[Evshrug]

Been away for a while; Steam (and windows troubleshooting) have kept me busy.

hey i am new to this forum
i read a lot of pages of this awesome guide

I am from India and audio gear available here is quite pricey compared to US.
I am a laptop user and i play competiitive CS 1.6 at my college.

For Dolby audio i plan on buying Asus xonar U3.
But i cannot decide on headphones

My budget is restricted to headphones available around 50 $( more or less ) in US.
i finalised HD 201 but i have more money to buy better ones if available.
Please suggest me.

Thank You.

Shankdude,
I don't know if you'll read this, but I would advise NOT to buy the HD201. I gifted a pair to my mom, but they were not comfortable for both of us, and the sound wasn't very special. They are available for like $15 in the USA... if that's your budget, you really have few options. The HD202 is worth the extra money, based on comfort alone. It was actually a fun headphone to listen to — though treble suffered from some distortion (and sound is overall not very refined), this is actually a very good sounding headphone among low-price options. I personally used a Sennheiser PX100 for about 6 years, and I was pretty happy with those. I still have them and they work well, but I need to replace the foam ear cushions, they have basically worn through.

Koss is another brand besides Sennheiser you should look into. Even their cheap earclip (Koss KSC75) and sporta-pro or porta-pro models sound good for the price, though the porta-pro may be out of your budget ($45 in the USA: http://www.amazon.com/Koss-PortaPro-Headphones-with-Case/dp/B00001P4ZH).

JVC is worth researching too. I liked the HA-RX900 (modded with a little pinch of cotton in the earcup to smooth the treble, and the earcup surface dampened with Dynamat to reduce resonance and make the bass more clean), which may also be out of your budget, but I've read good reviews about their on-ear portable headphones and their JVC Marshmallow in-ear buds.

 

[Makiah S]

Sheesh what a pain, I dont game witht he oDac I listen to music while I game with the Odac, but yea it seems a sound card might be needed anyways... I think I have one slot open for it on my mobo. BUT that will have to wait till me next build

 

[modulor]

Quote:

Sheesh what a pain, I dont game witht he oDac I listen to music while I game with the Odac, but yea it seems a sound card might be needed anyways... I think I have one slot open for it on my mobo. BUT that will have to wait till me next build

Your best bet to continue using the ODAC is to get either a bluetooth or usb mic, otherwise you would have to get a soundcard/DAC that has a mic/line-in since you can't have two devices running at once.

 

[Chubtoad]

Is there somewhere I can pick up a PC Headset Y Adapter? When I ordered my Mixamp I didn't realize that it doesn't come with any cables except a USB power cable from the looks of it. I'm not about to order the Y adapter off the Astro website because its 36 dollars shipping to where I live lol.
 
Maybe I'm not looking for the right product but I don't see any kind of adapter on Amazon? Also, need a recommendation on a decent brand for an optical cable/3.5mm to RCA cable

 

[chicolom]

Quote:

Also, need a recommendation on a decent brand for an optical cable/3.5mm to RCA cable

 
Does monoprice ship to where you live?
 
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10218&cs_id=1021817&p_id=9767&seq=1&format=2
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10229&cs_id=1022901&p_id=1419&seq=1&format=2

 

[Evshrug]

Monoprice is great.

 

[Chubtoad]

Yes they ship to Canada, thanks

 

[Evshrug]

Goin to bed early, going to relax, going to lose myself in some Q701 + music library on shuffle goodness ^_^

 

[chicolom]

FYI there is another Head-Fi Meet in Ohio tomorrow if anyone is interested (see the link in my sig).

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

So laptop #3 came in, and finally the HDMI input works.

Of course, nothing is ever easy, and no windows updates will install, nor will switching to dedicated graphics work on the laptop screen. It works if I use the HDMI output to my TV.

I did what any sane person would do and tried reformatting the drive, but it wont let me, saying there are files missing. Of course, I dont have a Windows installation CD, and I have to wait for my boy to bring it tomorrow. HOPEFULLY installing Windows 7 will bring less problems than 8. Even then, it doesn't guarantee that the laptop screen will accept the dedicated graphics card. Sigh...

 

[Makiah S]

Quote:

Your best bet to continue using the ODAC is to get either a bluetooth or usb mic, otherwise you would have to get a soundcard/DAC that has a mic/line-in since you can't have two devices running at once.

that's what I was thinking. Any tips on a good USB mic

 

[grandpatzer]

Quote:

Sheesh what a pain, I dont game witht he oDac I listen to music while I game with the Odac, but yea it seems a sound card might be needed anyways... I think I have one slot open for it on my mobo. BUT that will have to wait till me next build

 
Quote:

Your best bet to continue using the ODAC is to get either a bluetooth or usb mic, otherwise you would have to get a soundcard/DAC that has a mic/line-in since you can't have two devices running at once.

 
Ive read to not use the ODAC for gaming and instead use a dedicated soundcard, is that true?
Ive read the ODAC is actualy better the Xonar STX for music but I guess for gaming not so good?
 
So on my PC I can not use ODAC and have a working mic?
My motherboard has mic, also I have connected mic cable from my sound card Xonar DX to front of PC case.
so basicaly I can connect mic to either motherboard or soundcard, but this would not work if ODAC is my Amp/Dac?

 

[Makiah S]

Quote:

 
 
Ive read to not use the ODAC for gaming and instead use a dedicated soundcard, is that true?
Ive read the ODAC is actualy better the Xonar STX for music but I guess for gaming not so good?
 
So on my PC I can not use ODAC and have a working mic?
My motherboard has mic, also I have connected mic cable from my sound card Xonar DX to front of PC case.
so basicaly I can connect mic to either motherboard or soundcard, but this would not work if ODAC is my Amp/Dac?

well I've found I can't use a mic, and as far as gaming goes, I don't need surround sound... I play rpgs and racers so all I need is GOOD BGM, and a mic. So for me I'm having to get a usb or blue tooth mic to use. Not a big deal as I don't even use in game voice chat all that much tbh. That and most of my online time is spent on monster hunter, where as my PC does emulating and some non intensive rpgs. 

 

[daleb]

I'm going to get the Q701s in a little while, thank you so much for this thread!

 

[Makiah S]

I'm going to get the Q701s in a little while, thank you so much for this thread!

 
no problem! Mad suggested the dt 880s to me many months ago and I still love em! [Love my w1000x just as much though ;3] But what started me dwn the path or REAL quality audio was a suggestion I got from mad on thie forum ^^