- Oct 3, 2013
- 19
- 2
- 18,515
Hey guys,
I recently bought the Steelseries Siberia 800 (previously Wireless H). I connected it to my Win 10 PC via optical in and USB out as suggested by Steelseries. I run a Realtek ALC1150 on-board chipset on my Z87 Extreme6 Motherboard. According to the Realtek website, this chipset should support 7.1 surround sound. I have three questions regarding my setup:
1) Does such a high-end gaming headset profit from switching to a dedicated sound card or is the on-board chipset sufficient? The sound quality of the Siberia 800 is not comparable to high-end headphones or even speakers, but it's still one of the best gaming headsets out there and best suits my needs.
2) In the Windows Playback devices overview changing the default output for the Realtek Digital Output from 2 channel, 16 bit, 48kHz results in a warning that "The Device is being used by another application. If you continue, that application may stop working." What is the "other application" controlling it? Does this mean I only receive 2 channel sound or is the headset's driver & transmitter box forcing the best possible sound up to if possible virtual 7.1? If I continue anyway, the headset stops working.
3) I have a similar issue with the Realtek HD Audio Manager. I have no option to test the different channels of the virtual 7.1 my headset supports. I can not control any sound levels for the different channels or even get any indication that anything else than 2 channel sound is provided. I remember this was possible when I borrowed speakers from a friend two years ago. Switching the default format causes the headphones to stop working.
I am fairly new to tinkering with my audio setup, having previously owned a 50€ headset so please excuse any inconsistencies, missing information or dumb questions.
Greetings,
Simon
I recently bought the Steelseries Siberia 800 (previously Wireless H). I connected it to my Win 10 PC via optical in and USB out as suggested by Steelseries. I run a Realtek ALC1150 on-board chipset on my Z87 Extreme6 Motherboard. According to the Realtek website, this chipset should support 7.1 surround sound. I have three questions regarding my setup:
1) Does such a high-end gaming headset profit from switching to a dedicated sound card or is the on-board chipset sufficient? The sound quality of the Siberia 800 is not comparable to high-end headphones or even speakers, but it's still one of the best gaming headsets out there and best suits my needs.
2) In the Windows Playback devices overview changing the default output for the Realtek Digital Output from 2 channel, 16 bit, 48kHz results in a warning that "The Device is being used by another application. If you continue, that application may stop working." What is the "other application" controlling it? Does this mean I only receive 2 channel sound or is the headset's driver & transmitter box forcing the best possible sound up to if possible virtual 7.1? If I continue anyway, the headset stops working.
3) I have a similar issue with the Realtek HD Audio Manager. I have no option to test the different channels of the virtual 7.1 my headset supports. I can not control any sound levels for the different channels or even get any indication that anything else than 2 channel sound is provided. I remember this was possible when I borrowed speakers from a friend two years ago. Switching the default format causes the headphones to stop working.
I am fairly new to tinkering with my audio setup, having previously owned a 50€ headset so please excuse any inconsistencies, missing information or dumb questions.
Greetings,
Simon
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