Unlike true surround sound, virtual surround sound creates the same effect through artificial means. It only has two physical speakers (one for each ear). But it uses different algorithms to trick your ears into perceiving that the sounds are coming from different directions.
The most striking difference between the two is the cost. Of course, different brands will have different prices. But true surround sound headphones are generally pricier than virtual surround sound headphones. This is mainly because the former has multiple speakers (five or more) while the latter only has two.
Windows 10 gets DTS Sound Unbound app to bring virtual surround to your old stereo headphones
Boom 3D is a professional audio enhancement application. It features a volume controller, volume-booster, and customizable equalizer settings. It also has virtual surround sound technology that is compatible with any headphones.
Open Boom 3DClick on the 3D Surround tab3D surround tab
Adjust the 3D virtual surround sound settings to your liking.Adjust 3D settings
How to Add Virtual Surround Sound to Any Headphones on XboxXbox is compatible with Windows Sonic, Dolby Atmos, and DTS Headphones:X.
Some games do not support true binaural audio mixing (in simpler terms, stereo output with directional information). For these games, it may be beneficial to use a virtual surround sound solution (on stereo audio devices).
In 2017, Microsoft introduced a new feature to Windows called Spatial Sound, which allows different programs to directly interface with the audio stream in Windows and add virtual surround sound for headphones. Some programs and games are designed specifically to work with Spatial Sound.
Fortunately, you can still enjoy the benefits of surround sound with just two speakers or a pair of headphones and a lot of audio processing. Simulated surround sound and spatial audio are increasingly common features on higher-end gaming headsets, but you can enjoy it on any headphones you can connect to your PC (or console) with the right software.
Most 3D games employ some form of spatial audio on the fly simply by how their engines work. The game engine determines where sounds are coming from, then mixes that sound to a stereo, 5.1-channel, or 7.1-channel stream. The problem here is that while downmixing all of those sources to a set number of channels is fairly easy, processing, rendering, and outputting a full 3D audio stream is much more processing-intensive, and the vast majority of games don't bother going that route. Several major titles do support Dolby or DTS spatial audio in some form, at least for headphones (like Call of Duty: Warzone, Forza Horizon 4, and Borderlands 3), but most output audio entirely in conventional channel-based surround sound.
Obviously, the stereo drivers in headphones can't provide the same immersive, directional effect as multiple speakers can, which is where surround audio processing technologies come in. Tech like Dolby Atmos for Headphones, DTS Headphone:X, THX Spatial Audio, and Windows Sonic take directional audio data and determine on the fly how to mix it best into the left and right channels of your headphones. It's more than simply sorting out what sound goes into what ear. These systems figure out how to best pan and fade every element of what you're listening to based on their direction to give the best impression of that direction to your ears.
All of these simulated surround technologies ultimately do the same thing, mixing directional audio to sound more immersive through headphones, but underneath what is pumped out to your ears are different methods that tweak how things sound. Those exact techniques are usually proprietary, so we can't really perform a step-by-step analysis or contrast the technical details.
In terms of the end result and how immersive and directional the audio is when it hits your headphones, we can look at it in broad strokes. Generally, non-licensed headset surround processing (in headsets that have their own app or sound card, but don't use Dolby, DTS, or THX technology) is the least effective. It clearly does some processing and mixing, but it's usually channel-based and doesn't do the more precise spatial audio processing that other systems do.
Essentially, surround sound between your game console or PC and your speakers is much simpler to set up, but you need to have the right content and equipment. If your games or movies support surround sound in some form, that audio will be output in a multi-channel stream for your speakers to mix and place. If your speakers, soundbar, or surround sound system support that multi-channel stream, you'll get the benefits of that audio. If not, you'll get a stereo mix.
DTS technology delivers immersive 3D audio when using Microsoft spatial sound within Windows and places the sound where it would naturally occur in space. You can enjoy 3D audio on your pair of PC gaming headphones and feel the sound surround you from above, sides, and all around.
All three surround sound modes sounded great in my testing, offering slightly different results depending on the game tested - annoyingly, finding out what games support what formats can be hit or miss. Generally speaking, I found Dolby Atmos offered the most immersive results in games like Gears 5 and Warzone, but DTS Headphone:X resulted in a slightly less fatiguing sound. For most competitive games though, I tend to prefer the clarity of simple stereo. The headphones provide reasonable imaging in their stereo mode too, making them a good choice for Call of Duty, Fortnite and other competitive multiplayer titles.
The advantage here is you don't even need a surround sound headset (in fact the app recommends you turn any surround sound functionality off). A good pair of stereo headphones or a standard gaming headset will do. That's because Dolby Atmos is encoded into the games then the Dolby Access app applies the necessary technology to deliver the spatial audio and the Dolby Access experience.
A combination of the Dolby Access app and Windows 10 or 11 with the latest updates allows you to open up sound settings for your device and apply spatial sound formats and virtual surround sound to your headphone audio. This is relatively straightforward as the app automatically turns on Dolby Atmos within Windows sound settings once you activate it. 2ff7e9595c
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