Hi guys, I was wondering how many people play with their iDevices using headphones. Is there any statistics on this? What about yourselves? I seldom find myself playing with headphones! Question comes from how to best EQ music & sfx, either aiming at iPad speaker or headphones. What do you usually do? Cheers!
Considering 99% of 'gaming' on my phone is done on the London Underground, it's always headphones. At home, sometimes, depends on the game, for example Uplink I ALWAYS use headphones as I feel more submerged in the game, for others like Pocket Planes, racing games, etc, it's better to have the sound where the action is (i.e., in the palm of my hands)
If it's an involved game, I've got my headphones on 85% of the time - same ones that came with my iPhone4 (and have been through the washer/drier once )
i usually play stationary.. (driving and playing does not mix well) and without headphones.. often i don't even know where i left them (using bluetooth headset for the drive) very rare.. mostly at night when i don't want to disturb my gf i plug them in if i watch a movie or so.. but most games play fine muted anyway..
I never use headphones for playing games. Or anything else actually. I think if you concentrate on making good clean sounds they will sound good on any device. However, I EQ my stuff to sound good over a stereo system, then test it with the phone speaker too.
I almost always mute the sounds for iOS games, unless it's a puzzle game or something and the only sound is clicking noises. My time spent with them is just too short-lived. 5 minutes later I'm playing or doing something else. Since I never really invest much time in them, I often find myself playing while watching TV or listening to music anyway.
If the developer gives me a reason to use headphones, I tend to play with them on, unless it's too muggy (I live in Fort Lauderdale and have killed the earcups on some expensive headphones due to sweat), since I usually play when I'm on my patio, smoking. I've been a part of the music scene, to put it succinctly, for the better part of my life. If a game isn't casual and doesn't wow me over my headphones, I'll probably forget about it. Think of some games with cult followings that have came out since the Roland and Adlib sound cards. Dues Ex? If it weren't for the music and voice work, I probably would even remember having played it. So yeah, that was a long winded way of saying I wear headphones, Bose Triports for over the ear, Sony noise-canceling on the ear, and good old Sony md-34s for over the head, in the ear (earbuds don't work with my ear shape). Also, It probably extends battery life. Headphones do that with nearly every portable consumer electronic product. Most iOS gamers, though, probably don't have a midi-out accessory for their iPhones like I do, though.
Thought I'd revisit this topic as I just created a new song for a video trailer I'll be releasing shortly. The song is not for use in the game but it plays on the phone as well, so same difference I EQ'd the song to sound good on a stereo system and computer speakers (desktop). The song sounds great on the phone as well. This is the method I described earlier but thought I'd test it out. The song contains digital drums, 2 mic'd guitars, bass and vocals. When the vid comes out you can hear it yourself. Should be a few days (I've said that for weeks now, but really...)
I tend to never use headphones on my device unless I'm at the gym or driving and in those cases, I'm not playing games. Otherwise, I use the built-in speakers for all game playing. I rarely ever play games on mute.
