Studio headphones are the lifeblood of a budding singer. But do studio headphones have surround sound? Let’s find out.
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Studio headphones are the headphones that people use in their home studios or their music studios. These headphones are designed to provide the listener with audio of very high quality.
Also, their job is to reveal any flaws in the sound that has been captured. Due to the high-quality audio response from these headphones, a music director, composer, or creator can judge everything pretty quickly.
To eliminate echo and other such problems, studio headphones operate on a flat audio frequency, i.e., they lack the surround sound experience.
There is no three-dimensional audio feedback in such headphones, so while playing video games, you will not get to know the direction from where the audio is coming from.
Let’s see why studio headphones don’t have surround sound and how they are different from regular and gaming headphones. Also, know what the benefits of buying studio headphones are.
Why Do Studio Headphones Not Have Surround Sound?
We have two ears, but we can quickly differentiate from the sound coming in from all directions: right, left, front, back, top, and down.
The technology of the surround sound system in headphones uses multiple drivers to feed audio to our ears from different directions.
The art of making and composing music does not require you to hear music from different sounds rather than you need to focus on the actual sound.
These creators need to fix and correct all the minute complexities in the beat and sound.
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True Surround Sound v/s Virtual Surround Sound
Creating an authentic surround sound is difficult. You will find it mechanically complex to create large and heavy headphones. Not everyone will be comfortable in huge and bulky headphones.
Due to this reason, people use virtual surround sound headphones as they are lighter and more convenient. Virtual surround sound systems don’t need heavy hardware but require good processing to change the normal audio into surround sound audio.
Virtual sound helps you to make your experience more captivating and immersive. The reason why we need surround sound in gaming systems as the way we perceive audio over headphones is very different.
Most of the time, the audio from speakers might not translate correctly over headphones.
Difference Between Studio, Regular And Gaming Headphones And Why You Should Purchase Them
Studio Headphones
These headphones are primarily created for doing professional work related to audio and music. These headphones lack additional drivers in the headset, due to which there is no surround sound added to the audio.
The sound signature of studio-quality headphones is ideal for mixing and recording audio. You can use these headphones as general headphones, but you cannot use them as gaming headphones.
Studio headphones can produce audio frequencies that are higher and lower than the audio frequencies that the human ear cannot perceive. This results in a broad soundstage and very high-quality audio.
We have discussed below some of the top reasons why you should purchase these headphones.
Durability
Studio-quality headphones are always built to last, due to which they can withstand a lot of wear and tear. These headphones are deliberately tough as they have to function in a chaotic environment such as a music studio.
Another good thing about these headphones is that they have replaceable parts. If something stops working in your headphones, you won’t have to order a new set.
You can order and replace the faulty part. Unlike other headphones, these headphones use metal a lot more in places like the headband, ear cup holder, frame, and so on.
Natural Sound
Studio headphones are the only type of headphones that can mimic the sound as close to its natural composition as possible.
It is challenging for the headphones to give a neutral sound signature, no headphones can provide a completely neutral signature, but studio headphones are the ones that offer the slightest variation in the audio quality.
Due to this neutral sound orientation, you will hear every little detail in the audio very clearly. The drawback of this feature is that if the audio is not that good or has some flaws, you’ll immediately know about them.
Efficient
Studio headphones mostly have a standard design, due to which they can seem to be quite boring. The cost of these headphones is much cheaper than other headphones, and for the price these headphones cost, they provide exceptional sound quality.
Due to this reason, you will rarely find any fluctuation in the price of these headphones. If you feel that you like the qualities and purpose of these headphones, then you should purchase them.
Regular Headphones
These types of headphones are the most commonly available models in the market. These headphones are not for any professional use or purpose. They are primarily used and ideal for recreational purposes.
The primary function of these headphones is to provide the listener with decent quality audio when listening to music, watching any movie, radio podcasts, and so on. The top reasons to buy these headphones are given as follows:-
Design
The design of consumer or regular headphones is one of the main attracting features of these headphones. Since the primary purpose of these headphones is not very complex and most people buy them for their enjoyment.
The manufacturers introduce new styles and designs in their headphones to be easily distinguished from their competition. The regular headphones may or may not have surround sound features depending on the cost.
Additional Features
You will find that regular headphones have the most features because of the massive competition in the market. Each brand is trying to provide the best services and capture the market base.
Some of these additional features are noise cancellation, Bluetooth connectivity, better battery backups, high audio quality, etc. All these features are added for the users to have a better experience.
Less Fatigue
The audio in the regular headphones is perfectly balanced so that you can listen to anything without experiencing any fatigue. In comparison to other headphones available in the market, regular headphones have a warmer audio signature.
The audio from these headphones is boosted bass but also has a relaxed treble. Due to this unique mixing and mastering, you will not notice any bad audio quality.
These headphones will create a forgiving experience on your ears if you are in the habit of using headphones for a more extended period. For average ears, these are the most ideal for most of the users.
Gaming Headphones
Gaming headphones are primarily similar to regular headphones, but they have some additional features that make them ideal for gaming.
Features such as a high-quality mic with a surround sound system. This system creates an advantage for the gamers as they can know where the enemies are approaching from.
On the other hand, gaming headphones have a very narrow soundstage, due to which the depth of field is limited on lower and higher audios.
The top reasons for getting good gaming headphones are given as follows
Surround Sound
This is the essential reason why gamers buy a set of gaming headphones. A surround sound system creates an immersive and interactive experience.
The immersive technology related to sounds has been improving, creating a better experience for the users.
Convenient
As gamers have to sit and stream or play for pretty long durations, these headphones have a pretty comfortable design.
The majority of gaming headphones have an additional mic so that you can communicate with your teammates efficiently.
The audio quality is far superior in gaming headphones rather than regular headphones.
Versatile
Gaming headphones are very versatile, due to which you can use them as gaming headphones as well as regular headphones.
Most of these headphones have a retractable mic. The mic, when retracted, switches on automatically, and when you put the mic back up, it switches back off automatically.
If you want to play games seriously, then you should go for gaming headphones.
What Are 5.1 And 7.1 Surround Sound Systems?
The main difference between the 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound speakers is the number of speakers. The 5.1 surround sound system has five speakers along with one subwoofer.
The 7.1 system is an improvement on the 5.1 system. In comparison, the 7.1 surround sound has seven speakers instead of five, along with one subwoofer. But the place where you install these speakers also plays an important role.
For instance, installing a seven-speaker set-up in a small room will make the sound muffled, and there will be a lot of echo speakers the size of your room before you finalize the type of music system for your space.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do Studio Headphones Have Surround Sound?
No, studio headphones do not have the feature of surround sound. Although these headphones don’t have a surround sound system, studio headphones are good quality headphones.
These headphones are critically designed and created for displaying audio in high quality. The most crucial feature of studio headphones is accuracy. To get highly accurate voice quality, these headphones are critically designed.
The majority of the studio headphones have a stereo sound system instead of a surround sound system. If you want headphones with good surround sound quality, you should go for gaming headphones.
Are studio headphones good for FPS?
No, studio headphones are not excellent and ideal for FPS. FPS is a first-person shooting video game. I’m the type of game where you see everything from your perspective.
You should not use studio headphones for gaming as these headphones have a flat audio frequency response and lack surround sound.
Due to this, you will not be able to hear and guess about the moments of the opposition as there will be no sense of direction to their movements.
Studio headphones are fabulous for recording and mixing audio. At the same time, the gaming headphones are specially tweaked and enhanced so that you get an immersive gaming experience.
What is the difference between studio headphones and regular headphones?
You might feel that there isn’t much of a difference between regular headphones and studio headphones as they both lack a surround sound system, but this is not entirely true.
Both these headphones have a different purpose, along with a separate target audience. The primary purpose of regular headphones is to provide the user with a pleasing listening experience, whether it is music, movie, radio, etc.
The primary purpose of studio headphones is to provide the user with an accurate representation or reproduction of the audio. People that like to create music are very likely to buy such headphones.
Are studio-quality headphones good for gaming?
No, studio-quality headphones are not suitable for gaming if you want to pursue gaming professionally or even if you are not a casual gamer.
People who are casual gamers might still use studio-quality headphones for gaming, but those who are serious about their games will not use them.
As for gaming, you require headphones that have the feature of surround sound and studio-quality headphones that have a flat audio response.
Why is mixing bad on headphones?
On regular headphones or gaming headphones, you will not get a good idea about how the sound from the two speakers. Blending and mixing the sounds over regular headphones is not ideal.
You will experience the absence of crossfeed from the headphones, along it can also lead to problematic stereo field choices. The best way to mix and master audio over headphones is to use studio headphones.
These headphones are specially designed to capture every little detail of the audio.
Conclusion
Through this article, you will get to know in detail about the presence of surround sound in studio headphones. Studio headphones are known for their excellent audio quality.
You will also get to know about the different types of headphones along with their benefits. You can carefully understand them and then form your opinion on that basis.
