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Gaming Amp

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post #1 of 13
1/12/11 at 6:52am
Thread Starter 

For a beyer 880, im thinking of either fiio e7/e9 combo or a astro mixamp. which is better?

 

 

 

 

also for ppl with soundcard knowledge, is the asus essence stx better than auzentech forte?

 

 

 

 

yes ive used the search button, and ive gotten hundreds of digressing threads, and i just want an honest opinion.

 

note: i will be using it for mostly gaming.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for your time and please respond, my first thread had 1 reply and made me cry.

 

 

 

 

 

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post #2 of 13
1/12/11 at 9:10am

you dont need dac/soundcard if you get a soundcard/dac, usually the external dac is better than the internal soundcard ;)

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post #3 of 13
1/12/11 at 10:49am
Thread Starter 

So should I just buy an amp (E9) and a top notch soundcard?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:)

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post #4 of 13
1/12/11 at 11:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by flkatk View Post

So should I just buy an amp (E9) and a top notch soundcard?


In my opinion, you should buy the FiiO E7/E9 combo. The E7 essentially acts as an external sound card when docked to the E9. An E9 with a docked E7 is essentially both a DAC and an amp (it uses the E7's DAC function and the E9's amplification). The major benefits to having an E7 are that:

a) Your sound card can be used with other sources besides your PC.

b) You have two amps. One is portable (the E7), the other is not (E9). (as opposed to having one amp and one internal sound card).

 

Essentially, the E7/E9 combo would be your best value.

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post #5 of 13
1/12/11 at 12:12pm
Thread Starter 

Hmm, I already ordered an E9.

 

I will be mostly using the headphones for gaming (cs 1.6) , and occasionally music (electronic).

 

I was thinking of doing:

 

Soundcard (Asus, Creative, or Auzentech) -> E9 -> dt880 250 ohm

 

As a hardcore gamer, is it justifiable and reasonable to get a e7 DAC?

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post #6 of 13
1/12/11 at 12:56pm

The whole point of the Mixamp is it's Dolby Headphone/Chat mixing capabilities. Are you looking for a surround sound experience from games, especially in multiplayer? If you are, then that throws the E7 out the window. The Mixamp would act as a 'dac' in this case, but you could still feed it out to an E-9 to properly power those Beyers. You seem to be confused as to the purposes of of both the Mixamp and E7 dac...and yes I realize the E-7 has a built-in (weak) amp as well.

 

-Daniel


Edited by BournePerfect - 1/12/11 at 12:58pm
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post #7 of 13
1/12/11 at 12:58pm

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by BournePerfect View Post

The whole point of the Mixamp is it's Dolby Headphone/Chat mixing capabilities. Are you looking for a surround sound experience from games, especially in multiplayer? If you are, then that throws the E7 out the window. The Mixamp would act as a 'dac' in this case, but you could still feed it out to an E-9 to properly power those Beyers. You seem to be confused as to the purposes of of both the Mixamp and E7 dac...


+1.

 

For primarily gaming (and movies) surround sound is much more important than high fidelity 2-channel audio. You should have gotten a Mixamp or at least a Turtle Beach DSS.

 

You say you're mostly going to be playing counter strike. Surround sound from a Mixamp will help you pinpoint enemies footsteps and reloads in 360 degree space. So if someone is behind and to the left of you, you'll hear them exactly at that position instead of just slightly to the left from a stereo amp. If you're gonna sound whore, you need surround. Of course, your system has to be able to output surround sound via toslink out.


Edited by igotnojob - 1/12/11 at 1:04pm
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post #8 of 13
1/12/11 at 1:14pm
Thread Starter 

double post


Edited by flkatk - 1/12/11 at 1:17pm
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post #9 of 13
1/12/11 at 1:17pm
Thread Starter 

My apologies, I didn't know amps could play such a major role in gaming. I had gotten a lot of positive opinions on the Fiio, that was why I was biased toward them.

 

However, if changing to the Mix Amp will soundly outperform the Fiio, it will definitely be my next investment.


 

Quote:
Originally Posted by BournePerfect View Post

The whole point of the Mixamp is it's Dolby Headphone/Chat mixing capabilities. Are you looking for a surround sound experience from games, especially in multiplayer? If you are, then that throws the E7 out the window. The Mixamp would act as a 'dac' in this case, but you could still feed it out to an E-9 to properly power those Beyers. You seem to be confused as to the purposes of of both the Mixamp and E7 dac...and yes I realize the E-7 has a built-in (weak) amp as well.

 

-Daniel


So would it be a wise decision to keep the E9 and combo it with the Mix Amp?

 

I am pretty new with audio, in fact I only started browsing this week, mostly lurking and searching my needs before actually registering and starting threads

 

:)

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post #10 of 13
1/12/11 at 1:19pm

I still think you're misunderstanding some things. Don't think of the Mixamp as an amp...think of it as a dac...where the stereo signal is turned into convincing 5.1/7.1 surround sound. The E7 cannot do this. The 'amp' portion of the Mixamp is relatively weak...which is why you should output the Mixamp signal into the Fiio E9, which will then amplify that same signal into your Beyers with authority, get it? You'd really only want the E7 for strict music-listening, frankly.

 

-Daniel

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post #11 of 13
1/12/11 at 1:22pm

Short and simple answer : for gaming, use a sound card.

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post #12 of 13
1/12/11 at 1:26pm
Thread Starter 

Thank you for the clarification, my preconception was that Mix Amp was just a gaming oriented amp.

 

Even if the beyers are 250 ohms, just the mix amp by itself isn't powerful enough? Interesting!

 

 

 

I'm glad I don't have a reason to return the E9's, but having both mixamp and e9 seems a little complicating, haha.

 

As for the soundcard, I'm convinced CMSS-3D is better for me than Dolby Headphones, it is a shame Auzentech's Forte is out of stock...

 

 

 

Thanks again for your help, I appreciate people helping inexperienced folks like me!

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post #13 of 13
1/12/11 at 1:37pm

Hey no problem, man. Yeah, if your soundcard is doing all the surround processing, don't worry about the Mixamp anyway. It's primarily used for consoles anyway, I would think. The Mixamp 'could' power the 250 ohmers to good sound levels...but that doen't mean they would be 'properly' driven by any means. Good luck.

 

-Daniel

 

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