"In the evolution of gaming, originally computing speed and power was paramount and then graphics, both of which increased, as well as internet speed and the ability to stream, but over time, sound has continued to be of critical importance. We’re just getting to the point now where the technology can create surround experiences and spatialization so your brain can perceive location just based on the audio – and the technology is getting smaller and smaller – so instead of sitting in a large movie theater filled with speakers on all the walls, you can now wear headphones, developed with the game companies in mind (and sometimes in partnership with them)."
"OG Arabian Prince said. “I like to have the best gear, if you are pro gamer – the best mouse, the best refresh rate on your monitor – the best every little thing.” Arabian Prince built the M Classic, a plug and play dongle that upgrades console graphics. As for headphones, “I’ve tried dozens if not hundreds… over the years trying to find that perfect sound. One gaming executive told me: “For anyone playing a game like call of Duty it’s about creating a triple A blockbuster experience like you’re playing in a Michael Bay movie. So creating 3D audio that can inform where you are inside this space and where your enemies are, is extremely important.”
“All these gamers who are serious about becoming competitive [and] having a competitive advantage are going to invest in better tech,” Jake Fyfe said, “because it’s an arms race when you’re trying to be the best. And headphones can give you an edge. From my conversations the standout headphone currently is
Audeze’s Mobius headset. “They are the best headphones that I’ve used for gaming – ever,” OG Arabian Prince told me. It is also among the most expensive of headsets. At the same time,
Audeze being a very high end headphone company where headphones can retail in the multi-thousands, the Mobius is one of their least expensive and best-priced items."
"I spoke with
Audeze’s CEO, Sankar Thiagasamudram, who surprised me by saying that Audeze started as a side hustle. “From 2008 to 2012, I thought of it as a business hobby,” he told me. He and his partners had discovered these flexible circuits which were originally made for the Space Industry, and were looking for commercial applications for them. After first considering using them for outdoor speakers, they decided to use them to make high end planar headphones At the same time, Audeze realized that they needed to bring down the cost. They looked to what parts of the manufacture could be automated without compromising quality which they could do because they are so intimately in control of their own manufacturing. The resulting Mobius headphone, although expensive by gaming standards are much less expensive than your typical Audeze headphones (As I mentioned earlier there was not a person interviewed who didn’t consider the Mobius headphones best in class)."
"As to what is on the horizon? “You are starting to see a migration to wireless – the barrier to which has until now been input delay,” one gaming exec said, “they don’t want to feel any delay between what they are seeing in the game – but the experimentation with head tracking and directional audio are now entering gaming. To that point, Audeze will soon release a new gaming headset, to be called “Penrose,” made specifically for the new X-box and Playstation platforms being released this fall."
