Since I don't have the money or space for a 5.1 setup, I've been doing some research on getting simulated surround on headphones. With the right algorithms, it can be done to an extremely convincing degree, as illustrated by
. From what I've seen so far, the biggest two competing algorithms are Dolby Headphone and Creative's CMSS-3DHeadphone, which are available via special hardware, i.e. sound cards or headphones with integrated processing hardware like these. I was tempted to get a pair of the headphones when they were $70, but I've started to lean towards the sound card route because I can use any pair of headphones with it and therefore could upgrade my buds/cans later.So my questions to anyone who might know are as follows:
1) Is there any alternative that would work with onboard sound (specifically of the Realtek variety)? It would most likely use software processing but I could deal with a framerate hit if it means I can hear where shots and footsteps are coming from.
2) If not, what's the cheapest sound card I could get that has this functionality? I've heard prophet mention several times that this is one of the only reasons to get a discrete sound card nowadays, so I'm calling you out prophet!