[grkbigpoppa]

I just recently purchased a Senn Hd595 and I want to know what would i need in order to make full use out of it for FPS Games.

Would I need a sound card AND an amp?
If yes which ones suit the hd595s the best? If money wasn't an option.

Also another question I have is, what sound settings should my headphones be in? Should it be on headphones/2.1/5.1? and should i put the crystallizer to 100%? **** like that.

 

[Jaawa]

Hello there, welcome to Head-Fi

Okay, so you want to get everything out of the HD 595 when playing shooter games, I assume you're talking about the experience itself, to get more immersion and feel from the games. Meaning that you're not talking about getting the full pro-gamer first-strike use out of the headphones, hearing all important sounds as soon and as clearly as possible, like footsteps etc.

What kind of a soundcard are you using now? The HD 595 have an impedance of 50 Ohms, meaning that they're pretty easily driven with a good source alone, so it's possible that a good soundcard is all you need, if your main activity with the headphones is playing games.

Sure they benefit from a good amp too, but buying a good amp for the Sennheisers is something you should do for music. FPS games rarely have music and you forget about the nyances of soundquality when you're in the middle of gunfire anyway

If you're using a soundcard that's integrated into your motherboard or it's one of those "wannabe-hifi" "HD-audio-whatever" bundled cards, you can start looking for a serious soundcard, like the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer etc.

Then your question about the sound setting, some soundcards actually have pretty nice features for virtual surround simulation, but you have to try those out by yourself, different games give different results with different soundcards ..oh and the "crystallizer" etc. features are usually bad, that's my experience with them, I've tried a few of the creative cards and a few external ones with similar features, they just artificially try to boost the audio, making always somekinda distortions on the way.

 

[stumbo]

I'll give you honest opinion, when it comes to games, the best you can possibly get is an x-fi sound card with and optical cable to a Zero DAC. Total cost for this setup, if you shop around (ebay) will end up being around 210-215.

With this setup you will get the EAX and cmss and crystalizer blah blah blah, plus the quality and power from the zero.

Yes, there is better quality setups, but on a set of 595s this is pretty much as good as it will get for you.

This is the setup I run through my ad700s, and I feel like it is actually overkill for gaming. To be honest, its too much, because when I hear footsteps or gunfire, it just sounds like a sound file playing, game sounds are just wav files, and you can hear the flaws in the sound and tell what it is.

However, i would not want it any other way, so ENJOY!!!

 

[uraflit]

IMO:

just get an x-fi soundcard and run it straight off from that with the EAX and effects for gaming turned on. 2.0/2.1 mode is usually preferred.

my advice: buy the "good" x-fi budget card and be done with it.

and the hd595 CAN be upgraded by further amping and good source... and wav files are the epitome of SQ, but gun sounds from games are probably not the best things in the world to judge SQ with

 

[ROBSCIX]

Go with a Auzen Prelude to those HD595's.

The best gaming card on the planet is the Prelude..

 

[Garret Jax]

HT Omega has a new version of their Claro card out that has a built-in headphone amplifier. It looks sweet! That way you can avoid buying a separate DAC/AMP. Of course, only Creative fully supports EAX.

 

[reflex]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garret Jax /img/forum/go_quote.gif HT Omega has a new version of their Claro card out that has a built-in headphone amplifier. It looks sweet! That way you can avoid buying a separate DAC/AMP. Of course, only Creative fully supports EAX.

Well... Auzentech also fully supports EAX and will be releaseing a new X-fi card with a built in headphone amp in January of '09.

Auzentech, Inc. X-Fi Home Theater HD : World First soundcards for Music, HTPC, and Gaming.

 

[Garret Jax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by reflex /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well... Auzentech also fully supports EAX and will be releaseing a new X-fi card with a built in headphone amp in January of '09. Auzentech, Inc. X-Fi Home Theater HD : World First soundcards for Music, HTPC, and Gaming.

That's exciting! Personally, I love my HT Omega and would go with that because EAX hasn't impressed me too much, but I've heard excellent things about the Preludes. It's good to have choices.

 

[apatN]

I didn't like my HD595s for gaming at all. I recommend getting other phones.

 

[Jaawa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by apatN /img/forum/go_quote.gif I didn't like my HD595s for gaming at all. I recommend getting other phones.

The guy asked for components to use with his headphones and you go telling him that he should get new headphones because you didn't like the ones he has?

One of the weirdest posts I've seen on Head-Fi yet xD

 

[obobskivich]

I was just thinking of the Asus Xonar with the built-in headphone amplifier, Xonar gives you a very good bit of EAX support, while maintining enough distance from Creative to avoid some of the less beautiful aspects of Creative under Windows Vista

 

[XSAlliN]

A good sound card would help but this are not gaming headphones. There good for that to, but they were made for other purpose like, you know "music"

. If you're referring to this XG:

...this should be fine, but the next is a joke:

Asus Xonar is good to.

 

[Jaawa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by XSAlliN /img/forum/go_quote.gif A good sound card would help but this are not gaming headphones. There good for that to, but they were made for other purpose like, you know "music"

I know what you mean, but I don't think about headphones like that. All headphones are made to reproduce recorded audio to your ears. The only real difference between "gaming" and "music" headphones is the idea of direction where the sound is coming, but in my opinion good 2.0 headphones with a good soundcard can do front-back left-right surround pretty nicely.

Other than that, I want all the same things in game audio as I want from my music, sound quality, warmth and clarity. I use the rig in my sig for solo gaming, and I love it. The only reason I have my PC 350 is because in some gaming environments I need lots of isolation, and it's also a headset with a bloody good microphone, but it also sounds very nice, afterall, it has the HD 595 drivers

 

[apatN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaawa /img/forum/go_quote.gif The guy asked for components to use with his headphones and you go telling him that he should get new headphones because you didn't like the ones he has? One of the weirdest posts I've seen on Head-Fi yet xD

It's only a matter of time before he wants to upgrade his phones as well. You know how it is.

 

[obobskivich]

no, i'm talking about Xonar Essence, not one of the expensive creative x-fi's

however, everything from xonar dx up to x-fi elite pro in terms of price will be more than suitable for this, you're only driving two channels afterall

honestly, go for something like the ht omega claro xt or xonar essence, you'll solve the amp/dac problem, and get something that'll actually process audio for gaming, in addition to being great for music

and i agree, headphones aren't just for music, they're for reproducing whatever is sent to them, each one just does it a little differently