Keeping It Down

eing a renter and a gamer isn't always the best combination — balancing one's love of big, bass-laden explosions with the neighbor's basic right to peace and quiet can be a challenge. The developer push for more immersive surround soundtracks does little to help matters. Unless you're able to play these tracks at full volume, dialogue and background ambience is often lost in a muddy haze.

Having grown sick of turning my own surround rig down to a whisper during late night gaming sessions, I recently purchased my first pair of headphones exclusively for home theater listening. What I may have lost in oomph has more than been made up for with clarity, focus and, most importantly, peace of mind. No matter how you decide to walk that line between Modern Warfare immersion and noise complaints, here are some things to consider.

LOUDSPEAKERS

No matter how much you've spent on a surround sound receiver and speakers, one truth remains: your system's going to sound considerably better when the volume's raised. Have you ever been annoyed by how quiet the dialog has seemed on certain DVDs? The reason for this is a little thing called dynamic range. While a broad separation between a production's loudest and softest moments can greatly improve perceived sound quality, it also means that renters will spend a great deal of their time riding the old volume knob. If you have a surround sound receiver, one solution may be to explore any "nighttime" modes that it's equipped with. These can work quite a bit of digital trickery, both by compressing dynamic range and by cutting back the signal that's sent to your surround system's subwoofer.

The Mirage Nanosat is incredibly small, and its unique driver array can fill a room with immersive sound.In the event that you haven't yet purchased a surround sound system, I'm going to make another recommendation: don't. Stereo, believe it or not, can be just as immersive, particularly in the less-than-ideal living room of the average apartment dweller. By selecting speakers that are less directional in nature, you'll get that wide and immersive sound field you crave without many of the headaches (and lost floor space). Companies like Mirage and Bose both produce speakers that can emulate the immersion of surround with as few as two speakers. Sound bars that hang on a wall underneath a flat panel display can be another great option for apartment dwellers. While these products will never match the performance of a properly calibrated surround sound system, they come pretty darned close, and will tend to outperform 5.1 setups at moderate volume levels.

HEADPHONES

I know what you're thinking: who wants to game with headphones? Well, if you're a PC gamer, there's a good chance you've already been doing so for years. Listening to games and movies through a good pair of headphones can be an absolute joy — everything seems clearer and ambient noise (like the sounds of an opponent's footsteps) can be much easier to discern. Of course, not all headphones are created equally, and not all are well suited to gaming.

Sennheiser's HD-555 provide benchmark audio for movies and games and are still relatively affordable.On-ear and around-ear models are probably the most familiar, and provided they fit well, can provide the same levels of quality and immersion as some of the best stereo loudspeakers on the market. Having larger ears, I've always preferred around-ear headphones since the ear cups never make physical contact with my ears. Open back designs like the Sennheiser HD-555 are a great choice for gaming and movie watching thanks to their particularly diffuse sound field. Other models from manufacturers like Astro Gaming and Turtle Beach combine open backs with a boom mic to act as a complete audio/communication solution.

These earphones by Etymotic Research epitomize the canal phone style.For gamers on a budget, might I recommend a good pair of in-ear headphones (a.k.a. "canal phones"). These spiritual successors to traditional ear buds are actually inserted into the outer ear canal, creating a seal that both blocks out exterior noise and enhances bass response. While this tends to scare a lot of folks, rest assured: these things sound great even at lower volumes, and since they block out a lot of environmental noise, you don't need to turn them up nearly as loud as you would on-ear headphones (or even loudspeakers). The bass that these things are capable of is absolutely amazing, and while their focused sound field makes them slightly less ideal for gaming and movies, you'll forget these shortcomings as soon as you pop in a favorite CD. Models from Sennheiser, Shure and Sony are available for as little as $40.

Whatever your gaming environment, budget or audio preference, always remember: the world doesn't revolve around you and your gaming hobby. You can be considerate of those around you while still enjoying high quality and immersive audio. Happy gaming, and happy listening.

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