Too much info to digest. Help please.

Alright, so a few years ago, I bought myself a pair of turtle beach X41 as everyone I knew said they were the best thing since sliced bread. Turns out, I am very displeased with them. and have my mind set on acquiring a new set of headphones.

Major complaints about this set

Very cheap/plasticy feeling

Wifi interferes and cuts out my audio with loud popping quite regularly

No bass, trying to use an EQ to add bass results in major distortion and popping.

5.1 is a joke. Only once in a great while will it help me know where someone is on a FPS, rest of the time, I find myself running circles trying to pinpoint a noise.

I do like the fact that they are wireless, but I have to have a wire for the mic anyways, so defeats the purpose. and battery life is horrible as well, so I have to change batteries mid game.

I'd really rather a full 7.1 setup, but my current environment says otherwise. Headphones are my best option at the moment.

Did some reading recently, I think the best option would be a pair of regular stereo phones with a mixer to give me a virtual 5.1/7.1 when I need it. Unless technology has advanced recently where they have 5.1/7.1 that give that authentic experience.

This thread here http://www.head-fi.org/t/513400/best-5-1-7-1-headphones suggests the DT880 and mixamp, but seeing as how it is a few years old, i'm sure there is something later and greater.

Biggest things for me right now would be 

Bass, i am a total bass head. I want the most powerful bass imaginable. I enjoy the feel of my head rattling around when basslines hit on my favorite music, but not at the cost of un-clear mids-highs. Very complex tools my ears are, very hard to describe what they enjoy.

Possibility of surround sound to help with the immersion of gaming

Chat functionality, whether it is built into the headphone or not. Gotta be able to chat with the buddies.

Thanks ahead of time!

P.S. any way to change my user name? made this account years ago, since I have a new online alias which I prefer. "Cheetohz" if an admin sees this and has the power to do so, please change it.

He describes them to be pretty awesome. He said it is slightly lacking in the bass department. but nothing to complain about.

Also, I just use the built in EQ of windows 7. Soundcard is the one built into the Asrock Extreme3 Gen3

Listed on the specs from the manufacturer

- 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec)
- Premium Blu-ray audio support
- Supports THX TruStudio™

Should I be looking into a sound card? I read that for PCs, the mixamp is unnecessary.

Here is my local shop where I can test out headphones for my own personal knowledge

http://www.onecall.com/search/Headphones/_/N-956?PMNID=2011

Anything I should consider taking a peek at from there?

Yeah, the DT series was suggested in the thread I found and is what I was originally considering. Figured they were old and outdated by now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric_C 

OP: MixAmp in particular may not be necessary for PC gaming, but when your soundcard says that it can do 7.1, that could mean 7.1 on 7 speakers + 1 subwoofer.

You're trying to do virtual surround on headphones--i.e. 7.1 on 2.0 sound.

 

Does your soundcard do that?

Edit: It appears as if it does. When I go into the utility provided with the latest driver, and select stereo output, I get an option for virtual surround.

On mousover, I get this:

Virtual surround encodes surround audio for transfer as stereo output to receivers with a Matrix decoder

Now, would that signal be compatible directly to the headphones, or would I need that decoder inbetween?

Quote:

Originally Posted by macrocheesium 

 

Audio equipment isn't like that; there haven't been too many advances lately. What sounded great 10 years ago sounds great today.

I'd assume minus the components that were physically made 10 years ago and have been subject to deterioration... Hehe, anyways. thanks for the heads up.