It's the "World's First" 7.1 Surround Sound Headset

Call me a simpleton but how can you get true 7.1 sound through two earmuffs?

I think I'll keep my Turtle Beach Z6A.

$180 + tax & shipping is just a bit too much for me.

The only reason why they can call it "7.1" is because of all the little speakers packed into each muff.

Doesn't mean you get what a real 7.1 setup does thou.

I think the thing will be too heavy to have on my head for more than an hour.

I think you guys like saying muff.

I have a set of 5.1 surround sound headphones from Zalman that work (bass is weak though) but they are huge and heavy. It's like strapping dumbbells to your head.

You have to be retarded to actual believe this will help you in games.

The main problem with newcomers like Razer is the lack of support. I had a pair of Zalman 5.1 headphones, but had to ditch them since they don't sell replacement ear cushions. Now I only use Sennheiser - an established audio brand and you can buy replacement cushions for all of their headphones. Not to mention their build quality is better - I haven't had a need to replace air cushions to my oldest headphones and I've had them for over 5 years. Of course the primary reason to get Sennheiser is the outstanding audio quality for a relatively reasonable price... I'd consider multichannel (5.1 perhaps) headphones again if they made such.

Best Buy had some Beats headphones on display. I don't think I ever heard a wider soundstage with so much bass from headphones before. It was way better than Sennheiser headphones and it's extremely difficult to make better sounding headphones than Sennheiser headphones.

wuiih .... i love Razer ..awesome

Try UltraSone headsets, PRO 900 for instance .... But that's in the "pro" price range. I can hear track details I couldn't otherwise

i wonder if this thing works or just a gimmick.

i wonder if you could tell the difference between a stereo vs a 7.1

I have a Razer Barracuda audio system, which is the combo of the first (and so far only) Razer Soundcard + 5.1 Surround headphones (8 drivers total).
I can completely assure you that they DO deliver true surround, and I recommend you find reviews about it (overclocker's club has a great one).
If its any like the Barracuda it will be as good as they claim.

Oh, and I forgot. Bass is a weak point in most surround headphones. Mine are a beast in that matter, if I crank up the volume and place them on the table I can feel the entire room vibrate with it. THE BASS MAKES IT SO WORTH IT.
It is a little heavy, but I have a big head so I don't tend to notice. It's still quite comfortable to wear for hours on end.

"The Razer Tiamat 7.1 will be priced at $179.99 (179.99 euro) and the Razer Tiamat 2.2 will be priced at $99.99 (99.99 euro)."

So $1 = 1 Euro again? More profit in Europe, but do the Europeans really have more money? If I compare to the wages listed here:
http://www.worldsalaries.org/usa.shtml - average in 2005: $42,028
http://www.worldsalaries.org/germany.shtml - average in 2003: 30,207 Euros ($36,444)
it is clear that a 1 to 1 translation is definitely not the case. On average the income is even LESS! (although I am comparing two different years.

According to this simple comparison and todays exchange rates the prices should be:
The Razer Tiamat 7.1 will be priced at $179.99 (108.65 euro) and the Razer Tiamat 2.2 will be priced at $99.99 (60.35 euro).

Quite some difference .

I've been using a Logitech 7.1 headset for a few months now. It works well. I play mostly Left4dead and I can hear if the zombies are behind or on the sides of me, which is a huge advantage over 2 channel headsets.

Not the first. http://www.logitech.com/en-roeu/sp [...] vices/5095

I don't think you could tell much of a difference between these and stereo headphones when the distance between the drivers can be measured in millimetres.

259 dollars and 10 drivers? Must sound bad ass.

You can hear from a stereo headphone a 360 degree sound effect but in a loop, with multiple speaker its possible to simulate a 7.1 sound effect but only thing headphone wont enable to simulate is the bass vibration, unless they add a vibrator that you strap on you but that would be stupid to wear !

So instead of two high quality drivers in each ear (like Sennheiser, Audio Technica, etc.), they are putting 5 shit ones in each ear?
Think about it, they can't be good quality drivers since a) they are extremely limited space-wise, and b) the headphones don't cost $500+.

Am I missing something here?

logitech 930

razer megalodon

logitech G35

all of which are 7.1 surround sound...

So 7 tiny drivers versus two kick butt ones? Get the Sennheisser HD595 and dont look back on these poor compromises. Or the HD600 if you have an essence sound card or a headphone amp...

I'd much prefer a decent set of stereo cans with a soundcard and Dolby Headphone or equivalent.

They could include a terminate option that fires bolts through the ears of any retards who fall for the hype and buy a pair.

...and the microphone could smash them in the teeth a few times before the bolts are fired. Kick'n.

If you don't own a pair or true surround headphones, your opinion is not important. I used to think the same thing, but I now own a good set and I can tell you first hand how much better they are versus actual speakers. I don't even miss the stomach rumble cuz the sound is so much better.

for headphones, 10 speakers wont help, it will just reduce overall quality as it is impossible to get multiple speakers to dish out the same sound exactly the same. Another issue is with speaker placement, you cant place them in a way to truly represent 7.1 surround sound.

To properly do 7.1 you need audio that was created specifically for giving surround sound from 1 speakers pointing directly at your ear with no crossfeed

for example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYd [...] page#t=17s

while this will be hard to do for movies, it should be quick for games since the sound is rendered in real time.

Remember the ear cant tell what direction sound comes from, the brain basically guesses based on the frequencies. For example when sound comes from behind, the sound waves will hit the ear and the shape of the ear will cause certain alterations to the sound frequencies. When the brain notices these special frequencies, it estimates where the sound might have come from.

If you can make replica ears and set up stereo mics with ears attached, then measure what happens to basically every frequency as it comes from different directions them measure the changes, then you can create a system where you apply those changes to any audio and render it out and you will get highly accurate directionality.

This is difficult to apply to audio that was not designed around this since it needs to be applied to each individual sound, games keep all sounds separate which will make them perfect for these effects