Hi Mad Lust Envy, 
 
I am trying to set up my PC for better headphone experience (my time spent using the headphone is mainly for MMO gaming and movies/mp3. 
 
I am currently running Soundblaster Z and Tactic3D Sigma (wired) and going towards a wireless setup. 
 
I have Astro Mixamp 5.8 coming my way in about 10days and I am wondering which headphones would you recommend me to use?
 
1) Beyerdynamics DT990 Pro 250ohm
2) Philips Fidelio X1
 
I can get a pair of DT990 for about US$150 there about pretty good price. I just do not know if the mixamp rx unit is able to power it, I do have a mini pocket amp Fiio E5 if it is of any help at all for my setup. The next most logical upgrade will be a portable amp like Fiio E17 or portable tube amps. 
 
My question is if I would need to get the E17, would it be more sensible to get the X1 over the DT990 Pro? I end up paying about the same for getting E17 and the DT990. Of coz getting E17 would means more flexibility for my future applications like getting E9 dock for E17 and high quality headphones. 
 
Hope you can comment. Cheers!

If you get the X1, you won't need anything else to power it other than the Mixamp 5.8. That should be enough for gaming and movie use. The E5 will not help. Good rule of thumb is that just a few decibels of volume require more than double the power of whatever your current device has. So let's say for example, you're running max volume off your device, and want to gain a few more decibels... you will need a bit more than double the maximum power of your current device to gain an appreciable amount of volume. This is why the E5 is not good as a volume booster over whatever you may have.

Honestly, if you can spring for the X1, don't bother looking at the 990 Pro. The X1 is worthwhile over the 990 Pro, and I'd only look at the 990 Pro if absolutely can't afford the X1.

Quote:

sidiun said:

Alright, thanks guys. I've decided to get the Fidelio X-1. 
My only question is, what would be the best amp/DAC/whatever to get for all-around gaming (so I guess the e10 is out? Stereo would be bad?) as well as general music/movies etc for less than $100 or so?
Would a sound card like the Xonar DG be my best bet? I'd rather not have to fiddle about installing it, so if there are better external options I'd prefer those, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if I had to.

Click to expand...

The Asus Xonar DG is $30 and there is a $10 mail in rebate this month.
The DG comes with Headphone Surround Sound, the Fiio E10 does not.

Quote:

mad lust envy said:

If you get the X1, you won't need anything else to power it other than the Mixamp 5.8. That should be enough for gaming and movie use. The E5 will not help. Good rule of thumb is that just a few decibels of volume require more than double the power of whatever your current device has. So let's say for example, you're running max volume off your device, and want to gain a few more decibels... you will need a bit more than double the maximum power of your current device to gain an appreciable amount of volume. This is why the E5 is not good as a volume booster over whatever you may have.

Honestly, if you can spring for the X1, don't bother looking at the 990 Pro. The X1 is worthwhile over the 990 Pro, and I'd only look at the 990 Pro if absolutely can't afford the X1.

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Thanks for pointing this out. I may just go for the X1. I have some nagging concerns for X1 as the earpad are not replaceable. Another thing about my setup - There are absolutely no other ways of doing wireless mic apart from using Astro USB chat cable on the mixamp TX unit?
 
Cheers

Crap, I forgot to send in the rebate for the U3.

Ah well.

For $100-ish

Xonar DG - set the software as spdif out pcm (set to Dolby Headphone 2):
Fiio D03K - from the DG's optical out to the D03K's optical input, then analog out to:
Fiio E11

Quote:

mad lust envy said:

It does everything that the 990 pro does, but better. So yes, to me, it's worth the jump from the 990 Pro's price to the X1.

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What about DT990 Premium 600-Ohm verses Philips Fidelio X1?

purpleangel said:

What about DT990 Premium 600-Ohm verses Philips Fidelio X1?

Click to expand...

Again, X1 takes it. The X1 has better behaved treble by a looooong stretch, better mids, and similar-ish bass. Also, easier to drive (by a LOT), more comfortable.

The 990 is cleaner sounding, and more refined, but too v-shaped

skipshrike said:

I had forgotten about the mic that came with the Z. I'll give that a try and see if the sound is acceptable to others as I play.

For the Z itself, I just slapped on the profile for 'First Person Shooter' and then tweaked the sliders around. For BF3 I placed the sound option to Hi-Fi and turned on the stereo enhancement. It's too bad I can't use the Dolby Digital Live as that only goes through the SPDIF-Out.

Click to expand...

Which sound option on bf3 is the best? I know war tapes is the loudest

mpawluk91 said:

Which sound option on bf3 is the best? I know war tapes is the loudest

Click to expand...

If you're using 5.1 with something like Dolby Headphone, use HiFi or Home Cinema. Otherwise, use headphone with enhanced stereo on.

Quote:

mad lust envy said:

For $100-ish
Xonar DG - set the software as spdif out pcm (set to Dolby Headphone 2):
Fiio D03K - from the DG's optical out to the D03K's optical input, then analog out to:
Fiio E11

Click to expand...

Does the Fiio E11 really sound better with the D03K, over plugging the Fiio E11 straight into the DG?
Months ago I was using an E11 plugged straight into an DG and I though is sounded fairly good.

Just ordered myself an Astro Mixamp Pro 2011 version as well as a 3.5mm/male to RCA/male cable, to hook it up with my E09k/E17 combo, driving my DT 880's.
Since I'm playing a lot of PSP online atm while skyping on the PC I'd like to know how to make the best use of my equipment, or better said: How/what to connect and which additional cables I need, to get this working... if even possible, so I can get started straight away as soon as that piece arrives.
 
What I want to do: Mixing PSP sound (3.5mm stereo out) with skype sound of PC (USB I assume) and feed it to my E09k. I already know how to use it with stationary consoles thanks to this awesome thread.
Does anyone here know how to realize this?
 
Some PSP (also PS3) Games offer Dolby Pro Logic II Processing in the audio options. Is it recommended to use it in combination with DH?
I know Dolby Headphone needs multichannel sources to offer the virtual surround sound experience but I wasn't able to find anything about how it performs with stereo sources.
 
Oh, since there are 2 mic inputs on the mixamp, besides the "controller" input - one direct input and another one to use with headphones via a Y-cable. Which input would you recommend? This Mixamp has so many inputs... it's not easy for me to deal with all of them, since I'm not able to try it out by myself yet.

I have bought an old Creative Sound Blaster Live! sound card. Can't get cmss-3d out of that damn thing, drivers are soooo outdated. Really need some help. Nameless where are you?!? LOL

ethan7000 said:

If you're using 5.1 with something like Dolby Headphone, use HiFi or Home Cinema. Otherwise, use headphone with enhanced stereo on.

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I'm using playstation av cables running into my arrow 4g and then into my ue 6000

What's the real difference between war tapes, headphone, hifi, or cinema?

Out of all the closed cans I've seen you mention, here and on other threads, I think your best choices would be either the MDs or HP100s, depending on what sound you prefer. I personally believe the 3.2 MDs are superior to all the closed cans I've tried, and are a steal for $300. My second favorite closed can was the HP100 (also a steal for its $200 price tag), a very engaging can on the low end but quite U-shaped when compared to the more neutral MDs.
 
Quote:

mshenay said:

I still want something like the Dt 880 but closed, and not the dt 770 variants... the HP Sound Magic has come up, and the Mad Dogs are always an option... but out of my previously Hifiman they where too warm... any suggestion Mad? [I love my w1000x but it's not portable] something around the $300 mark 

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Maybe I can help, here, since I currently have the MDs and went through a few closed cans to find the ones I liked the most.
 
Quote:

mad lust envy said:

Sorry I'm really not well versed in closed headphones.

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mpawluk91 said:

I'm using playstation av cables running into my arrow 4g and then into my ue 6000

What's the real difference between war tapes, headphone, hifi, or cinema?

Click to expand...

Headphone is meant for headphones (surprise) and is a stereo output. The rest work for 5.1 output or virtualized 5.1 like Dolby headphone. In headphones with DH I only notice a small difference between HiFi and home cinema, either works fine. I like the more up close sound of my weapon in HiFi and keep it set there. War tapes is meant to give you an action movie feel to the sound with guns and explosions being more visceral, but at the cost of positional accuracy (definitely not for playing in any competitive sense). I personally don't like war tapes at all, but try them and see what you like.