[ShadowSkulkerer]

I've the older MARANTZ SR5500 with DH1/2/3, in general receivers are designed mainly drive high power loudspeakers, so unless they specific have dedicated headphones (amp) out, then it's just a bypass from the FRONT L and R speaker power mosfet amp. directly with a (330 Ohms) resistor in series to headphone out.
Means headphone output impedance is here higher than 330 Ohms, follow the 1/8 impedance rule you will need at least a higher than 330 Ohms headphones.
And since I don't have high impedance headphones, my high sensitive 102+ dB CD3000 32ohms/SA5000 70ohms have high noise hiss level (low S/N) because the direct mosfet tors are meant to drive 90Watts/8ohms loudspeakers.

DH quality wise should all sound samey as they are the same processed protocols into DH1/2/3 specifications so depends more on headamp quality than DH decoder.
---
Silent Cinema is just Yamaha's own DH decoding tech to decode any 5.1 surround streams into Virtual Surround Headphone.
It can decode any S/PDIF/Digital Optical Toslink/Digital Coax with DolbyDigital/DD 5.1, DTS, DDL, DTS Connect audio streams from PC, XBOX, PS3/4 consoles, dvd/bluray with Digital outs into Silent Cinema etc.
XBone audio menu should be set to output Digital 5.1 and on PC soundcard with DDL=DolbyDigitalLive/DTS Connect are 5.1 surround encoders that will encode PC's 5.1 audio streams into Compressed DDL/DTSC 5.1 Digital streams. Since SPDIF Digital Audio bandwith is only capable of Uncompressed STEREO PCM or Compressed 5.1 DD/DTS.

 
So in other words yes.  Headphone Surround should work...  *long breath in... long breath out*  I've been on a long journey here.  Going from zero knowledge of audio components and things to a basic understanding.  I thank everyone here once again for their help.  Now, another question.  After further research on receivers, this time concerning their headphone amps, and much of that information found in old threads on these very forums, I've decided I would rather have my own headphone amp.  But I still want surround processing for headphones with a good DAC.  Which as I understand isn't easy to obtain as the DAC and surround sound processing are sort of tied to each other. *crude explanation* So I go for say the X7, which is expensive for me and I don't know how good it all is, or I go for a receiver with a good DAC and DH or SilentCinema from Yamaha.  I believe a Realtek ALC 1150 will do the job of encoding DDL/DTSC as far as I could tell... I hope.
 
So..  Can I.. use my own amp for headphones, with a receiver?  
 
EDIT:  I Just saw this. Old thread.
 
"Also Creative Labs just came out with a new computer sound card (Z-series) which has optical input.
So you might be able to run optical from the xBox to the Creative Labs Z series sound card."
 
I read something here that made me want to avoid these cards, but is the premise sound?  A PC sound card w/ optical input could take the audio from Xbox and process it through it's DSP and DAC, then feed it to speakers or headphones?  Could I or should I get a dedicated headphone amp this way?  I don't think you could make it just use one of the amps...  Soundcards with headphone amplifiers in them are at least designed for headphones for those given ports right?  This starts to look like a last ditch option to get everything I'm looking for w/ DTS and such.

 

[Evshrug]

I know this hasn't got anything to do with headphones but why are all the ps4 ps+ games so garbage?

Because they still hope to make some money on those that aren't.

Or simply because the PS4 is relatively new and big-name games haven't depreciated or aged enough yet to be given away for free yet. I have enjoyed a few of the indie games so far, but the value of PS+ is nowhere near as strong as PS3 (free multiplayer) and PS+ deals for PS3 (larger library and more likelihood of good games you haven't tried).

So in other words yes.  Headphone Surround should work...  *long breath in... long breath out*  I've been on a long journey here.  
...

*crude explanation* So I go for say the X7, which is expensive for me and I don't know how good it all is, or I go for a receiver with a good DAC and DH or SilentCinema from Yamaha.  I believe a Realtek ALC 1150 will do the job of encoding DDL/DTSC as far as I could tell... I hope.

So..  Can I.. use my own amp for headphones, with a receiver?  

Yes, you can. The output impedance becomes whatever the headphone amp's output is, because the amp itself is like a 10,000 ohm headphone.

This is your first surround device, DAC, and amp, no? And you're connecting HDMI to a projector? So any surround processor with an optical input will do, so I go back to my first advice from the thread of DH vs Silent Cinema and say just start with a Turtle Beach DSS. Costs $20-$30, has an optical input, alright DAC and amp, and you get a decent first setup. The amp is stronger than a Mixamp or Recon3D USB, DAC is about average but better than a motherboard-integrated audio DAC, and... It's just a small thingie that works. EBay it up! You can plug a headphone amp into it later if you want, and if later you want a high-end DAC (anything lower will be hard to hear an improvement) you can look at what options are available then for headphone surround... There may be more new options by then! We've all been using DSS/Mixamp quality-level DACs and Amps with good results for years.

 

[Evshrug]

Oh, and PC internal soundcard optical inputs can only understand stereo input, don't work with Dolby or DTS encoded audio streams. It's a licensing issue, only the Recon3D USB and X7 (notice that both of those are external units) are certified Dolby decoders, and also receivers are usually Dolby and DTS certified. The soundcard's may be able to OUTPUT in those formats, but not input.

 

[Yethal]

Or simply because the PS4 is relatively new and big-name games haven't depreciated or aged enough yet to be given away for free yet. I have enjoyed a few of the indie games so far, but the value of PS+ is nowhere near as strong as PS3 (free multiplayer) and PS+ deals for PS3 (larger library and more likelihood of good games you haven't tried).

   

Injustice: Gods Among Us is rumored to be in december's ps+

 

[Stillhart]

  Injustice: Gods Among Us is rumored to be in december's ps+

Not rumors, it was announced.  Also Infamous First Light will be in January.
 
Lemme see if I can find the link..   http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/11/04/sneak-peek-at-ps4-plus-lineup-for-dec-jan/

 

[ShadowSkulkerer]

Or simply because the PS4 is relatively new and big-name games haven't depreciated or aged enough yet to be given away for free yet. I have enjoyed a few of the indie games so far, but the value of PS+ is nowhere near as strong as PS3 (free multiplayer) and PS+ deals for PS3 (larger library and more likelihood of good games you haven't tried).
Yes, you can. The output impedance becomes whatever the headphone amp's output is, because the amp itself is like a 10,000 ohm headphone.

This is your first surround device, DAC, and amp, no? And you're connecting HDMI to a projector? So any surround processor with an optical input will do, so I go back to my first advice from the thread of DH vs Silent Cinema and say just start with a Turtle Beach DSS. Costs $20-$30, has an optical input, alright DAC and amp, and you get a decent first setup. The amp is stronger than a Mixamp or Recon3D USB, DAC is about average but better than a motherboard-integrated audio DAC, and... It's just a small thingie that works. EBay it up! You can plug a headphone amp into it later if you want, and if later you want a high-end DAC (anything lower will be hard to hear an improvement) you can look at what options are available then for headphone surround... There may be more new options by then! We've all been using DSS/Mixamp quality-level DACs and Amps with good results for years.

Connecting PC to passive speakers, headphones and a monitor. Same with XBox. But thank you I have been overcomplicating things. The other solution that presents itself to me is a good soundcard with optical input.

 

[nayajoeun]

Hey dudes,

To anyone using the DSS, what volume are you using it set to?

I've got mine plugged into a Emotiva Mini-x speaker amp >> LCd2s and get this occasional popping/crackling noise every now and then.

Trying to isolate the cause.

On a side note, should I max volume the DSS and then control the volume using the amp? For keep the DSS volume low and turn the amp up?

Tyty

 

[Evshrug]

Connecting PC to passive speakers, headphones and a monitor. Same with XBox. But thank you I have been overcomplicating things. The other solution that presents itself to me is a good soundcard with optical input.

As long as you saw my other reply to you after you edited, internal soundcards only accept stereo input over optical. Good luck.

 

[ShadowSkulkerer]

As long as you saw my other reply to you after you edited, internal soundcards only accept stereo input over optical. Good luck.

Sorry to be cruder here, but gosh #$!!%#?!

So by hooking XBox into soundcard I can't get DH? Period? Optical out from XBox is the only solution. Turtle Beach DSS for XBox then... And how do I use my own mic with that? Like the modmic. The mic port on the controller will work right? I believe there was something about DSS2, if I got it, don't know if it's better, only working with turtle beach headsets. But if you have your own headphone and your own mic that isn't an issue right?

 

[Yethal]

Sorry to be cruder here, but gosh #$!!%#?!
So by hooking XBox into soundcard I can't get DH? Period? Optical out from XBox is the only solution. Turtle Beach DSS for XBox then... And how do I use my own mic with that? Like the modmic. The mic port on the controller will work right? I believe there was something about DSS2, if I got it, don't know if it's better, only working with turtle beach headsets. But if you have your own headphone and your own mic that isn't an issue right?

DSS outputs the sound via minijack + usb for voicechat so if You have a ps3/xbx 360 headset lying around somewhere then just plug the headset (minijack and the usb) into the dss. Stuff like the Steelseries Siberia Audiomixer or practically any other last gen dedicated console headset.

 

[Evshrug]

DSS outputs the sound via minijack + usb for voicechat so if You have a ps3/xbx 360 headset lying around somewhere then just plug the headset (minijack and the usb) into the dss. Stuff like the Steelseries Siberia Audiomixer or practically any other last gen dedicated console headset.

Does USB work for Xbox One? Definitely didn't work for the 360 far as I tried (though I never owned a Turtle Beach headset). I was able to plug a USB mic into the DSS and use that with my PS4, which was pretty sweet.

I don't know the typical ways to hook up headphones and mic to an Xbox One besides a mixamp, unless Microsoft changed things, the Xbox One when it came out was missing the option to output chat audio through "speakers" (optical and HDMI) while a mic was plugged into the controller. If the XBone headset adapter for the controller has a separate mic port, you should be able to do it, but my friends who have XBones say that something about how the console auto detects what's plugged in with no manual controls makes getting it setup a 8!^< #.

Je parle français et je suis toute enragé!

 

[JoeniiChan]

Hey guys, I'm thinking about getting new headphones.
 
The PC 350 SE ones I got sound tinny and I think there's something wrong with them. I'm considering the 558s, and I wonder how they are for gaming. 

 

[Japi95]

.

 

[conquerator2]

Semi open maybe? I'd give the Phillips Fidelio L2 a look.

 

[Japi95]

.