[Mad Lust Envy]

I'll never game in Stereo after being spoiled by virtual surround. There is absolutely no comparison there for me.

 

[fonebone10]

What's the difference between the DT990 32 OHM and the DT880 32 OHM?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

One is semi-open, the other is fully open. The DT990 also has a crapton of bass, while the DT880 is very well balanced. I had the DT880 32ohm, and it was a pleasure all around. I'd give them a solid 9 all around.

 

[fonebone10]

So which do you think is better for gaming, 990 or 880? (32 ohm)

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

To be honest, I sold the DT880 32ohm because they couldn't get rear audio cues well with the Mixamp. Otherwise, they would have been perfect. If you game in stereo, I have no doubt the DT880s will rock your world.

 

[SoFGR]

What about  wii ? afaik it only outputs   mono - stereo - dolby pro logic II,  everything through RCA,  will i be able  to get  any benefit if i  go    wii ->  astro mixamp rca input > audio-gd compass  RCA line input ( AMP mode) ->   headphones ?  I'm planning to  play metroid trilogy sometime soon. 

 

[WayTooCrazy]

Should work, but you're only getting Pro Logic from the RCA out anyway.  Remember, you're AMPING the MixAmp's already AMPED signal.  It's your DAC/Decoder/Amp.  If you don't need to amp after the MixAmp for the headphones your running, then no point in adding extra noise.  No benefit.  If the headphones your driving are Heavy (like 300 Ohm or higher) then you'll benefit from amping the output.  I run the K702 straight out of the MixAmp and it works fine for me.  There are people who think otherwise, and amp the K702 with a Bravo V2 tube amp.  I don't see the need, but YMMV.

 

[SoFGR]

Ok,  wii component  rca ->  astro mixamp rca input  ->  headphones it is then,  anyone with  personal experience  from this setup ?   is dolby pro logic  really that bad   ?  

 

[BlutoSlice]

I have been looking to improve on my PC setup and found this the only decent competitor to the mixamp: Earforce DSS. Sadly not may head-fi opinions floating about yet and not available in the UK otherwise I would have picked one up by now.
 
http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/audio-processors/ear-force-dss.aspx
 

 

[12thgear]

 
Quote:

I have been looking to improve on my PC setup and found this the only decent competitor to the mixamp: Earforce DSS. Sadly not may head-fi opinions floating about yet and not available in the UK otherwise I would have picked one up by now.
 
http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/audio-processors/ear-force-dss.aspx
 

 

If you happen to have a Creative sound card in your PC, I find that CMSS-3D works pretty well. I wouldn't bother with a Mixamp or the Earforce as they would only work well if you were already outputting Dolby Digital from your PC. My PC can do that via my X-Fi card, but I find the native CMSS-3D processing perfectly satisfactory. 

 

[WayTooCrazy]

Over on the Xbox Headphone thread on AVS, one of the users there picked it up.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Quote:

Ok,  wii component  rca ->  astro mixamp rca input  ->  headphones it is then,  anyone with  personal experience  from this setup ?   is dolby pro logic  really that bad   ?  

It sounds great. About 85% as good as Dolby Digital. The Wii sounds good through the Mixamp. Have fun!

 

[BlutoSlice]

Quote:

 
 

If you happen to have a Creative sound card in your PC, I find that CMSS-3D works pretty well. I wouldn't bother with a Mixamp or the Earforce as they would only work well if you were already outputting Dolby Digital from your PC. My PC can do that via my X-Fi card, but I find the native CMSS-3D processing perfectly satisfactory. 

 
I have xonar DX which does have dolbe headphone \ pro logic  7.1 down mix but its ok but too reverby and sounds horrible with Bad Company 2.   My plan is to output digital via DX optical out and feed the earforce or similar 7.1 and hoping it does a better job.  I porbably wont go greative again but have been eyeing the auzentech forte which looks like a decent implementaion of the creative chipsets.
 
Ideally I want a combined external DAC and headphone amp which can downmix 7.1 but I dont think they exist in my price range.
 

 

[12thgear]

 
Quote:

I have xonar DX which does have dolbe headphone \ pro logic  7.1 down mix but its ok but too reverby and sounds horrible with Bad Company 2.   My plan is to output digital via DX optical out and feed the earforce or similar 7.1 and hoping it does a better job.  I porbably wont go greative again but have been eyeing the auzentech forte which looks like a decent implementaion of the creative chipsets.
 
Ideally I want a combined external DAC and headphone amp which can downmix 7.1 but I dont think they exist in my price range.
 

The Xonars are supposed to be very nice cards for music. And incidentally, I really wanted to get a Forte too. I finally wimped out and just bought a used X-Fi XtremeGamer for $30. I'm not going to pretend it's audiophile grade, but it's definitely a high value card for my gaming focus. Plus, with the $5 Dolby Digital/DTS enabler software, it seemed like a no brainer. That allows me to use CMSS-3D with my headphones plugged directly in, or the X-Fi can encode game audio as Dolby Digital bitstream. I can then send that out over optical and let me Mixamp convert that to Dolby Headphone. It's important to note I have not tried that yet, mainly because CMSS-3D sounds good enough for me, and I'm lazy. 
 
The reverby sound you speak seems less pronounced in console games using the Mixamp, vs the PC using CMSS-3D. It's relatively minor and once I'm engrossed in the game, my brain seems to adjust. It's more pronounced in movies, actually. 

 

[BlutoSlice]

Don't be lazy... get your audiogeek on 

 
The xonar is good and value for money card I just have upgradeitis and possibly looking for a replacement that does not have combined mic and optical out.
 
I gave the DX \ Dolby headphone another shot last night, it seems to be better with open headphones. to be honest BC2 has so much background noise going on maybe I am get less accurate 3d positioning due to noise pollution.
 
 
Quote:

I can then send that out over optical and let me Mixamp convert that to Dolby Headphone. It's important to note I have not tried that yet, mainly because CMSS-3D sounds good enough for me, and I'm lazy.