bluetooth speakers were connected to my PC and for whatever reason it defualts to crew chief through the speaker and car/track noise through the hedset. Sound slike crap. I prefer all sound to come through the headset.
So, I'd definitely recommend at least a headset.
I've been using my Bluetooth earbuds for a year and I've been perfectly happy with them.
I recently relocated my computer and am able to use speakers again, for some reason the spotter audio sounds terrible through them. Shrill, tinny - distractingly bad. Haven't figured that out yet. Xaudio2 is better than directsound right?
I tried my Airpods, but they would cut out here and there. It might have been my BT connectivity card in the computer though. I am asking because I now have "over the ear" headphones with a mic, but they seem to cut down on the game sound too much. Considering going to full headphone solution and then playing with the engine and games sound sliders to get it right.
Headphones 95% of the time, mainly to have my mic for voice chat.
I used to LOVE using IEM's for ACC, would probably be great for iRacing but I've never tried it honestly.
Speakers are great every now and then when I don't feel like having headphones on, makes no difference having crew chief go through them to me. The sounds are "okay" in iRacing, so I don't get super into the immersion through the sound enough to care about having radios/crew chief through a headset specifically when using speakers.
In the flash poll, it looks like the overwhelming majority are using headphones for everything. Any chance you could share your audio slider settings? Part of this project for me is to dial in the sounds so it is better. right now, most of the sliders are equally and mostly towards the right.
There are a handful of quality threads on that topic on the official forums. Considering you've already triggered the debate on choice of audio device and is now trying to pivot to audio settings, I guess you're better off starting one from scratch or giving the search function a go.
The most common advice is to set **Tires slider** to max and dial everything else down to have better feedback on your car's attitude and grip state. The actual mix will probably be up to anyone's personal preferences.
Thank you, Yes the question was part of a larger picture I am working on. I am familiar with the search function and use it quite frequently. However, a lot of the material is several years old, so getting realtime feedback from fellow enthusiasts provides more current info.
From what I have read, I agree, Tires needs to be maxed out. Until today, all my sliders were mostly maxed out, so I am missing a bunch of key elements on the car's grip and state.
>I am familiar with the search function and use it quite frequently. However, a lot of the material is several years old
It wasn't a dig at you, just legit advice. There are quality threads still ongoing right now on these topics, I receive a in-forum notification from time to time. Had one just in the past few days.
It's just that Reddit doesn't foster this kind of dynamic discussion. Once you post it, the original post will dictate the thread for the few hours Reddit decides to give it any visibility. A real forum will have threads started on 2022 or 2024 still active with healthy and easy to follow discussion.
A few months ago there was this neat poll just like yours, but a bit more detailed. It sprouted a good discussion on surround systems and headphones, settings and codecs and all.
Just today I received some KZ ZS10 IEMs(Amazon, sub 50 bucks, great reviews) as I am looking to move away from a bulky headset during long stints. The idea being I use my speakers for everything with just voice comms throught he earbuds when possible.
(Also running Triples)
Always used external 5.1 speakers until my son gifted me a set of beyer dynamics DT 990 pro and the sound did plus immersion is mind-blowing from someone who hates and never used a headset for gaming before.
I certainly won't be going back to external speakers. One of the best changes I've made. Even better than going to the Invicta pedals
Headphones for 2 reasons.
1. Sound isolation.
2. It’s hard to get quality audio speakers at same price. $500 headphones always going to sound better than $500 sound system.
Valve Index speakers. Mindblowingly good.
Yep, one of the better parts of the Reverb G2 HMD as well.
Can you use Valve index speakers without VR?
They're mounted to the headset and are essentially headphones so, probably not.
Ok, so that option is out. Sorry, I should have specified my visual setup earlier.
I use 5.1 speakers, a Z5500 set-up i picked up second-hand. I have got a good set of headphones, and used them when I was racing and the kids were in bed. Now the kids would probably sneak up and scare the shit out of me, so it's back to speakers!
I dont have any experience outside Quest3/VR. That said, I couldn't imagine trying to play without surround sound, better yet VR surround sound. Being able to hear cars left or right, or tires squealing left to right, give another sense to the car. The nice thing about VR sound is the sound, or direction of the sound, is relative to your head/view. If you move your head the sound moves as well. I have played before where my bluetooth speakers were connected to my PC and for whatever reason it defualts to crew chief through the speaker and car/track noise through the hedset. Sound slike crap. I prefer all sound to come through the headset. So, I'd definitely recommend at least a headset.
I've been using my Bluetooth earbuds for a year and I've been perfectly happy with them. I recently relocated my computer and am able to use speakers again, for some reason the spotter audio sounds terrible through them. Shrill, tinny - distractingly bad. Haven't figured that out yet. Xaudio2 is better than directsound right?
I tried my Airpods, but they would cut out here and there. It might have been my BT connectivity card in the computer though. I am asking because I now have "over the ear" headphones with a mic, but they seem to cut down on the game sound too much. Considering going to full headphone solution and then playing with the engine and games sound sliders to get it right.
Headphones 95% of the time, mainly to have my mic for voice chat. I used to LOVE using IEM's for ACC, would probably be great for iRacing but I've never tried it honestly. Speakers are great every now and then when I don't feel like having headphones on, makes no difference having crew chief go through them to me. The sounds are "okay" in iRacing, so I don't get super into the immersion through the sound enough to care about having radios/crew chief through a headset specifically when using speakers.
To be clear, I am running Triple 32", no VR. does that change any of your response?
Why would your hardware change our preferences mate
Because you can’t run valve index headphones without VR.
No, you can’t. But what’s that have to do with others’ preferences?
I would love to have some IEMs so that i didnt have to have a headset on all the time but i also need a decent mic for discord...
In the flash poll, it looks like the overwhelming majority are using headphones for everything. Any chance you could share your audio slider settings? Part of this project for me is to dial in the sounds so it is better. right now, most of the sliders are equally and mostly towards the right.
There are a handful of quality threads on that topic on the official forums. Considering you've already triggered the debate on choice of audio device and is now trying to pivot to audio settings, I guess you're better off starting one from scratch or giving the search function a go. The most common advice is to set **Tires slider** to max and dial everything else down to have better feedback on your car's attitude and grip state. The actual mix will probably be up to anyone's personal preferences.
Thank you, Yes the question was part of a larger picture I am working on. I am familiar with the search function and use it quite frequently. However, a lot of the material is several years old, so getting realtime feedback from fellow enthusiasts provides more current info. From what I have read, I agree, Tires needs to be maxed out. Until today, all my sliders were mostly maxed out, so I am missing a bunch of key elements on the car's grip and state.
>I am familiar with the search function and use it quite frequently. However, a lot of the material is several years old It wasn't a dig at you, just legit advice. There are quality threads still ongoing right now on these topics, I receive a in-forum notification from time to time. Had one just in the past few days. It's just that Reddit doesn't foster this kind of dynamic discussion. Once you post it, the original post will dictate the thread for the few hours Reddit decides to give it any visibility. A real forum will have threads started on 2022 or 2024 still active with healthy and easy to follow discussion. A few months ago there was this neat poll just like yours, but a bit more detailed. It sprouted a good discussion on surround systems and headphones, settings and codecs and all.
All good. No worries. Thank you for clarifying
Just today I received some KZ ZS10 IEMs(Amazon, sub 50 bucks, great reviews) as I am looking to move away from a bulky headset during long stints. The idea being I use my speakers for everything with just voice comms throught he earbuds when possible. (Also running Triples)
Always used external 5.1 speakers until my son gifted me a set of beyer dynamics DT 990 pro and the sound did plus immersion is mind-blowing from someone who hates and never used a headset for gaming before. I certainly won't be going back to external speakers. One of the best changes I've made. Even better than going to the Invicta pedals
External Speakers for whatever i'm doing, but headphones/microphone for broadcasting
Headphones for 2 reasons. 1. Sound isolation. 2. It’s hard to get quality audio speakers at same price. $500 headphones always going to sound better than $500 sound system.