Success! I can now use the Boom Pro on a Q701! The adapter is on an inch and a half long. Works like a charm. Wanna test drive the adapter MLE?
 
Also I only considered the mixamp because it was being offered to me at a super good deal... now I'm on the hunt for another int hat same price bracket.

Hey MLE & Co. I've been wondering one thing for a while, that's - has anyone been experiencing distortion with deep explosions, using DH on consoles [meaning being tied to the DSS/Mixamp/etc.]. This solely applies to harder to drive headphones that cannot be driven with the Mixamp/DSS alone and require double-amping [adding a secondary amp to provide additional needed power]
 
Like, what's causing this distortion is the one amp I cannot skip - the DSS.
The headphones are essentially double-amped [1]DSS->2]external amp]
I at first thought it was the particular headphone as the external amp was always strong enough with plenty headroom...
But now that I think about it, it is the weak, measly DSS that even though backed up by a more powerful amplifier is still being over-driven and causing big amounts of distortion with bigger amounts of deeper bass.
 
Well, I am convinced that is almost certainly the case... That'd mean that every console gamer who uses a harder to drive headphone [i.e. - has to use a secondary amp] must have noticed it - deep explosions cause distortion with harder to drive headphones.
 
My setup has always been as follows console -> toslink out-in -> DSS -> headphone out [-> 1/8 to RCA adapter -> external amp] -> headphones
 
As long as the DSS/Mixamp can drive the headphone fine on its own, the distortion doesn't happen [even when using a secondary amp just for the sake of it] but when it cannot drive it, and a secondary amp will provide the remaining needed power, but due to zero overhead on the DSS it will still distort.
 
Can this be reduced somehow? Other than by using easy to drive headphones? Like it doesn't happen with the MA900/X1 [easy to drive] but it does happen with the K612/HE-X[XX] [hard to drive].
 
I would expect that mentioned in the preface somewhere though...
 
No solution to that it seems, for me? :/
 
Thanks!
 
A pic:

 

Conq,
I don't hear bass distortion with my DSS and either my Q701 or K712 unless the bass boost is turned up... with or without a second amp. I usually have the DSS at less than full volume while double-amping, and the bass boost quite low unless I "want" boomy bass (sometimes, it's fun).

Edit: that's not a DSS, that's one of the transmitter stations. Are you using that or a DSS?

change is good said:

I see another review coming!

Guess we'll wait on sending you those AKGs. That is, if Ev hasn't sent his to me already

Click to expand...

We already que'd up
Something else might be going on here tho: Chico, you, and I have already heard the K712's (and liked em!), you, kman111, and I think Conq have already heard the K612... We'd love to share with him just as he wants to share the Crushers, but maybe he is only interested if he gets to "discover new lands," if you get what I'm sayin

I've got the K712 Pro box from my old house now, so you can have the "full" experience again. Though I kinda want to hold on to the coil cable for convenience, lol!

evshrug said:

Conq,
I don't hear bass distortion with my DSS and either my Q701 or K712 unless the bass boost is turned up... with or without a second amp. I usually have the DSS at less than full volume while double-amping, and the bass boost quite low unless I "want" boomy bass (sometimes, it's fun).

Edit: that's not a DSS, that's one of the transmitter stations. Are you using that or a DSS?
We already que'd up
Something else might be going on here tho: Chico, you, and I have already heard the K712's (and liked em!), you, kman111, and I think Conq have already heard the K612... We'd love to share with him just as he wants to share the Crushers, but maybe he is only interested if he gets to "discover new lands," if you get what I'm sayin

I've got the K712 Pro box from my old house now, so you can have the "full" experience again. Though I kinda want to hold on to the coil cable for convenience, lol!

Click to expand...

Yes I am using that station because it is a DH certified device and seems identical to the DSS/mixamp.
There's no bass boost function but I'll try to reduce the volume more.
It really only happens with those sub-bass explosions and it might actually be partially down to the headphone. + the slight DH bass boost (I am convinced there's slight)

EDIT - seems like I had it maxed out for some reason... Facepalm. Will test tomorrow and see if reducing the volume helped. Though I am not too positive about it xP

You don't KNOW it's identical to the DSS in implimentation, it might have a crappy amp or have an always-on hardware bass boost. The DSS doesn't distort bass unless the bass is boosted up (and even then it doesn't get very bad).

Still, it's helpful to ease off from the amp's max "wall" that the power draw of the bass might be hitting.

evshrug said:

You don't KNOW it's identical to the DSS in implimentation, it might have a crappy amp or have an always-on hardware bass boost. The DSS doesn't distort bass unless the bass is boosted up (and even then it doesn't get very bad).

Still, it's helpful to ease off from the amp's max "wall" that the power draw of the bass might be hitting.

Click to expand...

Well since it only really happens with neutral hard to drive headphones I am inclined to think there's a bass boost probably but I really don't think it's the amps fault ( it doesn't hiss or anything at the highest volume as usually associated with very low amps)
It's down to a particular game too. When the explosions are both reasonably tight and punchy it does not. When the explosion is all boom and sub-bass like COD it sometimes does... I am starting to think that neutral headphones simply cannot reproduce that by nature because they were not meant to in the first place... Bass heavy cans don't distort there so that supports my theory.

*shrug*
At least we're exploring.
Good luck when you test it out later

zombie_x said:

  MLE, you were looking for a way to hook up the Boom Pro to the Q701, right? I think that's something I'll experiment with. I have mini XLR's on hand and I'll order a 1/8 jack. Lets see if I can rig something up. I'm pretty sure I can fit a 1/8" jack in the body of the mini XLR no problem.

Click to expand...

 
If you can get something like that working, I'd probably buy one off you.

jhex2 said:

You are correct, I mute the game audio through the headset adapter and click the chat audio button until that's the only thing coming through it. Game audio through the DSS, Chat audio through the chat adapter.

Click to expand...

Hey Jhex2, do you get complaints that your party is hearing an echo with this setup? I was just partied up with a group and it was the first time running in the same configuration as you described. Everyone said they could hear an echo and when looking at the green circle next to my name in the party list it would flash any time someone said anything. Only difference I can think of between my setup and yours is I'm running the x41 transmitter base as my source vs the dss but don't think that would make much difference.

@Zombie_X Can you post a photo of your Q701 setup with the BoomPro Mic?  I have the K712 and am very curious on how to accomplish this 

e10turbi said:

Hey Jhex2, do you get complaints that your party is hearing an echo with this setup? I was just partied up with a group and it was the first time running in the same configuration as you described. Everyone said they could hear an echo and when looking at the green circle next to my name in the party list it would flash any time someone said anything. Only difference I can think of between my setup and yours is I'm running the x41 transmitter base as my source vs the dss but don't think that would make much difference.

Click to expand...

Never really had an echo tbh. Not sure why there would be one in the first place? The mic is wired separately and no reason the mic should be picking up any sort of audio while you're using headphones?
 
The only thing I can think of is if your 2 female to 1 male 3.5mm adapter connected to the chat adapter is the issue. Mine has separate mic and headphone inputs, so if yours doesnt that might be a problem. Maybe chat audio is coming through the mic too?

evshrug said:

Everyone has a favourite. My fav, for your situation, is Creative's Recon3D USB. I have an extensive review in my sig. Another plus not mentioned there: the mic input works! It comes with all needed cables.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. I have a SB Omni 3D, but haven't really put it through its paces yet. This is good as it shares many features with the Recon 3D and will give me a chance to form an opinion.
 
I wanted to have parity between my console and PC gaming so wanted to find out if there was a general consensus as to what is considered the best surround processor. It has only been the last year or so that I've started becoming interested in audio equipment and am quickly learning that this is an area of interest where the key word is subjectivity when it comes to opinions.

napalmhardcore said:

  Thanks for the reply. I have a SB Omni 3D, but haven't really put it through its paces yet. This is good as it shares many features with the Recon 3D and will give me a chance to form an opinion.
 
I wanted to have parity between my console and PC gaming so wanted to find out if there was a general consensus as to what is considered the best surround processor. It has only been the last year or so that I've started becoming interested in audio equipment and am quickly learning that this is an area of interest where the key word is subjectivity when it comes to opinions.

Click to expand...

 
That's very correct.  I suggest watching the comparison videos in both this guide and Evshrug's guide.  Get an idea of which surround processing you like best.  For me, I prefer THX to Dolby Headphone.  It seems many more people prefer DH.  You have to decide for yourself.  Once you've picked a surround style you like, it should help pare down your choices a lot.

The Omni is nice, I have one of those too, but it doesn't have the ability to decode DDL 5.1 surround from a console, sadly. But yeah, there is not a consensus on what is best (just which is cheapest, most expensive, most versatile).

stillhart said:

   
That's very correct.  I suggest watching the comparison videos in both this guide and Evshrug's guide.  Get an idea of which surround processing you like best.  For me, I prefer THX to Dolby Headphone.  It seems many more people prefer DH.  You have to decide for yourself.  Once you've picked a surround style you like, it should help pare down your choices a lot.

Click to expand...

I'll do that. Thanks for the advice.
 

evshrug said:

The Omni is nice, I have one of those too, but it doesn't have the ability to decode DDL 5.1 surround from a console, sadly. But yeah, there is not a consensus on what is best (just which is cheapest, most expensive, most versatile).

Click to expand...

I bought the Omni as I thought the in-built mics might enable me to use headphones without a mic. Being naively optimistic I contacted Creative asking if they may support the Omni on the PS3/4 in future. They told me that the Omni is only compatible with PC/Mac and then suggested I may like to buy one of their headsets. This simultaneously annoyed and amused me.