Medusa 5.1 Surround Headset - Page 8

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Hi there

Firstly, I'd like to say I'm no PC Guru, and I can only comment on my own experiences/experimentation, but somehow, I've managed to get my Medusa 8790 Headset & Amp to provide decent Bass in the Front Centre & Rear Speakers, using a Creative Soundblaster Xtreme Music Soundcard in 5.1 mode.....

Unbelievable, but true

It's took nearly 2 weeks of real Pain-In-The-Ass messing about with my system, but I'm glad to say, when I play Battlefield 2 now, I experience some stunning and mind-blowing, (literally), sound effects

Yes, like a lot of people, when I initially installed & hooked-up/connected my new X-Fi Soundcard and Medusa 8790 Heaset, I also experienced the tinny, non-realistic, Bass re-production in the Front Centre and Rear Speakers, which I confirmed with the Battlefield 2 'Grenade Test', as mentioned in previous posts

I subsequently searched endless forums and Creative support pages trying to find a solution to this silly, but niggling problem

I've tried most of the solutions - full, current driver updates, beta soundcard drivers, KX project drivers, swapping front/rear speaker jacks, re-direction of the Subwoofer, un-installing & re-installing the soundcard etc, etc, etc - all to little or no effect - except to really screw up my initial installation of my X-Fi soundcard, resulting in innumerable roll-backs and system restores

Then, lo-and-behold, after my nth complete re-install of my X-Fi soundcard & software, I was reconfiguring my Audio preferences in the Creative Console Launcher/THX window and I noticed that my Bass reproduction in the Front Centre and Rear Speakers was drastically improved. I eagerly booted-up Battlefield 2, performed the Grenade Test and yes, genuine Blasting Bass in the aforementioned speakers

Whoop De Fu@king Doo!

So, what's the solution then?

As I mentioned previously, I can only comment on my own experiences/experimentation/system - what has worked for me may not work for you - it may screw up your system as much as mine - so proceed at your own risk

Here's what I did on my last re-install, (make sure you create a restore point before any major system change/uninstall)

1 - Removed all Creative Soundcard drivers via Add/Remove Programs
2 - Uninstalled the X-Fi Xtreme Music card via Device Manager
3 - Booted into Safe mode and used Driver Cleaner on Creative Audio and Creative Audio Lite settings Drivercleaner.net
4 - Deleted the Creative folder while still in Safe Mode (CProgram files/Creative)
5 - Turned off my PC (i.e. Powered Down)

Now, the following operation is the important part and is the only thing I did differently to my initial installation

6 - I made sure that the Medusa Headset, Amp Box, Mirophone Jack and Audio Jacks were fully set up, connected to each other and the Amp Box was switched on

7 - VERY IMPORTANT - I DISCONNECTED THE MICROPHONE AND AUDIO JACKS FROM MY SOUNDCARD, (i.e. the Red, Green, Black and Yellow Jacks that plug into the rear of my sondcard)

8 - I then Powered up my PC and re-installed the soundcard drivers using the original installation CD

9 - After another re-boot, (I think), I came to the X-Fi intro screen and set-up options - this is where the set-up program asked me to insert the appropriate speaker cables/audio jacks (Red=Microphone, Green=Front L/R Speakers, Black=Rear L/R speakers and Yellow=Centre/Subwoofer)

10 - This is the trick - you require 'power' in the Medusa Amp Box and hence in the 8790 Headset for the Headset speakers/mike to 'register' properly with the soundcard - I'm probably wrong, but it's the only major difference from my original installation

11 - Voila - I had literally stumbled upon the solution, (for my system anyway) - I was absolutely gob-smacked when the Bass started working correctly

I would like to test this theory/procedure again just to be sure, but I'm really loathe to upset my already delicate soundcard/system again - I don't want to lose my precious Bass.....

Apologies for the long post, but I'm trying to be as thorough as possible
(This 'fix' has cost me nearly 20 hours of re-booting and re-jigging my PC)

So, please feel free to try my method above, but as I said, you proceed at your own risk and I will not be held responsible for any problems or crashes you may incur

Best of luck and I hope it works for you - Please post back with any good/bad results - I'll try to help if I can, (no promises)

Got to go - I'm off to catch up on my Battlefield 2 Surround Sound experience - this Headset is seriously cool (now)

Live Well
Felfy
(FelfyBF - BF2 name)

Really? I just installed the THX Setup Console from the CD I got with the sound card. Then I clicked on Bass Management and ticked, "Enable Bass Redirection".

"Man, I'd liike ta git a pair 'o these, but, I don think I wanna go thru all that hassel ta git'em ta werk! Mabey, but I'm thinkin about the TURTLE BEACH EAR FORCE HPA2 5.1 SURROUND SOUND headphones.

But if the Madusa's r that much better I'd prolly git them. At this point tho...I'm just not sure if it's worth it.

Schipp

I too just got a pir of these and BF2142 has no rear bass. I followed the direction on the FAQ page and no luck.


I will re read these forums to see if I missed anything.

I find that BF2 in particular has some completely screwed up audio. I have had to completely delete my BF2 profile numerous times (at least 3x on different occasions) for it to re-create itself and reinitialize the sound and video settings for them to work properly.

I'd go with a more stable and well programmed game for testing, such as Halflife 2, Quake 4, etc.

I want to say i purchased the medusa 5.1's from the recommendation of the review. I got mine in the spring and loved them. And now am sad to report that the plastic above the swivel joint has failed. It cracked perfectly straight across overtime from normal use.

I have never taken them anywhere and always lay them flat on my desk. The issue seems to be that since i have a wider head it puts pressure on the point it contacts my head above my ear and because of that they broke.

I've emailed the tech support at the speed link website but I'm going to asume they'll just say they were abused and refuse to fix them like most companies do now days but we'll see. It would be great if they actually stood by their product and backup their 2 year warranty since the things are pretty expensive at $130.

Still no reply after emailing them this saturday, maybe they don't work on mondays?

Gaming headsets in general are cheaply made. You never hear of sen gaming headsets failures. Best option would be quality headphones & a good clip on mic.. In computer terms.. Don't buy the pre made HP, Dell, or emachine.. Build your own computer.. Thats the analogy I would use.

It cost me 29 bucks to ship 30 to get them ship back they cash the check still waiting for the headsets.

DO NOT BUY THE MEDUSA 5.1 They are bad headsets look at thses headsets have not try them but they are sold in the USA.

http://www.steelseries.com/us/prod [...] nformation or

http://edimensional.com/index.php? [...] c54b32cfa4

in viewing the thread, i found it suprising that so many people had so many troubles with the Medusa's.

I got mine from Speedlink about 2 years ago, as did a friend. they were quick to ship and everything set up easily and without a hitch. Neither of us have had ANY problems whatsoever with them. I absolutely LOVE mine. At the time i was researching, it came down to them, and the Zalmans... and everyone at that time was having trouble with the zallmans.

I used mine for about a year and a half with a 7.1 sound card i think by chaintech. (not sure at the moment) and now use it with an X-Fi Fatality card. no problems on either. Power supply works just as good as day one. Clear hi's, deep bass.

I play a lot of FPS mostly on them. To me.. every game sounds great EXCEPT Counter-strike:source. it for the most part sounds like there is NO bass in that game whatsoever. but BF2, BF2142, COD4, UT3... all sound great.

(mine are the regular, not the USB version... most people said to stay away from the USB as the bass was noticibly decreased).

I got my headsets back brand new AND THEY SUCK EVEN MORE .

I have to say, that at the end, i decided to purchase SL Medusa Pro gamer headset, and I must say, that I have no problems at all. At the beginning I didn't have bass and vibration in games and videos, but after I turned bass redirection on, everything was on, and working perfectly, and I'm very pleased with this product......
TBH, I haven't try the mic on TS/Ventrilo yet, but i except no problems with it, because all bad comments were on sound, especially on bass, and I never had problems with the mic on my previous SL Ares 2.1 headset (which I broke ), so I hope,that mic will work just fine.
At the end, I guess, it just the mater of luck, I got flawless product (atm), how will it show in the future, can't tell, but atm I'm very pleased with it.

To anyone that still has "no bass problem" the solution to enable bass redirection in THX console is the way to go, i have enabled that and works like a charm. To access it go to Creative program folder and chose Soundblaster X-FI then select THX Console, from there you would know what to do. I can't believe I haven't checked that earlier

This is probably the most truthful review of the Medusa 5.1 Home headset system I have seen on the net...

http://www.overclockersclub.com/re [...] home/6.htm


Sound quality is exactly as they say..

Set up is not easy and one can easily spend hours trying to get them sounding somewhat decent.. then you realize when you put on a real headset in compare just how bad those Medusa's really sound

I am an engineer and I know how to set up hardware.

The only thing that made them special in any way was the low end rumble kicker (which is missing the decent mid range bass).. other than that the sound was not clean and defined.

Any high quality digital headset will provide down to 5Hz and rumble without loss and all the mid range bass is included.

These multiple element headsets are a complete gimmick. They do not provide the same range and clarity of sound as a well designed/engineered headset, they are susceptible to interference, they are very poorly engineered for structural integrity in long term use (ears easily break off), they are analog and the amp is NOT an official Dolby surround product... its a cheap unshielded pass-through amplifier.

If you are looking for drop-dead, clear, realistic reproduction and surround, these two products paired up are the way to go


http://shop.beyerdynamic-usa.com/m [...] x-300.html


http://www.astrogaming.com/product [...] 40-MixAmp/

...and use a coaxial or optical cable from the computer for true 5.1 digital

That combination is as close to a Dolby Home Theater system one can get without spending thousands. Worth every penny spent too.


Dont fall for the gimmick! You GET what you pay for!

Buyer Beware

I think I've found a solution to this after playing around in device manager.
I have a SB Audigy card on 32 bit XP.

Right click My Computer -> Properties -> Hardware Tab -> Device Manager -> Sound, video and game controllers -> Double Click Creative SB Audigy -> Properties Tab -> Expand Mixer Devices -> Double Click Creative Audigy Audio Processor (WMD) -> Select Use Mixer features on this device -> Apply -> OK -> OK -> restart

Before I realized that the mixer was off by default the speaker volume controls were only labeled "channel 1, channel 2" et cetera except for left and right. Now it properly labels the channels and I can tell a huge difference in sound quality before and after applying this.

I guess all these problems ARE creative's fault for leaving their audio mixer off by default! But thank God it's an easy fix. Enjoy!