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farkim said:

I see you disapprove of the A700's. I may need closed, hope not but am concerned about sound leakage.

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I would go with the Creative Aurvana Live! or others if you need closed. A700 is outdated in terms of gaming. There are others but I can't recall at the moment...

Quote:

farkim said:

I see you disapprove of the A700's. I may need closed, hope not but am concerned about sound leakage.
 
That's concerning. How bad is the immersion likely to be?
Can the limited bass be corrected with EQ?
I'm currently using TB PX5's but if no one here has heard them, that won't help as a comparison.

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I would save AD700s for strictly competitive gaming/gamers.  Outside that realm, they lose there appeal.  They're good for classical music, but not much else.  And no, the bass is too light to be fixed with EQ-ing.
 
Also their sound leakage is pretty ridiculous.

I suppose the real question is, what kind of scenario are we looking at where leakage is a concern?

Yeah, I really don't see many scenarios where an open headphone is a bad thing. Unless you use them outside/where there is a lot of noise/next to someone who is sleeping, I don't see how an open headphone could bother ANYONE in terms of sound leak. It's just a really low sound, not like you're blaring music out loud. Hell, speakers on low volume are more disruptive than open headphones playing loudly. The K701 is the most open headphone I've heard, and they were just like a really low radio playing AM stations.

Chicolom, if for some reason you might think the DT990's treble may bother you, the DT990 pros have less grating highs due to the stronger mid bass. I would recommend them for anyone who isn't as sensitive to mid bass as I am.

The DT990 have a lot of air. Not K701 or AD700 airyness, but a siginificant leap in terms of air over the DT880s, which sounded somewhat in between closed and open (I guess that's why it's considered semi-open).

What I don't get is how people complain about the D2/5/7K's sound leak. Like seriously... it doesn't leak like an open can. It leaks, but what are these people doing, listening to their cans while laying next to the other person's head? Lol.

Well honestly, at this point it's just for gaming. Right now it's just mw3, but I feel something like the DT 990s would make me want to play other games for once in my life besides call of duty. Which would be awesome. The DT 990s seem to be around 250. A mic that I can mod shouldn't be more than 20 bucks no? That's only around a 70 dollar difference for superior sound quality?
http://www.amazon.com/beyerdynamic-990-Premium-250-Ohm/dp/B000F2BLTW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326893977&sr=8-1 is this the correct model of the DT 990s?
 
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riku540 said:

Well at the end of the day, are these purchases just for gaming, or music with gaming being a plus? As I've stated before, gaming alone might not always be worth the significant difference in price, especially when sacrificing functionality.
 
If you don't have the extra cash to just drop on the DT 990 + a mic, and never really intend to use them for music listening, I wouldn't feel the least bit discontent with the PC360.

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Also, as I think about it. I don't own an expensive computer like most of you. So something like the DT990s probably wouldn't even run probably on my laptop. So that's out the picture. Leaving them for my ps3 only for the time being. And if I do get the DT 990s.... will I need an E9 on top of the mixamp 5.8?
 
 

Are those only good for XBOX? I play on ps3.
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chicolom said:

Or buy a controller cable with a mute switch.  I have both of these 2.5mm turble beach cables and can confirm they work with the mixamp and mute external mics. 
 
http://store.turtlebeach.com/cabx1talkbackcable-2.aspx
http://store.turtlebeach.com/cabx31x41talkbackcableoptional.aspx

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EDIT: nvm, figured it out myself.

 
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sabzingeur said:

Is XFi Titanium good enough? I play BF3 and I plug a pair of DT 880s directly to the sound card.

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It's good enough; all X-Fi Titanium cards have the EMU20k2 X-Fi DSP.
 
Since BF3 uses software audio, it's looking at the Windows speaker setting. If that's only set to stereo, then stereo is all CMSS-3D Headphone gets, and it doesn't really work like it's supposed to.
 
If you really want to know what it can do, try one of the pre-BC2 Battlefield titles that use DirectSound3D (BF1942, BF:Vietnam; be sure to use ALchemy) or OpenAL (BF2, BF2142). Shouldn't even need the Windows speaker setting trick since they basically talk to the sound card driver directly.

Quote:

farkim said:

I see you disapprove of the A700's. I may need closed, hope not but am concerned about sound leakage.
 
That's concerning. How bad is the immersion likely to be?
Can the limited bass be corrected with EQ?
I'm currently using TB PX5's but if no one here has heard them, that won't help as a comparison.
 
 

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I owned the PX5s briefly and have heard the AD700s.  TBH, I don't see the point in moving from the PX5s to the ADs.  While the ADs do offer better sound quality, I'm not sure the difference is enough to justify spending money on -- at least not for me. The biggest problem I have with both of these is that they are both so bass light.  The difference in sound quality is there but not enough of a difference to justify what it'll cost you to switch -- where the PX5s will sometimes crackle from big sounds/explosions, the ADs do not, however there is no weight or heft to their sound either.  The ADs sounded like a pair of tin cans strapped to my head when trying to replicate any decent amount of bass!  Soundstage wise, I'm not even sure the ADs are much of an improvement if any at all.  That really says a lot about the PX5s imo as they have a really nice soundstage.  That's probably their greatest asset in fact but it's exactly why I wouldn't consider the ADs a worthy upgrade.
 

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jghost23 said:

if I do get the DT 990s.... will I need an E9 on top of the mixamp 5.8?

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Not if you get the 32 ohm version.
 

 
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jae304 said:

 
I owned the PX5s briefly and have heard the AD700s.  TBH, I don't see the point in moving from the PX5s to the ADs.  While the ADs do offer better sound quality, I'm not sure the difference is enough to justify spending money on -- at least not for me. The biggest problem I have with both of these is that they are both so bass light.  The difference in sound quality is there but not enough of a difference to justify what it'll cost you to switch -- where the PX5s will sometimes crackle from big sounds/explosions, the ADs do not, however there is no weight or heft to their sound either.  The ADs sounded like a pair of tin cans strapped to my head when trying to replicate any decent amount of bass!  Soundstage wise, I'm not even sure the ADs are much of an improvement if any at all.  That really says a lot about the PX5s imo as they have a really nice soundstage.  That's probably their greatest asset in fact but it's exactly why I wouldn't consider the ADs a worthy upgrade.
 

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Thank you Jae304.
I guess if I want significant improvement (and something with better bass than the PX5's) I'll have to spend more money.
Back to the drawing board.
*sigh*
 

Quote:

jae304 said:

 
I owned the PX5s briefly and have heard the AD700s.  TBH, I don't see the point in moving from the PX5s to the ADs.  While the ADs do offer better sound quality, I'm not sure the difference is enough to justify spending money on -- at least not for me. The biggest problem I have with both of these is that they are both so bass light.  The difference in sound quality is there but not enough of a difference to justify what it'll cost you to switch -- where the PX5s will sometimes crackle from big sounds/explosions, the ADs do not, however there is no weight or heft to their sound either.  The ADs sounded like a pair of tin cans strapped to my head when trying to replicate any decent amount of bass!  Soundstage wise, I'm not even sure the ADs are much of an improvement if any at all.  That really says a lot about the PX5s imo as they have a really nice soundstage.  That's probably their greatest asset in fact but it's exactly why I wouldn't consider the ADs a worthy upgrade.
 

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Have you heard the CAL's?
Would they be an improvement over the PX5's?
 
It's either that, or I have to spend twice the money on DT990's.

One of my friends is considering buying an mixamp + headphones instead of a ps3 sony headset (muahahahhaha)
 
I forgot what cheap ( < $130) headphones works nice for gaming (both multi and single) and do music too.
 
Any recommendations?
 
P.D. I'm going to lent him A30 and CAL in the meantime

Quote:

obazavil said:

One of my friends is considering buying an mixamp + headphones instead of a ps3 sony headset (muahahahhaha)
 
I forgot what cheap ( < $130) headphones works nice for gaming (both multi and single) and do music too.
 
Any recommendations?
 
P.D. I'm going to lent him A30 and CAL in the meantime

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Samson SR850, the supposed king (never heard them myself) of budget headphones, for both immersive and competetive gaming and music. I just bought a pair, hope they're as good as people describe, should be here by the end of the week. I'll post my impressions after I get a chance to hear them and compare to my AD700.

Quote:

riku540 said:

I would go with the Creative Aurvana Live! or others if you need closed. A700 is outdated in terms of gaming. There are others but I can't recall at the moment...

Click to expand...

We'll I got sick of trying to make the right decision, so I made 'a' decision.
 
I have ordered the CAL's.
$70 AUD and free shipping to New Zealand, so all in all, a good deal.
And if I don't like them for gaming I can always take them to work to replace my HD201's for music.
 
Just need the sound card and I'm set.

Quote:

obazavil said:

One of my friends is considering buying an mixamp + headphones instead of a ps3 sony headset (muahahahhaha)
 
I forgot what cheap ( < $130) headphones works nice for gaming (both multi and single) and do music too.
 
Any recommendations?
 
P.D. I'm going to lent him A30 and CAL in the meantime

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The Sony PS3 headset actually, I can't say anything bad about. I got one for Christmas, and for less than half the cost of a Mixamp + AD700 you get:
 
- PS3 + PC compatibility
- True digital wireless. No clutter like the Wireless Mixamp 5.8
- Built-in Microphone with Game/Voice ratio adjustment (the same as Mixamp)
- 7.1 Virtual surround sound. Good positioning. Sounds more processed than Mixamp, can be turned off for regular stereo.
- On-screen battery/mic/volume indicator
 
The leakage is quite low for my uses. I played for several hours a few times with my wife sleeping next to me, and she had no idea I even had the TV and system on. Granted, I had the volume all the way down, but that's as loud as I need it really.
 
Before I forget, let me say that I own the Wired Mixamp, AD700, DT 880, and Ultrasone PRO 900's. All which I have experience in gaming.
 
I'm actually quite surprisingly pleased with my PS3 headset. I was considering writing a mini-review comparison either here or in a new thread, if there is enough interest for it. Will it compare to the Mixamp + AD700 or insert audiophile headphone here? No. But again, for $79, and not needing a Mixamp or Dolby Headphone box of some kind, you get a lot of functionality and value.
 
I think Sony has noticed gamers are using products like the Mixamp and our own headphones, and they've given us a very affordable convenience product for those who aren't ready to take the audiophile dive.