Confused looking for a gaming headphone amp w/ ok music

[Kaze]

I have a set of beyerdynamics dt770 and a laptop with integrated soundcard(sigmatel HD). I was looking at the RSA tomahawk and the predator and have a couple of questions:

1)The predator bypasses the soundcard according to what I've read so, I wouldn't want that would I?

2)Should I get a tomahawk + audigy nx to power my headphones?
or should I just get a predator?

3)Is it a good idea to get the predator for gaming?

4)Can anyone recommend a good tiny portable amp under $200. I will settle for the RSAs only if I have no choice.

 

[coredump]

Which DT770 do you have? From a gaming perspective you may benefit more from a portable DAC.

 

[Kaze]

the 80 ohm version

 

[Kaze]

bump, help anyone?

 

[myinitialsaredac]

What types of games are you playing?

 

[Kaze]

First person shooters

 

[myinitialsaredac]

Well, I have my issues with the 770s and FPS's but, as for an amp, if your playing a game (and i mean competitively playing) such as 1.6 then sound quality becmes less important than seperation and a focus on mid and highs. You will likely want to get an amp/dac combo that takes the digital stream and converts it to the analog wave then amplifies it all offboard such as the predator in order to bypass the stock soundcard and the nasty implications it may bear such as: the electrical storm in your computer, differing clocks, differing software potentiometes, low quality jacks, and other issues that will degrade the sound (and even "slow it down" by o so much) causing that loss of seperation.

As for recommending a specific amp, I have not tried a huge amount of amp/dac combos but I am sure someone here on Headfi could recommend an amp that has great seperation and is a bit analytical. Personally I play 1.6 with the micro stack and my 701s and enjoy the positioning abilites whilst allowing my to focus on dinks while spamming and footies.

Dave

 

[Pushifer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaze /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have a set of beyerdynamics dt770 and a laptop with integrated soundcard(sigmatel HD). I was looking at the RSA tomahawk and the predator and have a couple of questions: 1)The predator bypasses the soundcard according to what I've read so, I wouldn't want that would I? 2)Should I get a tomahawk + audigy nx to power my headphones? or should I just get a predator? 3)Is it a good idea to get the predator for gaming? 4)Can anyone recommend a good tiny portable amp under $200. I will settle for the RSAs only if I have no choice.

Direct usb->amp using dac
No no no no and no. Most of the new games have lots of technologies to make sound better and even to calculate effects etc etc. Those you will only get if you have a decent soundcard. No OpenAL or even EAX for you.

For gaming experience get a Soundcard.

Amp with interconnection cable.
Dunno.

 

[azncookiecutter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pushifer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Direct usb->amp using dac No no no no and no. Most of the new games have lots of technologies to make sound better and even to calculate effects etc etc. Those you will only get if you have a decent soundcard. No OpenAL or even EAX for you. For gaming experience get a Soundcard. Amp with interconnection cable. Dunno.

Really. Many newer games don't even use EAX anymore, so getting a sound card is really redundant for a lot of games. Many new laptops also have an optical jack built in, it just requires an adapter to make it work. If you don't need something portable, it opens up a lot more options in terms of DACs/amps.

 

[olblueyez]

Gaming & Multimedia Headsets

 

[dookiex]

The Astro amp would be perfect for you and it has DH processing. Not audiophile gear but it serves its purpose quite well and the price is excellent for your needs.

 

[coredump]

I have a X-Fi but I don't even use it anymore. Vista doesn't support EAX and I find my DAC does a much better job for sound quality and detail. Do you have an optical or coaxial digital out?