Mad Lust Envy's Headphone Gaming Guide: (Updated: 5/17/13. Skullcandy PLYR 1 added) - Page 532

Thanks for the confirmation MLE :)

 

Paradux: I haven't found the 600ohm version at my usual vendors. Buying it elsewhere will probably be way more expensive. From what I read, the difference is small so I don't think it's worth it :)

 

For your second question, I haven't bought the actual hardware yet, I'm still hesitating on which internal PC soundcard I should buy :s

Is this for 100% PC gaming? If so could you not just get a powered sound card and skip the desktop amp?

Hm, good question. It would be mainly for PC use, and occasionally Xbox use.

 

The initial idea was, following NamelessPFG's recommendation, to buy a X-Fi Titanium. It was questionable whether this card would be strong enough for the Bayer, so I added the amp to my list to be sure.

 

From what I read around the X-Fi Titanium does a better job at positioning and virtual surround in general, and also supports much better virtual surround on certain types of games (using OpenAL or DirectSound).

 

However I'm worrying about the difference between the normal and "HD" version, which is double the price. I also don't know how much better the sound processing will be, and if I'll actually benefit from it since I'll only be playing recent games on Windows 7.  Moreover I read a lot of bad things about the bad drivers and support from Creative.

 

 

That's a lot of things only somebody with experience can tell me. I wouldn't want to miss on the experience if it's really worth it, but if it's really minor or if I'm not going to benefit from it in my games, there is also the Xonar which could have a better sound quality, and comprise a headphones amp.

 

I'm a bit lost here, I have no experience with sound cards and no objective way to compare them ^^'

A used X-Fi Titanium (non-HD) sells for $45 at Newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102043

 

A used Fiio E9 headphone amplifier, $78

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B004M172FY/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used

 

This combo should do fine for PC gaming, for $123.

 

Ok, I guess my actual question is are the Mixamp Pro's they are selling now, the same ones that are branded "A40 mixamp" that look like the Mixamp Pro? Didn't know if they had changed anything to improve after the A40 version.

 

Thanks

-Erik

 

 

Unfortunately neither of these sellers will ship to Europe. Thanks a lot for the tips though :)

 

Do you have an opinion on the sound card by the way?

 

The main difference between the basic X-Fi Titanium and the Titanium HD is that the latter has higher-quality analog outputs, but only 2 channels worth compared to 8.

 

As for drivers, use this pack. Works pretty well for me when I use it with non-Titanium HD cards. (The Titanium HD isn't supported, but the existing drivers are reliable enough that I wouldn't need to bother anyway.)

 

By the way, you'll find complaints about audio drivers for just about any device out there, not just Creative hardware. I've seen my fair share of complaints about Asus and Realtek drivers already. It's like audio device drivers are forever doomed to suck for some people no matter what they get.

 

As for the "not shipping outside the US" issue...again, I can help with that.

I believe the older A40 labeled versions are 5.1 simulated, while the "Pro" moniker has simulated 7.1... not that there's any real world difference between the two. Comparing the 7.1 Pro version to the 5.1 AX decoder box, I hear little to no difference in sound, only in floor/white noise.

The Mixamp pro and Mixamp 5.8 are the only Mixamps currently sold as new, AFAIK.

Mad has almost all the headphone surround processors reviewed and listed on the first post, near the bottom, except for Creative's CMSS-3D and Yamaha's proprietary Silent Cinema (which I have on a receiver, and it's effectiveness basically matches Mad's description of DH mode 3 in my opinion).
Edited by Evshrug - 10/2/12 at 1:05pm

 

Thanks, that's reassuring! I'm think I'm going to take a leap of faith and trust you on this :)

 

I don't think I need the other output channels as I'll only be plugging the headphones, there is nothing else I have to plug in. In this case, which of the two do you think scales the best with the DT770 and the O2 amp? Will it make a difference?

 

 

Well, it's really not worth it for the titanium as I can get it at a fair price here, but the E9 would have been interesting since I was thinking about other sound cards. I'm just very afraid of the customs, from what I have read if it's not a big transporter like UPS/Fedex, there is a fair chance to go through untaxed... but otherwise it can be easily 30% of US price + 20 to 50€. Also, no way for me to use the warranty in case something happens (I've got a huge history of bad luck with hardware :P).

 

But anyway, if I get the Titanium, I think I'll better keep to the O2 as I'll be using it for both PC and Xbox extensively. I was quite hyped from reading about this amp, sound definitely superior so I'll stick to it. But thanks again for the offer, and your advices. You're a huge help!

Nameless is definitely our main soundcard guru, although I would also trust PurpleAngel. I think Purple Angel was just making a suggestion to save you a couple bucks like I was with the Recon3D, but if you're happily set on the O2 I believe Epiphany Audio is the European (located in the UK) distributor. I was sorely tempted to get an O2 as well, but I made the personal decision to go with a tube amp for my AKG's.

Thank goodness I don't have a pet, lol!

Edit: Oh, and as a personal opinion, I don't know why a soundcard should have true 5.1 or 7.1 channel speaker outputs. The way I see it, a pc gaming station is going to either be
1.) mostly like an office, where a Logitech 5.1 setup with near-field speakers seems like a mediocre experience and headphones by far make more sense, or
2.) in your living room hooked up to a home theater system, with good passive speakers requiring at least an integrated amp, so the soundcard would essentially be just acting as a DAC to pass the signal along to the integrated amp/receiver.
I might be missing something, like if the optical-out can pass all the channels out to the integrated amp, but if I was going for a surround speaker setup, passive speakers and a couch or lazyboy are just way more suitable IMO.
Edited by Evshrug - 10/2/12 at 1:54pm

I was thinking of picking up a used A40 mixamp, that is why I'm asking.

 

-Erik

TRY THIS ONE WEIRD BUT REALLY USEFUL TOOL!

Yeah, the A40 is the headphone, and the Mixamp that comes with it is the wired version, and should perform very well for you (as long as you are part of the majority that virtual surround works for).

From Astro's page on the A40 audio system:
http://www.astrogaming.com/a40-audio-system-astro-edition
"The A40 Audio System pairs the award-winning A40 Headset with the MixAmp™ Pro, infusing your gaming audio with incredibly accurate Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound and puts game/voice balancing controls right at your fingertips."
Edited by Evshrug - 10/2/12 at 2:42pm

 

I can see that. That's why I'll religiously wait for his advice on this :D

 

 

Yep, I'll indeed be buying from Epiphany Acoustics, it's just a 10£ shipping for me (and no taxes, thanks EU!).

 

I think the soundcard optical out can indeed be used to get all channels with the audio treatment of the soundcard on top of it. However, although I'm not knowledgeable in surround systems, I think good ones will have their own DSP and DAC, so it might be enough to just get it from the motherboard itself. Speakers is not something I'd buy in the foreseeable years anyway :P

I have a Yamaha receiver and one pair of Polk Audio M40 speakers that are on clearance over here. They were great in my apartment, but I didn't want to bother people with them late at night, and while I'm in-between jobs and not at my "own place" right now, all my stereo equip is packed away in boxes
While Silent Cinema was cool and did headphone surround alright, I had been wishing I had bought a receiver with a mic for room equalization. Those auto-setups aren't perfect, but I'm no pro and I can't get it quite right myself. I prefer the Recon3D's headphone surround implementation anyway, personally. So that's something for future reference, you never know...

P.S. in my other post above, did you get the reference to those "lose weight with this weird but simple tip!" web ads?
Edited by Evshrug - 10/2/12 at 2:43pm