[Mad Lust Envy]

That picture wasn't of my Vita. I'd have raged if it was. Though it was pretty bad itself. I don't think I'll ever be happy with the Vita because of this issue (It screams out at me, lol), so if and whenever Sony fixes this issue, I'll be the first one to get the newer one.

 

[l00l]

Can anybody comment on the Astro Mixam pro? Is it worth the money?
I would run ith with my blu ray player (coaxial), cable box and xbox (both optical out). I could connect it to my TV via RCA as well.
 
Is it really actually improving sound quality for gaming/movies? Does the Dolby headphone thing work well? Does it have a positive impact on sound quality?
 
I am torn between Mixamp Pro and Fiio E17 right now.

 

[psykoze]

Here are your options to get Dolby Headphone out of your computer:
a sound card that has Dolby Headphone built-in -> Amp (optional) -> Headphones
a sound card that outputs a Dolby Digital 5.1 signal via optical -> DSS or Mixamp -> Amp (optional) -> Headphones

Here are your options to get Dolby Headphone out of your console:
console connected to a DSS or Mixamp or a Receiver that has support for virtual surround headphones (sony, yamaha, harmon kardon) -> Amp (optional) -> Headphones

This is an over simplified explanation but this is what you basically need.

That was a really good explenation! Thanks alot!
So i dont need the DSS when i buy the Xonar DG

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Can anybody comment on the Astro Mixam pro? Is it worth the money?
I would run ith with my blu ray player (coaxial), cable box and xbox (both optical out). I could connect it to my TV via RCA as well.
 
Is it really actually improving sound quality for gaming/movies? Does the Dolby headphone thing work well? Does it have a positive impact on sound quality?
 
I am torn between Mixamp Pro and Fiio E17 right now.

Yes Dolby Headphone works extremely well. For your needs, it's more beneficial than the E17.

BTW the wired Mixamps (like the pro) has a hierarchy on what is outputting sound...

1. Optical
2. Digital Coaxial
3. RCA

So if all three are plugged into the Mixamp and are on at the same time, the Mixamp will play the optical's sound, and so forth. You have to turn off whatever is on the optical input to get the coaxial's sound, and turn off both optical and coaxial to get the RCA's sound. ONLY use the RCA input for something like the Wii or something unimportant like the TV's RCA (make sure that if you're using the TV, turn off Dolby headphone) since RCA is 2 channel (stereo), unless specified as having Dolby Pro Logic II, like the Wii or PS2.

 

[l00l]

Quote:

Yes Dolby Headphone works extremely well. For your needs, it's more beneficial than the E17.
BTW the wired Mixamps (like the pro) has a hierarchy on what is outputting sound...
1. Optical
2. Digital Coaxial
3. RCA
So if all three are plugged into the Mixamp and are on at the same time, the Mixamp will play the optical's sound, and so forth. You have to turn off whatever is on the optical input to get the coaxial's sound, and turn off both optical and coaxial to get the RCA's sound. ONLY use the RCA input for something like the Wii or something unimportant like the TV's RCA (make sure that if you're using the TV, turn off Dolby headphone) since RCA is 2 channel (stereo), unless specified as having Dolby Pro Logic II, like the Wii or PS2.

Thanks for your helpful comment! 
I don´t think I will run into much hassel with the output hierarchy though. If I play Xbox (optical) I don´t do anything else and if I watch Blu Ray (via coaxial) I don´t do anything else as well. 
So RCA is really just for normal everyday TV use and I don´t really use my headphones there. Only when I wanna watch a movie and even then I might just switch the optical cable to the cable box instead of the Xbox. A 2nd optical input on the Astro Mixamp would be great though, cause that would really cover ALL my devices digitally. But I guess that is too much to ask. I was very surprised that the Astro Mixamp has a coaxial input, that itself is already pretty awsome!!
 
The E17 obviously has an advantage over the Astro Mixam Pro by beeing portable and beein able to process a digtal signal via USB from my computer, but would the E17 also have any advantage over the Astro Mixamp when I use it for movies and gaming? 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

No. The E17 is better for music and non-surround sound applications, but for your needs, you'll get much more out of the Mixamp.

I like that it has coaxial, but a second optical would've been better. EVERYTHING has optical nowadays... :rolleyes:

That and they should add an input selector somewhere...





OMG, Amazon ran out of Mass Effect 3 Collector's Edition pre-orders. I wanna cry... tears of crimson.

 

[Drastion]

Ahh so you only need an amp if you play on consoles?

You only really need an amp when you get hard to drive headphones. The gd soundcard will do you fine. Your best bet would be the sennheiser pc360. All you need for a headphone for gaming and better all arounder than the ad700.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B003DA4D2U/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1330169844&sr=8-1

 

[l00l]

Quote:

No. The E17 is better for music and non-surround sound applications, but for your needs, you'll get much more out of the Mixamp.
I like that it has coaxial, but a second optical would've been better. EVERYTHING has optical nowadays...

Everything except my Blu Ray player for some reason...
 
Well, than I´ll go for the Astro Mixamp pro. I just hope that it won´t turn out as much as a disappointment as the whole Dolby Digtal headset (like the Tritton AX 720) crap was. I was hoping for big things there cause of the whole dolby digital feature, but it plainly sucked.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

It's the SAME thing. The box that comes with the AX720 is literally the same as the Mixamp. You know, you could've plugged in other headphones to that box (the puck on the cable splits to reveal two standard jacks, one for headphones, one for mics).

If you didin't like what the surround sound did, you won't like it with the Mixamp, though the AX720 isn't exactly the best headphone to showcase Dolby Headphone.

BTW, most Blu-Rays do DTS, NOT Dolby Digital, so Dolby headphone WON'T work properly, as it's just expanding stereo with Blu-Rays. With DVDs however, most have Dolby Digital, which obviously works.

 

[l00l]

Quote:

It's the SAME thing. The box that comes with the AX720 is literally the same as the Mixamp. You know, you could've plugged in other headphones to that box (the puck on the cable splits to reveal two standard jacks, one for headphones, one for mics).
If you didin't like what the surround sound did, you won't like it with the Mixamp, though the AX720 isn't exactly the best headphone to showcase Dolby Headphone.
BTW, most Blu-Rays do DTS, NOT Dolby Digital, so Dolby headphone WON'T work properly, as it's just expanding stereo with Blu-Rays. With DVDs however, most have Dolby Digital, which obviously works.

Oh boy, that´s getin more and more complicated by the minute!
 
But even for Blu Ray, the Amp will still work, right? With dolby headphone deactivated.
 
And just for clarification: With the AX720 I didn´t like the sound of the headphones at all. I wasn´t really able to tell how good or bad the surround sound was since I couldn´t get past the overall bad sound quality.

 

[psykoze]

You only really need an amp when you get hard to drive headphones. The gd soundcard will do you fine. Your best bet would be the sennheiser pc360. All you need for a headphone for gaming and better all arounder than the ad700.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B003DA4D2U/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1330169844&sr=8-1

Thanks alot man!

But if i dont need an amp, wouldn"t it be better if i get an better soundcard?
I mean if that would improve my sound even more?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Oh boy, that´s getin more and more complicated by the minute!
 
But even for Blu Ray, the Amp will still work, right? With dolby headphone deactivated.
 
And just for clarification: With the AX720 I didn´t like the sound of the headphones at all. I wasn´t really able to tell how good or bad the surround sound was since I couldn´t get past the overall bad sound quality.

Yes, it's still an amp. You just won't be getting the real Dolby Headphone with the option turned on for Blu-Rays that output DTS (which is the vast majority). I don't know how your player works, but you may have to manually switch it to 2 channel/Stereo/PCM, as with a DTS signal, you won't get any audio from the Mixamp. If anything, you can still use the audio out from the TV to get audio from your Blu-Rays.

Oh yes.. in terms of personal use... I'd say that I use my Mixamp about 20 times more than my actual headphone amp/dacs. That's how much I rely on it. As a gamer, it is simply indispensable to me.

I'm VERY sad that the Vita is stereo only. Uncharted sounds so.. restricted in sound compared to it's console brethren, simply because I can't use virtual surround. I have no freaking idea how anyone could think stereo is better for games.... It's like going deaf in one ear.

 

[l00l]

@mad lust envy
So from your (qualified) point of view, it is definetly worth getting the Mixamp Pro for gaming and movies with the Beyers 990 pro?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Absolutely. I'd personally go for the non-Pro because it's not as heavy on the mid bass, but for those that love that whopping mid bass, the Pros are exceptional. At the $175 tag that the Pros go for at times, they get my full recommendation over any other sub-$200 can I've tried.

 

[SniperCzar]

I've been using my new E17 since yesterday with the virtual surround coming out of my X-Fi over optical and it sounds pretty fantastic on my 770s, the amp really did make them even more directional and they were already NUTS before!