[Hemlocke]

I thought I'd share my impressions of my Audeze Mobius. I've owned them for a month now. They replaced a Sennheiser PC 360 that was connected to an Asus Xonar Essence STX sound card. The PC 360 and the Xonar were 9 years old. I replaced them because the pots were getting noisy on the headset, making it difficult to change the volume, and people told me there was background interference on the microphone, which I traced to the sound card. I've also used the PC 360 with a Sound BlasterX G6, which I bought to use with my laptop. I play Lord Of The Rings Online (LOTRO) mostly. I also have a pair of Bose QuietComfort 35 noise cancelling headphones, while my wife has a pair of Sony WH-1000XM3 noise cancelling headphones. Our home theatre system is a Yamaha DSP-AX620 AV amplifier, four Monitor Audio Apex A10 speakers, a Monitor Audio Apex A40 centre speaker and a REL Strata III subwoofer.

First, the PC 360. The PC 360, when connected to the Asus Xonar Essence STX, had a similar tonal balance to our home theatre system. The PC 360/Xonar combination sounded every so slightly muddy in comparison to the home theatre system. The positional audio using Dolby Headphone was excellent. It was very easy to forget you were wearing headphones. When connected to the Sound BlasterX G6, the PC 360 sounded cleaner but also brighter and thinner. I didn't think the positional audio was as good with the Sound BlasterX as with the Xonar.

So, to the Audeze Mobius. The Audeze Mobius has a very similar tonal balance to the PC 360/Xonar and the home theatre system. In LOTRO, the positional audio is even better than with the PC 360/Xonar. I really like the head tracking system. With the PC360/Xonar, it felt as if the world was spinning around me when I turned my head. With the Audeze Mobius, it sounds completely natural, as the sounds stay in the same place. It also make it easier to pin-point where noises are coming from, as you can turn your head to confirm the direction. In LOTRO, the sound quality is slightly better with the Audeze Mobius than with the PC 360/Xonar, but I suspect I've reached the limits of the sound quality of the samples used by the game developers. Listening to music, the Audeze sounds a lot better, especially in Hi-Res mode, though it's still a little behind the home theatre system. The Audeze has a very clean, neutral sound with smooth, detailed treble and mid-range. The main difference between the Audeze Mobius and the home theatre system is in the bass. While the Audeze Mobius has excellent bass for a pair of headphones, it lacks nuance in the bass compared to the REL subwoofer. I'm less impressed by the Audeze Mobius for movie soundtracks. I can't imagine wanting to listen to a movie with the Audeze Mobius. It's a long way behind the movie-viewing experience on the home theatre system. Finally, I find the Audeze Mobius quite uncomfortable. The PC 360s were extremely light and comfortable, as are the Sony WH-1000XM3s. When I first got the PC 360s, I'd sometimes stand up and start to walk away from the computer because I'd forgotten I was wearing headphones. There's no risk of that with the Audeze Mobius. They're quite heavy. They also have a pronounced clamping effect. I bought the gel-filled ear pads for the Mobius, but I found them even more uncomfortable. They're firmer, making the Audeze Mobius feel even heavier and giving me a headache after about an hour. Audeze seem to acknowledge this is a problem for some. See https://www.audeze.com/blogs/techno...ut-weight-clamping-force-and-earpad-materials. Personally, I'd be willing to trade some audio quality for comfort. I might have been imagining it, but I thought the positional audio was every so slightly better with the gel-filled ear pads, possibly because they bring the diaphragms a little closer to your ears.

That was another thing that worried me about the Mobius, and the LCD-1, the comfort. I have a ginormous melon, and if people whose heads aren’t a separate gravity well from Earth’s are complaining about comfort, I’m probably in trouble.

 

[Audeze]

H8ff0000 said:
^ This! I've been saying this since I got these when they first came out. They are such high quality, and have damn near every feature I could ever want, except they don't support gaming console surround sound.

KaiSc said:
What would be needed is an interface that converts HDMI (or SPDIF) to USB and decodes Dolby Digital Surround into multi channel PCM surround.
The only way this could be done I can imagine is using an Arduino, Raspberry Pi or any PC as interface.
I'm waiting for someone to come up with a solution.

Posting this from the other thread of console support.

This is actually tricky because of timing. With new generation consoles around the corner, the game is literally changing.
For example Playstation 5 is going with selectable HRTFs in the beginning. No Atmos/DTS-X etc. Many games have also started supporting HRTFs. Looking at the PS5 audio presentation from Mark Cerny, it looks like their new Tempest engine will support custom HRTFs a little bit later. Moreover the HRTFs would be applied to objects and not to a final rendered mix, which should give incredible audio quality.

Xbox already has software based Dolby Atmos and Windows Sonic. Both consoles support object based audio for games and you get the advantage of height channels.

For existing consoles, having multi channel support using SPDIF might make sense. Going forward what would you guys prefer ?

 

[Yshusnir]

Posting this from the other thread of console support.

This is actually tricky because of timing. With new generation consoles around the corner, the game is literally changing.
For example Playstation 5 is going with selectable HRTFs in the beginning. No Atmos/DTS-X etc. Many games have also started supporting HRTFs. Looking at the PS5 audio presentation from Mark Cerny, it looks like their new Tempest engine will support custom HRTFs a little bit later. Moreover the HRTFs would be applied to objects and not to a final rendered mix, which should give incredible audio quality.

Xbox already has software based Dolby Atmos and Windows Sonic. Both consoles support object based audio for games and you get the advantage of height channels.

For existing consoles, having multi channel support using SPDIF might make sense. Going forward what would you guys prefer ?

You're talking about HRTF in game, that made me wonder : PUBG for example has an HRTF option, but what's the best setting to use ? HRTF activated in game but not in the headset ? Deactivated ingame but activated on the headset ? Both activated ?

 

[Audeze]

You're talking about HRTF in game, that made me wonder : PUBG for example has an HRTF option, but what's the best setting to use ? HRTF activated in game but not in the headset ? Deactivated in game but activated on the headset ? Both activated ?

There are 3 places you can add HRTF. a) In game like PUBG b) Consoles audio engine. c)In the headset.
Some games but not all will support HRTF. With PS5 the PS5-tempest engine will support this for all games. With in-game or in-console HRTF, the HRTF can be applied to objects directly and then the results can be accumulated and sent out to speakers or headsets.
With Headsets, we are at a disadvantage. HRTF can be applied at the end (on stereo or 5.1/7.1 output). Headsets wont have access to the object based audio. So adding this functionality to headsets seems superfluous.

 

[DaOchin]

I thought I'd share my impressions of my Audeze Mobius....

In regards to the clamp ended up using some dekoni nuggets for extra padding and it took care of any comfort issues personally. The mobius initially would give me a headache if I wore them too long but the extra padding on the top really helped imo. As always may not work for you but if you have something soft you could try it out.

 

[Narris]

You're talking about HRTF in game, that made me wonder : PUBG for example has an HRTF option, but what's the best setting to use ? HRTF activated in game but not in the headset ? Deactivated ingame but activated on the headset ? Both activated ?

4000+ hours of PC Pubg, I play in 2 channel with footsteps profile, HRTF enabled. Buddy just went from In Ear QC20s to the Mobius and loves the added clarity. The issues with sounds in pubg are entirely on pubg and not the headset. Everyone experiences the audio flip and misID's gunfire directions no matter what headset.

 

[corgifall]

Random question. Has anyone figured out to turn off the the voice alert for when you mute or un-mute the headset?

 

[Gamerlingual]

Random question. Has anyone figured out to turn off the the voice alert for when you mute or un-mute the headset?

No but I find it useful to have actually

 

[corgifall]

Drives me bonkers since I constantly turn it on and off so people don’t hear me vape

 

[Narris]

Drives me bonkers since I constantly turn it on and off so people don’t hear me vape

it does annoy me that it cuts the sound off to play the voice. I agree on that.

 

[corgifall]

That too haha

 

[Trancefreak]

Just a heads-up. My replacement Mobius starts to flake off the finish as well. Bigtime.
The right cushion is, just like the previous one, misforming over time. it's started to creak and squeak as well. ( I'm not talking about the diagram creaking when applying pressure. )

Other than that, I'm enjoying everyday usage. It works well and sounds great.
So the tech is great, the finish and construction not so much.

I might switch to gel pads in the future in the home to get dit of the cushion problems.

 

[KaiSc]

There are 3 places you can add HRTF. a) In game like PUBG b) Consoles audio engine. c)In the headset.
Some games but not all will support HRTF. With PS5 the PS5-tempest engine will support this for all games. With in-game or in-console HRTF, the HRTF can be applied to objects directly and then the results can be accumulated and sent out to speakers or headsets.
With Headsets, we are at a disadvantage. HRTF can be applied at the end (on stereo or 5.1/7.1 output). Headsets wont have access to the object based audio. So adding this functionality to headsets seems superfluous.

HRTF engine inside the headset it's the most straightforward way to add headtracking.
HRTF without headtracking, to me, simply is a strange and annoying sound coloration.

Processing the original 5.1, 7.1 etc., or at least stereo signals into HRTF + headtracking for me is the only way I get a 3-D, out of head effect.

The downside: I'm not gaming, but viewing films on a TV set.
Here's the culprit: no way to get the DD 5.1 signals into Mobius, just plain stereo.
I'd absolutely pay for an interface that does: SPDIF or HDMI DD5.1 -> to USB -> to Mobius.

Or even better a fictious "Mobius II" with integrated SPDIF or HDMI interface.

 

[FireFreak111]

EQ journey with the Mobius is over, and it of course ended with a version of the Harman target curve.

Here's an Equalizer APO config.txt file, generated using AutoEQ and RTings measurements

Spoiler

Stage: pre-mix
Channel: LFE
Filter: ON LPQ Fc 140 Hz Q 1.7
Channel: ALL
Stage: post-mix
Preamp: 1.5 dB
GraphicEQ: 20 -7.2; 21 -7.1; 22 -7.0; 23 -7.0; 24 -6.9; 26 -6.8; 27 -6.7; 29 -6.7; 30 -6.7; 32 -6.7; 34 -6.9; 36 -7.1; 38 -7.2; 40 -7.3; 43 -7.3; 45 -7.3; 48 -7.2; 50 -7.1; 53 -7.0; 56 -6.9; 59 -6.8; 63 -6.7; 66 -6.6; 70 -6.5; 74 -6.5; 78 -6.5; 83 -6.5; 87 -6.5; 92 -6.6; 97 -6.7; 103 -6.8; 109 -7.0; 115 -7.3; 121 -7.4; 128 -7.7; 136 -7.8; 143 -8.0; 151 -8.1; 160 -8.1; 169 -8.2; 178 -8.4; 188 -8.5; 199 -8.6; 210 -8.6; 222 -8.6; 235 -8.5; 248 -8.4; 262 -8.2; 277 -7.9; 292 -7.6; 309 -7.2; 326 -6.8; 345 -6.4; 364 -6.3; 385 -6.2; 406 -6.1; 429 -6.1; 453 -6.3; 479 -6.5; 506 -6.8; 534 -7.1; 565 -7.3; 596 -7.3; 630 -7.2; 665 -7.1; 703 -7.2; 743 -7.4; 784 -7.6; 829 -7.7; 875 -7.7; 924 -7.6; 977 -7.6; 1032 -7.7; 1090 -8.0; 1151 -8.2; 1216 -8.2; 1284 -7.9; 1357 -7.5; 1433 -7.2; 1514 -7.2; 1599 -7.3; 1689 -7.4; 1784 -7.4; 1885 -7.1; 1991 -6.8; 2103 -6.6; 2221 -6.7; 2347 -7.1; 2479 -7.8; 2618 -8.5; 2766 -8.9; 2921 -9.0; 3086 -9.0; 3260 -8.8; 3443 -7.9; 3637 -5.7; 3842 -2.5; 4058 -0.5; 4287 -0.6; 4528 -1.4; 4783 -2.0; 5052 -3.0; 5337 -4.3; 5637 -4.9; 5955 -4.2; 6290 -3.4; 6644 -3.6; 7018 -4.7; 7414 -5.9; 7831 -7.0; 8272 -7.5; 8738 -7.3; 9230 -6.8; 9749 -6.6; 10298 -6.9; 10878 -7.2; 11490 -7.1; 12137 -6.6; 12821 -6.6; 13543 -6.6; 14305 -6.7; 15110 -6.8; 15961 -7.0; 16860 -7.2; 17809 -7.4; 18812 -7.6; 19871 -7.9
##Filter: ON LSC 20 dB Fc 120 Hz Gain 1 dB #Edit for more/less subbass, remove ## to enable
##Filter: ON LSC 20 dB Fc 250 Hz Gain 1 dB #Edit for more/less bass, remove ## to enable
Filter: ON HSC 20 dB Fc 3750 Hz Gain -2 dB #Edit for more/less treble, note it stacks with 10500Hz high-shelf
Filter: ON PK Fc 6500 Hz Gain -1 dB Q 3
Filter: ON HSC 20 dB Fc 7500 Hz Gain 1 dB # counter-balance for 3750Hz
##Filter: ON HSC 20 dB Fc 10500 Hz Gain -1 dB #Edit for more/less brilliance/sparkle, remove ## to enable

Result:

Black line is pre-EQ, blue line is post EQ, green line is the EQ itself. Q settings above includes a tweak at 6500Hz to reduce potential sibilance, plus a general -2dB beyond ~3750hz to reduce the treble gain. Easy to adjust treble reduction, its only there to avoid treble shock on enabling this. This was generated in a way that preserves the Mobius brilliance above 10KHz, falloff might have harmed detail and Waves NX locality. Overall this shift the Mobius from a 'dark' headphone to a more neutral presentation.

 

[Audeze]

EQ journey with the Mobius is over, and it of course ended with a version of the Harman target curve.

Here's an Equalizer APO config.txt file, generated using AutoEQ and RTings measurements

Spoiler

Stage: pre-mix
Channel: LFE
Filter: ON LPQ Fc 140 Hz Q 1.7
Channel: ALL
Stage: post-mix
Preamp: 0.5 dB
GraphicEQ: 20 -6.9; 21 -6.9; 22 -6.9; 23 -6.9; 24 -6.9; 26 -6.8; 27 -6.7; 29 -6.7; 30 -6.7; 32 -6.7; 34 -6.9; 36 -7.1; 38 -7.2; 40 -7.3; 43 -7.3; 45 -7.3; 48 -7.2; 50 -7.1; 53 -7.0; 56 -6.9; 59 -6.8; 63 -6.7; 66 -6.6; 70 -6.5; 74 -6.5; 78 -6.5; 83 -6.5; 87 -6.5; 92 -6.6; 97 -6.7; 103 -6.8; 109 -7.0; 115 -7.3; 121 -7.4; 128 -7.7; 136 -7.8; 143 -8.0; 151 -8.1; 160 -8.1; 169 -8.2; 178 -8.4; 188 -8.5; 199 -8.6; 210 -8.6; 222 -8.6; 235 -8.5; 248 -8.4; 262 -8.2; 277 -7.9; 292 -7.6; 309 -7.2; 326 -6.8; 345 -6.4; 364 -6.3; 385 -6.2; 406 -6.1; 429 -6.1; 453 -6.3; 479 -6.5; 506 -6.8; 534 -7.1; 565 -7.3; 596 -7.3; 630 -7.2; 665 -7.1; 703 -7.2; 743 -7.4; 784 -7.6; 829 -7.7; 875 -7.7; 924 -7.6; 977 -7.6; 1032 -7.7; 1090 -8.0; 1151 -8.2; 1216 -8.2; 1284 -7.9; 1357 -7.5; 1433 -7.2; 1514 -7.2; 1599 -7.3; 1689 -7.4; 1784 -7.4; 1885 -7.1; 1991 -6.8; 2103 -6.6; 2221 -6.7; 2347 -7.1; 2479 -7.8; 2618 -8.5; 2766 -8.9; 2921 -9.0; 3086 -9.0; 3260 -8.8; 3443 -7.9; 3637 -5.7; 3842 -2.5; 4058 -0.5; 4287 -0.6; 4528 -1.4; 4783 -2.0; 5052 -3.0; 5337 -4.3; 5637 -4.9; 5955 -4.2; 6290 -3.4; 6644 -3.6; 7018 -4.7; 7414 -5.8; 7831 -6.9; 8272 -7.3; 8738 -6.9; 9230 -6.3; 9749 -6.3; 10298 -6.6; 10878 -7.0; 11490 -7.0; 12137 -6.6; 12821 -6.5; 13543 -6.6; 14305 -6.8; 15110 -6.9; 15961 -7.0; 16860 -7.2; 17809 -7.4; 18812 -7.7; 19871 -8.0
Filter: ON PK Fc 6500 Hz Gain -1 dB Q 3
Filter: ON HSC 20 dB Fc 3750 Hz Gain -1 dB #Edit for more/less treble, note it stacks with 8500Hz high-shelf
Filter: ON PK Fc 8500 Hz Gain -1 dB Q 8
Filter: ON HSC 20 dB Fc 10500 Hz Gain -1 dB #Edit for more/less brilliance/sparkle

Result:

Black line is pre-EQ, blue line is post EQ, green line is the EQ itself. EQ settings above includes some tweaks at 6500Hz and 8500Hz to reduce some of the sibilance and harshness at points, plus a general -1dB beyond ~3750hz to reduce the treble gain. This was generated in a way that preserves the Mobius brilliance above 10KHz, falloff might have harmed detail and Waves NX locality. Overall this shift the Mobius from a 'dark' headphone to a more neutral presentation.

This EQ is on top of Neutral settings on Mobius ?