[Mad Lust Envy]

I'm trying to find a pair of high quality wireless headphones to use with my PS3 (yes 3, I'm playing some "vintage" games), and I've been running into a few issues.

1. USB wireless tends not to work with PS3. I've tried a couple of USB wifi headsets that the PS3 identifies, but does not send audio.

I also have a PS3 (1st gen with full back compat) which I JUST got back from a repair shop. So I understand the desire to play older games (in my case it's JRPGS like Xenogears, Valkyrie Profile 2, Suikoden 2, Front Mission 4, etc which aren't available yet on PS5, if ever.

2. Bluetooth is laggy. I have the PS3 routed to an AVR that does not transmit Bluetooth. I've tried a headphone jack bluetooth transmitter with aptX to send Bluetooth 5.2 to a Razer Barracuda X (headset is Bluetooth 5.2 but NOT aptX) and that's too laggy. Is aptX really fast enough?

Bluetooth is fast enough IF your transmitter is sending out Apt-X Low Latency in particular, and your headphones/receiver can accept Apt-X LL.

4. Budget is wide open, I'd love to get really high quality sound if possible. But wireless & low latency is more important.

You have various options, like what I'm doing...

You can attach an Apt-X Low Latency Bluetooth transmitter (like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086CYS884/ref=emc_b_5_i ) that has optical input from the PS3's optical out. Then find yourself an Apt-X low latency capable headset or receiver dac/amp like the Ifi Go Blu, Quedlix 5K, Fiio BTR5, etc, and attach some efficient headphones to that.

Make sure the PS3 is set for PCM audio in this case, since Dolby Digital will just be garbled noise.

There's something like Ebay-ing an Astro Mixamp 5.8 that will work just fine, though it's a hissy little bugger. This is also another plug any wired headphones to it type of device).

For FULLY wireless, well, again, get a transmitter with Apt-t X LL, and get an Apt-X LL capable headphone. Not sure I'd trust any of these over doing the first method.

I'm sure Sony has some official PS3 headsets that are wireless, but... again, YMMV.

 

[shagnscoob]

You can attach an Apt-X Low Latency Bluetooth transmitter (like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086CYS884/ref=emc_b_5_i ) that has optical input from the PS3's optical out. Then find yourself an Apt-X low latency capable headset or receiver dac/amp like the Ifi Go Blu, Quedlix 5K, Fiio BTR5, etc, and attach some efficient headphones to that.

Make sure the PS3 is set for PCM audio in this case, since Dolby Digital will just be garbled noise.

What's the philosophy behind going directly out from PS3 vs. through the AVR outputs?

 

[Radio81]

Hmm, so I ended up getting a cheap Apt-X low latency transmitter to use for my TV to send audio to the iFi GO Blu. I do have optical being sent to the Creative GC7, which does SBX surround out of its optical out to the transmitter via optical.

Works fine, though Apt-X Low Latency does have some periodic 'ticks' and little sound pops, though very minor. Doesn't occur on other codecs, so it has to be the codec's lower buffer. I'll take these little audio glitches over the ever constant Astro Mixamp 5.8 hiss. Doesn't happen much, but will happen once in awhile.

Time will tell.

I have the same issue with my cheap transmitter, though it doesn't happen all the time. When it does, I power cycle the BT amp, and that usually works. The BT transmitter I've found can also be very picky about placement.

I was also using a Mixamp 5.8 for late night TV watching prior, and couldn't take the hiss anymore.

What's the philosophy behind going directly out from PS3 vs. through the AVR outputs?

Most AVRs will not have an optical output

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

What's the philosophy behind going directly out from PS3 vs. through the AVR outputs?

Choose whatever is available to you. If you have an AVR that is connected to the system, then yeah, you can use that for the transmitter.

In the end I opted to just go back to the Mixamp 5.8. There really wouldn't be much use going my route, and it'd be more of a hassle. I don't do any critical listening for the TV, so the hiss is something I've been accustomed to for a long time.

With the cheap transmitter I used, there's setup that I'd have to do everytime, like repairign, having to switch the input just to go back. Admittedly an issue with the cheap transmitter itself. In any case, I didn't get the BT dac/amp for this purpose anyways, but it's possible if I'd wanna go that route in the future.

The ifi Go Blu is for portable use.

 

[shagnscoob]

I just picked up a Sony Gold Wireless Headset. The USB works with PS3 but those headphones are absolutely trash.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Yeah, unfortunately, PS3 era was bad times for audiophiles. It wsn't until the 2012+ era that personal audio really started to become important to the mass market.

 

[shagnscoob]

Has anyone tried to crack open the Gold headset and see if there's a way to pull out the receiver to attach to another pair of headphones?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Has anyone tried to crack open the Gold headset and see if there's a way to pull out the receiver to attach to another pair of headphones?

Probably a better question asked on places like Reddit, as headfi-ers don't typically bother with non-audiophile headsets. Not sure you'd get hits of that nature here. Redditors probably have more experience with those Sony headsets.

Not that the talk ain't welcome here, just saying, I don't think many people will respond about that subject here. It's pretty niche.

 

[Chastity]

Has anyone tried to crack open the Gold headset and see if there's a way to pull out the receiver to attach to another pair of headphones?

Probably easier to replace the drivers.

 

[NewCoke]

Beyerdynamic North America's website has a sale currently going on for B Stock right now. They claim to replace the pads on all B stock.

I see many models available, but no DT 880 B Stock.

 

[Radio81]

Beyerdynamic North America's website has a sale currently going on for B Stock right now. They claim to replace the pads on all B stock.

I see many models available, but no DT 880 B Stock.

Nice. I'm tempted to try the 900 Pro X at that price. Anyone use that one for gaming?

 

[Trancefreak]

Question for the people that remember A3D:
I'm -> <- this close on giving up trying to source a high end vortex card for a retro build, which was the whole reason for the retro build.
Would you say Redscape offers similar surround sound simulation, or is A3D still undisputed after all these years?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Question for the people that remember A3D:
I'm -> <- this close on giving up trying to source a high end vortex card for a retro build, which was the whole reason for the retro build.
Would you say Redscape offers similar surround sound simulation, or is A3D still undisputed after all these years?

I don't have any experience with retro surround emulation. The earliest I personally have gone to is Dolby Headphone Room 1, 2, and 3 from the Victor SU-DH1 and Asus Xonar U3. I still use Dolby Headphone 2 daily through my Mixamp 5.8 from 2013, which is what I use for my TV/console use (though if a game supports it, I'll use Sony Tempest 3D instead on the PS5).

But yeah, for PC use, I've almost entirely stuck to Redscape. It just works extremely well for me, and I love the versatility of being able to use it with any gear on PC.

Would I say it's the best? Hmm.... I dunno. It's up there for my tastes, but I think Sennheiser GSX, and Creative SXFI are the two best for me. Redscape would probably be #3. They're all fantastic for me. Redscape does have a one up on both of those though, in that it doesn't have as much reverb in comparison, if you're sensitive to that. Redscape and Creative SBX are the best in terms of surround effect in relation to the reverb they have. GSX and SXFI can have quite a bit of reverb (though GSX1000 has 3 settings for the GSX surround, in which I like the medium setting i.e. 1 + symbol). SXFI has a battle mode which I think sounds insanely weird, and SXFI proper has a lot of reverb you have to acclimate to, but once you do, I think it's arguably the most impressive surround emulation.

I don't use SXFI mainly because I'm lazy, and only have the Creative GC7 setup as my microphone device. That and I can't send SXFI digitally, which is the biggest shortcoming.

 

[Chastity]

Question for the people that remember A3D:
I'm -> <- this close on giving up trying to source a high end vortex card for a retro build, which was the whole reason for the retro build.
Would you say Redscape offers similar surround sound simulation, or is A3D still undisputed after all these years?

I did reviews for 3DSoundSurge, and nitpicked Aureal 3D to death. It was between that and CMSS-3D for top crown at the time. (CMSS-3D set to Headphone and game set to 7.1 was insanely good, using async tricks to get that) Today, Waves NX and Redscape, when tuned to your physical dimensions, is also spot on. Unfortunately if you don't have a license for Waves NX 1.x, you would need to get a piece of hardware to get the 2.0 app. I've thought of buying a cheap headset that comes with the software just to get the software.

 

[Helvetica bold]

Uncompressed Stereo set on XsX with 3D Headphones in BF2042 sounded better than expected with the SteelSeries Arctis Nova pro wired. Oddly I still get 24 bit audio on PS5 and 16 bit on XsX.