Do you use headphones?

[DeadPoolX]

NOTE: For the purpose of this post, headphones can be any quality of headphones, headset, or earbuds. Particulars, such as if the headphones are over-the-ear or on-ear or open or closed or wired or wireless, doesn't matter.

So... I was watching a video on YouTube and the woman speaking was complaining about her boyfriend playing games (on a console) because she could hear every sound the game made while she was trying to sleep. That seemed bizarre to me because I thought, "Who wouldn't use headphones?"

Well, apparently a sizable portion of gamers — both PC and console — don't, which surprised me. If you have your PC or console in a dedicated gaming room or office, I could perhaps see not using headphones, but if you're gaming anywhere where others in your house or apartment (or perhaps neighbors, since many apartments are bad at preventing sound transfer between units) can hear the game, that's rude. It's worse at night, of course, but even during the day it's rude because your spouse or kids or whoever may not want to hear characters talking, dying, screaming, or whatever else is going on.

Maia and I share a office, but even then we both wear headphones. It's better this way since we may not want to hear what the other person is playing or we may be playing at the same time, and hearing someone else's game can be distracting. Also, Maia tends to go to bed before me, so if I'm up at night playing, I can't have a game blasting. At best, it'd keep her up and annoy the hell out of her (which would be bad news for me!), but at worst it'd get us noise complaints from neighboring suites.

Beyond the potential noise issues and annoyances, using headphones is better for gaming in general. Headphones can cut out background noise and you get far better positional audio, so it's a LOT easier to hear someone behind you in an action game or get an idea where NPCs might be in a stealth game.

So anyway... I was wondering how many people here use headphones?

[Rath Darkblade]

I live alone, so I don't have to worry about partners or flatmates.

I don't use headphones at all, because I find the sound blasting right into my ear annoying. At night, I turn the sound down to about 30-35%, because I want to be considerate of my neighbours (even though there are thick walls between my flat and theirs). I've never had complaints; in contrast, I can sometimes hear the neighbours talking or watching TV. The noise from their flats is especially bad on Friday nights and holidays.

I had to call the police at least twice: once because a housewarming party stretched long into 2:15 am (and I had to get up the next morning and go to work), and once because someone took drugs, decided they were Superman, tried to fly through the downstairs security door, and smashed the glass -- and, you guessed it, I had to get up the next morning and go to work.

I do wear headphones when I record music -- again, out of consideration for neighbours. But, again, no-one ever complained.

[BBP]

Most time, yes. At work as well, of course.

[Tawmis]

I have my own room where I game, so I don't wear headphones (for my PC). And when I (rarely) game in the living room on the XBOX____, I don't wear headphones.

[DeadPoolX]

For Rath and Tawmis...

I get that you don't need to wear headphones due to having your own room to game or living alone, but what about the lack of positional sound? With speakers you don't have the surround sound setup (unless you have a 5.1, 7.1., or 9.1 sound system) which can be detrimental in first-person games where being able to hear who's where is vitally important.

For instance, with a normal 2.0 or 2.1 sound setup for a computer, you couldn't really hear if someone was sneaking up behind you. With headphones, you could.

Maybe you guys don't play many first-person games, so it's not a big deal. I imagine speakers work fine in adventure games, turn-based strategy/real-time strategy, and third-person shooters (although I think positional sound could help with the last one).

[Tawmis]

For Rath and Tawmis...
I get that you don't need to wear headphones due to having your own room to game or living alone, but what about the lack of positional sound? With speakers you don't have the surround sound setup (unless you have a 5.1, 7.1., or 9.1 sound system) which can be detrimental in first-person games where being able to hear who's where is vitally important. For instance, with a normal 2.0 or 2.1 sound setup for a computer, you couldn't really hear if someone was sneaking up behind you. With headphones, you could. Maybe you guys don't play many first-person games, so it's not a big deal. I imagine speakers work fine in adventure games, turn-based strategy/real-time strategy, and third-person shooters (although I think positional sound could help with the last one).

I hardly ever play first person shooters (especially mutiplayer, where I could see having a headset might be beneficial).
Most of the games I play (both PC and XBOX) are typically fantasy RPGs (where situational sound isn't a big deal), Gears of War (which also situational sound doesn't matter), fighter games (Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, etc) where situational sound mattered, Marvel/Star Wars LEGO game (don't matter sound wise), and Sierra games (where again situational sound doesn't matter). That summarizes the majority of games.

Only time I really remember wearing headsets when my friends and I, eons ago, all played Halo 1 in the garage together.

[Rath Darkblade]

Yeah, I don't play First Person Shooters either. I do play some RPGs which can become a little like FPSs (e.g. in Oblivion/Skyrim, where you can swivel a bow like a gun and so on), but in those situations I always sneak to avoid monsters being able to see me. (Once they do, I switch to sword-and-shield to avoid injury).

Other than RPGs, I either play Sierra games, old LucasArts games, indies, or strategy games - so situational sound doesn't crop up.

[DeadPoolX]

Okay, that makes sense. I play a lot of stealth games (some are first-person and others are third-person) so having positional sound is incredibly important. I do play some normal FPS games, but mostly in co-op with Maia.