[RRod]

  Don't take this the wrong way... but I am not sure you know what you are talking about. 
What console gives you a chose of 5.1 or 7.1 choice?
please take screen shots with you phone or whatever and post here so I know what you are talking about. 
I have Sony and Microsoft consoles. They simply ask you PCM/HDMI, etc. 
No console, next gen or otherwise has 7.1. Plain and simple. that is fact. 
 
I am trying to be subtle about it.... but I don't think you understand what I am asking. I am 99.5% sure when a game asks you choose between TV/Surround/headphone it is merely asking you to choose the dynamic level of the mixing you desire. I just want to make sure this is the consensus.
On TV speakers you are not going to be able to ascertain nearly the same level of dynamic sound level as you can from a hi-fi speaker system, and the headphones tend to be able to allow the highest dynamic range of any avalive options. 
 
I am simply looking for verification on this. 

 
You can read Astro's guide to getting the MixAmp setup then, where it says how to set the PS3 to output DD5.1. 7.1 is 5.1 that has matrix-encoded back-surround channels. SPDIF cannot support more than 2 channels of uncompressed data, so you can't just send PCM over SPDIF and expect it to be surround sound. You know all this of course, so I'll let someone else take a shot at pleasing you.

 

[martin vegas]

Creative X7 is feature-packed high-res DAC and amp
Read more at http://www.whathifi.com/news/creative-x7-feature-packed-high-res-dac-and-amp#jAF8LreuGZjE5Yx9.99

 

[rudyae86]

They are just saying the same thing as everyone else has done with the x7. Why cant they just release it now...december is near...guess they have an NDA to follow for something to release info on

 

[Evshrug]

Don't take this the wrong way... but I am not sure you know what you are talking about. 
What console gives you a chose of 5.1 or 7.1 choice?
please take screen shots with you phone or whatever and post here so I know what you are talking about. 
I have Sony and Microsoft consoles. They simply ask you PCM/HDMI, etc. 
No console, next gen or otherwise has 7.1. Plain and simple. that is fact. 

I am trying to be subtle about it.... but I don't think you understand what I am asking. I am 99.5% sure when a game asks you choose between TV/Surround/headphone it is merely asking you to choose the dynamic level of the mixing you desire. I just want to make sure this is the consensus.
On TV speakers you are not going to be able to ascertain nearly the same level of dynamic sound level as you can from a hi-fi speaker system, and the headphones tend to be able to allow the highest dynamic range of any avalive options. 

I am simply looking for verification on this. 

That tone is a great way to NOT get help.

That said, misinformation is bad. So...
PCM is a stereo output, if you are using optical. If your console is set for PCM it's no wonder surround and headphone modes don't seem to make any difference for positioning.

PS4 and Xbox 360 are consoles which I am familiar with their sound settings, but I can't post pictures since some software update for mobile users a few months back. With the 360 your only options in console settings>audio are stereo (changes depending on HDMI connection or RCA), Dolby Digital 5.1 (which is encoded as Dolby Digital Live, if you read on Dolby's website they talk about how 7.1 is decrypted from the two additional channels matrixed into the reach channels), and Dolby Digital with WMA Pro which honestly... I can't tell you much about, lol. With PS4, you just choose Linear PCM (stereo over optical, up to 7.1 channels over HDMI), bitstreaming (Dolby [again, this is Dolby Digital Live), or bitstreaming (DTS [this is DTS Connect]). The bitstreaming options are encoding (compression) options for Optical output for surround, notice they don't even bother trying to say how many channels because they don't want to explain the more complicated situation of which channels are discrete or matrixed.

What a game's sound options does is very game-dependent. Battlefield 3 and 4, for example, actually have a 2-channel-with-headphone-virtual-surround HRTF option, and I'm pretty sure that if you have Dolby Digital Live enabled the game only outputs audio to the LF and RF speaker channels because positioning gets messed up if I use Dolby Headphone. Some games combine all the left channels into one and the right channels to a single right channel. I doubt that everyone here would consent that output settings are mainly dynamic range adjustments... A change might include that result (or some game devs decide to just make that change), but often there is more to it than that. The console will still honor the surround/stereo channel output settings regardless of what the game does internally, but that doesn't automatically make games have positional information.

 

[benbenkr]

^This is why more console games needs to allow gamers to adjust the azimuths of the sound, in relation to what device they are using. TLoU Remastered had it and while it wasn't perfect, it actually made the already amazing audio cues even better.
Adjusting the azimuths to suit something more immersive in SP and then adjusting it to something very positional based for MP, this is what I think every console game must have.

 

[Elf-1]

Didn't read anything about it in the last 20+ pages, so a quick question from me: Is there any difference between the new Mixamp and the Pro 2013 edition? 

 

[Evshrug]

Didn't read anything about it in the last 20+ pages, so a quick question from me: Is there any difference between the new Mixamp and the Pro 2013 edition? 

Astro didn't bother changing anything either

Indeed, the new one isn't any better than the 2011 one with the least hiss or the other one Mad had for many years which allows PS4 chat. Basically, it's been the older the better so far, unfortunately.

 

[Stillhart]

  Didn't read anything about it in the last 20+ pages, so a quick question from me: Is there any difference between the new Mixamp and the Pro 2013 edition? 

 
I confirmed with the Mixamp guys at PAX Prome that the new mixamp is just a visual update; internals are all the same.

 

[gr34td3str0y3r]

That tone is a great way to NOT get help.

That said, misinformation is bad. So...
PCM is a stereo output, if you are using optical. If your console is set for PCM it's no wonder surround and headphone modes don't seem to make any difference for positioning.

PS4 and Xbox 360 are consoles which I am familiar with their sound settings, but I can't post pictures since some software update for mobile users a few months back. With the 360 your only options in console settings>audio are stereo (changes depending on HDMI connection or RCA), Dolby Digital 5.1 (which is encoded as Dolby Digital Live, if you read on Dolby's website they talk about how 7.1 is decrypted from the two additional channels matrixed into the reach channels), and Dolby Digital with WMA Pro which honestly... I can't tell you much about, lol. With PS4, you just choose Linear PCM (stereo over optical, up to 7.1 channels over HDMI), bitstreaming (Dolby [again, this is Dolby Digital Live), or bitstreaming (DTS [this is DTS Connect]). The bitstreaming options are encoding (compression) options for Optical output for surround, notice they don't even bother trying to say how many channels because they don't want to explain the more complicated situation of which channels are discrete or matrixed.

What a game's sound options does is very game-dependent. Battlefield 3 and 4, for example, actually have a 2-channel-with-headphone-virtual-surround HRTF option, and I'm pretty sure that if you have Dolby Digital Live enabled the game only outputs audio to the LF and RF speaker channels because positioning gets messed up if I use Dolby Headphone. Some games combine all the left channels into one and the right channels to a single right channel. I doubt that everyone here would consent that output settings are mainly dynamic range adjustments... A change might include that result (or some game devs decide to just make that change), but often there is more to it than that. The console will still honor the surround/stereo channel output settings regardless of what the game does internally, but that doesn't automatically make games have positional information.

I was wrong, you are right. I am a dick. No sarcasm intended. 

 

[Elf-1]

   
I confirmed with the Mixamp guys at PAX Prome that the new mixamp is just a visual update; internals are all the same.

Thanks for the answer! Too bad was hoping for at least less hiss.  

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Astro is gonna have to step it up, though since they're the most well known... i doubt they'll do much to change it in the future.

I'm still holding on to my Mixamp 5.8 for dear life.

 

[Elf-1]

There is still something I don't understand. Every headphone benefits from an additional amp right? However, some are just too hard to drive for the Mixamp and that's why you need an additional amp, this has something to do with the impedance, am I correct? Can someone explain the connection/link between the impedance and the Mixamps need for additional amping? More Ohms and the Mixamp needs an addtional amp right? And at what impedance from the headphone can we say that the Mixamp needs an amp is this at 60 Ohms or more or less? And I've heard there is a connection/link between the impedance and the way voice chat works on PS4, you can't hear the voice with high impedance headphones (or something like that) can someone explain/clarify this? 
 
So can you say that a headphone with high impedance is more ore less useless with only the Mixamp (and no addional amp)? The reason I'm asking this, is because I'm looking for an headphone with mic or a headset, but it will be my first one. So I don't want to pay for an additional amp in the first place and realise three weeks later that a headphone or headset is just nothing for me, you understand? I've been around here quite some time now, reading everything and not posting much, but looking into the first poste ever so often. The AKG ones are still the one my eyes can't stop looking at. The AKG 612 Pro has 120 Ohm, does this one need an amp and is it useless without one? And can you still hear voice from the partychat with it? 
 
Last but not least, do you have any suggestions for an headphone/headset that is very good with just the Mixamp (and no addtional amp)? I need a mic, because communication is very important on the Battlefield. Also ModMic is a bit expensive . So I was thinking, is there a way to buy a headphone and mixamp combo and have that for the sound and use the PS4 controller for the mic? And then after a while if I like everything I can upgrade to a ModMic or something like that. 

 

[RRod]

  There is still something I don't understand. Every headphone benefits from an additional amp right? However, some are just too hard to drive for the Mixamp and that's why you need an additional amp, this has something to do with the impedance, am I correct? Can someone explain the connection/link between the impedance and the Mixamps need for additional amping? More Ohms and the Mixamp needs an addtional amp right? And at what impedance from the headphone can we say that the Mixamp needs an amp is this at 60 Ohms or more or less? And I've heard there is a connection/link between the impedance and the way voice chat works on PS4, you can't hear the voice with high impedance headphones (or something like that) can someone explain/clarify this? 
 
So can you say that a headphone with high impedance is more ore less useless with only the Mixamp (and no addional amp)? The reason I'm asking this, is because I'm looking for an headphone with mic or a headset, but it will be my first one. So I don't want to pay for an additional amp in the first place and realise three weeks later that a headphone or headset is just nothing for me, you understand? I've been around here quite some time now, reading everything and not posting much, but looking into the first poste ever so often. The AKG ones are still the one my eyes can't stop looking at. The AKG 612 Pro has 120 Ohm, does this one need an amp and is it useless without one? And can you still hear voice from the partychat with it? 
 
Last but not least, do you have any suggestions for an headphone/headset that is very good with just the Mixamp (and no addtional amp)? I need a mic, because communication is very important on the Battlefield. Also ModMic is a bit expensive . So I was thinking, is there a way to buy a headphone and mixamp combo and have that for the sound and use the PS4 controller for the mic? And then after a while if I like everything I can upgrade to a ModMic or something like that. 

 
Here's what I could find for specs on the MixAmp (the Pro seems to have a bit more juice):
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/719056-Astro-A40-Headset-with-Asus-Xonar-Xense-Will-I-still-need-the-MixAmp
 
Here are the power requirements for the 612 pro:
http://www.audiobot9000.com/akg/h/k-612-pro
 
So the Mixamp seems a bit underpowered for those cans. I used HD598s on the MixAmp for a while, and it did have enough power for them, since they're only 50ohm (like the Astro headset):
http://www.audiobot9000.com/sennheiser/h/hd-598

 

[martin vegas]

  There is still something I don't understand. Every headphone benefits from an additional amp right? However, some are just too hard to drive for the Mixamp and that's why you need an additional amp, this has something to do with the impedance, am I correct? Can someone explain the connection/link between the impedance and the Mixamps need for additional amping? More Ohms and the Mixamp needs an addtional amp right? And at what impedance from the headphone can we say that the Mixamp needs an amp is this at 60 Ohms or more or less? And I've heard there is a connection/link between the impedance and the way voice chat works on PS4, you can't hear the voice with high impedance headphones (or something like that) can someone explain/clarify this? 
 
So can you say that a headphone with high impedance is more ore less useless with only the Mixamp (and no addional amp)? The reason I'm asking this, is because I'm looking for an headphone with mic or a headset, but it will be my first one. So I don't want to pay for an additional amp in the first place and realise three weeks later that a headphone or headset is just nothing for me, you understand? I've been around here quite some time now, reading everything and not posting much, but looking into the first poste ever so often. The AKG ones are still the one my eyes can't stop looking at. The AKG 612 Pro has 120 Ohm, does this one need an amp and is it useless without one? And can you still hear voice from the partychat with it? 
 
Last but not least, do you have any suggestions for an headphone/headset that is very good with just the Mixamp (and no addtional amp)? I need a mic, because communication is very important on the Battlefield. Also ModMic is a bit expensive . So I was thinking, is there a way to buy a headphone and mixamp combo and have that for the sound and use the PS4 controller for the mic? And then after a while if I like everything I can upgrade to a ModMic or something like that. 

I just got the AKG545 the other day,they are good for gaming and are only 32ohms don't need much juice..i just use them straight out of the ps4 controller and don't even use my dac or headphone amp and they still sound schiit hot!

 

[Sam21]

I have a question peeps, Do all XB1 and PS4 games output 5.1 ?