Best Gaming Headphones.... With Poll? BUDGET: £100-£250
Sep 27, 2010 at 7:12 AM Post #106 of 319
Pardon me, I thought we were talking gaming here, not music listening.
 
That said.... not sure where you're getting this notion that Windows playback is horrible. This very, very far from my experience.  There is also absolutely no difference in playback from Win XP and Win7 to my ears. I'll leave it at that as this is a gaming thread.
 
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Personally I have my music on the PS3 in lossless, I output that to the line in port of my PC soundcard and play via the PS3 music player....so the soundcard interprets the audio signal instead of my television.....and I have my headphones plugged into the soundcard also....and plus the Windows audio is bypassed obviously as are the many media players of varying quality and EQ's - the difference to my ear was phenomenal. Everything else being exactly the same playing the files through Windows media players is unbelievably poor and muffled. Especially on Windows XP. It's not as bad on Windows7 but still pretty terrible. Compared to that, setting it up so the PS3 plays the music instead the difference is you feel enveloped in the sound almost like you're in the studio. It's so crisp and clear because it's not being drowned by the shoddy that is Microsoft. Sometimes I think the only thing they do right is marketing and cornering markets for themselves, they're also not the most likeable as companies go - they riff from every competition going rather than innovate for themselves and yet they cannot stand it when someone imitates them. Anyway I assume the 360 is equally as good for audio playback under the same circumstances. Also not sure how people would get on using Mac's or Linux - I just know Windows audio playback absolutely stinks.

 
Sep 27, 2010 at 7:17 AM Post #107 of 319
Sep 27, 2010 at 7:21 AM Post #108 of 319


Quote:
Pardon me, I thought we were talking gaming here, not music listening.
 
That said.... not sure where you're getting this notion that Windows playback is horrible. This very, very far from my experience.  There is also absolutely no difference in playback from Win XP and Win7 to my ears. I'll leave it at that as this is a gaming thread.
 


Well seeing as how my PS3 does music and gaming particularly well and that in my setup the PC soundcard is an integral part of this whole setup I do believe that one is linked firmly into the other. And Windows audio does suck, that's why many people suggest bypassing the Kmixer - which by the way didn't work for me as well as I thought it would - I get much better results from my PS3 outputted to the soundcard....also the difference between Win XP and Win7 to my ears is simple, the bass is out of control on Win XP and under control on Win7. But both pale in comparison to console playback...try it before you try to hate on it.
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Sep 27, 2010 at 7:32 AM Post #109 of 319
You seem to be jumping thing gun. I haven't hated on anything. I'm more than willing to try out different sound output methods. But I don't have a PS3 or a 360 so I cannot do this right now.
 
 
BTW -- you hook your PS3 up to your PC's soundcard?
 
Sep 27, 2010 at 7:58 AM Post #110 of 319
You were defending Windows audio and trying to deflect the conversation away from console playback etc when you said this is a gaming discussion and that you couldn't tell a difference in windows audio....to my knowledge your the only person to say anything in objection to anything I've said in this topic, in defence of Windows playback, and yet you don't have a console to try it on. Whereas I not only do, but I've even had very recent Windows audio comparisons on both Win7 and WinXP so I on the other hand know what I'm talking about for the simple reason of I'm not a technophobe and quite simply I know the immediate difference I heard.
 
And yes, you do connect your components to the PC sound card equipment, via an RCA female to 3.5mm converter cable and straight into the line in port of the sound card. But the playback of music or video is done on the PS3 through it's software and it sounds night and day better. Of course you do need to transfer your lossless music in WAV format instead of FLAC - or high bitrate MP3 - but the difference when you hear it is difficult to argue with. Like I said try it before you object to anything.
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Sep 27, 2010 at 8:51 AM Post #111 of 319
Touchy aren't we?
 
All I've said was to defend Windows sound.  I haven't attacked console sound in any way. Try and quote me and show otherwise if you believe I have truly slighted you or your preferences.
 
The only one who's been doing any attacking in this thread is you -- you attacked Windows audio outright. I simply stated I didn't share this experience. 
 
I should also point out that when the topic of PS3 lossless playback was brought up (by you nonetheless), it was in relation to games, not music playback. You were talking about how BluRay automatically implies that the files on it are lossless because of the capacity. Coupe disagreed with the assumption that PS3 game audio is lossless simply because of capacity, then you brought up lossless music playback on your PS3.  I felt this was no longer related to the topic of gaming on headphones so I was trying to shift the discussion back to gaming, not music playback. 
 
You're the one who brought up music playback, for what reason I do not know. If you want to discuss it, feel free to open a thread, let's focus this discussion back to gaming headphones.
 
Sep 27, 2010 at 11:25 AM Post #112 of 319

 
Quote:
Pardon me, I thought we were talking gaming here, not music listening.
 
That said.... not sure where you're getting this notion that Windows playback is horrible. This very, very far from my experience.  There is also absolutely no difference in playback from Win XP and Win7 to my ears. I'll leave it at that as this is a gaming thread.

 
I think the tone of this post alone proves my point given the fact you were the only one. Also let's not forget between the two of us I'm the only one who has extensively tested all 3 methods both short term and long term and you are the one without a console to test on. Or even to my knowledge recent Windows audio A/B testing. Frankly I'm not even sure why you're posting with obvious contention for my post when you don't even have the means or experience to test either method. To which I already have. If you want to contest my post and say Windows audio doesn't stink....then I'll simply say why do so many people suggest to avoid the Kmixer in preference for ASIO4ALL or some such alternative ? 
 
As for being touchy, I wasn't but I am now. Because I don't like being jumped on for expressing myself and my experiences by someone getting touchy themselves who think they know it all when really they're just defending their own preference because they have no means to prove wrong or otherwise go for the better option in the moment and so you end up with a post like yours attempting to decry the notion that 'Windows audio doesn't stink' when in all reality you have no experience or proof to the contrary. I do. And others who bypass Kmixer also do.
 
I think you're barking up the wrong tree here my friend. I'm not that easily fooled and I doubt other people are that stupid either.
 
And finally as for the whole lossless topic, it was mentioned in relation to blu ray discs and as far as the blu ray disc extends. To which end I also brought up legitimate points and questions. As for how this got into lossless audio well I'll have to go back and re read but if that was my fault then I'll concede to that here and now and say it was. I don't care either. Again I made legitimate points off topic or not. But they're all related really, on the grounds of the fact that consoles (not just PS3) can play music (and lossless) too. And in my experience they do a much better job of it than any Windows I've ever had. That's the honest to god truth. Your rig will probably fare better on Windows than mine does, but, your rig will sound twice as good with your music played back on the console. I invite you (once again) to try it before you cry 'windows audio doesn't stink'. Least then you have the experience to back up your claims, which you currently don't. To which end I currently do.
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Sep 27, 2010 at 6:56 PM Post #116 of 319

What exactly was the tone you got from that post? You're seeing daggers in every shadow where there are none.
 
I should point out that Asio4all is sound you can get on Windows. 
Lots of people use Windows PCs to listen to music.... using things like Asio4All and Foobar. 
That is why you can't say that Windows Audio "stinks." Because there are lots of ways to get great sound out of a Windows box.
You gave the answer to your own contention. If you had said, "Kmixer stinks" maybe I'd be inclined to agree with you. I was simply disagreeing with what you said, because it was incorrect in my experience.
 
As for PS3s really having better sound than Windows... that maybe true. But that doesn't mean that Windows audio is bad. PS3 is just better to your ears. Just because Item B is better than Item A, doesn't mean Item A is bad.  And again, many people on this site use Windows to play back their music. Your comment just shot all of their preference down.  I don't need to listen to a PS3's playback in order to defend the audio of Windows. Because it most definitely does not stink. 
 
 
Quote:
 
 
I think the tone of this post alone proves my point given the fact you were the only one. Also let's not forget between the two of us I'm the only one who has extensively tested all 3 methods both short term and long term and you are the one without a console to test on. Or even to my knowledge recent Windows audio A/B testing. Frankly I'm not even sure why you're posting with obvious contention for my post when you don't even have the means or experience to test either method. To which I already have. If you want to contest my post and say Windows audio doesn't stink....then I'll simply say why do so many people suggest to avoid the Kmixer in preference for ASIO4ALL or some such alternative ? 
 
As for being touchy, I wasn't but I am now. Because I don't like being jumped on for expressing myself and my experiences by someone getting touchy themselves who think they know it all when really they're just defending their own preference because they have no means to prove wrong or otherwise go for the better option in the moment and so you end up with a post like yours attempting to decry the notion that 'Windows audio doesn't stink' when in all reality you have no experience or proof to the contrary. I do. And others who bypass Kmixer also do.
 
I think you're barking up the wrong tree here my friend. I'm not that easily fooled and I doubt other people are that stupid either.
 
And finally as for the whole lossless topic, it was mentioned in relation to blu ray discs and as far as the blu ray disc extends. To which end I also brought up legitimate points and questions. As for how this got into lossless audio well I'll have to go back and re read but if that was my fault then I'll concede to that here and now and say it was. I don't care either. Again I made legitimate points off topic or not. But they're all related really, on the grounds of the fact that consoles (not just PS3) can play music (and lossless) too. And in my experience they do a much better job of it than any Windows I've ever had. That's the honest to god truth. Your rig will probably fare better on Windows than mine does, but, your rig will sound twice as good with your music played back on the console. I invite you (once again) to try it before you cry 'windows audio doesn't stink'. Least then you have the experience to back up your claims, which you currently don't. To which end I currently do.
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Sep 28, 2010 at 7:53 AM Post #117 of 319


Quote:
What exactly was the tone you got from that post? You're seeing daggers in every shadow where there are none.
 
I should point out that Asio4all is sound you can get on Windows. 
Lots of people use Windows PCs to listen to music.... using things like Asio4All and Foobar. 
That is why you can't say that Windows Audio "stinks." Because there are lots of ways to get great sound out of a Windows box.
You gave the answer to your own contention. If you had said, "Kmixer stinks" maybe I'd be inclined to agree with you. I was simply disagreeing with what you said, because it was incorrect in my experience.
 
As for PS3s really having better sound than Windows... that maybe true. But that doesn't mean that Windows audio is bad. PS3 is just better to your ears. Just because Item B is better than Item A, doesn't mean Item A is bad.  And again, many people on this site use Windows to play back their music. Your comment just shot all of their preference down.  I don't need to listen to a PS3's playback in order to defend the audio of Windows. Because it most definitely does not stink. 
 
 

 

 
I wasn't shooting anyone's preference down, I was simply saying Windows audio stinks (maybe I should have added 'by comparison' to the line) in my experience....also I firmly believe that the people using Windows for music do so because they either don't have an alternative or because it's slightly more convenient for them, and not because it sounds fantastic, which it surely doesn't. Way I figure it consoles are becoming mainstream household items now if they aren't already and so people should try these things out for themselves before passing judgement on anything someone else says. Which is what you did Mochan. You crapped on my post(s) in defence of Windows audio without proper backup. There's no getting around that fact - just like there's no getting around the fact that you have not tried the alternative I suggested, which makes anything you say on this subject null and void straight away because you're biased and you lack the experience that relativity brings. Or in other words, I thought Windows audio was fine until I out of curiosity tried something else I had at hand, and jeez the difference was/is bigger than night and day. You might say that made me hate Windows audio - but the truth is there's an undeniable gulf in quality between the two. I don't know what else to tell you.
 
I've said it many times already in this thread, but people reading this and perhaps forming an opinion please don't take my word for it, try it for yourself if you can and see for real. That includes you Mochan.
 
 
Sep 28, 2010 at 8:52 AM Post #118 of 319
Guys please.  You have hijacked this thread for long enough.  Take it to tells if you feel the need.
 
I have never listened to the Sony's.  Perhaps its time to check reviews and impressions.
 

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