Mad Lust Envy's Headphone Gaming Guide: (8/18/2022: iFi GO Blu Review Added)
Sep 26, 2012 at 4:35 AM Post #7,756 of 48,566
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Would i need dolby prologic IIx enabled too? or should i disable that?

Should not need to use Dolby Pro Logic IIx, so leave unchecked.
 
Sep 26, 2012 at 4:38 AM Post #7,757 of 48,566
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The Asus Xonar DG (PCI) sound card, will do Dolby Headphone surround sound and it's $30.99 minus $10 mail in rebate = $20.99.
The DG comes with a half-way decent headphone amplifier.
So if you can't get your current setup to finally work, just get the DG and leave the mix-amp hooked up to your console.

that sounds liike a good idea.
my only concern about that is will it improve the sound? or will it remain the same?
I havent had a big chance to play with them on a open world game, mostly league of legends but im enjoying them the way they are.
I tried them with black ops zombie mode, they sounded great, but i dont have xbox live so i cant see how good they are for picking up footsteps.
 
Sep 26, 2012 at 4:44 AM Post #7,758 of 48,566
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that sounds liike a good idea.
my only concern about that is will it improve the sound? or will it remain the same?
I havent had a big chance to play with them on a open world game, mostly league of legends but im enjoying them the way they are.
I tried them with black ops zombie mode, they sounded great, but i dont have xbox live so i cant see how good they are for picking up footsteps.

Chances are the DG will improve the audio quality over your motherboard's built in audio.
 
Sep 26, 2012 at 4:59 AM Post #7,759 of 48,566
Can anyone tell me how bad the sound leakage can be for the HD558's? It's my biggest worry for this headphone otherwise I'd buy it in a heartbeat.


If they are 10 feet from you, they'll be able to hear it. If you have it ear piercingly loud, it will be audible as background noise, but it's not like having a radio on low. If they are in another room, even with the door open, they shouldn't hear it, other than maybe the treble.
 
Sep 26, 2012 at 5:43 AM Post #7,761 of 48,566
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Do you...do you have a Sieveking for an M50?? They cost as much (if not more) than the headphone!
If you want a headphone for pure gaming, I'd just skip over the 650. It's known for tricky amping requirements, and not known for gaming. On the other hand, the Beyers are known for gaming and easier amping, so you might as well go with those. If I were you I'd pick a 990--as MLE mentioned recently, the 770 can sound a little muffled. 
 
Consider picking up a 250 ohm model if voice chat isn't necessary.
 
Are you using an kind of MixAmp-like device?


Its China made, just 10usd lol... Got it from Taobao.com
I also do music, so I consider the 650 also. Thanks for the advice, I will try the 990 when I go to Hongkong. There are only 250 ohm version only in Hongkong, at least in my friend's store.
I'm using Fiio e17, is it enough?
 
Sep 26, 2012 at 6:46 AM Post #7,762 of 48,566
So basicly not too bad.
Also how do the HD558's stand again't the DT770 80 ohm's for gaming?


I haven't heard the 558, but owned the 598, which is superior. In any case, the 598 is the opposite of the DT770 Pro 80. The DT770s are lots of bass and not a lot of detail. The 598 is all detail, and not a lot of bass. The 558 supposedly trades off some detail for bass compared to the 598, though it will definitely not copare to the 770 Pro 80 in bass presence. Also, open vs closed, which is a big difference in it of itself. The 558 SHOULD have some pretty stellar soundstage and positioning, probably moreso with the foam removal mod.
 
Sep 26, 2012 at 7:10 AM Post #7,763 of 48,566
TBH I'm not a bass head at all.(Hell last time I owned a base heavy headphone was the sony xb300 and they were too muffled for my taste).
 
Also about the open vs closed, I can't add anything since i never owned an open headphone.(Hence why i'm somewhat nervous about how much sound they will leak).
 
Sep 26, 2012 at 9:34 AM Post #7,764 of 48,566
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Well, it's not Dolby Headphone, but their own "THX TruStudio Surround" processing.  [...] I'd be willing to ship to Brazil, but you'll have to pay the shipping costs. 

 
Lets see, for me is okay to pay the shipping costs, but i have to read better about this THX TruStudio Surround, maybe is better to pay a bit more and get a Dolby Headphone instead of it. 
Just to know, DH now is called Dolby Home Theater?
Quote:
Regarding the Xonar U3:
It looks cool, and it seems to go on sale sometimes. A good cheap device for getting Dolby Headphone out of a computer [...] The main reason I didn't suggest the U3 was that it is USB only, so he could only use it with his computer. Assuming he doesn't pipe in the audio from his consoles to the PC...
Also, if he just watches movies on PC, getting a Dolby Headphone software plug-in may be the most frugal way to get surround.
Regarding the Recon3D:
Instead of Dolby Headphone, the Recon3D uses THX Pro Surround to make headphone surround from Dolby or PCM 5.1 channel audio [...]

 
If have an USB product that have Toslink input and output and Dolby Headphone/Home Theater (the same??), isn't a problem for me use my desktop or notebook to make all work (for example, plug my Xbox output on my notebook audio soundcard by toslink, and my headphone on my soundcards output.
 
On Creatives site i find the X-Fi HD Sound Card, that have optical input, but the "users review" tell that not encode DTS/Dolby... If i buy any soundcard (cheapest) that have an optical INPUT, can i use MPC or Foobar to execute "Dolby Headphone codec" and output by my laptop's 3.5mm output?
 
So i will just need to plug my "cheap USB soundcard" on my HTPC (if i want to play Xbox/Wii/see movies) or my notebook, and allright?
 
Other thing, Xbox and Wii have a "headphone" mode? If i plug a good headphone and put the Xbox on "surround headphone" or Wii on "surround" mode, it will work? Or is best to put on 5.1 mode and use a codec to get this 5.1 sound and put into Dolby Headphone mode?
 
 
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Besides the mic-in jack, doesn't the optical-in jack double as 3.5mm in? Thats what I was thinking he could use... of course, if the Wii and Xbox are hooked up to the TV, My thinking is that he could just run the optical-out from his Tv to the Recon3D and have a simple setup
smily_headphones1.gif

I'm away from my thingie right now.

 
Quote:
 
What I'm saying is that the 3.5mm aux-in on that jack doesn't work that way, at least not in my brief testing. Creative didn't design it with the Wii in mind.
 
The safe bet for the Wii is to get an Ear Force DSS or SU-DH1, but both are discontinued and don't provide any PC support.

 
Why would't work? Wouldn't the TV pass only what it receives by "RCA" plugs, analog, to the 3.5mm output, still on Pro Logic II signal? Or i can just put an adapter directly from Wii to the soundcard...
 
Sep 26, 2012 at 3:02 PM Post #7,765 of 48,566
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Lets see, for me is okay to pay the shipping costs, but i have to read better about this THX TruStudio Surround, maybe is better to pay a bit more and get a Dolby Headphone instead of it. 
Just to know, DH now is called Dolby Home Theater?
 
If have an USB product that have Toslink input and output and Dolby Headphone/Home Theater (the same??), isn't a problem for me use my desktop or notebook to make all work (for example, plug my Xbox output on my notebook audio soundcard by toslink, and my headphone on my soundcards output.
 
On Creatives site i find the X-Fi HD Sound Card, that have optical input, but the "users review" tell that not encode DTS/Dolby... If i buy any soundcard (cheapest) that have an optical INPUT, can i use MPC or Foobar to execute "Dolby Headphone codec" and output by my laptop's 3.5mm output?
 
So i will just need to plug my "cheap USB soundcard" on my HTPC (if i want to play Xbox/Wii/see movies) or my notebook, and allright?
 
Other thing, Xbox and Wii have a "headphone" mode? If i plug a good headphone and put the Xbox on "surround headphone" or Wii on "surround" mode, it will work? Or is best to put on 5.1 mode and use a codec to get this 5.1 sound and put into Dolby Headphone mode?
 
Why would't work? Wouldn't the TV pass only what it receives by "RCA" plugs, analog, to the 3.5mm output, still on Pro Logic II signal? Or i can just put an adapter directly from Wii to the soundcard...

 
Dolby Home Theater is a suite of Dolby features, one of which happens to be Dolby Headphone.
 
Well, the issue with using sound cards with S/PDIF inputs to act as headphone surround processors for consoles is that they generally can't decode Dolby Digital or DTS signals coming through the inputs. People have tried and run into all sorts of issues. They can encode those formats for output to an A/V receiver, though; that's what Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect do.
 
Neither the Xbox nor the Wii have any headphone modes. The "surround" mode probably just enables Dolby Pro Logic II encoding on the RCA outputs. You'll still hear stereo with PL2-matrixed signals, but if you want to hear the surround cues, you need a PL2 decoder-something that the Recon3D USB is incapable of.
 
For that matter, it's not even capable of using the analog aux-in and outputting it without being connected to a PC. I just tried it, and all I got was silence.
 
It will take stereo PCM signals over S/PDIF, but again, it won't decode Dolby Pro Logic II by itself. This forum thread may suggest a means to use it as a Pro Logic II decoder when used in PC mode, though.
 
Sep 26, 2012 at 9:32 PM Post #7,766 of 48,566
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Its China made, just 10usd lol... Got it from Taobao.com
I also do music, so I consider the 650 also. Thanks for the advice, I will try the 990 when I go to Hongkong. There are only 250 ohm version only in Hongkong, at least in my friend's store.
I'm using Fiio e17, is it enough?

I think I see what you're aiming to do: you would like an M50 replacement for gaming, that is also better than your IE8 for music. How about just considering a pure gaming headphone? You seem to want something that performs well for competitive gaming--if you check MLE's 1st post you will see that the best competitive ones (with low amp requirements) are usually not as good for music. 
 
Stick to the IE8 for music. I had it before and thought it sounded great, if lacking in isolation.
 
Sep 26, 2012 at 10:16 PM Post #7,767 of 48,566
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I think I see what you're aiming to do: you would like an M50 replacement for gaming, that is also better than your IE8 for music. How about just considering a pure gaming headphone? You seem to want something that performs well for competitive gaming--if you check MLE's 1st post you will see that the best competitive ones (with low amp requirements) are usually not as good for music. 
 
Stick to the IE8 for music. I had it before and thought it sounded great, if lacking in isolation.


I will be using 50-50 music and gaming. Nop, I don't want pure gaming cans. Actually, I played less cs go than l4d2 and sc2. So, for cans, its either 990pro or 650 to me.
 
Sep 27, 2012 at 2:37 AM Post #7,769 of 48,566
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Dolby Home Theater is a suite of Dolby features, one of which happens to be Dolby Headphone.
 
Well, the issue with using sound cards with S/PDIF inputs to act as headphone surround processors for consoles is that they generally can't decode Dolby Digital or DTS signals coming through the inputs. People have tried and run into all sorts of issues. They can encode those formats for output to an A/V receiver, though; that's what Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect do.
 
Neither the Xbox nor the Wii have any headphone modes. The "surround" mode probably just enables Dolby Pro Logic II encoding on the RCA outputs. You'll still hear stereo with PL2-matrixed signals, but if you want to hear the surround cues, you need a PL2 decoder-something that the Recon3D USB is incapable of.
 
For that matter, it's not even capable of using the analog aux-in and outputting it without being connected to a PC. I just tried it, and all I got was silence.
 
It will take stereo PCM signals over S/PDIF, but again, it won't decode Dolby Pro Logic II by itself. This forum thread may suggest a means to use it as a Pro Logic II decoder when used in PC mode, though.

Also to add and just throwing this out there because i sure everyone knows this anyway. It's all about card manufacturers paying Dolby Digital masive amounts of money to be able to use their Technologies in their products. "License fees" No pay No play in DDL lol..
 
There are old creative cards that will decode on optical input DDL but are hard to find now oh and some old avr's also that will do it too..
 
Sep 27, 2012 at 2:44 AM Post #7,770 of 48,566
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Odd that you're narrowing it down to 2 choices. What else in the "all-rounder" list have you considered within your budget?


DT 770 pro, being outperformed by 990 pro, so its out. Denon D400 same sq with dt770, more bass but twice the price, out. Ultrasone900pro, hard clamping, out.
So here I am, 650 and 990 pro 250ohm.
I'm satisfied with 650 sq for music, but don't know for gaming. 990 might satisfy my gaming need, but don't know for music.
2 months time for choosing between these 2.
 

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