I finally got round to plugging my old and inexpensive ear canal headphones (sennheiser cx30s) into my Quest 2… I knew it would be an improvement but I hadn’t expected the impact on immersion to be so large. Specifically I note:
-Bass frequencies - the FBW 320 has excellent sound design and there are strong bass punches on the runway and landing gear which cannot be appreciated with built in speakers
-Volume can be increased a lot, I expected Oculus might limit this too much but at least with virtual desktop it can go high
-Isolation of ear canal headphones increases immersion factor
I suspect most people are doing this already, but if there are others like me who didn’t yet get round to it, it is surely one of the cheapest and easiest upgrades you can make
The only slight issue is the audio panning is not quite right, mainly noticeable on external view if you turn away from your plane (not that this happens often), the difference in volume between the left ear and right ear seems too great - does anyone know if there is a way to improve this?
Valve Index - onboard “off ear” speaker/headphones things… not bad sound quality
TrackIR+Flatscreens - my trusty old HyperX Cloud II’s via USB (my word, we have been through a lot together these headphones and I, but they still rock!)
If I want to go loud…
Klipsch studio monitor speakers pretending to be desktop PC speakers.
I use Sony WH100XM2s over my Rift S.
Along with this Windows 10 Option.
Go to volume in Windows bar and Properties/Playback Devices/Headphones
Right Click Headphones go to Properties and go to Enhancements Tab select
Loudness Equalization.
I use a set of Astro A50s with a custom EQ enabled when using my Rift S or my son’s Quest 2 (along with a Buttkicker that I recently purchased).
I had the same experience as you, except in the opposite order: When I purchased the Buttkicker, I tried VR without a headset for the first time and I couldn’t believe how much it negatively impacted the experience. It felt like the sim had lost 70% of its immersion - and that’s not an exaggeration!
VR (when running smoothly) with a decent headset is simply amazing. Add the Buttkicker and it just becomes something that I can’t describe.
That’s interesting what is the advantage of this? I am not sure if that will affect the sound that routes via my quest 2 but I will give it a try!
If I was putting a number maybe I would put about 40%… But I was expecting about 10%, also it’s a much cheaper 40% than upgrading other components! It’s probably mostly a factor for us Quest 2 users as I remember reading the G2 and Index have better built in audio, albeit surely not as good as dedicated earphones.
If you aren’t doing race sims then I would probably disregard.
It’s mainly for race games with low volume engine sounds like Assetto Corsa and GTAV.
With the option on it gives more depth to engine sound details you can hear every bit of every RPM.
I also dab in engine sound modding so it helps to fine tune things.
MSFS doesn’t have an issue with sound volumes that I’ve experience…you can crank it up to be pretty darn loud.
Live in a house so can make all the noise I want when the wife aren’t home.
Surround speakers so i can feel the vibration of the engines and ground. And get ambient sounds as close to real as possible. Bose headphones for vatsim coms, and a butt kicker for thoose hard landings. Makes the sim platform humm and vibrate and really adds a lot to immersion.
I use just an inexpensive set of extended earbuds I plug into my Creative Sound Jack on the PC. For some reason I just have always preferred this with about every headset I have had. I like the isolation it gives like I am surrounded in the world by it’s natural sound and no ambient noise interfering from in my room.
For VR I mostly use the G2 headset speakers, which are quite good. In 2D I either use my Turtle Beach USB 7.1 surround sound system headphones or, being a retired muso, my studio monitors on a kickass amp. Will prolly get a buttkicker soon as well.
