Psyko Audio's 5.1 surround sound headphones actually look psycho
By Darren Murph 
posted Jan 6th 2009 7:04AM
posted Jan 6th 2009 7:04AM
Psyko Audio Labs Unleashes a Quantum Leap in Surround Sound Headphone Design
Psyko Receives "Best of Innovations Award" for CES 2009 – On Display at Booth # 25519
Calgary, Alberta – January 5th, 2009 - Psyko Audio Labs Inc., a leading innovator in PC Gaming headphone technology, got a big nod from the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show. Organizers awarded the Psyko 5.1 Directional Audio Headphone the CES 2009 Best of Innovations Design and Engineering for the headphone category.
"It's been decades since there was any innovation to headphones' core technology of simply placing a speaker at each ear" remarks James Hildebrandt, CEO of Psyko Audio Labs. "Essentially, all other headphone designs deliver left sounds into your left ear and right sounds into your right ear. We offer a fundamental break from this limiting paradigm. We accurately position each speaker in the headphone bridge and then, using our patent pending Psyko Waveguide Technology, we deliver every sound to both ears, with the correct timing, volume variations, and front and back flow directions found in a natural 3D sound field."
Considered a revolution in headphone technology, Psyko 5.1 Surround Sound Headphones offer gamers an experience that transcends normal surround sound. They deliver the equivalent of "A Perfect Room", to give you the best audio experience. The perfect room is the highest goal for headphones or room systems.
A perfect room is quite difficult to setup in real life; requiring perfect speaker placement, as well as sound absorbing and defusing surfaces to control things like echoes and dead zones common to most room setups. Even then, the resulting sweet spot is small. Psyko 5.1 headphones are acoustically accurate, placing a gamer right in the audio sweet spot where everything sounds perfectly tuned.
Psyko 5.1's Directional Audio unique Features and Benefits include...
* PsykoWave Technology – Psyko 5.1 gaming headphones work the same way a 5.1 room system does. Every sound is delivered to both ears with the correct direction, timing and volume difference between each ear.
* The headphone bridge houses 5 audio drivers (front left, center and right) and (rear left and right) with a subwoofer in each ear cup.
* Sounds from each driver carry throughout the PyskoWave guides to pass over the front and back of both ears, giving users natural, not simulated, surround sound.
* Simple and Accurate - Another significant advantage to gamers is the simplicity and accuracy of speaker setup. Rather than the normal compromises in speaker positioning typical to 5.1 room systems, all our speakers are in exactly the right spot automatically. You literally just put them on and you are in the optimal "sweet spot" of the 5.1 surround sound experience. Gamers will likely hear directional sound more accurately wearing the Psyko 5.1 headphones than they will with their 5.1 room system.
* Optimal Comfort– Psyko 5.1 gives the user control to either block outside sounds, or open the ear cup to vent their ears for cooling and to hear conversation in the room during game play. The headset is fully adjustable and provides maximum cushioning using fabric rather than faux leather or vinyl which gets slippery and itchy with sweat. Marathon gaming sessions have never been so comfortable.
* Personalization – An amplifier lets gamers customize volume and bass levels.
Psyko is pleased to have received the CES Innovations Award in the field of Headphones from the Consumer Electronics Association. According to CES, "The Innovations Design and Engineering Awards program recognizes the most innovative consumer electronics (CE) products in the industry's hottest product categories. Innovations has become a hallmark for the best designed products in consumer technology."
Psyko 5.1 will be available for $299.99 in early 2009 and will be compatible with both PCs and Macs. For additional information, go to http://www.psykoaudio.com/
Let me just be the first to say, probably not worth it...
I have to see reviews as I have the X4 Turtle Beach and I think it makes gaming, especially in games like Call of Duty 4 & COD: W@W worth it to have. Not to mention watching movies with them on is pretty solid.
I have been hearing about the Tritton AXPros, but I haven't had a chance to hear for myself but if these or that one being mention in the article are stated as better than the X4 Turtle Beach I'm all ears.
Does anyone here know any better?
The X4 and these approach 5.1 surround differently. These (along with Tritton) put multiple drivers in the headset. The TB X4 (and Astro A40's) use DOLBY HEADPHONE to create 5.1 surround through stereo speakers. I have the Astro's and they are great. Sound placement is very accurate for both games and movies... it truly reproduces surround sound on a pair of headphones. Never tried the Trittons so can't give a comparison.
Most reviews that I've read trying both lean towards DOLBY HEADPHONE over multiple drivers, but it's a mixed bag, so in the end you would have to decide what sounds best to you.
This is the Head Psyko at Psyko Audio. I'd be glad to answer any questions.
First, about the left and right signals:
If you are thinking about the traditional headphone methods, consider that the multiple driver method puts right sounds only in your right ear, left sounds only in your left ear. That doesn't seem like a big problem, but there are a couple of problems with it. First, the psychoacoustic research says that if you play a sound in only one ear it sounds 6db quieter than if the sound is delivered with the correct timing and volume delays to both ears. Every sound you normally hear goes to both ears with those timing and volume differences. The psychoacoustic research even has a term for the effect of traditional headphones - it is called in-the-head-fatigue syndrome. That is the effect that many people feel after using headphones for a while. Their brain actually tires from trying to figure out the direction of the headphone sounds that don't make sense.
Psyko's headphones play every sound with the correct timing and volume difference to both ears. Just like being in a room with the sound.
Second: about perceiving front and rear sounds.
The way sounds are perceived as being either from the front or the rear is due to how the sound reflects off the outer ear. Since every ear is unique to each person, just like fingerprints, that means every signal at the ear drum is unique to each person. The DSP methods, like Dolby Headphone, deliver a single signal. It is like one pair of prescription glasses for everyone in the world. If your prescription, or ear shape, happens to match the DSP algorthm it sounds good, but if your ear shape is outside that algorthm it does not sound natural.
The Psyko method provides a sound flow from the front and from the rear of the ear and reflects off the ear to create the correct signal at your ear drum. Plus Psyko's method results in no latency because there is no DSP, no signal processing.
There is lots more info like this the independent site that is dedicated to headphone audio
http://headwize.com/tech/index.htm