Are 5.1 and 7.1 headphone just gimmicks?

[Hinouchi]

Have a listen to this with a pair of stereo headphone. :)

 

[$alvador]

it might have some practical application for gaming since the applications support it anyway but for music it will never compare to stereo phones

 

[OG buckshot jr]

Virtual is a gimmick, while great quality headphones will actually have much more than 2 drivers therefore actually creating some sort of surround sound. All in all, it's still all just in a headset...

 

[$alvador]

the headphones with more than one driver per ear are specifically for use with sound positioning via DirectSound (part of DirectX). the priority there isn't sound quality but just providing a precise location for a sound. Music outside of games will sound distorted unless the headphone software limits the playback to one driver per ear and then the quality difference versus cans designed for music reproduction will be obvious

 

[Macido]

I can say with 100% satisfaction that my logitech g430's helps pinpoint audio position with near perfect accuracy compared to my 300$ pair of stereo jack sennheisers. It blew my brain at how good it was even if it's "fake" or simulated.