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Need headphones for gaming setup - Page 2

post #16 of 30
10/22/12 at 1:32am
Thread Starter 

I'm looking for immersive gaming, not competitive.

 

I'm considering the Ultrasone HFI-580 - anyone have any experience? Not sure if it's just me but the pads look pretty small, are they over-ear or on-ear? I'm also looking for a good Australian retailer as most of them seem to be quite expensive here.

 

Having trouble finding that particular card in any of my normal retailers.

 

Great advice, thanks for the help. I may hold off on the soundcard for now - will the onboard on the ASRock Z77 Extreme4 be too low quality for these headphones?

 

EDIT: Found Sennheiser 518 and 280s for cheaper than the Ultrasone HFI-580s, how do they fare in comparison to the Ultrasones and my needs?


Edited by Uncle Chop Chop - 10/22/12 at 3:10am
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post #17 of 30
10/22/12 at 4:26am

Asus Xonar Essence and Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro...that's all you need. Might be slightly out of your budget though.

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post #18 of 30
10/22/12 at 9:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Chop Chop View Post

I'm looking for immersive gaming, not competitive.

 

I'm considering the Ultrasone HFI-580 - anyone have any experience? Not sure if it's just me but the pads look pretty small, are they over-ear or on-ear? I'm also looking for a good Australian retailer as most of them seem to be quite expensive here.

 

Having trouble finding that particular card in any of my normal retailers.

 

Great advice, thanks for the help. I may hold off on the soundcard for now - will the onboard on the ASRock Z77 Extreme4 be too low quality for these headphones?

 

EDIT: Found Sennheiser 518 and 280s for cheaper than the Ultrasone HFI-580s, how do they fare in comparison to the Ultrasones and my needs?

 

The Ultrasone HFI-580 pads are larger than they look on pics, that happens with more of their models as well. They're circumaural (over-ear), with punchy bass that doesn't bleed into the rest of the spectrum, S-Logic helps with positional cues that benefit both immersive and competitive gaming, and are overall a very engaging set. They are a superior set to either the Sennheiser HD518 or HD280.

Which Creative X-Fi models are available from retailers you use?

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Thommohawk View Post

Asus Xonar Essence and Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro...that's all you need. Might be slightly out of your budget though.

 

Asus soundcards have gaming audio as an afterthought. Creative soundcards fully support gaming audio while Asus soundcards partially support it, and external audiophile DACs have zero support.

Also, while the DT990 is a good option, it's far beyond the OP's budget.

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post #19 of 30
10/22/12 at 6:45pm
Thread Starter 

Well, looks like it's the Ultrasone HFI-580s then, cheers for the advice. What's S-Logic by the way?

 

As for soundcards offered by my preferred retailer - there's a USB model (Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround Pro 5.1 USB) and a PCIe model (Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme PCIe). I'd imagine the USB one is useless, and the PCIe one sells for $65. I can look at other retailers if these aren't good options.

 

Anyway, does anyone in Australia have any advice on where to buy the HFI-580s? At a glance, not many places sell them, and the only decent one is $150.

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post #20 of 30
10/22/12 at 7:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Chop Chop View Post

Well, looks like it's the Ultrasone HFI-580s then, cheers for the advice. What's S-Logic by the way?

 

As for soundcards offered by my preferred retailer - there's a USB model (Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround Pro 5.1 USB) and a PCIe model (Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme PCIe). I'd imagine the USB one is useless, and the PCIe one sells for $65. I can look at other retailers if these aren't good options.

 

Anyway, does anyone in Australia have any advice on where to buy the HFI-580s? At a glance, not many places sell them, and the only decent one is $150.

 

S-Logic is a proprietary feature that increases the soundstage, which makes headphones sound wider, so to speak.

When gaming, and having the possibility of using an internal soundcard, it will always be a better option than external models.

What is the exact model of the PCIe X-Fi card you found? If it is a X-Fi XtremeAudio, don't get it as that's not a true X-Fi card, doing software processing and lacking the DSP chip. Bare minimum models are X-Fi Titanium, X-Fi XtremeMusic and X-Fi XtremeGamer.

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post #21 of 30
10/22/12 at 7:48pm
Thread Starter 

Not sure what one it is - here's the page on the site: http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=211&products_id=15544

 

How much do the HFI-580s normally cost for comparison?

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post #22 of 30
10/22/12 at 8:04pm

It seems that's exactly the XtremeAudio model, and is to be avoided since its performance is just not good for the purpose at hand. Unfortunately, that site doesn't seem to have any proper X-Fi card. Do search for a Creative X-Fi Titanium, which is the base PCIe model with the X-Fi DSP chip.

 

The Ultrasone HFI-580 is going for 120$ on Amazon right now.

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post #23 of 30
10/22/12 at 9:34pm
Thread Starter 

I may skip the soundcard for now, then. Will onboard be okay? I'm definitely not an audiophile, and only really wanted the DH/CMSS because I thought it'd be a cheap addition.

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post #24 of 30
10/22/12 at 9:51pm

If you do anything beyond casual (read, Farmville) gaming, I strongly recommend you to search more for the soundcards I listed previously.

 

Putting it gently, onboard audio chips aren't good.

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post #25 of 30
10/23/12 at 2:58pm
Thread Starter 

Well, this is going far beyond what I wanted to pay. I'm not interested enough in audio quality to spend more than $60-70 on a sound card. I was hoping to get the whole setup for under $200 - is it really that much of a compromise? Will the sound chips on a cheaper card like the DGX be acceptable quality? I'm happy to turn down CMSS/DH to lower the cost.

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post #26 of 30
10/23/12 at 3:27pm

You're not understanding, surround virtualization techs like CMSS-3D and DH are merely extras on top of gaming audio support that cards support entirely, partially or don't support at all. If you're not willing to pay for quality gaming audio, just get an Asus Xonar DGX (partial gaming audio support) and be done with it. Further down the line you can always upgrade your setup, but that entry level soundcard will already be an improvement over your current setup.

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post #27 of 30
10/23/12 at 3:41pm
Thread Starter 

Sounds reasonable. So the equipment I'm buying will be:

 

Asus Xonar DGX

Ultrasone HFI-580s

Zalman Mic

 

If there's no issues with that, then I guess I'm done. Thanks a lot for your help! (once again, if anyone can find them cheaper than $150 in Australia, I'm keen to hear)

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post #28 of 30
10/23/12 at 3:45pm

Overall, yes.

 

And do try to find better deals in Australia before doing the purchase, because some of the prices listed seem obnoxiously high, and quite unfair for local customers.

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post #29 of 30
10/23/12 at 3:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Chop Chop View Post

Sounds reasonable. So the equipment I'm buying will be:

 

Asus Xonar DGX

Ultrasone HFI-580s

Zalman Mic

 

If there's no issues with that, then I guess I'm done. Thanks a lot for your help! (once again, if anyone can find them cheaper than $150 in Australia, I'm keen to hear)

Get the third party audio drivers for the Xonar, the "Unifed Xonar Drivers" at Brainbit.

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post #30 of 30
10/28/12 at 6:13pm
Thread Starter 

Apologies for another bump, but I was wondering, do I need an amp? Can I amp through my soundcard if so? I usually have fairly quiet volume levels, so high volume isn't an issue - it's the sound quality really. I've heard that the 580s are fine un-amped, is this true?

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