[nfnity]

Quote:

 

 
You mean like for music?  I can't test it as my computer doesn't have spdif/optical out.  You can always get the FiiO D3 for $30.  It takes coax and optical in and goes to a line out.  With the mixamp, it doesn't have a line out, so you're stuck with the amp/headphone out for whatever the DAC gives you.

but the question remains: does the D3 or any other comparably cheap DAC have noticeably better SQ than the mixamp. Would I really benefit from the d3+amp combo compared to the double amped mixamp? with 320kb mp3s that is.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

You're doing it wrong if you're using the Mixamp as a music amp. It should ONLY be used for gaming and movies. The D3, E7 and any decent music dac will outperform the Mixamp in every way. The ONLY reason to use the Mixamp is for virtual surround and voice mixing...that's it.

Only double amp with the Mixamp if you have a hard to drive headphone, NO OTHER REASON.

Oh yes, the Mixamp 5.8 has an optical line out, so if the music dac you want to use has an optical input, you CAN use both the Mixamp and your music DAC without issues.

A good example of use is:

Source ---> Optical ---> Mixamp 5.8 --->. headphone out ---> Amp (input 1). This is for gaming with hard to drive headphones.

and

Source ---> Optical ---> Mixamp 5.8 ---> optical out ---> music dac ---> Amp (input 2). This is for music as it bypasses the Mixamp.

This is assuming you have an amp with two inputs. Not sure if the newer Mixamp 5.8 leaves the optical out on when the Mixamp is off, but if it's anything like mine, the Mixamp must be on in order for the optical out to work (a non-issue as the Mixamp doesn't use much power, I just leave it on if I feel I'm gonna use it soon).

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I'm gonna have to add a link to OC Remix on my first post and here.

OC Remix is a website where video game remixes are submitted. Before you judge video game music, you must know, the remixers here tend to master their tracks BETTER than typical lables. They take special care in their music.

http://ocremix.org/

They have a whole bunch of FREE remix albums which also have FLAC of their tracks...

http://ocremix.org/albums/

Lots of awesome orchestra, rock, EDM, you name it. If you have a favorite game, chances are, there's plenty of remixes for the music.

I'm surprised some of you don't know of OCRemix's existence. If you're new to it, prepare to spend days (maybe weeks) of sifting through all that godly music.

The site's been around for a LOOOONG time, and obviously music has evolved. Unless you know what to look for, some of the older music may be lacking in quality compared to the new ones, but there is certainly older remixes that would blow the new stuff away.

 

[SniperCzar]

Quote:

I'm gonna have to add a link to OC Remix on my first post and here.
OC Remix is a website where video game remixes are submitted. Before you judge video game music, you must know, the remixers here tend to master their tracks BETTER than typical lables. They take special care in their music.
http://ocremix.org/
They have a whole bunch of FREE remix albums which also have FLAC of their tracks...
http://ocremix.org/albums/
Lots of awesome orchestra, rock, EDM, you name it. If you have a favorite game, chances are, there's plenty of remixes for the music.
I'm surprised some of you don't know of OCRemix's existence. If you're new to it, prepare to spend days (maybe weeks) of sifting through all that godly music.
The site's been around for a LOOOONG time, and obviously music has evolved. Unless you know what to look for, some of the older music may be lacking in quality compared to the new ones, but there is certainly older remixes that would blow the new stuff away.

You really cannot go wrong with ANYTHING by bLiNd, Zircon, BigGiantCircles, PrototypeRaptor, Disco Dan, Danimal Cannon, Sixto Sounds, virt, Shnabubula, halc, or Benjamin Briggs. Not to mention hundreds more I'm neglecting, but those are the guys off the top of my head who I've really gone out of my way to find their complete works. And I'm pretty sure all the guys I've listed above have released their own non-OCR albums as well. Just as a quick sample of some very recent work by one of the guys listed above demonstrating absolutely epic skills, check out this hour long set by PrototypeRaptor - http://soundcloud.com/prototyperaptor/prototyperaptor-promo-mix-jan
 

 

[nfnity]

You're doing it wrong if you're using the Mixamp as a music amp. It should ONLY be used for gaming and movies. The D3, E7 and any decent music dac will outperform the Mixamp in every way. The ONLY reason to use the Mixamp is for virtual surround and voice mixing...that's it.
Only double amp with the Mixamp if you have a hard to drive headphone, NO OTHER REASON.
Oh yes, the Mixamp 5.8 has an optical line out, so if the music dac you want to use has an optical input, you CAN use both the Mixamp and your music DAC without issues.
A good example of use is:
Source ---> Optical ---> Mixamp 5.8 --->. headphone out ---> Amp (input 1). This is for gaming with hard to drive headphones.
and
Source ---> Optical ---> Mixamp 5.8 ---> optical out ---> music dac ---> Amp (input 2). This is for music as it bypasses the Mixamp.
This is assuming you have an amp with two inputs. Not sure if the newer Mixamp 5.8 leaves the optical out on when the Mixamp is off, but if it's anything like mine, the Mixamp must be on in order for the optical out to work (a non-issue as the Mixamp doesn't use much power, I just leave it on if I feel I'm gonna use it soon).

Ok, so even cheap DACs are better than the mixamp. What about the average onboard headphone out double amped? I have to drive q701. I bought them for gaming, that's why I don't have a good DAC to go with it. I just want to know how I should hook up the amp if I want to listen to some streamed music for once in a while, or when I watch shows in stereo. Onboard vs. Mixamp. Both have to be double amped for the akgs.

 

[Eric_C]

Quote:

Ok, so even cheap DACs are better than the mixamp. What about the average onboard headphone out double amped? I have to drive q701. I bought them for gaming, that's why I don't have a good DAC to go with it. I just want to know how I should hook up the amp if I want to listen to some streamed music for once in a while, or when I watch shows in stereo. Onboard vs. Mixamp. Both have to be double amped for the akgs.

Streamed music--so, low bitrate? And some TV shows?
Just run the 701 out of the onboard HP out and see how that is. In this case, you really only need to be concerned about loudness; leave the tricky/elusive quality of "well driven headphones" to serious music (and maybe movie) listening.

 

[Hailin]

I got my DT990pros. I whipped them out of the box at 5pm and I haven't taken them off my head since. Plus the smile on my face is not going away. I guess I am a Beyer guy. I love them, they fix all the problems I had with the Sen HD598. They don't have the soundstage of the HD598's but everything else feels so amazing. I haven't gamed with them yet but I am dying to try them.
That binaural clip that you posted MLE actually made me sick to my stomach from 0:35 to 0:41 not to sure why? Never happened on any of my other headphones. I need to find some mid heavy songs because that is where people say they lack.

 

[livingplastic]

Quote:

I'm gonna have to add a link to OC Remix on my first post and here.
OC Remix is a website where video game remixes are submitted. Before you judge video game music, you must know, the remixers here tend to master their tracks BETTER than typical lables. They take special care in their music.
http://ocremix.org/
They have a whole bunch of FREE remix albums which also have FLAC of their tracks...
http://ocremix.org/albums/
Lots of awesome orchestra, rock, EDM, you name it. If you have a favorite game, chances are, there's plenty of remixes for the music.
I'm surprised some of you don't know of OCRemix's existence. If you're new to it, prepare to spend days (maybe weeks) of sifting through all that godly music.
The site's been around for a LOOOONG time, and obviously music has evolved. Unless you know what to look for, some of the older music may be lacking in quality compared to the new ones, but there is certainly older remixes that would blow the new stuff away.

http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01914/ ... Thank you

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

What, you like it? Lol.

I'll be hopefully doing a writeup on the Q701s for gaming. Nothing fancy like Chico's writeup, but the usual fun/competitive scores, and whatnot. I'll try and see if I can bring up some comparisons with the K701, but don't hold your breath.... its been a good while since I've heard them.

 

[chicolom]

Quote:

You're doing it wrong if you're using the Mixamp as a music amp. It should ONLY be used for gaming and movies. The D3, E7 and any decent music dac will outperform the Mixamp in every way. The ONLY reason to use the Mixamp is for virtual surround and voice mixing...that's it.

Only double amp with the Mixamp if you have a hard to drive headphone, NO OTHER REASON.

 
Quoted for truth
 
 

 

[chicolom]

Quote:

What, you like it? Lol.
I'll be hopefully doing a writeup on the Q701s for gaming. Nothing fancy like Chico's writeup, but the usual fun/competitive scores, and whatnot. I'll try and see if I can bring up some comparisons with the K701, but don't hold your breath.... its been a good while since I've heard them.

 
I need to grab some more of that OCremix.  I have the FFVII album, but that's it...
 
I hope these K702s I have here are representative of the rest of the K70x.  I don't see why they wouldn't be.  They're serial number is over 20,000 so they're pretty recent (My Q's are only 4165). 
I'm either claiming that the Q's are in fact a different beast from the K's, or I've just proven how ridiculous the burn-in effect is 

   I'm leaning towards the former.  If my Q701s changed during burn-in, it was minor/insignificant.  They certainly didn't sound thin out of the box like these K702.
 
 
I'm still debating whether I should bother with a short Q701 vs K702 writeup thread, or if people will just condemn it when I mention that the K702s don't have their burn-in certificate yet 

 

[Method]

Quote:

I got my DT990pros. I whipped them out of the box at 5pm and I haven't taken them off my head since. Plus the smile on my face is not going away. I guess I am a Beyer guy. I love them, they fix all the problems I had with the Sen HD598. They don't have the soundstage of the HD598's but everything else feels so amazing. I haven't gamed with them yet but I am dying to try them.
That binaural clip that you posted MLE actually made me sick to my stomach from 0:35 to 0:41 not to sure why? Never happened on any of my other headphones. I need to find some mid heavy songs because that is where people say they lack.

 
Were the HD598's comfort problems more of an issue than their sound for you? I'm interested in the HD598 but somewhat worried they might be too boring for me.

 

[Mysterious]

Would you recommend any of the following for BOTH music and gaming
Audio Technica M50
Koss Pro DJ100
Creative Aurvana Live
 
Any other headphones recommendations that do both music and gaming would be appreciated as i have money to only get one headphone 
 
Thank you

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I find the HD598 quite boring...though I bet with the right genres, they'd be stellar.

 

[Eric_C]

Quote:

Would you recommend any of the following for BOTH music and gaming
Audio Technica M50
Koss Pro DJ100
Creative Aurvana Live
 
Any other headphones recommendations that do both music and gaming would be appreciated as i have money to only get one headphone 
 
Thank you

 
I think it depends on what your gaming and music setups are like. If you're more serious about one or the other, than that's the one that takes priority.
 
So, for e.g. are you gaming with onboard audio, in stereo? Then music's a priority.
Do you game or listen to music on the go? Then you need closed headphones.