For us single sided deaf, gaming comes at a disadvantage because we can't incorporate in-game sound cues to our gaming experience.
When I went unilaterally deaf I sought to build my own devices that could enable my one ear be able to utilize gaming sound cues since no such devices existed on the market. At the time I went unilaterally deaf, the only choices available to us single sided deaf was listening to only one side of the sounds (so missing out on 50% of the audio) or downmixing the audio to mono, and while mono allows you to hear all of the sounds, it is useless for figuring out gaming audio cues (and mono does not sound as good either). As a recent single sided deaf person, I found I could not get used to gaming like this at all. So I used my aviation airframe and powerplant background to come up with these solutions (The 2E1 headphones are also great for music listening but the subject here is about how they can be used in video gaming to identify sound cues for the single sided deaf gamer).
After a lot of experimentation I came up with three methods we single sided deaf can utilize in-game sound directional cues via my 2E1s and I thought it would be a worthy exercise in succinctly describing the three 2E1 methods I created as follows:
Illustration of the "Flying Echelon" drivers staggering using the musical theory's expression of "forte" and "piano" which indicates what audio is played loudly (forte), or softly (piano).
1) Method one is using my
2E1 (non vibrating) headphones for sound directional cues in gaming. The way it works is I stagger the speaker drivers in what I call my "flying echelon" configuration, where the right speaker driver is down and closer to your ear so it sounds louder (
forte) and the left speaker driver is up and staggered back from your ear so it sounds fainter (
piano). The expression
forte/piano comes from music theory notation to indicate the variation in loudness between audio notes and in the 2E1 headphones the
forte/piano is achieved by the staggering of the left/right speaker drivers inside the one ear-cup over the 'good' ear. The distance of the left driver that is staggered back from the ear is what makes the
piano effect in comparison to the right driver being closer to the ear for making the
forte effect. Once you train your 'good' ear to pick up the
forte/piano sound dynamics of the left and right driver differences you can then identify left/right sound origins in games with one ear (see illustration above). Out of all my 2E1 (non vibe) headphones the
2E1 Pro Ears Ultra is the best at allowing your one ear to differentiate left/right audio cues while gaming.
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2) The second
method is to pair my 2E1 (non vibrating) headphones with my 2E1 Vibe Cues Belt that translates audio into left and right vibes on the body so while you are hearing games audio in stereo with one ear with the 2E1 headphone the 2E1 Vibes Cue Belt lets you know what stereo channel (left or right) the sounds you are hearing are coming from. Pairing the 2E1 (non vibe) headphones with the belt helps eliminate any learning curve in using the 2E1 (non vibe) headphones alone.
The 2E1 Vibe Cues Belt can also be used by those who are hard of hearing in one or both ears but can still utilize regular (non 2E1) headphones so the Vibe Belt can be paired with their existing headphones or for those who are profoundly deaf in both ears the Vibe Belt can used as a substitute for headphones, relying just on the audio bring translated as vibes via the belt.
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3) The third 2E1 option for gaming is the 2E1+Vibe headphone which is a hybrid of the pairing of the 2E1 (the regular non vibe) headphone and the vibe cues belt. The left and right speakers are in one earcup while the deaf ear has a vibrating voice coil exciter that translates audio into vibes for the ear you would be deaf in. The way it works is if you hear a sound in a game with your working ear and feel a vibe on your deaf ear that sound originated on your deaf side in the game and if you hear a sound with your working ear and don't feel a vibe that sound came from the side in the game you have hearing in. I only sell the 2E1+Vibe headphone directly rather than on my eBay eCommerce site because I want to confirm the client knows they need to be 100% deaf in one ear where the vibe will be against to preserve any residual hearing (the hearing side is unaffected by the vibe) . See also this post:
The 2E1+Vibe headphone allows the single sided deaf to experience and use gaming sound cues with a headphone in the same way "normal" bilateral hearing gamers use headphones.
If you have any questions about how any of my 2E1 (non vibe) headphones, 2E1 Vibe Belt or 2E1+Vibe headphones works for gaming and would be best for your gaming audio needs and want to place an order please feel free to contact me directly (biblosgeek2e1@yahoo.com).
Thank you!
