[themrmikemcd]

Quick vocal erupt headphone first impressions: they sound really good with the default pads which are not the same ones they used for the Prototype. The solid pads are horrendous sounding and just muffles everything the wires they used are thin and cheap and both set of wires have volume rockers on them?

Over all I love the sound but the build quality and changes they made to the pads and wires is very disappointing. If the wires break I don't even know if you can get replacements since they made them and you can't buy genetic wires to replace them from what everyone else is saying.

they have a nice thump to them bass wise and music sounds great. Imaging is good. Soundstage is nothing like the prototype. Not bad.,Just not Amazballs.**Edit** The color option change was my fault. I forgot they sent out a questionnaire And I changed my color choice. Completely forgot about that.****

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Got the Audeze package today. Sadly I had to do a 14 hour shift today so I couldn't even open the packaging before I had to run off to work. I'll try and get the initial stuff done tomorrow morning.

 

[SierraMadre]

Thank you all. I am gonna look for usb bluetooth audio transceivers and at least decent wireless headphones.

Just so you know, if you go the generic dongle plus generic wireless headphones route, you won’t get virtual surround sound out of all games, only those that feature virtual surround already preprogrammed in by the game’s developers.

The PS4 can only output two channel stereo via USB / over Bluetooth, if the game has it preprogrammed in, fine, if not then you will be stuck with vanilla stereo with stereo imaging and cues only.

For guaranteed virtual surround sound, one needs either a dac/amp that supports optical input with Dolby digital 5.1 decoding, an A.V. receiver that takes multichannel audio from HDMI and converts it into virtual surround for headphone output (e.g. Yamaha’s “Silent Cinema”), or, one of the official PlayStation wireless headsets that feature Sony’s house virtual surround sound solution. AFAIK, the aforementioned Sony headsets are the only way to guarantee virtual surround sound from PS4 through USB / Bluetooth.

 

[TeeReQs]

Anybody used the wireless modmic? I know it's expensive, but having one less cable to deal with would be nice. I need a mic for my new HD800

 

[Yedaself]

Just so you know, if you go the generic dongle plus generic wireless headphones route, you won’t get virtual surround sound out of all games, only those that feature virtual surround already preprogrammed in by the game’s developers.

The PS4 can only output two channel stereo via USB / over Bluetooth, if the game has it preprogrammed in, fine, if not then you will be stuck with vanilla stereo with stereo imaging and cues only.

For guaranteed virtual surround sound, one needs either a dac/amp that supports optical input with Dolby digital 5.1 decoding, an A.V. receiver that takes multichannel audio and converts it into virtual surround for headphone output (e.g. Yamaha’s “Silent Cinema”, or, one of the official PlayStation wireless headsets that feature Sony’s house virtual surround sound solution. AFAIK, the aforementioned Sony headsets are the only way to guarantee virtual surround sound from PS4 through USB / Bluetooth.

I don't want to buy a gaming headphone but looks like road is going there. As I read, headphone should be connected to a USB port on Ps4 to get virtual surround. So, looks like I have 3 options.

1. Wireless gaming headphones like Arctis 7
2. Sony Gold
3. A wired headphone with really large Soundstage which plugged in to dualshock.

What is the most reasonable solution?

 

[Yethal]

Just so you know, if you go the generic dongle plus generic wireless headphones route, you won’t get virtual surround sound out of all games, only those that feature virtual surround already preprogrammed in by the game’s developers.

The PS4 can only output two channel stereo via USB / over Bluetooth, if the game has it preprogrammed in, fine, if not then you will be stuck with vanilla stereo with stereo imaging and cues only.

For guaranteed virtual surround sound, one needs either a dac/amp that supports optical input with Dolby digital 5.1 decoding, an A.V. receiver that takes multichannel audio and converts it into virtual surround for headphone output (e.g. Yamaha’s “Silent Cinema”, or, one of the official PlayStation wireless headsets that feature Sony’s house virtual surround sound solution. AFAIK, the aforementioned Sony headsets are the only way to guarantee virtual surround sound from PS4 through USB / Bluetooth.

There is also the "buy G6 and wireless headphones with optical input such as higher end Senns and output SBX to them" route.

 

[SierraMadre]

There is also the "buy G6 and wireless headphones with optical input such as higher end Senns and output SBX to them" route.

True but that would be needlessly convoluted and expensive unless one just had to have SBX over ASTRO’s Dolby, Steel Series’s DTS Headphone virtual X or Sony’s house VSS and 3D Audio.

 

[SierraMadre]

I don't want to buy a gaming headphone but looks like road is going there. As I read, headphone should be connected to a USB port on Ps4 to get virtual surround. So, looks like I have 3 options.

1. Wireless gaming headphones like Arctis 7
2. Sony Gold
3. A wired headphone with really large Soundstage which plugged in to dualshock.

What is the most reasonable solution?

You were misinformed about surround for PS4 with USB. The only headphones that can do that for PS4 are Sony’s because somewhere between the PS and the proprietary USB wireless dongle that comes with the Sony headphones, the discrete multichannel surround sound tracks of games are decoded and converted into virtual surround sound.

Otherwise, USB only provides two channel audio from PS (or indeed any console at the moment). That means that any DAC/amp connected via USB will only get two channel. If a game does not already have virtual surround mixing then a DAC/AMP that can decode the Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1 intended for a discrete / physical multichannel surround setup and convert it to virtual surround sound is required. That’s why the better wireless dac /amps for console have optical in so that they can receive, decode and convert a Dolby digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1 surround track and convert it into virtual surround.

As for wired headphones plugged into dual shock, that will only give 2 channel stereo thus, again, unless the game you are playing which has a pre-programmed virtual surround mix, you won’t get virtual surround.

If you are going with Sony, then get the Platinum wireless as it supports 3D object based audio mixes (including height effects) for certain titles such as Uncharted 4, God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn. Just be sure to get them off Amazon or somewhere that offers no hassle returns in case you don’t like them or there are any problems.

As to what you should go for, that depends on your needs. But, assuming wireless is the priority and you only care about surround sound on PS4, then try the Platinum wireless headset first. It’s by far the cheapest solution and is also the only one that will give you 3D audio (albeit only for certain games). The PS headset app also has developer made EQ profiles for certain games.

if, on the other hand, you want a solution that can be used to get surround from other devices, such as Xbox, DVD/Bluray players, TVs that can output Dolby a Digital 5.1 via optical, or PCs that can output multichannel surround and high resolution audio via USB, then the Arctis Pro with Gamedac or the ASTRO A50s are your best bet.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Screw all that. Get the cheapest virtual surround dac/amp you can find like the G6, and a aux/optical receiver/transmitter that does apt-X Low Latency, with headphones that supports apt-X LL (Like Grado's GW100). you'll have virtual surround there from the PS4's Dolby Digital out to the G6.

Or, you can just buy an Astro Mixamp 5.8, which are going cheap on Ebay atm. Then you can just use any wired headphone wirelessly. I'd make sure to buy a rechargable battery pack for it though.

Honestly y'all should be snatching those Mixamp 5.8s up. They used to go for like $200. What they're going for even used is a steal. Just make sure it comes with both RX and TX units.

I already have one and feel like buying another just to have as a backup. Yes they're a little hissy, but nothing to complain about with the versatility you get. Easily the best thing to have outside of an X7.

 

[SierraMadre]

Screw all that. Get the cheapest virtual surround dac/amp you can find like the G6, and a aux/optical receiver/transmitter that does apt-X Low Latency, with headphones that supports apt-X LL (Like Grado's GW100). you'll have virtual surround there from the PS4's Dolby Digital out to the G6.

Or, you can just buy an Astro Mixamp 5.8, which are going cheap on Ebay atm. Then you can just use any wired headphone wirelessly. I'd make sure to buy a rechargable battery pack for it though.

Honestly y'all should be snatching those Mixamp 5.8s up. They used to go for like $200. What they're going for even used is a steal. Just make sure it comes with both RX and TX units.

I already have one and feel like buying another just to have as a backup. Yes they're a little hissy, but nothing to complain about with the versatility you get. Easily the best thing to have outside of an X7.

The mix amp 5.8 isn’t a bad idea provided you don’t get one with the bass hitching like I did (it’s a known problem with the first iteration) but the G6 + aux/optical transmitter *+* wireless headphones stacks up the expense quite a bit.
Have you tried the Platinum wireless? They’re actually not at all bad, Sony’s house vanilla VSS is excellent and they’re the only way to get 3D audio out of PS exclusives, and they can be had for well under 100 if one shops around.

 

[Yethal]

True but that would be needlessly convoluted and expensive unless one just had to have SBX over ASTRO’s Dolby, Steel Series’s DTS Headphone virtual X or Sony’s house VSS and 3D Audio.

Or you just wanted a pair of headphones that don't sound like crap or work with devices other than PS4 and games other than Uncharted 4.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

First things first on the LCD-1, it's marginally smaller than the Mobius, and that includes the pads. Think of something between Creative Aurvana Live to ATH-M50 sized pads give or take, with no real intuitive way to fit pads not made for the LCD-1. (they snap on, and the outer rim doesn't have anywhere pads can latch on to). So pad swapping may need some extra finessing/glue/tape.
I haven't had any time with them otherwise as I'm on the run, but yeah, wanted to point that out...

The headband is also a little different from the Mobius, in that it's not the same at all. The padding on it is also wider, so it should lead to less of a hotspot in comparison to the Mobius headband.

 

[illram]

Here's a question I've been batting around in my head for a little bit: Assume a headphone has top-tier imaging and detail. For the purposes of virtual surround, with the right EQ, crossfade, etc., that headphone's particular soundstage qualities can be rendered meaningless. E.g. a headphone with a "narrow" stage when just run without any EQ or DSP can still fake a big stage, if you want, assuming its imaging is good enough and you run the appropriate DSP.

Is that true or false? I feel like this has been touched on before but I don't know if there's a definitive answer. I personally feel like this is true. E.g. the ESP950 sounds great with VSS but is not known for its soundstage really.

 

[Yethal]

Here's a question I've been batting around in my head for a little bit: Assume a headphone has top-tier imaging and detail. For the purposes of virtual surround, with the right EQ, crossfade, etc., that headphone's particular soundstage qualities can be rendered meaningless. E.g. a headphone with a "narrow" stage when just run without any EQ or DSP can still fake a big stage, if you want, assuming its imaging is good enough and you run the appropriate DSP.

Is that true or false? I feel like this has been touched on before but I don't know if there's a definitive answer. I personally feel like this is true. E.g. the ESP950 sounds great with VSS but is not known for its soundstage really.

False. My Clears have a narrow soundstage and with SBX added it's still narrow. $120 PC37X outperforms them when it comes to positioning in virtual surround

First things first on the LCD-1, it's marginally smaller than the Mobius, and that includes the pads. Think of something between Creative Aurvana Live to ATH-M50 sized pads give or take, with no real intuitive way to fit pads not made for the LCD-1. (they snap on, and the outer rim doesn't have anywhere pads can latch on to). So pad swapping may need some extra finessing/glue/tape.
I haven't had any time with them otherwise as I'm on the run, but yeah, wanted to point that out...

The headband is also a little different from the Mobius, in that it's not the same at all. The padding on it is also wider, so it should lead to less of a hotspot in comparison to the Mobius headband.

Interesting, from the initial pictures they seemed to be using the same basic frame as the mobius

 

[SierraMadre]

Or you just wanted a pair of headphones that don't sound like crap or work with devices other than PS4 and games other than Uncharted 4.

Well, granted the Sony doesn’t offer surround outside of PlayStation 4 usage, but it can be used for non-surround purposes with devices other than PS and it is not the case that it only offers surround for games like Uncharted 4. Sony’s VSS algorithm works for any game played on PS4. It is the 3D, object based audio with height effects that is confined to certain big Sony exclusives and for those the Platinum headset is the only way to get 3D audio fullstop.

Moreover, as for “sounding like crap”, while I would always recommend a good pair of open-backed non-gaming headphones over a gaming headset in any general scenario, I don’t subscribe to the notion that gaming headset automatically = “crap sound”, not least because I’ve tried most of the options discussed (platinum, Astro, Arctis and Sennheiser RS195). For a first time buyer whose priorities are PS4 and wireless, the Platinum headset offers decent audio, is an all-in-one solution with respect to surround and mic and is relatively very cheap. While a G6 plus wireless Senns with optical in plus Modmic may offer better audio quality, I wouldn’t say they sound three times better or anywhere near that which is what the difference in cost would be.