[xnion]

Hello

I've been using Dolby Headphone via the Asus Xonar cards as a binaural 3D audio solution for almost 10 years and I've been perfectly happy with it. I'm using it even for things like Youtube which are 2.0 because it just feels more natural to me. I really can't listen to normal stereo - it feels just too flat and 'in your head' to me.

The issue is that the Asus Xonar line with Dolby Headphone seems to be phased out - the last driver is from 6 years ago, the new Xonar cards don't have Dolby Headphone, and the old cards are nowhere to be found except used on ebay. I'm using a card that has PCI as an interface, so if I upgrade the motherboard, I can't use it, and I plan to make an upgrade soon.

I'm searching for a solution that either has Dolby Headphone directly, or some other HRTF/reverb solution that sounds similar.
I've tried the Sound Blaster X3 Super X-Fi, and while I find the 3D effect nice, it alters the sound too much and it does not sound as natural as Dolby Headphone. It also does not allow any customization, and Dolby Headphone allows me to pick room size and virtual 7.1 speaker positioning.

Can you recommend something that can achieve the goal ? The budget is up to around $250 - 300.

 

[silent-circuit]

Dolby Atmos for Headphones is basically the newer version of the Dolby Headphones tech, and it's available as an app for Windows, so it's completely independent of what sound card or DAC/amp you're using.

 

[xnion]

I've tried Dolby Atmos for headphones but it did not do anything for normal stereo sound - I would guess it works only on actual 5.1 or 7.1 audio streams.

What I'm also looking for is for the normal 2.0 stereo to sound like a 2.1 system in front of me. Dolby Headphone can do this.

 

[rde01]

Waves NX also does this. I don't know if that pc version is any good tho. I've got some inbuilt in my laptop and kinda like it. (but that's some different verion)
Don't expect to much of it tho. I'm still waiting for somthing that brings headphonesound really in front of me.
The are also plugin versions and the smarthpohone apps are free. So maybe check that out.
And they have a bluetooth headtracker too. (kinda pricey, haven't tested it, and it does not list the standalone pc version as compatible)

 

[Old Dirty Puppy]

Way out of your budget but if you love sound stage and imaging you might really enjoy Sennheiser HD800s. You can also checkout the Audeze Mobius which is just slightly outside your budget. They have a to of cool 3d sound tech builtin.

Also I remember trying out the Waves NX at CanJam a few years back. I asked if I could hook up their adapter to my MrSpeakers Ether Flow that I owned at that time. It was a huge struggle to get that adapter to stay in place and it just failed. If you have a very flexible or thin headband their adapter won't work.

 

[xnion]

So I got a Sennheiser GSX 1000 after reading a lot of reviews about it. So far it seems to do exactly what I wanted it to do, so I could say that I am happy with it. The Virtual Surround engine is significantly better than Dolby Headphone, and while the actual DAC/AMP hardware is not that impressive, it is certainly better than my old $30 sound card. I will post a more detailed review in the GSX 1000 thread.