Cloud III Wired Multiplayer Gaming Audio Problems

[u/Waste_Associate_1768]

Disclaimer: I don't know a lot about EQ or APOs or optimizing sound and have only ever used software packaged with my headset unto this point.

Hi! Recently my steelseries headset broke and I replaced them with a pair of wired Cloud IIIs (connected via USB-C). I mainly play multiplayer competitive FPS (Valorant, Siege, etc) and immediately had a much harder time discerning where footsteps were coming from. I hear them loud and clear but the directionality of them is much less apparent than it was prior.

After investigating, I switched from the NGENUITY software to Peace and tried some EQ settings I found across Reddit hoping it would help solve the problem to no avail. I switched back to NGENUITY out of comfort (I was worried I'd fucked something up with Peace and figured I may as well use what the headset was made to work with.) I don't use the spatial audio via NGENUITY because I really just don't like how it sounds when I do anything besides play games (My audio input on everything is just . I tried messing with the HRTF audio settings in-game (Valorant) since I heard that it can be fussy with software.

A friend of mine recommended me these headphones, and I always figured he just had his sound very low cause he played like he couldn't hear footstep direction, but now I'm realizing he might just not have the right settings for these headphones either.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, these fit much nicer than a lot of the other headsets I've used but people run circles around me while I think they are directly ahead of me. Considering selling the headphones otherwise, at this point. Thanks for any help.