[taiyaki4ever]

Hello,

New member here. I'm actually a 10+ year lurker on these forums, (even had an account some 7~8 years ago but forgot the account name and password). So it's a pleasure to be back among you all as a member.

My current setup is as follows: optical out from tv > DSS/mixamp > HD598
Is there anything I could do to improve the audio quality of this setup and possibly gain the ability to control the volume with a remote?

I currently game and watch movies using the Earforce DSS (first model). I found it gave me ever so slightly better surround and sound quality paired with the HD598 than the mixamp at the time (that and I don't need voice chat).

For years now I've been wanting to upgrade to something better. I've seen and read reviews of the Soundblaster X7 but a lot of people seem to think the upgrade is going to be minimal, if even noticeable, when using relatively low impedance headphones such as the HD598.

I also looked into getting a receiver such as a Yamaha so that I could gain the ability to control the volumes with a remote, but then there is no audio out to output back to the DSS/Mixamp (they no longer have optical outs), and sending from the DSS/Mixamp to the receiver would probably still alter the sound since the Yamaha has its own Silent Cinema mode, which personally I have found to deliver slightly less convincing surround sound in comparison (at least with the mid $600 range device the V683).

Anything I could do to improve the sound quality and perhaps gain the ability to control the audio with a remote?

Thank you all and have a nice week end.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Why do you have the DDS or mix-amp connected to the TV?
I would assume the DSS or Mix-amp might work better connected directly to the gaming source (PC or gaming console).

If you get a Yamaha (I have the Yamaha 671 receiver myself), run HDMI from the source (PC or gaming console) to the Yamaha,
then run HDMI from the Yamaha to the screen (TV or monitor) and plug the headphone into the Yamaha.
HDMI can carry up to 8-channel of 24-bit/192k digital audio (without even using digital audio compression).

 

[taiyaki4ever]

Thank you PurpleAngel for the reply. I've read a lot of your contributions in the past.

Reason I connected to the TV was to get the audio from multiple sources when not using a receiver (PS4, Xbox, Switch, 4K blu ray player etc).

With the Yamaha I did exactly as you described, connected all the HDMI's to the receiver and then the receiver to the TV (tried both on an ARC connection and regular connection). The headphone jack on that receiver is really not on the same level as using the Earforce DSS in my experience. The sound stage is noticeably smaller, and I found the sound to be a little flat at times (especially dialogue), on top of that I couldn't identify surround from the rear, where as with the Earforce DSS I could. This is using the HD598 so using other headphones your experience may vary.

I did try the various settings including with tweaks to cinema modes and any other mode where tweaking was possible, but I still could not get a satisfactory surround sound. I know Yamaha is capable of great headphones sound on their very high end models cause my father runs an older but high end Aventage line of Yamaha and when I watched films using the headphone port there with his HD558 (inferior headphones) I still got satisfactory surround. I guess the mid range has made substantial cuts to the headphone quality to the point that the DSS outperforms it for my use.

Have you found the 671's headphone Silent Cinema experience to be satisfactory overall, even when compared to a Mixamp/JVCH1/DSS)?