[Kamakahah]

Gratz on the mention. Lots of good information to be had on this thread.

Tried the Razor Surround software out. Everything installed smoothly. Easy setup.
It works. Played some CS:GO with it and enjoyed the change. Takes some getting use to as I normally just play in stereo.

I'll give it some more time tomorrow on Metro Last Light and see how it fairs.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Its okay. The rear positional cues sounds too much like the front positional cues. DH and THX Tru Studio make the distinction quite a bit better to me.

 

[Fegefeuer]

E17 or E12 for the Mixamp for the case I feel a headphone needs a bit more power? 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

E12, if you already have a DAC for music purposes). The E12 is a lot more powerful. E17 if you don't have a DAC.

 

[Fegefeuer]

No, it's just for the Mixamp and gaming alone. 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Then E12, for sure. I dunno how much gain the E12 puts out though. The SA-31 is probably the most powerful amp I've seen, and yet the gain wasn't high. You might be better off with an actual desktop amp like the Magni. It's really small, and has plenty of gain.

 

[kellte2]

Looks like the PS4 takes a universal 4-pole headset plug and also comes with a simple headset with an inline mic and a single ear-bud. 

 
Sounds a lot better than Microsoft's proprietary jack BS.  I'm not going to use some crappy Microsoft licensed Turtle Beach headset when I've got perfectly good audiophile headphones and a modmic.  Maybe someone will release some kind of adapter, but regardless it's a greedy move for Microsoft to make.

I thought we would be done with the need to plug any cables directly into the controller by this console generation?

Spoiler: Xbox One Controller

The controller directly outputs 5.1 supposedly. That said, most of our headphones need an extra amp, so I can't imagine this being a viable solution for the audiophile crowd.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I'm really irritated that my Compass 2 doesn't wanna play nice with the U3's optical out, but something as cheap as the Mixamp has no such problem. Here I thought my days of double amping were over....

So running the SPDIF from the U3 to the Mixamp and switching to DH2 on the U3 and then the Mixamp's DH, they don't sound the same. Clearly.

 

[Fegefeuer]

Quote:

Then E12, for sure. I dunno how much gain the E12 puts out though. The SA-31 is probably the most powerful amp I've seen, and yet the gain wasn't high. You might be better off with an actual desktop amp like the Magni. It's really small, and has plenty of gain.

 
yeah but it means having to use and guide one more cable (power) and since I game on the couch far away from my desktop I prefer having everything portable (+the Mixamp is the wireless version) else I would use my V200. 
 
Hopefully Astro manges to bring a PS4/Xbox One Mixamp that supports DTS and has a better SQ. Or we write a petition to KingWa or FiiO. ^_^

 

[kellte2]

Quote:

 
yeah but it means having to use and guide one more cable (power) and since I game on the couch far away from my desktop I prefer having everything portable (+the Mixamp is the wireless version) else I would use my V200. 
 
Hopefully Astro manges to bring a PS4/Xbox One Mixamp that supports DTS and has a better SQ. Or we write a petition to KingWa or FiiO. ^_^

 
How much more do you want from the mixamp.  Videogames always will have more compression in their audio than audiophile level music (usually lossless encoding).  That's just the nature of the format.  Dolby Headphone has its limitations, but it works as good or better than the competitors.

 

[Fegefeuer]

Compare the SQ on a good soundcard like the STX/ZXR during gaming with a Mixamp. The difference is enormous on _every_ level. DTS is less compressed than AC3 and there's plenty of room for Astrogaming to improve on the SQ.
 
Furthermore: Audio samples keep getting better. Compare Thief 3 (2004), Fear 1 (2005), Bioshock 1/2 (2007/8) on maximum with Battlefield 3 for instance. We're still talking about current gen. With the new consoles memory and storage limitations (Xbox 360 and DVD 

) reach a much higher level. Quite a few PS3 games already have plenty of good quality samples. As you can see, there's plenty to improve.
 
KIllzone Shadow Fall uses 553MB of RAM just for the sound btw (current build).

 

[Evshrug]

Looks like the PS4 takes a universal 4-pole headset plug and also comes with a simple headset with an inline mic and a single ear-bud. 
 
Sounds a lot better than Microsoft's proprietary jack BS.  I'm not going to use some crappy Microsoft licensed Turtle Beach headset when I've got perfectly good audiophile headphones and a modmic.  Maybe someone will release some kind of adapter, but regardless it's a greedy move for Microsoft to make.

I thought we would be done with the need to plug any cables directly into the controller by this console generation?

Spoiler: Xbox One Controller

Well, if there was a Mixamp-esque DAC/amp that could get a direct digital surround audio feed (and mic in) from the controller, instead of the current system of tons of long wires and kind of a kludge-together system we could have a potentially streamlined, wireless (from console) surround sound setup. Kind of like what Astro was going for with their wireless 5.8 system. It's a new connection, true, but it may be a good thing.

This may spark a debate, but I think gamers need to re-evaluate DRM. We have this super negative impression of DRM from the early days of digital music, the super heavy-handed reaction of the music industry to the admittedly rampant free downloading. The usage limits and SONY rootkits embedded in their CDs were bad, but today I don't have hardly any trouble with iTunes music and Steam. On some level I can appreciate DRM, cuz I don't want people taking my work for free. Maybe I would be more adamant about what form the DRM takes if I wasn't a collector (hoarder?) and I wanted to sell off a game after beating it, but maybe there should be a rental option for those people?

I don't know much about the final specs of the Xbox One, but it seems like we don't have all the details yet and some parts are in flux anyway. It does seem poorly positioned though, kinda as if the Microsoft DNA is seeping into the gaming department.

Then E12, for sure. I dunno how much gain the E12 puts out though. The SA-31 is probably the most powerful amp I've seen, and yet the gain wasn't high. You might be better off with an actual desktop amp like the Magni. It's really small, and has plenty of gain.

The E12 has a 0dB low gain setting (that can be cranked up past line-level I believe), and a +16dB high gain setting. It can drive my headphones scary loud if you turn it up on high gain.

 

[Kamakahah]

Spoiler: Cable%20%26%20Plug

 
Well MLE, its finally all here.
 
How happy are you with your current cable btw?

 

[AxelCloris]

To those who are trying out different cables for the X1, should you need an inline mic MEElectronics posted this earlier today. Available for $10.
 

 
I'm a bit sad that the 90 degree head is on the TRRS end and not on the TRS. Oh well. Won't work well with some headphones but may work wonders with the X1.
 
Link

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Spoiler: Cable & Plug

Well MLE, its finally all here.

How happy are you with your current cable btw?

I think I'm gonna return the expensive cable for the X1, stick with the Mediabridge cable, and with that money, buy a Fiio D03K SPDIF dac to feed to my Compass 2, and see if the Xonar U3 will give it a good signal, since the Compass 2's dac won't play nice with the U3.