[Playstation]

Got my X2HR. Too soon for any sound impressions.

What I am curious about is any type of DIY mod for the inner headband elasticity. I wear glasses. With the clamp against my ears, coupled with the scrunching/pulling of the elastic in the inner headband. This creates for mild discomfort.

What I’m thinking is. Instead of somehow permanently stretching out the elasticity of the inner headband. I rather figure out an optimal way to hold the inner headband at a desired position and fasten it to the outer headband. That way the inner headband sits exactly where I want it at all times, while also alleviating the pressure/pull caused both to the top of my head and my ears.

Suggestions/recommendations are appreciated.

 

[RedJohn456]

I have spent a great deal of time reading through as much of the thread as possible and have learned a great deal about gaming audio and getting the most out of my pc games, from an audio perspective.

I have decided that I will be returning my Astro mix amp pro that I recently got. After much deliberation I have narrowed it down to either the soundblaster x3 or g6.

I have a basic idea of how each works but for the life of me I have no idea which one will be the better choice for my needs. For reference, I mainly play shooters like battlefield or call of duty, as well as the occasional story driven game.

I would love some input from the folks in this thread. Thanks in advance

 

[SierraMadre]

Thank you. Any other options than the mobius in this regard? Does the argon mk3 achieve these requirements? Any other fostex? M1060c? Ad99z? Sony? DT770? The few reviews of the mobius on amazon.ca totally threw me off.
Just to make sure i have the right selection in my mind.

I’ll toss another relatively inexpensive candidate into the ring, not closed back but perhaps they don’t need to be after all. Seeing as you say this is for single player only (and perhaps movies?) and you are willing to trade some soundstage and precision in exchange for bass, reserving your K702 for competitive duties, how about the Philips Fidelio X2s?

You can get them new from Amazon for around 120-130 so no risk of having to buy secondhand and being stuck with them if you don’t like them. They are excellent all-rounders with an uncommon amount of thump and boom for dynamic driver open-backs, excellent soundstage that lends itself very well to VSS and decent imaging all combining to create a cinematically full-bodied experience.

FWIW, my gaming headphones on rotation are the HD800s, K7XX with Dekoni Elite Hybrid Pads and Fidelio X2s, and while I would never claim the X2s to be the best, they are my favourites and the ones that see the most use for single player games and movies / TV shows.
The K7xx and the HD800s have better layering, separation, articulation, holography and expansiveness of soundstage but the X2s feel more full bodied, like I am being transported to the environment in question rather than just having cues layered around my in-situ listening environment. That is due to a combination of the bass and also the greater isolation of the cans (none are closed back but the X2s give a much greater sense of enclosure and isolation, letting less sound in from outside).

 

[SierraMadre]

I have spent a great deal of time reading through as much of the thread as possible and have learned a great deal about gaming audio and getting the most out of my pc games, from an audio perspective.

I have decided that I will be returning my Astro mix amp pro that I recently got. After much deliberation I have narrowed it down to either the soundblaster x3 or g6.

I have a basic idea of how each works but for the life of me I have no idea which one will be the better choice for my needs. For reference, I mainly play shooters like battlefield or call of duty, as well as the occasional story driven game.

I would love some input from the folks in this thread. Thanks in advance

X3 can’t be beat for versatility but despite several patches there are plenty of complaints about the SXFI implementation. I own both the X3 and SXFI Amp (both fully updated to latest drivers and firmware etc.’ and the audio quality of the SXFI on X3 is noticeably worse for rear cues on the X3 despite all other variables being the same. Also center channel depth projection feels worse on the headphones I have tried it with (HD800S, K7XX with Dekoni Hybrids and Fidelio X2s).

If you want SXFI, either go with the AMP or wait a bit to see if they can iron out the issues. In terms of audio quality irrespective of VSS, the G6 is the best of the lot but obviously lacks SXFI and analogue 7.1 out.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Hey guys, when you go to the first page, do my two guide posts show up? Because for me, they're not there until I click on an arrow on the left side (rather upon loading they're there, and thgen disappear when the page fully loads). I'd venture if it's like this for others, they wouldn't know the guide was even there? I don't like this...

This will undoubtedly impact the guide...

 

[Wintersun2015]

My gaming headset is now complete.

Added an Antilon Modmic Uni, and snaked the mic cable through the coiled stock cable. Mic plugged into the G6, and since I don't adjust main volume off the G6, I can keep the kewl red LED lighting for the mic volume up 24/7. Darth Vader Girl approves.

Sick setup mate!

I got the Dt 1990 too recently...The G6 isnt enough to power them right ? Also For which fps games do you play with it?

Thanks.

 

[thewind32]

Hey guys, when you go to the first page, do my two guide posts show up? Because for me, they're not there until I click on an arrow on the left side (rather upon loading they're there, and thgen disappear when the page fully loads).

They work fine for me apart from some missing images, on both Waterfox and Chrome.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

The missing images are because the image host I used at the time no longer existrs. Sadly, I'll have to fiund some generic images to replace them with, and just upoad directly to the headfi's own attachment system.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I'm stupid. A few weeks ago, I set up a couple of keyword blockers on Chrome because of a massive FFVII spoiler leak.

My guides have a bunch of spoiler codes on them, and thus... the result was my entire posts were blocked. Lol. False alarm.

 

[SierraMadre]

Super X-Fi Gen 2 update impressions:​

Obviously this is for my own head map so your own mileage may vary. I did not take a new head map for Gen 2 (might try that later) but the SXFI algorithm update has been automatically applied to existing head map profiles anyway.

SXFI Amp, no EQ other than Creative’s own SXFI-headphone profiles:

• Fidelio X2:

- Reverb still noticeable, particularly for alto and tenor voices, rain and running water effects etc., but is tamed subtly but significantly enough to the point where it’s now tolerable for me. Now, it’s no more intrusive than say Dolby Headphone and is way less than something like CMSS.​

• AKG K7XX + Dekoni Elite Hybrid pads:

- As above but less noticeable still.
It’s possible that the difference is at least in part just a beneficial side-effect of the K7xx SXFI compensation profile for the stock K7XX not quite matching fully with my Dekoni pad-‘modded’ pair but other than the Fidelio X2s, I don’t have to hand another set of headphones that exactly match a Creative SXFI profile (can’t find the stock pads for my K7XX) so unfortunately I can’t test this notion further at present.​

• Senn HD800S’s:

- Best of the lot, reverb on the aforementioned effects only obvious if I am immediately coming off another VSS solution with less reverb or switching from vanilla stereo. Again, could just be a beneficial side-effect of SXFI compensation profile not matching entirely with my pair (SXFI profile is for vanilla HD800, there is no HD800*S* profile).​

- All of the above also had noticeably better center channel depth projection than Gen 1 SXFI.


Sound Blaster X3, using same USB port and same cable as with AMP, no EQ other than Creative’s SXFI headphone profiles:

- Broadly as above but noticeably more reverb and ‘nasal’ sounding with each set of cans, rear channel in particular (see below).

Centre channel depth projection feels about equivalent to SXFI Gen 1 on the AMP which for me was decent but not remarkably so.

Rear channel depth projection is very good and actually feels a bit deeper than Gen 2 on the Amp but that could just be placebo. What wasn’t placebo however, is that rears were very noticeably off in terms of fidelity by comparison, very reverby and artificial sounding in comparison to Gen 2 on the AMP. In fact, I’d say even Gen 1 on the AMP is better than Gen 2 on X3.

Conclusion

Overall, am pleased with Gen 2 on the AMP and am optimistic about the forthcoming Gen 3. Boom 3D and Waves NX (with headtracker) are my preferred 5.1/7.1 VSS solutions on PC but I think I’ll be adding SXFI into rotation now, something I wasn’t inclined to do with Gen 1.

SXFI on the Sound Blaster X3 however, still has some way to go and I wouldn’t recommend it for that purpose at present.

 

[illram]

Interesting. I wonder if the X3 vs. the dongle is a hardware issue or something they can push out a patch for. (I'd be surprised if it is not software related.)

I also use the HD800 profile for my HD800S, and it sounds great.

 

[SierraMadre]

Interesting. I wonder if the X3 vs. the dongle is a hardware issue or something they can push out a patch for. (I'd be surprised if it is not software related.)

I also use the HD800 profile for my HD800S, and it sounds great.

It’s pretty insane how powerful the AMP/dongle is and how well it works with the HD800S. It has a generally better DAC component than the X3, I wonder if the h.phone amp component is better too?

As for SXFI on X3, it’s been the subject of complaints for sometime now. They’ve pushed out a few patches in response I think, but the issue appears to be far from sorted. In fact, my memory of Gen 1 rear fidelity on the X3 is not as bad as Gen 2 appears to currently be on X3.

It does have a couple of software advantages over the AMP and the G6 though:

• SXFI Control for the AMP still lacks channel balance adjustment for those with mismatched cans or ears so presently the only way to adjust SXFI channel balance natively on Windows is on X3 via SXFI command. AMP users presently need to use some kind of middleware like Equaliser APO to get the same result.

• Sound Blaster Command also offers a +/- pre-amp gain setting for EQ, something that neither the AMP’s SXFI Control or the G6’s Sound Blaster Connect offer.

They should fold SB Connect and SXFI Control into Sound Blaster Command. The SXFI tab could just be left inactive for G6 and the SBX tab inactive for the AMP.

 

[illram]

It’s pretty insane how powerful the AMP/dongle is and how well it works with the HD800S. It has a generally better DAC component than the X3, I wonder if the h.phone amp component is better too?

As for SXFI on X3, it’s been the subject of complaints for sometime now. They’ve pushed out a few patches in response I think, but the issue appears to be far from sorted. In fact, my memory of Gen 1 rear fidelity on the X3 is not as bad as Gen 2 appears to currently be on X3.

It does have a couple of software advantages over the AMP and the G6 though:

• SXFI Control for the AMP still lacks channel balance adjustment for those with mismatched cans or ears so presently the only way to adjust SXFI channel balance natively on Windows is on X3 via SXFI command. AMP users presently need to use some kind of middleware like Equaliser APO to get the same result.

• Sound Blaster Command also offers a +/- pre-amp gain setting for EQ, something that neither the AMP’s SXFI Control or the G6’s Sound Blaster Connect offer.

They should fold SB Connect and SXFI Control into Sound Blaster Command. The SXFI tab could just be left inactive for G6 and the SBX tab inactive for the AMP.

Creative's software suites are always a confusing mess. I have 5 different Creative apps in Windows for 3 different products. I don't know why the Gen2 profiles necessitated a totally different windows app and breaking the prior one??

 

[Fegefeuer]

BlasterX G6 Firmware 1.16

https://support.creative.com/produc...me=external+sound+cards&catname=Sound+Blaster


Changelog

• Fixed slow boot up on MSI MEG Z390 ACE motherboard
  
  
• Fixed jerky mouse movement in the MSI MEG Z390 ACE motherboard bios config page
  
  
• Fixed LINE IN unable to unmute at maximum recording level
  
  
• Added voice chat support on Nintendo Switch on selected Nintendo Switch games
  
  
• Decouple mic monitor level and mic recording level sync on PC and Mac OS
  
  
• Improved power saving when device inactive for 2 hours
  
  
• Fixed RGB LED not able to turn off in SB Connect software
  
  
• Fixed Mic level revert back to 68% upon reboot
  

 

[Chastity]

Sick setup mate!

I got the Dt 1990 too recently...The G6 isnt enough to power them right ? Also For which fps games do you play with it?

Thanks.

IMO I found the G6 amp adequate, but not ideal. After comparing it to the Asgard 3, I discovered that the bass response is somehow nerfed, and that dynamics at lower levels could use a little work. I just patched up to the new firmware, so I can do some retesting.

EDIT: After testing the G6 amp again, the output from the amp is doing a heck of a lot better, and it's a lot harder to hear a difference. And the amp drives the headphones louder. So I can say the G6 with 1.16 firmware is quite acceptable. Heck, I think my Asgard 3 is kinda redundant..

EDIT2: After more listening, I find the Asgard 3 still better, especially with impact, and a slightly harder hitting and fuller bass. Tho the differences is now a subtle thing, rather than obvious.