[Mad Lust Envy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVme7rxdTLk
MLE's headset guide is becoming famous

Thanks for the link. That's awesome.

Though I hear I'm also infamous in some other forums, lol.





Got the Yuin G1A! They're quite the sexy looking pair of clip ons.

The clips are SUPER comfy, and are smoothened out so it's not sharp edges like the KSC35. Because they're plastic and not rubberized like the KSC75, they are incredibly easy to put on, unlike the 75s, which tend to grip on the ears. They have the exact same form factor as the 75's clips.

Upon first listen using the Modi/Magni stack, they're incredibly well balanced with a smooth presentation. Not even one song in, and I already know these are keepers. I was afraid they'd be bass light, but they have a nice, balanced amount of bass. So happy with them. $150 and they definitely sound like better balanced, and more refined KSC35s. Maybe not a $100 improvement, but they are definitely worth it to me.

I do see that pushing the drivers closer adds SQ, so I may just swap out to the KSC35 clips, as those push the drivers closer, though I will lose some comfort. The 35's clips don't bother me until a few hours of use, so it's no biggie. Not that I feel they need them, as the stock clips sound great. They're definitely not bendable like the 75's rubber/metal clips. I'll try those and see, though, I've bent those quite a bit. We'll see...

Keep you guys posted.

Not doing much today, so while I test these out, I'll be adding the external amp section.

edit: External Amp section added, with the Fiio E9K, O2, and Magni listed.

Let me know what you guys think.

Jesus, the Yuin G1A is very insensitive. I have to max out my Fuze to get an appreciable volume. I expected that though. They ARE 150ohm, lol. These definitely desire some amping. Still, I'll be taking them to work to use this way just for a few weeks just to spend some time with them.

Hmm, looks like I'll be using the KSC75 or stock clips for them, maybe. The 35 clips for some reason makes the treble harsher. The stock clips are good, and more detailed, though the bass isn't as deep. The 75 clips are the bassiest, for sure. They're just a pain in the ass to put on. I have a hard time putting the clip on my left ear for some reason.

I may just stick to the stock, since they're the most detailed and balanced, and these aren't formusic, but for tv, and anime... gotta outweigh the pros and cons.



Flash = brighter looking foams. They're actually black

 

[Roger de Ceiba]

MLE, was the 5 gain sufficient when used with the mixamp and he-400? What about mic use? Did you use y-splitter (mic and headphone) going to the magni? (I'm pretty sure it uses a 6.3mm for output) so I don't know how feasible that would be. It would probably be best to plug the y splitter directly to the mixamp and then the 3.5mm to rca cables to the headphone jack of the y splitter, and then to the back of the magni. 
 
mixamp>y splitter>mic
                   I
           3.5 mm to rca
                   I
               Magni
                   I
             headphones
 
What do you think?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Yes, 5 gain should be fine. The Magni has quite a lot of reserve on the volume pot.

Yes, that's how to do it.

I bought MW2 for $10 yesterday. Looks like I made the right call. That game truly has the best FPS positional cues in Multiplayer I have ever heard.

Did about an hour of gaming with the Mixamp -> Magni -> Yuin G1A. FWIH so far, I'm gonna call it: Fun: 7 Competitive: 7.5 Comfort: 9.5. Very preliminary assumptions on how I'm gonna score it.

REALLY good, balanced sound for gaming. I'm impressed. I still think the price is a bit steep, but it is an honest to goodness great sounding clip-on.

I'm gonna go back to the SLYR and try them on this game to see if it fares even better than CoD4.

Then I'm jumping to the A50s, as they are next on the reviews. Hopefully they will fare better too. I expect dual 6 scores though.

I seem to be having issues with the new Mixamp 2013. I haven't been able to use it for the past few days as it works for a few minutes then the audio cuts off completely. Like just...gone. After I'm done reviewing the A50s, I'm gonna remove it from the chain to see if hooking up the Mixamp 2013 to the A50 decoder's optical out is what's causing this issue, though I don't think so, as my 5.8 works just fine.

 

[kellte2]

Mixamp Pro 2013 question...
 
Anyone here having problems with it cutting out completely on the Xbox 360?  I've read some posts on the Astro forum suggesting using a different USB cable, but this is not the experience that I was expecting when I decided to move up in the world from the DSS2.  Interestingly enough, the DSS2 had less hiss and was able to drive my DT 990 600 ohm headphones with my E09k at far fewer decibels, but maybe this has something to do with mixing the voice and game audio.
 
Definitely deeper/warmer sounding than the DSS2 (which I had set to the Flat EQ setting).  "Flat" on the 2013 Mixamp is still very bassy.  Positioning definitely seems better on the Mixamp when compared to the DSS2.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Mixamp Pro 2013 question...

Anyone here having problems with it cutting out completely on the Xbox 360?  I've read some posts on the Astro forum suggesting using a different USB cable, but this is not the experience that I was expecting when I decided to move up in the world from the DSS2.  Interestingly enough, the DSS2 had less hiss and was able to drive my DT 990 600 ohm headphones with my E09k at far fewer decibels, but maybe this has something to do with mixing the voice and game audio.

Definitely deeper/warmer sounding than the DSS2 (which I had set to the Flat EQ setting).  "Flat" on the 2013 Mixamp is still very bassy.  Positioning definitely seems better on the Mixamp when compared to the DSS2.

I seem to be having issues with the new Mixamp 2013. I haven't been able to use it for the past few days as it works for a few minutes then the audio cuts off completely. Like just...gone. After I'm done reviewing the A50s, I'm gonna remove it from the chain to see if hooking up the Mixamp 2013 to the A50 decoder's optical out is what's causing this issue, though I don't think so, as my 5.8 works just fine.

Lol, I just mentioned this right before you. So... looks like the new Mixamp is having issues... rather unfortunately.

And I 100% agree. The new Mixamp's flat EQ is on the bassy side. So I don't feel it's perfectly flat.

 

[kellte2]

Quote:

Lol, I just mentioned this right before you. So... looks like the new Mixamp is having issues... rather unfortunately.
And I 100% agree. The new Mixamp's flat EQ is on the bassy side. So I don't feel it's perfectly flat.

 
My bad.  I went out of order this time and posted then searched.  I saw your post on the Help Desk forum, MLE.  Guess we'll just need to wait for the supposed January firmware drop.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Pretty sure I have to send these back anyways... hoping it can work long enough for me to do the review. If not, I'll be doing the A40 review based off it's sound with the 5.8.

So far though, I prefer the SQ on the Mixamp 5.8 over the 2013. Just too much bass to be 'flat'. It works for brighter headphones though.

The Mixamp 2013 was clipping the bass SO badly when I was watching the Dark Knight Rises on Blu-Ray. I mean, BADLY. I switched to the 5.8, and the bass was fine. Hmm...

 

[burritoboy9984]

Quote:

Im sure he means linear PCM, in which optical cables cant pass through due to high bandwidth, aside from 2.0. HDMI does, which is why receivers are the most optimal if SQ is top priority.
I have no idea why companies like Astro havent made an HDMI enabled DH device. Still, im kind of sure that DH only accepts compressed audio, and will find the inherent basic Dolby Digital signal found in Dolby True HD, so there is no benefit. However other surround processors like SC may indeed process the linear PCM signal into headphone surround.
No experience with that, so I honestly don't know.

 
I would think DH accepts any type of audio signal and then processes it. Over the next couple of days, I'll hookup my HTPC to my Marantz and play the 5.1 test sound, but I'm pretty sure it will still work. As to why Astro hasn't made an HDMI enabled DH device, I would guess it's the fact that so few games support sound other than Dolby Digital, and adding a feature like that would jack up the price too much and put it out of reach for many people.
 
-Erik

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

My bad, what I mean is that in order to have the correct Dolby Headphone processing, it must take in a Dolby Digital signal. Dolby Signal is compressed. You can feed it a lossless Dolby True HD signal, and it will just find the embedded Dolby Digital signal and convert that.

As for other signals, it basically just turns them into 2 channel PCM and adds the processing, which is basically useless and detrimental to sound quality without any benefits other than smoothening treble and expanding soundstage at the expense of having extra reverb.

It won't even take a DTS signal at all. Those devices that do, convert DTS to DD first, which then gets turned into DH.

Unless the new DH converts lossless directly to DH (which I highly doubt), the only way to get lossless converted to virtual surround is other emulations like Harmin Headphone, Silent Cinema, etc, and those are different from DH. They too many not even use lossless audio, and instead do like DH and convert it/find the compressed embedding to convert.

Just a theory. Not sure how those other processors do their magic.

 

[SoAmusing777]

Quote:

MLE's headset guide is becoming famous

And it another update about my headsets...
I have decided to keep the mmx 300 and will sell the 2013 a40. Beyerdynamic really made a special headset that really brings out the finer details that aren't as obvious on the a40's.
And I got a new mixamp. Supposedly it's the same model, but the new one has a few small differences. For one, when I power it on, the eq preset button lights spin once. My "old" 2013 mixamp pro didn't do that, the lights just faded on.
And more notably, the volume knob is less buggy. My last mixamp would cut in and out left and right channels when adjusting sound. So it was frustrating trying to get balanced sound. New one is always balanced unless I go down to about ten percent, which then the channels start turning on and off.
And I feel like the newer mixamp delivers better overall sound, for whatever reason. Maybe placebo? Lol

 
Wow, LvlCap! Bravo MLE!! I watch him all the time. That is just awesome. Noticed he mentioned the Asus Xonar STX, not the Creative, while the former has Dolby Headphone. Well, I'm convinced now, lol. I'd like to try it out myself, but I don't want to be limited to DD. I'd like at least DTS.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

You need to realize that the virtual surround processing itself may be more beneficial than DTS on a weaker virtual surround processor. DH is so widely popular in the console market, and I'm willing to bet that it's because it ticks many boxes.

 

[SoAmusing777]

Quote:

i guess i'm just completely confused by his last post.
How is he going to add onto his receiver?
Your ps3 doesn't bit stream multi-channel only stereo so it needs to decode whatever your bluray or game is giving it audio coded wise like dts or truehd.Then it has to send the information out out lpcm (doesn't mean there will be a large bitrate but allows it to be if need be).  
Pretty much any receiver accepts lpcm. The playstation already did the work.
Then you want something to give surround duty to headphones.  I think you're going in the wrong direction.  If you feed a multichannel signal to the receiver and want the headphone to do surround then it will downmix it to stereo then add it's own stereo processing to give a surround effect.  If you want high quality through the headphones then set the playstation to bitstream and then let the receiver do the processing for it's surround mode.

 
You are. When I say add on, I mean hook up the device, say mixamp or otherwise, to my receiver. I know that. That's not what I'm talking about at all. It's essentially the same if the PS3 or receiver does it.
 
Quote:

Im sure he means linear PCM, in which optical cables cant pass through due to high bandwidth, aside from 2.0. HDMI does, which is why receivers are the most optimal if SQ is top priority.
I have no idea why companies like Astro havent made an HDMI enabled DH device. Still, im kind of sure that DH only accepts compressed audio, and will find the inherent basic Dolby Digital signal found in Dolby True HD, so there is no benefit. However other surround processors like SC may indeed process the linear PCM signal into headphone surround.
No experience with that, so I honestly don't know.

 
That's exactly what I mean. Yup, that's exactly what I'm talking about also. So that's what SQ means, lol. I don't know why either, myself. That's not the case right? The HK receiver with Dolby HP can take PCM, yeah? That makes sense, but do you have any references to back that up? DD is the same as Dolby True HD? The Yamaha receiver does process the PCM signal, applying the SC tech.
 
Quote:

In my experience with these alternate headphone surround modes i found they usually are worthless because they don't give good positioning ques and usually the overall sound is a degrade in quality.  It is however a neat way to listen to some music.  Not so much electronic music or hiphop

 
Thanks for the input sir!
 
Quote:

Denon, pioneer, and newer harmon kardon receivers have have their own implementation of headphone surround sound. Maybe no one uses those with headphones enough to talk about it, or those versions suck. I don't know.

 
I know, but thank you for the input.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Well, the HK receiver has HDMI inputs. It has to be able to take PCM. Pretty sure Bitsream is for SPDIF signals like Optical and Digital Coaxial, and uses a lot less bandwith than PCM. Not entirely sure.

 

[Impulse]

External amp section looks good, covers all the practical basics so it should be useful for anyone that's not familiar with that kinda thing but is jumping into the guide and looking at recommendations within it.

 

[SoAmusing777]

Quote:

You need to realize that the virtual surround processing itself may be more beneficial than DTS on a weaker virtual surround processor. DH is so widely popular in the console market, and I'm willing to bet that it's because it ticks many boxes.

 
Totally realize it now in your next post that I quoted. That's totally right.
 
Quote:

My bad, what I mean is that in order to have the correct Dolby Headphone processing, it must take in a Dolby Digital signal. Dolby Signal is compressed. You can feed it a lossless Dolby True HD signal, and it will just find the embedded Dolby Digital signal and convert that.
As for other signals, it basically just turns them into 2 channel PCM and adds the processing, which is basically useless and detrimental to sound quality without any benefits other than smoothening treble and expanding soundstage at the expense of having extra reverb.
It won't even take a DTS signal at all. Those devices that do, convert DTS to DD first, which then gets turned into DH.
Unless the new DH converts lossless directly to DH (which I highly doubt), the only way to get lossless converted to virtual surround is other emulations like Harmin Headphone, Silent Cinema, etc, and those are different from DH. They too many not even use lossless audio, and instead do like DH and convert it/find the compressed embedding to convert.
Just a theory. Not sure how those other processors do their magic.

 
Thank you for the correction. I kinda wish I would have known this before, but hey, this receiver is multipurpose. I never knew that though; that is surely news to me and interesting as well. I might just buy a mixamp now, old school style one of course. Yeah, wow. So, the only way it won't downconvert it to 2channel PCM first, is if its Dolby True HD? Huh, wow, so the SU-DH1 takes in DTS, converts it to DD, then DH is applied. Well, DH should do that! Better sound quality in lossless.Yup, that's right then. Wait, which part is theory? lol.