hedonism said:

  Is there a way to have sound on both a computer and PS3 play through the same audio system simultaneously?
 
What I have is a Bifrost as a source running optical into the PS3, but that means I don't have an audio system for my computer whenever I play my PS3.

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There are switches that allow you to have multiple sources active simultaneously, or you could use certain Y cords (MM>F) to get the effect. You'll need to balance volume separately, obviously.

axelcloris said:

   
Yes, there is analog to digital conversion, but the only way those are relevant in a gaming environment is for the mic input. Digital to analog is what you are using when you're talking about headphones and surround processing. Technically they are included in devices like the Recon3D and Mixamp but we don't really talk about the AD converters since there's really not much to talk about.

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I have a adl esprit dac that I use for recording vinyl..it changes analogue to digital aswell as digital to analogue ..I am not sure if the mix amp will pass through the signal from the dac because I don't own one..but people who do own one and have a dac will know that..mad lust envy must have tried loads of different combos!

salx said:

I always had my eye on the K712's: anybody here had experience with both the K's 712 and 612?

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Change is Good has owned both. He is loaning the k612 to Mad soon as the mail is sorted out, and a couple weeks after that I'm giving them a listen. Change hasn't written a review as far as I'm aware, BUT from all the conversations I've had with him he has been ecstatic about the K612. I bet the K712 is overall a bit better, but only if your budget can justify the price difference.

stillhart said:

Hmm, so you can't use a DAC and surround, it's one or the other?  Or do you mean you just have to have it inline with a mixamp or something?

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The Mixamp/Recon3D USB isn't just a processor... It also is the DAC in the chain. Optical input is digital, the headphone out is analogue.

If you sent a 5.1 DDL signal to another DAC like a Bifrost, the Bifrost would not be able to recognize the signal and you would either hear nothing at all or something... not pretty. A Bifrost could work for a regular stereo PCM signal sent over optical though, but it wouldn't be processing positional data.

I have to admit, I suggested the Vali because it's not very expensive (for a tube amp) while not being of crap build quality (like an Indeed or Bravo), but I haven't heard the amp myself. From the reviews I've read, the character described sounds like one of my favourite tubes I've heard with my Q701 (a Sylvania JAN-6DJ8 mil-spec tube), but I don't know for sure. That said, the Q701 has a very linear response to output ohms, meaning that as long as it can tap into a good reservoir of current, it won't matter if the Vali was designed for higher impedance headphones... unless AxelCloris knows that there is a different issue, where you have to keep the volume turned really low to keep the Q701 from sounding too loud.

The closest tube amp I know of to the one I use is Garage1217's "Project Amber," but that's a bigger price than I paid. I think garage1217's other amps are also a good intro to tube sound, like the Project Starlight and Project Sunrise II. The design of my amp is related to those, though it's closest to the Amber.


So... uh... Back to gaming headphones then?

axelcloris said:

   
I disagree. I would make that same statement about the HD700. But I definitely prefer the sound of the HD800 over it. The HD800 is actually more comfortable if you wear it backwards and reverse the cables.

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Agree. The both are no slouch in terms of comfort, but the HD 700 is hands downs more comfortable. I would even say the most comfortable full-sized can on the market.

martin vegas said:

I have a adl esprit dac that I use for recording vinyl..it changes analogue to digital aswell as digital to analogue ..I am not sure if the mix amp will pass through the signal from the dac because I don't own one..but people who do own one and have a dac will know that..mad lust envy must have tried loads of different combos!

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Honestly there's really no reason to use a Mixamp with vinyl since it won't be adding anything. Since we're in the gaming guide I've been responding on the assumption that people posting questions are asking in regards to gaming with a DSP. You can run an analog signal into a Mixamp but if so then you're not properly utilizing it. And converting analog vinyl to digital to run it through a Mixamp does nothing since vinyl isn't encoded into Dolby Digital 5.1 when it runs through an AD converter.
 
I have owned the Mixamp alongside other DACs and the only reason to run multiple DACs, so to speak, is in when you can't output 5.1 from a computer. You would use something like a Xonar U3 to output a 5.1 digital signal into an external DAC. That way the U3 is processing the signal for Dolby Headphone but it isn't converting the signal to analog, that's for the DAC further down the chain. The U3 has a DAC built in but you won't be utilizing it for that purpose.

axelcloris said:

   
Honestly there's really no reason to use a Mixamp with vinyl since it won't be adding anything. Since we're in the gaming guide I've been responding on the assumption that people posting questions are asking in regards to gaming with a DSP. You can run an analog signal into a Mixamp but if so then you're not properly utilizing it. And converting analog vinyl to digital to run it through a Mixamp does nothing since vinyl isn't encoded into Dolby Digital 5.1 when it runs through an AD converter.
 
I have owned the Mixamp alongside other DACs and the only reason to run multiple DACs, so to speak, is in when you can't output 5.1 from a computer. You would use something like a Xonar U3 to output a 5.1 digital signal into an external DAC. That way the U3 is processing the signal for Dolby Headphone but it isn't converting the signal to analog, that's for the DAC further down the chain. The U3 has a DAC built in but you won't be utilizing it for that purpose.

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No I didn't mean that,i was just saying that some dacs have adc aswell as dac conversion.. I think Evshrug has said that they won't be any sound with a dac to a mix amp combo anyway, but thanks for taking the time axel!

martin vegas said:

No I didn't mean that,i was just saying that some dacs have adc aswell as dac conversion.. I think Evshrug has said that they won't be any sound with a dac to a mix amp combo anyway, but thanks for taking the time axel!

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Not a problem. I just don't want people who are new to the thread to possibly get confused by introducing the topic of AD converters. Since you're a vinyl user you understand what they do but someone coming here for the first time who's been raised on mp3s and iPods might get the wrong idea.

axelcloris said:

   
I have owned the Mixamp alongside other DACs and the only reason to run multiple DACs, so to speak, is in when you can't output 5.1 from a computer. You would use something like a Xonar U3 to output a 5.1 digital signal into an external DAC. That way the U3 is processing the signal for Dolby Headphone but it isn't converting the signal to analog, that's for the DAC further down the chain. The U3 has a DAC built in but you won't be utilizing it for that purpose.

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See now this is what I was wondering about with my original question.  It seems it's possible to get the best of both worlds, but you have to be on a PC.  Sounds card does the 5.1->stereo virtual surround conversion but still outputs digital stereo to good DAC/Amp combo.
 
I hope that if/when the PS4 and Xbone can do the on-board virtual surround processing, you can just slap a DAC/Amp combo on there for awesome sound.  Plug the mic from the headset directly into the controller and you're done.  (See how I brought that back around to console gaming?  lol)

stillhart said:

  See now this is what I was wondering about with my original question.  It seems it's possible to get the best of both worlds, but you have to be on a PC.  Sounds card does the 5.1->stereo virtual surround conversion but still outputs digital stereo to good DAC/Amp combo.
 
I hope that if/when the PS4 and Xbone can do the on-board virtual surround processing, you can just slap a DAC/Amp combo on there for awesome sound.  Plug the mic from the headset directly into the controller and you're done.  (See how I brought that back around to console gaming?  lol)

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I'd love for developers to start taking advantage of the DSPs included with consoles. The Xbone and PS4 already have hardware that can handle it, but the developers don't program the audio in a way to take advantage of it. When I'm at PAX East next month I'll be asking every console developer about it since the PS4 was showing off the hardware for AMD TrueAudio; hopefully someone is going to start using it in the next year or so. But with devices like the Mixamp and Recon3D out there, there's not a whole lot of incentive for them to take the time to implement the audio.

hedonism said:

  Is there a way to have sound on both a computer and PS3 play through the same audio system simultaneously?
 
What I have is a Bifrost as a source running optical into the PS3, but that means I don't have an audio system for my computer whenever I play my PS3.

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I just found this on Monoprice:  http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=104&cp_id=10423&cs_id=1042302&p_id=2946&seq=1&format=2
 
It's a 3-way optical switch, which should let you switch your input from PS3 to PC with the flip of a switch.  You won't be able to listen to both simultaneously, but I don't think that's what you were asking.
 
I may use this to setup my system like this:
 
Xbox->Switch->Recon->AVR (for Amping)->Headphones
Xbox->Switch->AVR->5.1 Speakers
 
This lets me use the AVR as a headphone amp to boost the output of the Recon, while easily letting me use it for regular speakers as well.  My current setup will let me use the AVR and the Recon at the same time, but the AVR comes before the Recon so I can't use it to amp.

stillhart said:

  I just found this on Monoprice:  http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=104&cp_id=10423&cs_id=1042302&p_id=2946&seq=1&format=2
 
It's a 3-way optical switch, which should let you switch your input from PS3 to PC with the flip of a switch.  You won't be able to listen to both simultaneously, but I don't think that's what you were asking.
 
I may use this to setup my system like this:
 
Xbox->Switch->Recon->AVR (for Amping)->Headphones
Xbox->Switch->AVR->5.1 Speakers
 
This lets me use the AVR as a headphone amp to boost the output of the Recon, while easily letting me use it for regular speakers as well.  My current setup will let me use the AVR and the Recon at the same time, but the AVR comes before the Recon so I can't use it to amp.

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Actually I think Hedonism was wanting both to play together. Chicolom owns this puppy and I recall him saying that it can have multiple sources active simultaneously, allowing for a mix of the two/three/four. Downside is that it's RCA and 1/8" only, so you'll need to have the right connections for it.

Hi,
 
I listen to a lot of music, a little bit of everything, from rock to pop, from blues to metal, from alternative to folk. Oh, and classical and choral music when I'm working or relaxing.
 
Basically, Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Cranberries, Coldplay, Beatles, Queen, Eddie Vedder, Eric Clapton, Dire Straits, SOAD, Iron Maiden, Mumford and Sons + classical music + recent hits.
 
I can get the HD650s used (bought last December from Amazon.fr) for 250€. On the other hand, the HD600s cost me about 270/280€ new, shipped from there too. Which ones would you recommend to me?
 
I must state I'll also be doing gaming and plan on pairing the headphones up with a ZxR soundcard or this new iteration of the Essence STX.
 
The guy who is selling me the HD650s also has the HD598s for sale for 100€, and I arranged an audition of the two headphones with him. Do you think the 598s can complement the HD650s in any way, or if I buy the 650s there should be no point in getting the HD598s too?

martin vegas said:

No I didn't mean that, I was just saying that some dacs have adc as well as dac conversion.. I think Evshrug has said that they won't be any sound with a dac to a mix amp combo anyway, but thanks for taking the time axel!

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That's not what I was saying, let me try again to clarify:
A typical DAC can only convert a stereo signal to stereo analogue. So if a console sends DDL 5.1 to a Bifrost, you're gonna have a bad time.

A Mixamp will take a digital surround signal (Dolby Digital Live 5.1, which is actually a bit compressed to fit in the bandwidth of an optical cable), use a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) to convert that DDL signal to a stereo signal specially processed with DH (Dolby Headphone) to sound like a 5.1 speaker setup, then the Mixamp uses it's DAC (Digital to Analogue Converter) to convert the stereo specially mixed with DH into stereo analogue, and then amps it (a bit) so the user can control volume.

axelcloris said:

Actually I think Hedonism was wanting both to play together. Chicolom owns this puppy and I recall him saying that it can have multiple sources active simultaneously, allowing for a mix of the two/three/four. Downside is that it's RCA and 1/8" only, so you'll need to have the right connections for it.

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Thanks for finding that, I forgot what it was called or where it could be bought.

Incidentally, both the Mixamp and DSS have auxiliary stereo 3.5mm inputs, designed to allow gamers to play music while gaming, but you could feasibly add any stereo analogue audio to the "mix." That doesn't solve Stillhart's puzzle (the accessory you linked does), but just sharing for everyone's info

[so, just to confuse Martin Vegas since there would be no point in doing this, with a Mixamp's aux analogue input you technically could connect a bifrost's analogue output to the Mixamp, but you wouldn't want to because the audio quality would be cut down to the Mixamp's quality level.

stillhart said:

I just found this on Monoprice:  http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=104&cp_id=10423&cs_id=1042302&p_id=2946&seq=1&format=2

It's a 3-way optical switch, which should let you switch your input from PS3 to PC with the flip of a switch.  You won't be able to listen to both simultaneously, but I don't think that's what you were asking.

I may use this to setup my system like this:

Xbox->Switch->Recon->AVR (for Amping)->Headphones
Xbox->Switch->AVR->5.1 Speakers

This lets me use the AVR as a headphone amp to boost the output of the Recon, while easily letting me use it for regular speakers as well.  My current setup will let me use the AVR and the Recon at the same time, but the AVR comes before the Recon so I can't use it to amp.

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Had two of those switches... and they both messed up.

mad lust envy said:

Had two of those switches... and they both messed up.

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Good to know.  The reviews on Amazon seem to say the same thing.  There's a $15 one on Amazon that looks similar but has fewer bad reviews...
 
Might just stick with my current setup and drop $100 on a Magni and be done with it.