none of those are options for me. I live in Japan. options are vastless different, and often limited depending on your budget.
A USB mic is out of the question. I game with a boom mic using the M100s or X1.
Using a USB mic you get simulated surround like the turtle beach or astro gives you with the Dolby headphone technology?
I think you misunderstood me... Which is okay, your English is better than my Nihingo!
Point #1:
Plugging amp into Mixamp–type thing is Recommended!
Point #2:
The Mixamp's headphone jack has 3 audio channels: Left-ear output, Right-ear output, and microphone (mic) input. All amplifiers (that I know of) do not have the ability to pass the mic audio through. Therefore, you need a way to route the mic AROUND the amp. You can:
A: buy a cheap adapter that separates the mic channel from the L/R audio channel, and plug a cheap clip-on or "lapel" mic into the adapter.
B: buy the same adapter as above that separates the mic channel, and buy another adapter that does the opposite (brings the mic channel and L/R audio channels back together), literally wiring the mic channel around the amp and putting all the channels back together, and then plugging in your BoomPro (this means a mess of wires for your system, but HEY! You get to keep using the boompro!).
C: buy a USB Microphone, like a Blue Snowball or Samson Go Mic, and plug it straight into the PS4. The PS4 will use the mic for chat audio, and the Mixamp will only be used for processing surround audio (and you plug an amp and then headphones into that).
I wish it was easier, but the Mixamp wasn't designed to easily be used with nice headphones. Option A is the most simple and your Mixamp may even have come with the adapter, but I'm describing all the options I know of so you can make your own choice.
Bruh, they are currently at 80 to 90 on amazon right now...the Z cards of course. BF they will drop to that again. I just hate how amazon does this all the time.....but eh, i can wait...getting a Z card for PC only and I will buy a better DAC and AMP and use optical to pass through the Z cards amp.
but thats later though lol
edit: i really want to try a tube amp though....hmmmmm
Yeah, and the Soundblaster Z was initially released costing around $150, so... Thanks for proving my point? Even now the SB products have gone back up in price to about $50-$70 below the original price.
Again, my point was it took many months to see a price drop, the options are to wait for like half a year for $50 savings, wait even longer AND put in effort checking for flash sales to get $60-$75 savings, or just buy it near release for the sake of convenience and the pleasure of enjoying it right away.
The other thing to consider is that the X7 will be a flagship product, so you probably won't have a want to replace it unless you fall into financial hardship (always make sure you have enough money, and squirrel away some savings!).
If someone only plays on PC, then yeah just get a Soundblaster Omni (SBX, better standalone capability, Mac OS X compatible) or Asus U3 and later on add an amp then add an optical DAC, but for console gamers the X7 will be aguably a better option than even a home theater receiver because it has more gaming features.