[OnceInABlueMoon]

The day finally came when my old speedlink medusa home edition headset died, and I think it is time to treat myself to a decent replacement. I remember at the time they were described as being impressive for the price range (£50), but I assume things have moved on since then!
 
Coming from a gaming background, not an audiophile background, I started exploring all the options that are available - starting with the 'gaming' headsets and moving onto audiophile headphones. I have been lurking on this forum for a while now, and I am amazed by the amount of knowledge contained here.
 
I have found audiophiles who are gamers, and who have reviewed audiophile headsets, gamers (not audiophiles) reviewing gaming headsets and audiophile headsets (e.g. ATH-A700 and AD700), but not audiophiles reviewing gaming headsets.
 
The reason that I ask is that I want to know if anyone has had any experience of the Logitech G930 headset, and how it compares to something like the ATH-A700. The G930 has been receiving rave reviews, but most audiophiles don't seem to have even considered trying them, so I have no relative perspective. 
 
I am assuming that the G930 are not a patch on decent headphones, but I would like to hear anyone's actual experiences.
 
I play for fun (but it can get pretty competitive on, say, bfbc 2 online) on both PC and PS3 and I also watch a lot of blu-rays while using my headphones, as well as music.
 
The two setups that I am seriously considering (unless the G930 really are as good as some people say) are:
 
PS3 -> mixamp 5.8 -> DT770 / MMX300 / QPAD QH-1339
 
and swap to PC -> X-Fi Sonar -> DT770 / MMX300 / QH-1339 when on the PC.
 
Or:
 
PS3 -> mixamp 5.8 tx -> mixamp 5.8 rx ->
                                                               } Fiio E9 / preferably matrix m-stage amp as it has switchable inputs -> K701
                                 PC -> X-Fi Sonar ->
 
Further points that I have questions on (although these are probably better asked in the dedicated forums):
 

1. Does the DT770 pretty much = MMX300 = QH-1339 (as I have assumed)?
2. Should I consider the PC-360s or PC-350s?

1. Fiio E9 with an input switch added or matrix m-stage amp?

1. I realise that my soundcard is not up to much, so I am thinking about the X-Fi Titanium HD as an upgrade. Is this able to take the game 5.1 / 7.1 audio and 'do' the dolby headphone magic on it? If not what sound cards can, or is the only way to do it through optical out to a mixamp?
2. Would the MMX300s benefit from the Fiio E9 or the m-stage amp?

 
I am very open to comments and suggestions, as while I think I now have an idea about these things from reading the forums, to be honest I really do not anything!

 

[smashing]

For someone who claim to know nothing, you do seem to know your stuff.
 
Anyways, the reason why audiophile don't review gaming headphone is because of the pre-conceived notion that gaming headphone (like other fashionable headphones) will not be value for money as compared to the more dedicated "audiophile" headphone (whatever that mean), especially since the money that was meant for research and production of the headphone were dedicated instead into marketing strategies. It is a preconceived notion though, so it by no means infer that gaming headphones are worthless. Just like not all "audiophile" headphones are gems either. 
 
Having said that, there are gamers who did review on gaming headphone before. For instance, there's a thread here on head fi on the steelseries http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/500634/steelseries-5hv2-siberia-v2-vs-audio-technika-ad-700
Another on Razer Carcharias http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/452710/razer-carcharias-headset-a-headfi-ers-impressions

 

[WhiteCrow]

A mixamp is best for gaming, nothing else May I suggest you look into Sennheiser HD555 on amazon*about 80$* or the Ultrasone HFI-580, much cheeper than the DT770 and IMO the Ultrasones have a much better soundstage and the 555's are top tier soundstage out of the 3.
 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

This mixamp looks like an interesting device but how does it work like if paired with a PC. I mean does it have to be plugged into an USB port and act like a DAC or is it more like a basic amp + the Dolby sound processing decoding features that you can connect for example with 3.5mm stereo cable? 
 
Can I actually connect mixamp to a soundcard to take advantage of its amping/dolby headphone processing capabilities as well as the voice balancing thing? If so it may become an instant buy for me, having a portable Dolby headphone processing unit would be a nice device to have for me.

 

[WhiteCrow]

 It basically emulates a 5.1 or 7.1 sound system through stereo headphones pretty much exclusively for gaming.

 

[genclaymore]

All the mixamp is doing is using dolby headphone, and Xonars has the same function thru their control panel.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Yea that I understood but I was wondering about the connectivity, you can connect it to the soundcard right? I'm using Audigy 2 ZS soundcard which doesn't have dolby headphone support but it does have it's own plugin for surround effect but I also use Dolby headphone plugin with foobar2000 when listening to music and it sounds awesome so would like to get same experience with games.

 

[WhiteCrow]

 yea, I think it works like a DAC/amp.

 

[Tacoboy]

I have spent the last few years reading forums on headphones and I've have never used "gaming Headphones".
And I'm assuming there have been many computer/Xbox/PS3 gamers reading and post to websites like this.
I have never heard one gamer say they prefer their "gaming headphones" over audiophile headphones.
If gaming headphones made a real difference for gaming, would not audiophile headphone makers (Sennheiser, Audio Technica, Beyerdyaminc, etc.)
come out with their own line of gaming headphones ( I guess Sennheiser makes one model of gaming headphones)
I'm not trying to knock Logitech, I currently using their wireless laser mouse, gaming keyboard and 5300 5.1 speakers.
So my two cents are that "gaming" headphones are more a marketing tool then serious headphones.
 

 

[OnceInABlueMoon]

True I suppose. But as you point out, Sennheiser do make the PC-360 and the PC-350 and beyerdynamic do the MMX300. I was just wondering whether gaming headsets are being written off without being tried, when they might actually be not too bad!
 
Quote:

I have spent the last few years reading forums on headphones and I've have never used "gaming Headphones".
And I'm assuming there have been many computer/Xbox/PS3 gamers reading and post to websites like this.
I have never heard one gamer say they prefer their "gaming headphones" over audiophile headphones.
If gaming headphones made a real difference for gaming, would not audiophile headphone makers (Sennheiser, Audio Technica, Beyerdyaminc, etc.)
come out with their own line of gaming headphones ( I guess Sennheiser makes one model of gaming headphones)
I'm not trying to knock Logitech, I currently using their wireless laser mouse, gaming keyboard and 5300 5.1 speakers.
So my two cents are that "gaming" headphones are more a marketing tool then serious headphones.
 

Any further thoughts on my other questions?
 

1. Does the DT770 pretty much = MMX300 = QH-1339 (as I have assumed)?
2. Should I consider the PC-360s or PC-350s?

1. Fiio E9 with an input switch added or matrix m-stage amp?

1. I realise that my soundcard is not up to much (Sonar X-Fi), so I am thinking about the X-Fi Titanium HD as an upgrade. Is this able to take the game 5.1 / 7.1 audio and 'do' the dolby headphone magic on it? If not what sound cards can, or is the only way to do it through optical out to a mixamp?
2. Would the MMX300s benefit from the Fiio E9 or the m-stage amp?

 

[Tacoboy]

 
Quote:

True I suppose. But as you point out, Sennheiser do make the PC-360 and the PC-350 and beyerdynamic do the MMX300. I was just wondering whether gaming headsets are being written off without being tried, when they might actually be not too bad!
 


Any further thoughts on my other questions?
 

1. Does the DT770 pretty much = MMX300 = QH-1339 (as I have assumed)?
2. Should I consider the PC-360s or PC-350s?

1. Fiio E9 with an input switch added or matrix m-stage amp?

1. I realise that my soundcard is not up to much (Sonar X-Fi), so I am thinking about the X-Fi Titanium HD as an upgrade. Is this able to take the game 5.1 / 7.1 audio and 'do' the dolby headphone magic on it? If not what sound cards can, or is the only way to do it through optical out to a mixamp?
2. Would the MMX300s benefit from the Fiio E9 or the m-stage amp?

 
I stopped using Creative cards, replaced my Creative Labs X-Fi Titanium with the Asus Xonar DS (Win 7 64-bit), Xonar has been very stable, Creative drivers had to be reinstall at least twice a year,
Creative reinstall is a really big pain if you lose you Creative Driver CD.
I would say go for the DT770, you know what your getting, and a seperate mic is cheap.
 

 

[OnceInABlueMoon]

Cool thanks!
 
So was it just the driver issue that made you stop using Creative, or do you feel that the Asus card is better?

 

[keeper05]

The Logitech G930 is a PC only headset as it is USB and acts as its own soundcard. The F540 is basically the same thing but without the added Dolby Headphone ability. It is only stereo and you can hook anything up to it.
 
I think what you miss out on by going with regular headphones is the integrated noise cancelling mic, which is phenomenal, and dedicated buttons. Which, in the G930's case, are programmable.
 
Seriously, the mic is pretty good. You can be listening to music through speakers, talk on the mic, and the person at home will not here it. Plus when you move the mic to a vertical position, it is automatically muted.

 

[Tacoboy]

 
Quote:

Cool thanks!
 
So was it just the driver issue that made you stop using Creative, or do you feel that the Asus card is better?

 
I never had a problem with the Creative card(s) sound quality (Audigy 2 ZS, Audigy 4 and finally, X-Fi titanium)
Mostly for me it was a drive'rs issue, I was always switching between 5.1 speakers and headphones (the connections on the back panel of the creative cards) and game/music DSP settings.
So after a while the drivers would need reinstalling and you have to have the exact Creative driver CD to match the Creative sound card.
If I lost that driver CD, I could not use one of the other 5 or 6 Creative driver CDs I had laying around.
So I would have to search the internet for the exact ISO of the driver CD, which may not be available.
Even when I though I had the correct ISO of the Creative driver CD it sometimes would not install.
You can download most of the needed drivers from Creative, in 10 different parts, and get it somewhat functionable
So reinstalling could take me a few hours (while feeling lots of frustration).
If Creative just made a single software/driver CD that worked with all their different sound cards, I might not have switched.
I finally decided will try to live without EAX 5.0.
With the Asus Xonar, I can download the full software from Asus and install, all in 5 minutes.
I know the Xonar can match the Creative for music quality and for less money.
Xonar has good reviews for working with Windows 7
 

 

[NRWalker]

RPGWizard, if you want portable Dolby Headphone, consider the Asus Xonar U1 - it's a USB soundcard that is meant to be quite good for its price - I've ordered one, but it hasn't yet arrived. 
OnceInABlueMoon, regarding your first question about the Logitech G930, I've used the G35 (which I think is the wired equivalent) and it doesn't even come close to my AD700s or SRH840 in terms of sound quality. The "7.1 Surround Sound" is over-hyped, in fact, it did so little to improve my games that I stopped using it.