[dakanao]

I want to buy the DNA pro, but what you said about the inconsistent soundstage really puts me off.

 

[mmencius]

Well, I think what you described is correct.
I have mine setup through the optical toslink, USB does not allow other than bare stereo on PS4 and no sound at all on PS3.
Some games don't support DTS, others do. Though as long as at least Digital 5.1 is enabled, you should be getting Dolby Headphone at all times.

Try comparing a game that supports DTS and one that does not and see if YOU can tell a difference. If not, then it might just be a display error or something

I found no difference between just digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1.
An external amplifier has no effect on DSP whatsoever.

Immersion... Well, I find the sound in bypass mode meh. So I use DH for games and a better DAC/amp when listening to music via desktop

Bioshock Infinite definitely supports DTS (says so in the credits etc) and Dolby Headphone (see youtube vids) and I'm getting neither, so what gives.
I think I need a better amp. What's a good amp to drive the AKG 7xx range?

 

[conquerator2]

Bioshock Infinite definitely supports DTS (says so in the credits etc) and Dolby Headphone (see youtube vids) and I'm getting neither, so what gives.
I think I need a better amp. What's a good amp to drive the AKG 7xx range?

Schiit Asgard, Matrix Mstage, some tube amps too.
The absence of DH is strange though and not something an amp will fix. Maybe the DSS is malfunctioning.

 

[Change is Good]

K712 in the classifieds for $325. Somebody jump on it! *cough* *MLE* *cough*

 

[thecalculator]

Just got my new toys in today. 

 
http://s27.postimg.org/40z1dvo1v/IMAG0431.jpg

 

[Murder Mike]

Owned BF2; MC (loved it), BF: BC, BF:BC2, BF1942, and BF3. Trust me, I know what Battlefield is all about. I also downloaded the PC beta for BF4, same crap as BF3, which I didn't enjoy. Battlefied has been pretty much the same since the first Bad Company. Funny how people whine about CoD, when Battlefield is just the same, but with more vehicles, etc.

Battlefield is too slow paced. Battlefield is very team oriented, which is not what I'm about. It bores me, really. CoD is quick, mindless fun, with nonstop action, no real lulls of action anywhere. It's simple and arcadey, and I love it for that.

I don't hate Battlefield. It's just boring for MY tastes.

All this being said, I haven't played CoD in a week, since I'm going through Tales of Symphonia: DOTNW atm. Tales meets Pokemon, really.

 
Based on this post, I have to ask if you've played and enjoyed Quake Live or any Unreal Tournament games? 

 

[thecalculator]

Just got my Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD and AkG k712 Pros in today. Woot WOoT!
 
awesome thread!

 

[Stillhart]

  So you think the plyr 1 is enough of an improvement over the a50's? I haven't had the chance to listen to either of these but the biggest knock on the a50's seems to be the price. With only about a $20 difference do you still believe the Plyrs are still more worth it than the a50's?

 
I think you'll find that your questions are answered in the very first post of this thread.

 

[frankefrum]

So, I am in the market for headphones. I recently sold my PC360's which have been the only above average headphones I have ever owned. I am far from being an audiophile, and I honestly know just enough about audio to get myself into trouble.

So, I am looking to this community which I often lurk around for guidance.

First, I must say that I bought the PC360s because of their performance in gaming and they also sound great for single player gaming for the most part. However, it has occurred to me after owning this set of cans that I have a (probably immature) desire to experience more bass in my games. I don't like muddy bass and I don't want it to punch me in the ear drums either. However, i do want to experience the thump. I want to feel the growl and the deep in your heart bass that immerses you and feels more like you are at the theater. I don't want to sacrifice the mids or highs. I certainly don't want to strain to hear vocals and instruments. If I am playing something like Halo's campaign and that bad ass theme kicks in I want to hear that orchestra going at it. But again, I want meaty bass underlying the whole deal. So, what suggestions do you guys have for me?

My budget is $400. I want that to go towards the headphones. I won't have enough to get an amp until maybe a month or two down the road. It is possible if I go with something like the X1s I don't even worry about an amp. However, it sounds like most other phones I'm interested in will require some extra power to get the true experience .

I like the idea of open but I am not opposed to closed, just for the record.

MLE seems to really have a thing for the K712 pros, but I also know he favors mids. At the same time his recommendation is hard to ignore for those bad boys. So, another question besides just recommending a set, does anyone have experience with the 712 pros and can you comment on the bass? Is it immersive and a huge step up from the pc360s, or is it gonna be a disappointment for someone hunting rich bass?Also, how disappointed will I be running this only through the mix amp for a couple months?

Thanks everyone!

 

[zedetach]

Hi, 
 
I recently purchased a 1 1/2 year old ultrsone pro 900 with kees mod applied and I am finding it completely unusable for gaming on the ps3 due to the extremely piercing highs. I've got it paired with the astro mixamp and when I played MGS : Ground Zeroes, every gunshot sounded like glass shattering It was just too painful to hear. The bass was also non-existent. Gaming on the pc was a little more forgiving as I could reduce the unwanted frequencies through an equaliser with the bass sounding just about right. Thus my question is, is there anything that I could do to make the cans practical for console use? FYI I've got a pair of Astro a40s (2011 edition) and they sound so much more balanced.

 

[conquerator2]

Hi, 

I recently purchased a 1 1/2 year old ultrsone pro 900 with kees mod applied and I am finding it completely unusable for gaming on the ps3 due to the extremely piercing highs. I've got it paired with the astro mixamp and when I played MGS : Ground Zeroes, every gunshot sounded like glass shattering It was just too painful to hear. The bass was also non-existent. Gaming on the pc was a little more forgiving as I could reduce the unwanted frequencies through an equaliser with the bass sounding just about right. Thus my question is, is there anything that I could do to make the cans practical for console use? FYI I've got a pair of Astro a40s (2011 edition) and they sound so much more balanced.

I'd add something like the Fiio E11 (around 50$) to the chain.
It sounds somewhat smooth and warm and has an adjustable bass boost.
I've been using the E11 with the Pro900 for quite some time and liked it

 

[benbenkr]

  I'm using a 668B plugged into a DSS 1. I have a feeling I'm doing something wrong (or several things wrong). I know this thread isn't usually used for troubleshooting, but... whatever, I'll ask some questions and give some opinions.
 
1. Initially, when I set things up as best I could, I got no sound on certain games. I had run optical digital and USB from PS3 to the DSS; I had set the PS3 audio output to optical digital, and I also tried setting "audio multi-output" to both off and on, and I got no sound. Specifically, I got sound on Shadow of the Colossus and Limbo, but no sound on Bioshock Infinite or Puppeteer.
The problem only resolved when I went into the audio output settings and *disabled DTS.* When I told it just to output in Dolby Digital 5.1, AAC, linear PCM, but no DTS, then I got sound in Bioshock Infinite and Puppeteer.
 
2. This is even stranger. So the DSS has four lights. In the instruction manual, it states that its "Dolby ProLogic" light will be illuminated if the DSS is receiving only a stereo signal. While its "Dolby headphone" light is illuminated if it gets a 5.1 signal.
The weird thing is: I got a 5.1 signal playing Shadow of the Colossus, but *I only got a stereo signal with Bioshock Infinite*. That's really weird as I saw all those youtube vids displaying various types of surround sound processing used in that game. So what's with that?
And yet, even though that light is on, there is still a difference between setting the DSS to "Dolby bypass" (which means leave the sound as stereo without processing) and not activating the bypass. In Bioshock Infinite and all games.
 
Am I being stupid or missing something? I notice many people recommending two amps (eg Mixamp + E12 or something). Do I need another amp? I don't care about voice chat.
 
My impression of sound:
..... it looks like I might prefer plain stereo. The surround processing didn't do too much to the sound quality with two exceptions:
a) often "pleasant bass" (such as cello or a gentle timpani beat) was seriously diminished, to the extent that I was only aware of it (without a lot of concentration) in stereo mode, not surround mode. Thumpier bass was unaffected.
b) big difference in treble. The brightness of the Superlux was significantly dampened with the surround processing on. This might appeal to a lot of people. As for me, it depended on my taste at the minute. I thought the treble in stereo sounded very pleasant at certain moments of Shadow, lifting and wide. Other times, particularly in Puppeteer and Infinite, it was pretty screechy in stereo, and surround was helpful there.
 
There was something else: I felt that stereo can sound... more immersive and surrounding than surround... does anyone else feel this? Obviously surround is more positionally accurate, but in terms of a feeling of immersion, sometimes stereo was doing the trick more for me.

 
Something is obviously wrong with your DSS. No you do not need a Mixamp because the Mixamp does pretty much same thing as the DSS, provide Dolby Headphone.
 
1) Yes, you don't enable DTS on optical input setup page. The DSS does not decode DTS, end of story.
The reason you get sound on SotC and Limbo is because both games are internally stereo. SotC never had its audio tracks remixed into DD5.1.
 
2) This is weird because you AREN'T suppose to get DD5.1 with SotC, what you are listening to is stereo being upmixed into 7.1 through PLIIx. The videos you've been watching on YT of Bioshock Infinite are the PC versions, not console. Bioshock Infinite on the PS3 does not have support for DD5.1, sounds stupid right? Because it is. Irrational Games knew about the bug but they never really bothered to fix it as the game still outputs LPCM 5.1. Unfortunately for headphone and DH users, this means they're SOL. They acknowledged the problem on their forums but never got arround to fixing it, for God knows what reason.
 
You may feel that stereo is more immersive because it is a lot more upfront to your ears. DH (and any other forms of VSS) opens up the soundstsage. That's a personal and subjective preference.
Also, if you were testing DH on SotC then you are doing it wrong because SotC does not have DD5.1 to begin with. You're listening to PLIIx, which sounds subpar in most cases.

 

[Bleach1508]

OK i've finally got my OG CAL and DSS (first version) and I can't wait to try them out! Too bad I won't have time to try them out until the weekend
 
Anyway, thanks everyone for the help (directly and indirectly). Just by reading the forum i've learned so much about headphones, amp VSS and so much more !
so big round of applause to all of you 

 

 

[Evshrug]

Bioshock Infinite definitely supports DTS (says so in the credits etc) and Dolby Headphone (see youtube vids) and I'm getting neither, so what gives.
I think I need a better amp. What's a good amp to drive the AKG 7xx range?

From your impression, it seems like you're describing stereo up sampling, not Dolby headphone fed by a Dolby digital live 5.1 feed (DDL). I think that dolby's up sampling does have the treble-mellowing effect you mentioned, but overall was wishy-washy and dull.
What Benbenkr said was pretty illuminating about console versions of those games, and makes me wonder if you have the Dolby bitstreaming mix turned on? I can't exactly help here, the PS4 is my first Sony console, but I believe Mad added a brief "how-to" section in the guide. The DSS (and most of the other standalone sound processors) cannot decode DTS at all, it's PCM, Dolby, analogue input, or nothing at all.
The Superlux is not a generic AKG 7xx rebrand, the treble is stronger and overall more grainy on what you have. A warmer amp like a FiiO E11 may help smooth things out in general for you, though you should probably also double-check your sound settings.

So, I am looking to this community which I often lurk around for guidance.

However, i do want to experience the thump. I want to feel the growl and the deep in your heart bass that immerses you and feels more like you are at the theater.

MLE seems to really have a thing for the K712 pros, but I also know he favors mids.

Oh, you know, Do you?
Across his headphone reviews, he values good representation of all frequencies but favors bass, even in general a bit of a V-shaped frequency response. The X1's sound like medicine for you, but "Dat Bass" may not be the sole thing that makes a headphone more involving and fun. I found my AKG's to be more forward and involving (Q701 & k712) than the generally bit more laid-back Sennheiser house sound.

The X1 is pretty good, but pretty much all wired headphones above $80 scale up with amping (some more than others). If you have about $400, then maybe you'd be better off overall by not neglecting the signal chain, getting something like a Q701 or K702 (k612 is engaging but has more linear neutral bass than the other two) and a decent starter amp like a schiit Vali for $120.

The only way to feel bass in your heart/chest like in a theater (unless you are speaking metaphorically) is with a subwoofer. I got one for my stereo system, which to me sounds nicer than the average theater bloat. Something to think about. Also, listen once to a Sony XB500... That will either instantly mature your bass tastes or irrevocably make you a basshead, lol

 

[frankefrum]

Well, I thought I knew...Haha...
 
I remember reading one of his posts mentioning he has been leaning towards mids lately. However, in my case, I appreciate the idea of getting the chain of sound in check. However, I prefer the idea of spending a lot now on just the headphones so that I am not looking at upgrading anytime soon. I rather get the ones that will keep me thoroughly happy for a long time and suffer for a couple months without an amp. As I mentioned I am going through the mixamp so that should help a tad, but in the future I will get a warm amp...
 
So...you think he favors bass...this is interesting... because he seems to be in love with the K712 pros and the Fiio E12. i figured this set was very mid forward and somewhat analytical with a touch of bass (because I thought he loved very very strong mids and natural bass)...perhaps with that particular amp the bass shines through. 
 
Also, I probably overstated the bass I want from the headphones. I favor a pretty evenly represented sound, but after owning the PC360's, I really do crave some FUN bass to go along with the forward mids and treb.
 
MLE...can you weigh in on this? 
 
I am looking to buy something by Friday!