[156219]

 
Quote:

I would do what you are saying. that is exaclty what I have.
As you are playing using pc you don't need mixamp. Just use the cmss3d from your sound card (it is virtual surround just like dolby headphones from asus xonar or mixamp, being the cmss3d better than dolby headphones for a lot of people).
Buy A good set of 5.1 headphones either roccat kave, hpa2 or sharkoon xtatic analog, and a good pair of stereo headphones for instance sennheiser hd 595. Then you can play with both and see yourself what is better. If you like better the stereo set then sell the multiple drivers. that is the way to go.
 

 

 
I agree by both see which one works for you, then go from there....
 
Personally i would go for stereo
 
mcnoiserdc would go for 5.1 headphones or virtual surround sound

 

[ffdpmaggot]

I would suggest starting a poll
Anyway, I have some free time now, so I'll describe what I heard, I heard a severely elongated sound stage with terrible height staging. Simply put, up down on turtle beach headphones is bad bad bad. It is terrible in a way that I can not describe, I was left there feeling like I was in a tunnel, I couldn't place how high or low the sound was and the sound stage was so freaking long. Built into most games audio files are several things, echos to signal that the target is far away with a generally higher pitched sound, left right, and muffled/clear sounding audio that gives you a reasonable idea where the shooter is forwards and back, when someone is behind you, they sound more muffled, when someone is to your side, there is right or left channel audio, so forwards, the L/R balance tells you what angle they are at, with depth being based on the magical property of things getting quieter the further away they are. Backwards, same deal, but you can tell its backwards. The issue is when you use REALLY cheap headphones, you just need a good sounding pair that will accurately reproduce the recording. Or a functioning brain to process ALL of this info from the game. Either way, I'll explain what the turtle's did, forwards sounds were placed forwards, that sniper shot from two blocks ahead? "advanced" sound staging methods drop that sniper somewhere around 10 blocks ahead, and end up in me leaning forwards to hear what's going on while I fight the urge to flail my arms because the headphones messed me up so bad. The L/R wasn't heavily focused on, and the elevation was terrible, awful, oh god I'm ranting again. But as a plus side, I got to laugh at how miserable the poor owner looked when I explained that he just wasted his 200 bucks on something that my HD595 will probably do better for 30 dollars less with better sound.

 

[MBRuss]

Thanks for that great explanation ffdpmaggot.  That kinda clears things up for me a bit.
 
So would you opt to use something like a mixamp to help positioning in gaming?  Coming from my point of view, I won't have the option of fancy soundcards, as I'm gaming on consoles, but still want the closet to a full home cinema experience from a set of headphones.
 
Currently I'm thinking of something along the lines of Riku's suggestion - DT880s with a mixamp for Dolby Headphone.
 
Edit:  What's people's views on the AKG 601/701/702s compared to the DT880s for gaming?  Seem to be a lot of good reviews for the 701s on Amazon, although it is mentioned that they perhaps lack bass, or the Sennheiser HD650s, which have better bass but I see lots about needing expensive replacement cables?
 
Basically, I want a powerful sound for gaming and movies, but with a good soundstage for good positioning.

 

[Riku540]

Have not had the pleasure of trying AKG's yet and while the same is true for Sennheiser I think you would probably have some volume issues with the 650's since they are much more power-hungry than then rest of the cans mentioned.

 

[MBRuss]

Hmm, I'm just worried about bass.  Both depth and impact.  Having a sub in a surround system creates a lot of depth and immerses you into a good movie or game, especially the kind with lots of explosions and such, like MW2.  I dont' want to lose that with headphones, or, I want to retain as much as possible.

 

[Coupe]

FLAME ON! 

 
I recommend Auzentech Prelude/Forte/HTHD + AD-700, DT-990.
 
I have tried everything from Medusa, Tritton, Astro, etc
 
NOTHING compares to good DSP CMSS-3D + wide sound stage phones.  (Although K701s aren't good because they aren't forgiving to lossy sources)
 
Fact: 5.1 headsets are a gimmick and over priced.
 
Fact: you only have two ears.  Distance is determined by your brain and how the sound hits your ear.
 
Fact:  Good DSP can replicate the effects required by your brain to emulate surround sound

 

[mcnoiserdc]

Fact: Some of the processing is about lowering the volume of somethings in order to give you a notion of distance... which will make you use higher volume to listen to things which wouldn't be necessary to have higher volumes if you have a multiple drivers set.
 
Quote:

FLAME ON! 

 
I recommend Auzentech Prelude/Forte/HTHD + AD-700, DT-990.
 
I have tried everything from Medusa, Tritton, Astro, etc
 
NOTHING compares to good DSP CMSS-3D + wide sound stage phones.  (Although K701s aren't good because they aren't forgiving to lossy sources)
 
Fact: 5.1 headsets are a gimmick and over priced.
 
Fact: you only have two ears.  Distance is determined by your brain and how the sound hits your ear.
 
Fact:  Good DSP can replicate the effects required by your brain to emulate surround sound

 

[Coupe]

 
 
What I have read from many sources is that the whole idea of different speakers was created because of distance.
 
Since everything is on your head there is no point.  Good monitors can reproduce all the different noises that a multi speaker headset can make, and without conflict.

 

[mcnoiserdc]

Problem is that some sounds are reproduced at much lower volumes when you have virtual surround which makes you choose either to listen at higher volumes and get all the little details or listen at lower volumes and get less information. In case of gaming that makes you hear enemies only when they are too close.
Quote:

 
What I have read from many sources is that the whole idea of different speakers was created because of distance.
 
Since everything is on your head there is no point.  Good monitors can reproduce all the different noises that a multi speaker headset can make, and without conflict.

 

[MBRuss]

I've just had the Turtle Beach DSS pointed out to me (  http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/audio-processors/ear-force-dss.aspx  ) and was wondering which was best, the DSS or the Astro Mixamp?
 
In terms of spec, it looks like the DSS has a better frequency response than the Mixamp - specs below:
 
DSS:
 

1. Stereo headphone output with volume control
2. Headphone Amplifier: Stereo 35mW/ch, THD <1%
3. Frequency response: 20Hz - 20kHz
4. 150MIPS Digital Signal Processor for Dolby processing
5. Optical TOSLINK digital audio input compatible with 48kHz digital audio stream
6. Maximum analog stereo input with volume control on maximum setting: 2Vpp (700mV rms). Input sensitivity may be adjusted to accept higher level signals by lowering the volume control
7. Dimensions: Height 3.0 in (7.5 cm), width 2.125 in (5.5 cm), depth 0.75 in (2cm)
8. Weight: 1.4 Oz (40g)
9. Power requirements: 5VDC @120mA max

 
Mixamp:
 

1.  Power SupplyUSB mini-B (USB 2.0 compatible), or 4 x AA batteries (not included)  
2. • Power Output70mW 32ohm per channel  
3. • Battery Life12+ Hours  
4. • Frequency Response35 - 20,000 Hz  
5. • Inputs (front)Headset connector, 2.5mm Xbox Live voice communication connector  
6. • Inputs (rear)L/R analog RCA, TOSlink digital, coaxial digital, 3.5mm microphone (PC voice), 3.5mm mp3 connector, USB mini-B (power only)

 
 
I'm not exactly clued-up though, so would that make any difference to the sound?  Looking at the DT880s, one of the draws is that they dropped really low (5Hz), though I guess this would be lost with either of these amps, as neither of them go that low... however the DSS goes lower than the Mixamp.
 
Am I missing the big picture though, and would either of my consoles provide a signal that low in the first place?

 

[Coupe]

Why do you think all 5.1 headsets come w/ an amp or some box of some kind on the line?  It is because they are using DSPs to emulate true surround sound.  Since all the sources are in the same basic location, relative to the distance of your head, they need a DSP to delay or alter the sound to reproduce the feeling of depth and dimension.
 
Sound is dynamic.  When you listen to music there are some parts that contain loud and quiet parts at the same time.  Good headphones are able to reproduce the multitude of sounds without distortion or need to adjust the sound.
 
In the case where you say they come up on you when its too late, I have never suffered from that problem.  Perhaps you didn't have a good sound card or your phones weren't up to par.
 
When you have Good phones with a wide and accurate sound stage (they also must be forgiving to source and lower quality audio) you can hear ALL the proper distance queues accurately, when paired with a good source and processing.  This concludes to a much more enjoyable and realistic experience.
 

 

[ffdpmaggot]

I don't have any experience with a mixamp, but, the headphones you are bringing up are probably sub-ideal. Go to headroom.com and check their graphs, for a dedicated gaming set you want a good deal of bass, HD 595 is most likely too little, but the beyerdynamics have a reasonably large lack of bass, and the AKG aren't much better. Personally, I will be gaming with my HD 595 when I get them, but my ears probably won't be thanking me after a four hour COD session on 30 which is tremendously loud with my set-up. Anyway, headphone choice really comes down to how realistic you want things to sound, and what level of sonic violence you desire. ATH AD700 (based on the graphs) will desecrate your eardrums with its rolled off bass and sharp treble, but I'd be willing to wager that there are people who crave "the full shooting experience" of having your eardrums damaged. Most people however, will want a lot of bass to get a satisfying booming sound to everything in war.

 

[MBRuss]

Hi ffdpmaggot, what would you recommend then?  Something like the Beyerdynamics DT990, which are supposed to have pretty good bass?  Or something else?

 

[ffdpmaggot]

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I don't want to talk too much about something I'm so inexperienced with, http://www.headphone.com/ allows you to compare graphs, check prices etc. so you can find something ideal for you, I would advise you to run it through with other headfiers before you buy to make sure it has decent sound staging ability. The 990s do look good however, but in general any mid-range set will work relatively well.
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[VulgarDisplay]

I for one can not believe the amount of incorrect information is being thrown around in this thread.  
 
If you use the astro mixamp or other dolby headphone processor you do not need to have a dolby compatible headphone paired with it.  
 
Someone said that where sound hits your ear allows your brain to determine if a sound is coming from behind you or in front of you and then went on to say that 5.1 headsets with multiple drivers do not work.  The drivers in the rear hit the back of your ear which you already got done saying works.  Drivers in the front enter your ear at a forward angle which also changes the way the waves enter your ear.  Now I'm aware of how HRTF works, and I must say that the multiple driver headsets are marginally changing the times when sound waves hit your ears which in essence is like an analog form of dolby headphone.  In my experience 5.1 headsets work.  For me they actually differentiated between rear and forward sound better than my good stereo headset.  
 
I'm sure it's different for everyone.  My brain is unable to decide if a sound is from the front or the rear using CMSS3d or Dolby headphone.  I still use the AD700 and CMSS3d because I prefer the higher sound quality.  My suggestion to the OP is to find a way to try out both and decide which is better for you because there is so much variation between they way everyone's brain processes sound that no amount of advice from others (especially 5.1/7.1 hating stereo evangelists)  is going to provide you with the answers you need.