Orion Pro - surround sound is quite bad - please help

[kyufaker]

Dear Members,

I have recently purchased the Orion Pro headset, given I am a fan of the ROG series I was very keen to try out this product and hopefully add it to my set for long term.

Since purchase I was very keep to test out the surround sound mode, given I play mostly CS GO, where having good intuitive surround sound is somewhat crucial.

Initial thoughts:

So the set is very aesthetically pleasing , what would be a great addition is some lighting on the outside of the cups to light up the logo, somewhat difficult to achieve on the 3 pin jacks, I get it. Headset is comfortable, although a different material would be nice, given it makes me sweat, maybe I am just a sweaty person. The spitfire dongle is a nice touch, provides a nice variety of functions and makes the sound very deep and enjoyable, without which the headset itself isn't really much.

The issue:

I believe the surround front and back channels are very weak, certainly not as powerful as side channels in the virtual surround. I almost cannot tell whether the sound is coming from the front or the rear as it mostly just sounds like its on either of the sides. I have tried cycling through different combinations of settings, but to no avail. Also it appears that the right side is a tiny bit louder than the left side, tried this outside of games as well. I have read the reviews extensively and none of the issues above were covered, figures...

Also what I have noticed is that what the surround engine defines as front is very narrow ( might be linked to what I mentioned above as sides being very loud), unless the noise is coming from directly in front of me, it just sounds like its either left or right, which again is very confusing. Sometimes noise from the front sounds like its coming from the rear, very confusing stuff.

I previously used the Razer Kraken 7.1 headset and while the earcups are small and uncomfortable, the surround sound is very clear, the direction is crisp, it transitions nicely between front, sides and rear, I can definitely tell where the players are around me.

So is there a way to fix this please? I really enjoy the aesthetics of this headset, sound quality is definitely good, but the virtual surround is definitely a no no for me.

Please let me know if there's anything I can do!

Also I don't think this matters, but just in case here are my specs:

Asus ROG M6 Formula
Intel 4570k
Corsair H80 + sp120 quiet
Corsair 2x4gb 2133MHz
Asus ROG Poseidon 780
Corsair AX860
Samsung 840 Evo 1TB
WD Blue 1TB
3xAF 140 quiet fans
All inside a Red/Black NZXT S340

Please kindly help!

Thanks

[InfernoStorm]

Hey Kyu,

I don't own this headset but I know this headset is not a true USB headset so it doesn't require drivers. The virtual surround is being imitated through a built-in audio processor on the headset. I think that since this is really still an analog headset, the performance really depends on your sound card. You didn't list a sound card in your specs so I'm assuming you are using the on-board audio. For most 5.1 and above analog headsets, especially ones like this one which require higher power output to for the virtual 7.1 surround sound, it may require a better sound card with higher power output. I guess you can check with friends to see who has a good sound card and test out on his system to see if this is really an issue where there isn't enough power output. I previously owned a CM Storm Sirus S 5.1 analog headset and I had almost exactly the same issue as you. The overall sound output was very weak but after I bought a new sound card the issue was completely resolved.

Cheers.