Medusa 5.1 Surround Headset - Page 4

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Thanks for the tips, I will try the bass thing out later once i am not in class haha. Corssing my fingers. . .

$18.70. Looks like i remember a bit high.

Fine, if you want to refund me the cost plus shipping, as you originally agreed to, that is fine. i will look for headphones elsewhere.

ACCORDING to fedex, you have already received them. i have yet to receive my money. i will be looking for it in the next day. if i do not see it, i will be getting back with you. i expect the refund of my money to be treated with the same positive customer attitude that i have been treated with so far.

the way you part with customers shows a lot about how you work with them.

um, i have only been dealing with matt for a few days now and i must say that he has been very helpfull (hopefully it stays this way haha ) anyway, i dont think it is right to trash talk him when he is just trying to be sure what the problem is prior to issuing the refund. You cant blamer a retailer for wanting to learn why there product is being returned...

Hi, im looking for a new headset after i recieved my iCEMAT siberias for christmas, which my sister broke a few months later :x

Is there any hardware difference between the Medusa 5.1 ProGamer and the Medusa 5.1
Does the progamer just come with a nice bag? or are they actually different headsets

^ thanks man,
is there any performance Increase or Decrease between them?

Also, with the ProGamer, can i have a set of speakers connected also like the amp box from the Regular 5.1


- Are there any OEMs from the medusa usa website? i remember when i was looking for headsets earlier this year that their were..

ive read in this topic no to have the windows volume above 50%, is it just for this headset or any speaker system/headphones, because ive always had mine at 100%

On the topic of gaming with 5.1:

I emailed this to matt earlier but thought it may be of use in the discussion on games sounding poor on these bad boys...

My thoughts are that it is EAX in games that is giving the lack of base in the rear speakers. I do realize that the rear speakers do have less base, but i dont know about anyone else but i am getting ZERO base and no depth in the rear. anyway, could it possibly be from games using EAX and trying to do their own 5.1 effect with the software? I disable it in windows but maybe games over ride windows settings. Anyway, interested to see what others think about it. I refuse to return these bad boys until i know there is no hope to solving my problem haha.

So I just got a pair of the Mesusa 5.1 Pro Gamer Edition, and tho I cant say that I've been dissappointed with them, I can't say that I have enjoyed them very much either.

I'm using an Audigy 2 ZS and I have noticed the sound coming from the front and the back sound very... odd

The sound is very hollow/empty. Not sure if anyone else experienced this. I went through the speaker configuration tool provided by Creative and in order to get my sound to output properly (full/immersive sound), I had to reverse my wiring for the speakers (polarity). Obviously I cannot do this easily on this headset. I looked on the Medusa website and they don't take refunds.

I'm really considering just getting a pair of Turtle Beach HPA headphones to replace these because they really do sound terrible. Especially when listening to regular music. I can even almost forgive the tinny rear speakers but the reversed wiring for the speakers is just very very annoying.

I just joined today as I was searching for info on a new gaming headset. I currently have a set of eDiminsional FF headset. Well the mic just crapped out on me. I dont want a desktop mic. I found alot of reviews about these headphones being discussed and found none bad.

After reading this thread Im skeptical buying these for two reasons.
1. Is there a problem with the wiring
2. Will I have a problem setting these up

I am a casual gamer and know very little about pc's and setting things up. I know enough to install, play and maybe get a few kills here and there lol. The main reason for wanting to buy these headphones apart from the review is the customer support. I TOTALLY applaud Matt and Medusa for there efforts here (maybe Dice and EA could take some lessons from them). I know hardcore gamers and pc go'ers will recognize issues that the average person will not.

Will I have a hard time getting these set up with little knowledge about pc's? Regardless of the negitive post's here I would still like to buy because I will ALWAYS support a company that supports the people buying there products! I dont know if spending this kind of money is gonna be worth it as I was happy with my eDimisional's sound. Would there be a noticeable difference between my current and Medusa's? Thanks for any info/help.

Nice Job Matt and MedUsa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

p.s. Accident, was not a reply to Rhohan, hit wrong tab.

haha sorry to post a million messages but does anyone with the headphones like the fact that they are opened on the outside and a lot of audio "bleeds" out from them?? I personally find it a pain in the ass especialy when my roomates want to sleep and all they here is me killing Germans on COD2.

Is there an easy "ghetto" fix for this such as some kinda covering that will keep the escaping sound down?

I just received my Medusa 5.1's yesterday and spent the evening tinkering with them to get them working. I'm pretty sure they are now connected correctly, but I have the tinny rear speaker problem. I've read through this forum, the headset manual and the FAQ page on medusa-usa, which helped, but I still have the tinniness issue. I understand that they're designed to sound different, but they sound *bad*.

If I turn 360 degrees, stuff in front of me sounds great, and stuff behind me sounds like it's coming from inside a tin can. As many have observed, the bass is completely absent. This may be intentional, but it's far from realistic. I too suspect a bad component somewhere, or just bad design.

I've already identified and fixed a swapped rear - center/sub wiring (my mistake, not an internal wiring problem). I've turned on the bass redirection, cranked the vib/subwoofer, equalized the front/center/rears, turned off the CMSS 3d stuff on my X-Fi, etc. I thought perhaps it was just lousy 5.1 support in the game, but earlier in the forums Matt said some America's Army players said it all sounded just fine, and America's Army is what I primarily play that's sounding rotten.

It's at a point where I'm disappointed that they sound worse than my cheap speakers or stereo headphones, and I'm not hearing surround sound so much as I've learned that tinny sounding shots are supposed to be behind me.

The tinniness isn't as noticeable in the speaker check or white noise tests, but I don't find that all too surprising. It's completely distracting in games -- I have constant compulsion to go "fix" it, because the game sounds good and bad depending on which way I'm facing.

So anyway -- there's been enough chatter about whether or not this is "correct" behavior that I'm fuzzy on what the current verdict is. Is it possible they're defective or set up incorrectly, or are they *supposed* to sound tinny in the rears? "lower" by design, I buy, that should be adjustable to user preference by changing the invididual speaker levels. Tin-can tinny, I don't. It sounds exactly like a dead woofer, which is something you get fixed.

bp

I have to agree. After listening to the advice I received from head-fi.org on proper tunage of the medua's, they sound amazing. Just got done playing an hour of Cstrike source De_dust (woot for the new HDR lightning). When you have the windows volume up to 90-100% and the headphones @ 2-3 for rear,front,center and 10 for VIB the subwoofer really adds that extra effect to sounds coming from behind, you can steal feel a muffly sound on the rears, but this easily helps you realize that the sound is from behind...Try it, trust us!

I suggest that Matt recommed this method for all medusa owners, made a HUGE difference for me!

Credit goes to bangraman on head-fi.org for suggesting this to me.

I am sorry about this, buy I am still unclear as to this tinny rear sound business.
It appears some people have a small problem in that they are not used to the sound behind them. Others have the problem I have which is that the rear speakers dont just sound bad, they sound TERRIBLE. Also, adjusting the VIB wheel on the headset lead makes no difference at all.
What i'm not sure about is whether all the people who have really terrible sounding rear speakers have faulty headset, or that they have set them up wrongly.
I have tried all sorts of things to get these headphones working, including adjusting volumes both in windows and on the amplifier and also trying bass redirection. None of these made any difference whatsoever.

At present I am unsure whether to send mine back to the place i bought them (overclockers UK) since if they are not fault, it will cost me in shipping and their time.

#1. It was a response from a Personal message i sent him, I reworded pretty much everything he said and posted it above.

#2. I think their "watch movies w/o disturbing people" is a bit of an overstatement, yes they 'leak' sound, I'm not sure if this is designed this way to allow greater airflow for the subs or what...again ask on the head-fi forums. But yeah mine leak sound...obviously it sounds louder inside my headphones than outside them...which means I would be disturbing others less than if I had 5.1 speakers but yeah you get the idea.

Some extra tips about defeating the tin-canniness. I've made a little
progress with the help of the others here.

On my X-fi card --

Turn OFF CMSS-3d.
Tun ON Bass Redirection, crossover freq cranked up to 200 Hz.
I don't enable the +15dB sub gain

Set the system volume to 90%
Set the dials on the headset cord:

Front: 2.5
Rear: 2.5
Center: 2.5
Vib: 10

This now seems to be working okay for me. I still had to get used to some
of the occlusion effects (not so much because of the headset as the new x-fi card) and the difference in the sounds behind me... initially I wanted them to sound exactly the same as the sounds in front of me, but wstcoaster is right, once I got the volume adjusted properly so that
it wasn't completely devoid of bass in the rears, the sound has grown on me.

I'm betting the crossover setting is a critical piece, btw -- that redirects low frequencies to the sub, so by design it should be making the sub support your rears, giving them some better bass.

bp

Just got a pair of the Medusa 5.1 headphones. I want to thank all for posting help on hooking up these things. Neither the headphone or sound card instrustions were very good. But with a few clues from this forum I got there.

The head phones sound very nice. I been using a $15 pair from Wally World. So it would not take much to be better. LOL. I am pleased though.

Music sounds good.

Definite improvement in first person shooter games.

I fly in a WW2 flight simulation a lot called IL2 Strumavik - Pacific Fighters is the latest of 3 part to the simulation. The suround sound definitely works in this flight sim. However, I do not find it enhances the experience significalty more than a decent pair of stereo headphones. The directioal aspects of sound do not mean as much. At least not that I can tell in the short period of time I have used them so far.

I have an Audigy Gammer sound card. Older than the Audigy 2 ZS. But it seems to work well. COuld not figgure out what jacks to plug in till I read one of the posts above. It indicated that the "line in" jack is one that might be used. It certainly was. And the sound card instructions said nothing about it.

Thanks

I have to say that I'm very happy I googled extensively before buying one of these headsets. After looking at reviews I was completely sold to the point of registering and costing with the website.. however, now my confidence in this product is shaken to the point where I think I will have to continue looking.

Not wishing to sound too negative - I could never be happy with a 5.1 headset that had 'tinny' sounding rears. Equally, I have no interest in spending an inordinate amount of time setting up/troubleshooting and/or returning a product.

I'm guessing that the reviewers who oozed so much praise did not get one of these particular sets but I'm not about to take the chance. If I could be sure that there was a 'bad batch', followed by an appropriate recall, I'd buy a pair in a heartbeat.. but this doesn't appear to be the case.

Anyone who's had a good experience with this product, especially concerning all round sound quality, please help me out by posting here!
Anyone with opinions about 5.1 headsets, I'd be glad to hear your recommendations!

In the mean time I guess I'll take another look at the turtle beach offerings 8O

That's probably electromagnetic interference, either from components inside your computer or from something outside that's being picked up in the cable leading to your headset. Try moving your sound card to another slot further from any "noisy" components on your motherboard and make sure you don't have the cable running near anything "noisy" (little electric motors, that sort of thing) outside the computer.

Also look further back in this very long thread, I thought I saw some chatter about this sort of thing in there somewhere.

And one additional comment about the different sounding rears -- while they have sort of grown on me, I would still argue that they should sound exactly like the fronts -- it should be up to the sound source or software to determine how the rears should sound, *not* the design of hardware you're using to listen to it.

While the medusas appear to have been designed to 'enhance' the surround effect for gaming, I have to say that this actually makes them
a flawed product, because the hardware permanently prevents you from hearing the source sound as it was originally intended.

How did you fix this? Is your headset the pro gamer edition?

First of all I don't own these, but I have read many reviews. Is it possible that people here are doing what two reviewers did, and accidentally switched the Rear and center sub channels?

As I understand it, the Medusa has Blue and REd connectors for Rear and Center sub respectivly. Adn most sound cards/computers in the USA at least have Black and Orange for those two. Therefore it is easy to mix those two up. Or maybe another connector was misplaced?

Just trying to help,

Keith

OK, I got my unit last night. it is the one with the amp. This may help some people. I found I got better bass and better sound out of the rears when I told my sound card to swap the center/sub. The sound card had this option so I tried it both ways.

One more thought, your ears make sounds from the rear sound slightly different then sounds from the front. Isn't this how we localize sounds? So wouldn't we expect 5.1 headphones to make the exact same sound be a little different when the ear hears it? Of course I am not audio engineer, so grain of salt here.

Keith

Don't think of this as a argument, but soemthing I would really like to know for sure.

My thought is that if the speakers all sounded exactly a like and the speakers are maybe an inch apart in the headphone, then I don't think the ear would pick up much of a difference. After all if you take the center of the ear opening and calculate the number of degree difference to the front and rear speakers, it doesn't seem like much. What do you think?

On the other hand if someone actually did the frequency spectrum analysis of the ear to determine exactly how those sounds are changed by the ear when coming from the rear. Then they might be able to make the speaker/amp help, and also by placing the speaker behind it also helps. Thoughts?

All I care about is in gaming can you tell when something is in front, behind left behind right, etc. Are these the best headphones for that? For someone that has tried these and another pair, can you compare the gaming expieriance?

Lastly, I got my pair of medusa, but they were damaged in shipping. So they are being returned for a replacement.

Thanks hhoffren. I found your review. BTW the amp powered (not usb) version I got also did not have the stereo/5.1 switch on the in line volume control.

I wonder if any one loves these headsets or are the only complaints. Of course if they love it they may not be looking for a place to complain. I just want the best.

Keith

This post is intended for anyone experiencing the ‘no bass’ problem with the Medusa 5.1 headphones or anyone looking to gather more information about these headphones to assist with the decision on whether or not to purchase them.

I purchased these headphones about five weeks ago based on the excellent review they received on Toms Hardware guide (the first, only and now last time I ever trust reviews from this site). Once received, as soon as I started to use them in games I could tell there was something drastically wrong with them. As other users in this forum are experiencing I too am encountering little to no bass in the center and rear speakers. This has lead me on the quest to either resolve these issues with bass or obtain conformation from Speed-Link that the way the headphones sound is exactly how they intend them to sound and that the ‘no bass’ from center and rear speakers is by design. The following details my experiences; I hope you find it of use…

Before I go into the actual details of the problem, how I have tested, results, responses from Speed-Link and ultimately why I am now recommending to anyone who is considering purchasing these headphones to reconsider and steer well clear of them. I think it is important for me to cover off a few things in-relation to Medusa International’s (Matt’s) response to my finding’s and request for assistance.

I would like to say that Matt has been nothing short of outstanding to deal with in regards to the problems I am experiencing. I have received some off the best customer service I have ever received from a company before, from Matt. As I have said to him, if the headphones performed as well as your customer service there wouldn’t be any issues. I challenge anyone who has given him a hard time to ask themselves how many other retailers they know of who browse forums looking for people with problems with there products and then take the time to provide detailed responses in an attempt to help. My guess is most people’s response will be next to none, because that has been mine. So based on this I would encourage everyone to direct their negative energy about this product at the product and not at Matt because even though he is on-selling this product he is at the mercy of Speed-Link who is the manufacturer and from my experience Matt has done everything he can to help resolve this problem.

However I will also add here that I have noticed some people in this forum stating that just because of Matt’s excellent customer service they will be purchasing these headphones anyway because they are confident that even if they do have a problem Matt will do his up most to help rectify it. My advice to these people is that even though this is true, as you will soon see there is currently no solution to the bass issues with these headphones. So there is nothing Matt can do to help.

Okay, with that covered, lets move on….

The set of Medusa’s I received were the ‘Medusa 5.1 surround sound Pro Gamer headphones (SL-8793), however since then I have also tested the SL-8790’s as well. The following tests and results therefore apply to both models as I found no difference in the performance between either version.

Using Unreal Tournament 2004 (UT2004) I found the following is a very easy way to highlight the problems with bass distribution with these headphones. I have also tested with Doom 3 to ensure the bass problems are not just game related.

From within UT2004 if you fire a grenade from the Assault Rifle then quickly turn to the right so that the grenade explodes to your left you should hear an exploding sound coming predominantly from the front left speaker which should be full of bass and produce an excellent sound (this is my experience and would imagine it would be your’s also). This will be our reference for how the exploding grenade should sound.

Now fire another grenade and let it explode directly in front of you. Notice how the exploding sound, sounds nothing like the exploding sound produced in our reference test? The sound produced is ‘tinny’ containing little to no bass.

Now repeat this test again, however this time let the grenade explode behind you. Notice again the exploding sound, sounds nothing like the exploding sound produced in our reference test? Again the sound produced is ‘tinny’ containing little to no bass.

Again, fire a grenade and let it explode to either your left or right of you to remind yourself how an exploding grenade should sound. Are you beginning to notice a difference?

When the exploding sound goes off to either the left or right of you (I’m guessing this is produced predominantly by the front speakers), you get a full sounding explosion. When it goes off in front of you (I’m guessing this is produced predominantly from the center speaker), you get a ‘tinny’ sound with no bass. When it goes off behind you (I’m guessing this is produced predominantly from the rear speakers), you again get a ‘tinny’ sound with no bass.

One last experiment for you to preform is to fire a grenade out in front of you and as it explodes turn around on the spot 360 degrees and listen to the sound produced. Notice how as the exploding sound travels around you it goes from having no bass (out in front), to having bass (to the left), back to no bass (as it travels behind you), to having bass again (to the right) and finally no bass again (back out in front). This is in direct conflict to my expectation which would be that bass is evenly distributed between each of the speakers no matter which direction the sound is coming from, as it should be… Bass does not stop just because you turn your back on it!!!

Now lastly before we cover off Speed-Links response to these issues I think it is important to look at the possibility of an incorrect setting being the cause of this issue. Since I have encountered this problem I have spent many hours (ask my girlfriend or flatmate and I’m sure they will confirm that when I come across a computer problem, I basically lock myself in the computer room and don’t come out until I have a solution!) researching and adjusting every possible combination of setting(s) I could find. This includes trying every recommendation from Medusa’s and Speed-link’s web support pages, with little to no improvement in bass to the center or rear speakers. I would also like to point out that I have a set of Zalman 5.1 headphones and can achieve perfect surround sound via these headphones in all supported games, so this alone should end any question around whether or not my computer is correctly configured for surround sound. Also check out this posting: http://forums.creative.com/creativ [...] 760#M49916 This person is having exactly the same problem and they have tested with different sound cards and an entirely different system, all with the same lack of bass in the centre and rear speakers. Based on all of this I am convinced there is no setting which can correct this problem.

So now onto Speed-Links response to all this… I have put all these findings and examples in a detailed email which was sent to Speed-Link over three weeks ago to give them the opportunity to either help determine a resolution or confirm that the ‘no bass’ issues I was experiencing were indeed by design and as they intended them to be. Unfortunately I have had no response back from them. So I can only come to the conclusion that either they know about the problem and don’t want to admit there is one, or there is no problem and this is the way they intend their headphones to sound. Either way, their lack or response to my email is enough for me to have no further dealings with them.

So based on all this I would like to say to anyone who has this problem, firstly don’t count on Speed-Link rushing to help you resolve it anytime soon, if at all. From the short e-mail’s I have seen from them to other users experiencing this problem I get the feeling that they don’t believe there is a problem and if they don’t believe there is a problem (or don’t want to admit to it) they are obviously not going to be providing a solution anytime soon. Secondly, don’t bother wasting your time as I have and attempt to find a setting that can correct this problem, because I truly believe there just isn’t one.

My advice, if you are unlucky enough to have a set of the Medusa 5.1 headphones (which have the ‘no bass’ problem), get ride of them and buy a new set of a differing brand. To anyone considering buying a set, don’t bother, save yourself the hassle and go with another brand. There are 5.1 headphones out there which work. Personally I am currently using the Zalman’s, which I find quite good. They have a very equal sound field with none of the bass distribution problems experienced with the Medusa’s. They do lack a bit in sound quality at higher volume (hence the reason I am looking for something better) but over all provide very good surround sound at a reasonable price.

Thanks for reading this, I really hope it has either helped if you are unlucky enough to have a set of these headphones, or helped you make a more informed purchase if you do choose to buy a set of them.

I'm with Gunz on this one.

This from here.. http://hwzone.co.il/english-reviews/medusa-eng/5/

Games

Since the Medusa was first and foremost designed for gamers, we had very high expectations of it. The games we used are mostly first and third person action games, where the surround sound is most noticeable.

The first game we used is Max Payne 2: The Fall Of Max Payne. From the very beginning the Medusa swept us into the atmosphere of the game. Unlike what we've heard in the movies, in this game the headphones managed to reproduced the speech very well. The shooting was very convincing and the environmental sounds were constantly present, and did not completely disappear as soon as Max moved away from them (the television on the first level was audible even from a distance).
These environmental sounds helped a lot to determine how well the headset can produce surround sound. Anyone that has ever used headphones in games must have noticed their inability to accurately position the sound, whether from the sides (left/right) or from the front/rear of the player. Unfortunately, the Medusa aren't groundbreaking in this area and it is very noticeable, since even simple speakers would do a better job at positioning the various sounds.
However, you must keep in mind that the Medusa are after all only headphones, and as such they do a very good job. Besides the fact that there are different elements for the front and rear channels, the sounds that come from behind sound slightly weaker and the result is a convincing surround sound that allows you to accurately determine which sounds come from the front and which come from the rear.

The next game we used is Need For Speed: Underground 2. Even for the first time we tried it, the engines sounded powerful and with excellent presence. Also, the fact that we could distinguish between the direction of the engine sound (front) and the ambient sounds, really helped the Medusa to impress us.
However, the gaming experience became even better during races with a large number of cars, all packed with N2O; The engine roars were perfectly positioned, the screeching of the tires, N2O injections and the ambient sounds provided a great sense of surround, and a great gaming experience. Besides the fact that some of the sounds sounded a little hoarse, the Medusa functioned perfectly.

Next, we moved to GTA: San Andreas, a game that is anything but realistic. The surround effect the Medusa created was very impressive. The vehicle sounds came from the correct directions, and the shooting sounds were also positioned very well, and we could easily locate the source of the sound, unlike regular stereo headphones.
The bass element is very strong and adds a lot of fun, since each gun shot or explosion are full of depth and create vibrations even on relatively low volume levels.
Our only complaint about the Medusa is that the sounds don't sound realistic. But then again, San Andreas doesn't sound realistic on any sound system, so the Medusa do their job well once again.

Being a surround sound headset, the purpose of the Medusa headset is to replace the home theater system, which is also used for games. Since the Medusa claim to offer everything you get from a real surround sound setup, but in a small and mobile package, they are particularly useful for gamers who often visit lan parties - where you can't bring an entire set of speakers, and most gamers use simple headphones that cannot provide the full gaming experience. In order to test the Medusa's performance in action packed multiplayer games, we've used one of the most popular multiplayer games that has recently been released - Battlefield 2.
Similar to the other games we've tested, the Medusa demonstrated high performance once again, both in the quality of the sound and in the surround effect that is critical for such games. The high frequency sounds such as the bullets' whistles, the ricochets and the shock effect were all crisp and clear, which made the massive fire fights much more impressive. All of the sounds and voices in the game, ranging from cries for a medic to artillery barrages and planes passing overhead, sounded well and added a whole new dimension to the game experience - one that standard headphones will not be able to recreate.
The positioning of all the sounds is also very good, and you can easily identify the direction from which the enemy's vehicles, aircraft and soldiers are coming at you. The voices of the teammates next to the player are also positioned very well, which should make teamwork easier. However, the low frequency sounds such as the artillery strikes were much less focused and we could barely identify the general direction, but they still sounded very well.

As we mentioned earlier, the headset has a comfortable and flexible microphone that is used in voice chat applications (such as Skype) and games that support Voice Over IP communication. Luckily for us, Battlefield 2 is one of those games, and using the microphone is essential for creating an efficient and coordinated squad. The microphone functioned well in all our tests, and the squad members heard the speech clearly, with no background or static noises which are common in cheap microphones.
The construction of the microphone itself is quite comfortable, and it can be placed easily next to the mouth. It's flexibility allows the user to position it easily on one hand, and keep it in the same position on the other.

------------------------------------

A much more rounded viewpoint that allows people to judge for themselves rather than one written by someone obviously bitter and trying to get back at the company by advising people not to buy them simply because YOU did not like them.

Someone did..

Well stay tuned for my review when I get the headphones back in. I am a gamer and I will try to give a unbiased review.

Keith