[Yethal]

Right, what PurpleAngel said.

To say it a different way, PCs don't need the compression of Dolby or DTS, they just send native PCM audio for each channel to the sound processor. Whether that processor is internal or external doesn't matter as long as you're not using Optical (USB can carry more information than Optical).

Game consoles are a different beast... They require less configuration and maintenance, but until someone makes an external headphone DSP with HDMI in and HDMI out, then they all rely on Optical and some form of surround compression (Dolby or DTS).

Tritton made one. Can't You or Mad use your contributor status on Head-Fi to score a review unit?

 

[Monty1089]

Ok so based on my questions about the mixamp pro a few pages back i just purchased the 2011 mixamp pro. This one:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/281815550100?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I am actually from Australia so with a $15 ebay discount and convert to AUD it was around $82. That is the cheapest 2011 mixamp i could fine anywhere.

I will post back my experiences in a few weeks when it arrives.

 

[Change is Good]

Hey you guys may want to jump on that eBay sale ($15 off orders of $75 or up). I bought three $25 PSN cards for $60 and to use them on flash sales. Savings on top of savings right?

Coupon is: CruiseN2Summer

 

[Yethal]

US & Canada only

 

[Evshrug]

Tritton made one. Can't You or Mad use your contributor status on Head-Fi to score a review unit?

Pretty sure I'm a contributor solely because of time or post count
Or wait... I'm a contributor? I just realized I was thinking Headphoneus Supremus! Cool, I'm labeled a contributor!

Still, I think my DSP review series is more likely to help me "score" (borrow?) a unit for review. I put my second video up on Tuesday, do you guys think I should make a thread about the playlist? If I get that Tritton unit, I'd definitely do a review

 

[martin vegas]

Does anyone know what the sabre hifi sounds like from the Asus Rog Rampage v edition 10 motherboard?

 

 

[Kandace Mallard]

Hey Guys!

I recently decided to make the move from gaming headset to headphones. I purchased the Sound Blaster ZXR sound card intending to use the Optical In/Out pass through. This is my problem:


In my XB1's sound settings, I select Bitstream out (Either DTS or Dolby, doesn't matter, results are the same), the optical cable is plugged into an optical switch, which is plugged into the Optical-In on my sound card. When I check the box for "Listen to this device", all I hear is horrible electronic buzzing.  If I connect the Xbox directly to the sound card (bypassing the switch, same results, so it's not the switch).  I even tried my other XB1.  Same deal.

The first few times I tried stereo uncompressed, I couldn't hear anything, but it's working now. I may not have had my volume high enough initially because I do have to turn it up pretty high to hear sound. But I DO get sound.

I know, I know, just be happy that you have sound, right?  After the hours that I spent obsessing over all of this before I got sound through stereo uncompressed, I'm elated to hear anything at all. The real b!tch of it is that when I switch to my PS4 (running off the exact same optical switch) I can use bitstream DTS and Dolby, NO problem. What??? My PS4 pretty much serves as a DVD player that I occasionally play Destiny on with my ONE friend who doesn't own an XB.

If I plug my XB1 directly into my Z906 speakers, I can use any format. That's great, except the whole point of this is to be able to use my headphones while playing FPS games, so... meh.

The sound card has all the latest drivers, and my XB1 is up to date. I'm just throwing this out there because I know the Sound Blaster Z series is REALLY popular, and a lot of folks are streaming and have both consoles and a PC. I can't be the only person who's run into this, and somebody out there in Internet land may have already conquered this final boss, or can maybe explain what the problem is and/or why my PS4 works. Share your knowledge with me, senpai(s)!

I've asked this question everywhere I can think of, including the Xbox forums and Xbox reddit.  I'm asking here because I'm trying to come at it from all sides!  And this is the console gaming headphone thread...

 

[Yethal]

I'm surprised the PS4 works at all. I was sure Dolby Digital decoding via optical in would be blocked due to copyright patent trademark something ******** by Dolby. You sure the a/v settings on the xbox are correct?

 

[Kandace Mallard]

Hi Yethal,
 
I know I'd heard something about copyright restrictions, yadda yadda.  But my PS4 definitely works.  On my XB1, it's currently set to stereo uncompressed, and I am getting audio that way.  But if I set it to bitstream (either Dolby or DTS) I just get noise.  It's my PS4, which is currently set to bitstream DTS, and I can hear everything just fine *shrugs* idk lol.

 

[Napalmhardcore]

Hi guys. It's been about a year since I last posted here (my interest in audio gear seems to kick in around summer time for some reason).
 
For a long time I've intended to buy a pair of HD600 headphones. My interest in that particular set of headphones is not based purely on their performance in gaming but because they are such an important headphone in the world of audio, I want a pair 1) So I know what all the fuss is about. 2) I've never owned a pair of Sennheisers (which I feel I should as someone that is interested in audio) and 3) I am also interested in experimenting with amps, so seeing how they are renowned for being headphones that scale well, they are a great candidate.
 
The problem has always been that gaming is a large part of my application for headphones/headsets, so I couldn't justify the purchase of them for music alone. The other problem has been finding the means to deliver virtual surround to them on multiple platforms in a satisfactory manner (as I play on console and PC). As far as I am aware my options were the Sound Blaster X7 or double amping out of a Mixamp or similar device (which I'd rather not do). The Sound Blaster X7 is pretty expensive and for that kind of money it would have to be ideal for my circumstances, which it isn't.
 
The idea of a device like a Mixamp that can output the virtual surround processed audio so that I can send to an external amp to drive the HD600s effectively has been what I've wanted for a long time. I've recently noticed that Turtle Beach have (finally) released the TAC. I was wondering if you guys have any insight on the TAC and what its routing capabilities are. I've read the manual and noticed that it has an optical output, but I'm a bit unclear about whether this sends the processed signal out and whether an external amp and DAC (for use with the HD600s) would simply convert it back into stereo.
 
I emailed Turtle Beach about a year ago telling them that I had been interested in the TAC for some time and explained how there are people (thinking of you guys) that would love for the TAC to offer a line out to be used with external amplifiers so that people could use hard to drive headphones with virtual surround, but I never got a reply and sadly the TAC doesn't seem to feature a line out.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I recently decided to make the move from gaming headset to headphones. I purchased the Sound Blaster ZXR sound card intending to use the Optical In/Out pass through. This is my problem:

In my XB1's sound settings, I select Bitstream out (Either DTS or Dolby, doesn't matter, results are the same), the optical cable is plugged into an optical switch, which is plugged into the Optical-In on my sound card. When I check the box for "Listen to this device", all I hear is horrible electronic buzzing.  If I connect the Xbox directly to the sound card (bypassing the switch, same results, so it's not the switch).  I even tried my other XB1.  Same deal.
The first few times I tried stereo uncompressed, I couldn't hear anything, but it's working now. I may not have had my volume high enough initially because I do have to turn it up pretty high to hear sound. But I DO get sound.
I know, I know, just be happy that you have sound, right?  After the hours that I spent obsessing over all of this before I got sound through stereo uncompressed, I'm elated to hear anything at all. The real b!tch of it is that when I switch to my PS4 (running off the exact same optical switch) I can use bitstream DTS and Dolby, NO problem. What??? My PS4 pretty much serves as a DVD player that I occasionally play Destiny on with my ONE friend who doesn't own an XB.
If I plug my XB1 directly into my Z906 speakers, I can use any format. That's great, except the whole point of this is to be able to use my headphones while playing FPS games, so... meh.
The sound card has all the latest drivers, and my XB1 is up to date. I'm just throwing this out there because I know the Sound Blaster Z series is REALLY popular, and a lot of folks are streaming and have both consoles and a PC. I can't be the only person who's run into this, and somebody out there in Internet land may have already conquered this final boss, or can maybe explain what the problem is and/or why my PS4 works. Share your knowledge with me, senpai(s)!
I've asked this question everywhere I can think of, including the Xbox forums and Xbox reddit.  I'm asking here because I'm trying to come at it from all sides!  And this is the console gaming headphone thread...

 
The Creative Labs Z, Zx, ZxR cards optical input only supports 2-channel PCM.
So encode/compressed (bitstreaming) DDL or DTS-Connect, thru digital optical is not supported (by the SB card's optical input).
http://support.creative.com/kb/ShowArticle.aspx?sid=107680
 
Why your PS4 is able to send encoded (bitstream) digital audio to the SB-ZxR cards is a mystery.
Unless even thru you have bitstream enabled on the PS4, but it's still just sending 2-channels of PCM audio, to the SB-ZxR card.
On the PS4, if you disable DTS and Dolby, so just sending 2-channels of PCM audio thru the optical, is the sound the same?

 

[Kandace Mallard]

   
The Creative Labs Z, Zx, ZxR cards optical input only supports 2-channel PCM.
So encode/compressed (bitstreaming) DDL or DTS-Connect, thru digital optical is not supported (by the SB card's optical input).
http://support.creative.com/kb/ShowArticle.aspx?sid=107680
 
Why your PS4 is able to send encoded (bitstream) digital audio to the SB-ZxR cards is a mystery.
Unless even thru you have bitstream enabled on the PS4, but it's still just sending 2-channels of PCM audio, to the SB-ZxR card.
On the PS4, if you disable DTS and Dolby, so just sending 2-channels of PCM audio thru the optical, is the sound the same?

 
I'll check it out later today, and thank you for the article link.  I'll give that a  read as well.

 

[Evshrug]

I'll check it out later today, and thank you for the article link.  I'll give that a  read as well.

I was thinking of saying the same thing, the SoundBlaster internal soundcards don't include Dolby or DTS decoding licensing. Your computer might actually have DTS decoding software included with it, or purchased separately in the past. If you wanted, you could do the same for Dolby. It's just that Creative does not include it with the internal sound cards, or most of their products for that matter.

 

[Change is Good]

Pretty sure I'm a contributor solely because of time or post count
Or wait... I'm a contributor? I just realized I was thinking Headphoneus Supremus! Cool, I'm labeled a contributor!

I only see 'Supremus' next to your posts and on your profile. Maybe he was referring to Mad? Though, I do agree, your contribution should be noted. Is it post count that decides that 'Contributor' label? I hope not because someone's post count can often be misinterpreted. I (for example) post a lot but am far from the 'Supremus' next to my name. It would be very misleading if I would reach Contributor because of said post count.

Btw, any news on you possibly getting a review sample of the TAC?

 

[Kandace Mallard]

I was thinking of saying the same thing, the SoundBlaster internal soundcards don't include Dolby or DTS decoding licensing. Your computer might actually have DTS decoding software included with it, or purchased separately in the past. If you wanted, you could do the same for Dolby. It's just that Creative does not include it with the internal sound cards, or most of their products for that matter.

 
I was wondering if that could have anything to do with it.  I have a Blu-ray player installed, so I do have PowerDVD and whatever codecs that comes with.  But if that's the case and explains why the PS4 works, why doesn't the XB1?  I'm still going to do what Purple Angel suggested and verify that it's not PCM on my PS4 even though it still says Dolby/DTS.