[Murder Mike]

Intel 3630QM Sandy Bridge I believe, and a GTX680m GPU... What would I use in his case?

I use fraps just to monitor my framerate when I play games. I did use it to record that one CoD Ghosts gameplay to upload to Youtube.

Give Shadowplay a try if your GPU supports it. I've heard a lot of good things. 

 

[chicolom]

I'm planning on overhauling a few things on the Guide. Removing the value sub section in reviews and adding personal recommendation (yes or no), followed with reasons why yes/no. Amongst other things. I need to go back and see what's still being sold, etc, changing prices, etc.

Even with nameless's guide, people still default to asking me about soundcards, and the like, so for the simple questions, I'll see about a general FAQ answer for things like that. I appreciate all the help, gyez. Going through a tough period atm, so my mind is all over the place. That and general laziness, hahaha.

This new view history edit thing is bound to get me in trouble, lol.

For all you guys's's's's sanity, I'd skip viewing my history which will probably be like 50 edits per post. XD

 
Sounds good.
 
I'll copy and paste some ideas/entries for the a FAQ section you can put in.
 
Also, I think you should may rip something off Joker's massive portable headphone review page, which is the list of all the headphones by tier's upfront, along with a unique "code" for each one so you can search and instantly jump to the review.
 
 
You've already got the tiers setup D-A, so you just need to add a number code (see bolded) to them and then put that same code at the heading for their review entry so you can quick jump to it. 

D: $0-$50

(D1) Koss KSC35 / Sportapro
(D2) Koss KSC75
(D3) Koss UR40
(D4) Philips SHP2500
 
........(later in the review).....
 
(D1)  Koss KSC35 / Sportapro
 
Sometimes you mention the same headphone in multiple reviews, so just doing a ctrl+F search for that headphone jumps around a while before it gets the actual review.
 
 
Also, maybe condense some of the paragraph breaks/spacing some.  There's some empty space you have to scroll through, and if that was trimmed up/condensed tighter, you could probably un-spoiler some of the stuff at the top - such as your tier list and favorite's list (which I think might be good un-spoiler and show all the time anyways so maybe people will ask less redundant questions like "Waht's ur favorite Competitve/Fun headphones?!?")

 

[chicolom]

BTW, what's with this "view history" nonsense?
 
Seems like it could be messy to use.

 

[Beatwolf]

So what do you guys do when when switching between gaming and listening to music etc. on your pc? Do you manually switch from 7.1 to stereo in the windows control panel playback devices and also deactivate dolby headphone in xonar audio center? Is there some way to set up some quicker way of doing this?. 
 
Btw been gaming some different titles for a bit longer now, and I must say headphone gaming with DH, and some proper headphones+soundcard is very nice. Won´t ever go back

 

[PurpleAngel]

  So what do you guys do when when switching between gaming and listening to music etc. on your pc? Do you manually switch from 7.1 to stereo in the windows control panel playback devices and also deactivate Dolby Headphone in Xonar audio center? Is there some way to set up some quicker way of doing this?. 
 
Btw been gaming some different titles for a bit longer now, and I must say headphone gaming with DH, and some proper headphones+soundcard is very nice. Won´t ever go back

All you should need to change is the Audio Channel setting in the Xonar control panel.
6 or 8-channel for surround sound (movies and gaming) and 2-channel for music audio (or basic internet videos)

 

[NamelessPFG]

Intel 3630QM Sandy Bridge I believe, and a GTX680m GPU... What would I use in his case?

I use fraps just to monitor my framerate when I play games. I did use it to record that one CoD Ghosts gameplay to upload to Youtube.

 
That's an Ivy Bridge CPU (one generation newer than Sandy Bridge, but also a generation behind now that Haswell's out), and the GTX 680M is indeed a Kepler architecture GPU.
 
If GeForce Experience is up to date, you should have ShadowPlay support.

 

[Change is Good]

I wanted go chime in and give a suggestion on the topic of a FAQ and other adjustments to the guide. Why not start at voting poll for "What's your favorite headphone for gaming?" that consists of your top ten, MLE? That would kill some of the noob questions as well.

Happy Gaming, fellas!

 

[Kursah]

Mad Dog 3.2 has probably my fave bass quality out of any headphone I've tried outside of the LCD2/HE400. It's mildy emphasized over the mids, by a smidge, but it's full, without missing any detail. It's absolutely fantastic. If you're a basshead, it may not be as pronounced as you'd like. Basically, if you feel the HE-400/LCD2 don't have enough bass, the Mad Dog won't either. Better off finding something notably bassy. I'm sorry but being a basshead and being into refined bass doesn't exactly meet halfway. The closest thing to that would be the X1, but then it's an open headphone. That or the D7000, which is rare and expensive.

Better bass =/= more bass

Which may be why you're conflicted. there is difference between quality and quantity, and finding the middle ground is the issue. The D600 has way too much bass, and way too much treble. I prefer the CAL over the D600, which had some metallic treble, and notably recessed mids.
You can't have good, fluid, bass as well as LOTS of it. That is a contradiction. You have to make a choice. That simple.

I'd still say to go for the Mad Dog, and if you don't like it, you have that gracious return period. If the bass doesn't satisfy you, then just get a basshead headphone, end of story.

 
Thank you very much for your input...honestly that's the best response I've received from any forum or inquiry I've made yet. I suppose you have a point between quality and quantity. I am still seriously considering the Mad Dogs too. I've been talking with Dan and asking questions...they seem to fit where my ears may want me to go or step into...but $300's about all I can spare...if I can.
 
You have any other suggestions for $300 or less?
 
Sometimes I like too much bass...but have learned to appreciate my HADX 3's that seem to have more control...it goes deep but it's different from the muddier D2000 (going from memory)...maybe it's the overpowering presence the D2000 has...I know i miss it at times...but that headphone you want to feel the bass you hear. The DX3 has grown on me quite a bit. It's mids are much better to my ears than the D2000...the hi's are a little more dry but seem to have an extra layer of detail if that makes any sense? Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about...but I've grown to like it a lot. The more I read about the Mad Dogs the more interest I have...my next worry is after I go for broke possibly and get em'.... I'll have to hope my Auzen Forte HP amp (last restort), FiiO E9 (second to last resort) or Denon AVR-1613 receiver HP jack will power them...it powers everything else I have very well...well better than than! Hell it's been amazing!
 
I have had a few people not to waste my money on modded T50RP's...to go he400 or go home...I can't do open phones in my situation, and can't afford that. I'm kind of down to D600 for mad bass...or Mad Dog for neutral with a slight nod towards bassy and a different sound and technology. 

 

[DrunkenTiger]

So I've decided on upping my budget to replace my G35, and I saw the new Steelseries Siberia Elite, seems really great, but at 200$ I'm wondering if there are better options, the issue is that I do like Dolby Pro Logic IIx, and the Siberia having it is a plus. Open to suggestions, I did think about maybe getting a nice stereo 200~$ headset now and getting a soundcard for surround later too, but I would like the convenience of an end to end system.

 

[NamelessPFG]

I wanted go chime in and give a suggestion on the topic of a FAQ and other adjustments to the guide. Why not start at voting poll for "What's your favorite headphone for gaming?" that consists of your top ten, MLE? That would kill some of the noob questions as well.

 
How fast can you say "poll bias"?
 
It's for that reason I don't necessarily agree with that approach...although it is kind of weird to realize that I no longer own my favorite headphone for gaming and everything else ever due to cost reasons.
 
Oh well, I'll scour eBay for another one.
 

So I've decided on upping my budget to replace my G35, and I saw the new Steelseries Siberia Elite, seems really great, but at 200$ I'm wondering if there are better options, the issue is that I do like Dolby Pro Logic IIx, and the Siberia having it is a plus. Open to suggestions, I did think about maybe getting a nice stereo 200~$ headset now and getting a soundcard for surround later too, but I would like the convenience of an end to end system.

 
G35? That's a PC-centric headset...and PC games have no need for Dolby Pro Logic IIx to begin with.
 
That's something you generally need for PS2, GCN and Wii games, possibly certain N64 games too. Remember, it's a means of encoding surround channels over two-channel analog output, more akin to Dolby Digital and DTS sans the "digital" part.
 
I suggest you set aside at least $50 for a sound card now. Gaming without any form of virtual surround is seriously limiting.

 

[DrunkenTiger]

   
How fast can you say "poll bias"?
 
It's for that reason I don't necessarily agree with that approach...although it is kind of weird to realize that I no longer own my favorite headphone for gaming and everything else ever due to cost reasons.
 
Oh well, I'll scour eBay for another one.
 
 
G35? That's a PC-centric headset...and PC games have no need for Dolby Pro Logic IIx to begin with.
 
That's something you generally need for PS2, GCN and Wii games, possibly certain N64 games too. Remember, it's a means of encoding surround channels over two-channel analog output, more akin to Dolby Digital and DTS sans the "digital" part.
 
I suggest you set aside at least $50 for a sound card now. Gaming without any form of virtual surround is seriously limiting.

Wait what?! This is news to me! Are you sure... I mean I know you can do mixed 7.1 many different ways on PC, but Pro Logic IIx is on a lot of PC centric headsets, including the G35 that came out 4 years ago...

 

[chicolom]

  I suggest you set aside at least $50 for a sound card now.

 
That reminds me, I popped in to Micro Center today. 
 
 
You guys would love it in there.  They have most of the Asus Xonar cards right there on the shelves.  The U3, DG, DGX, Essence STX, DX, DXS, etc.
 
Also AFAIK they have all the soundblaster cards.
 
 
The prices aren't necessarily spectacular, but it's mind boggling to walk around inside the equivalent of a real-life-Newegg and see all this stuff in-stock and in physical boxes on the shelves.
 
 
 
 
Look at all dem soundcards!
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Some racks of SoundBlasters.
 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
And a bunch of probably-awful "gaming headsets".
 
 

 

[NamelessPFG]

Wait what?! This is news to me! Are you sure... I mean I know you can do mixed 7.1 many different ways on PC, but Pro Logic IIx is on a lot of PC centric headsets, including the G35 that came out 4 years ago...

 
Like I said, it's a way of squeezing extra speaker channels into a two-channel signal, but it does NOT do so via HRTF techniques. Without the proper decoder, it's practically a plain stereo signal.
 
It was meant to enable surround sound on devices that could only output two analog channels, usually RCA connections fed to a receiver with a built-in Dolby Surround/Pro Logic decoder.
 
That was no longer seen as necessary once S/PDIF became more widespread and the Dolby Digital and DTS codecs alongside it...which actually serve a similar purpose in that S/PDIF only has enough bandwidth for two uncompressed PCM channels, but both of them throw out some data so they can cram a full six channels into the same bandwidth, thankfully discrete and free of the crosstalk issues that can plague a matrixed encoding method like Pro Logic, along with being automatically detectable. (Pro Logic decoding needs to be manually set.)
 
This is why Dolby Headphone surround processors like the Mixamp, Ear Force DSS and SU-DH1 feature Dolby Pro Logic II(x); it's to DECODE the signal much like it would Dolby Digital (and DTS in the SU-DH1's case) and extract all the individual speaker channels, and then apply Dolby Headphone to the now-separated speaker channels for the final surround effect.
 
The only time you need to ENcode Dolby Pro Logic II(x) on a computer is if you're piping it to an old A/V receiver that lacks S/PDIF input entirely, and chances are if you have the means to do that, your audio device can output straight-up Dolby Headphone anyway, making it pointless for this particular usage case.
 

That reminds me, I popped in to Micro Center today.   
You guys would love it in there.  They have most of the Asus Xonar cards right there on the shelves.  The U3, DG, DGX, Essence STX, DX, DXS, etc.
 
Also AFAIK they have all the soundblaster cards.
 
The prices aren't necessarily spectacular, but it's mind boggling to walk around inside a real-life Newegg and see all this stuff in-stock and in physical boxes on the shelves.
 
Look at all dem soundcards!
 
*pics truncated*

 
Huh, I haven't seen any shelf quite like that in the Marietta Micro Center, but the fact that they still have some leftover X-Fi Titanium HD stock in that shot pleases me.
 
I should note, Micro Center is hands-down THE best place to buy CPUs and motherboards. Even with sales tax, their CPU prices are far better than Newegg and anyone else, their motherboards are aggressively-priced and frequently get a $30-50 combo discount with CPU purchases, and the $200 i7-4770K sale they had preceding Black Friday by a week can only be beaten if you qualify for Intel Retail Edge. (I bought my 4770K before then, but they refunded me thanks to price protection!)
 
If I move over to the northwestern US, I am definitely going to miss having a Micro Center store in the area. Apparently, Fry's Electronics has a major presence there, but again, their prices are nothing on Micro Center's.

 

[chicolom]

Quote:

  I should note, Micro Center is hands-down THE best place to buy CPUs and motherboards.
 
Even with sales tax, their CPU prices are far better than Newegg and anyone else, their motherboards are aggressively-priced and frequently get a $30-50 combo discount with CPU purchases, and the $200 i7-4770K sale they had preceding Black Friday by a week can only be beaten if you qualify for Intel Retail Edge. (I bought my 4770K before then, but they refunded me thanks to price protection!)

 
QFT
 
Microcenter's off-season CPU + Motherboard prices still probably beat online retailers prices during Black Friday.
 
I think they price them so nice just to get you down there in the store, so you'll be tempted to buy other things too.  The only reason I went there today was to return my AMD CPU + board, but I ended up looking around at stuff for an hour.  Once you get inside it's hard to break free and leave. 
 
 
 
Does Micro Center do price protection on CPUs?  If so, how did you go about getting that handled? 
 
I'm going back next week to grab an intel CPU (4670K ) + motherboard. The price protection might come in handy should they have some kind of after-Christmas/New Years sale a bit later.

 

[raif89]

First off, I wanted to thank anyone who helped me pick out my headphones (especially MLE for making this thread) I just got my X1's and I must say as  Headphone virgin... holy crap. Why did I not buy something before hand?
 
As I'm playing with my settings with my Xonar STX settings, anyone have recommendations on how to set up the STX to work well with the headphones for music/movies/gaming? I've got all these features that I don't know how to use (or if I should use em). I can't find anything labeled gain or something but have stuff like Dolby Headphone which I'm assuming is more for gaming to get that surround sound, but I've got some like 5 buttons with different settings like Hi-Fi or Music/Gaming/Movies and then there is the Effect with the range of kilohertz that I've left on default. I also put the sample rate to 192KHz and the channels at 8 channels. As you can see, I'm a little lost. 
 
 Any help would be cool and highly appreciated. As these headphones are awesome I want to do em justice for each area of use (Music/gaming/movies)
 
thanks!