[l00l]

Quote:

Just get a Mixamp or DSS2 and have fun.

Well maybe I am just making things too complicated

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

For the purpose of gaming and movies, that is all you need.

In other news,

So it seems that Dreamworks Blu-Rays (like Puss N Boots), use Dolby True HD, so Dolby Headphone devices WILL work properly on those. I'm watching that movie now with my D7000/Mixamp, and it sounds AWESOME. Just like a movie theater.

 

[l00l]

And if it doesn´t work I still get the enhanced signal through the Amp, but without Dolby Headphone? Or will this be just the exact same signal I get out of my TV headphone jack/RCA outputs?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

MixAMP. It IS an amp. It actually is quite capable, volume wise. It just hissy in comparison to real headphone amps.

 

[SniperCzar]

Quote:

For the purpose of gaming and movies, that is all you need.
In other news,
So it seems that Dreamworks Blu-Rays (like Puss N Boots), use Dolby True HD, so Dolby Headphone devices WILL work properly on those. I'm watching that movie now with my D7000/Mixamp, and it sounds AWESOME. Just like a movie theater.

Those of us on PC can actually get DH out of most audio formats via MPC-HC. Takes a ton of effort to do the initial setup though.

 

[Eric_C]

Just discovered that the USB port on the Xbox is super noisy (am using it to power my pre-2010 MixAmp). Either that, or I somehow had my audio setup wrong, because with DH on and Asura's Wrath playing, there was distortion all around. 

 

[ninjikiran]

About the mixamp~
 
Comparing the original to the new one, it seems to be a more powerful headphone amp.  Its driving my 770's to levels that the original did not.  There is also less of a veil, but compared to my bifrost holy ssssssssssssssssssssssssssibilance when it comes to music.
 
Obviously thats what I have the bifrost for, music and 2.0 home theater. But besides the sibilance issues its still not a huge degradation, long as the vocals have no sssssssssssssssssss.
 
As far as audible noise levels, the original did not have much if any(depending on setup).  The new one seems quieter.
 
It could just be audio amnesia but I think they made a few under the hood upgrades.  I am yet to connect my LCD-2's to them because the adapter I got from monoprice doesnt seem to fit the full connector.
 
On another note, it takes mea year from when I say I am going to do it to when I actually do.  I am totally going to darth the 770's.  Over getting the d7000

 

[Mastakilla]

Thanks a lot Mad Lust Envy for this awesome thread!
 
I've spend the last couple weeks reading A LOT on this forum and your thread has the honor of getting my first round of questions
 
I've starting looking into these headphones since I got a bit too much complaints from the neighbours
 
I will be using the headphones for  gaming / music / cinema (all using my PC) with Dolby Headphone or CMSS 3D Headphone.
I don't do competitive gaming, but I do play FPS (so a little accuracy is welcome )
I listen to hip hop / jazz / blues / funk / soul / other old music / minimal techno / various other kinds of non-commercial electronic music
I watch most genres of movies (as long as they're good)
 
I'm not sure yet how I will drive these headphones.
My initial plan was to buy a decent receiver (like the Onkyo TX-NR609/709) and use my ATI Radeon HD5870 to send all sound bit streamed over HDMI. This ideal for movies with Dolby TrueHD and stuff, but apparently hardly any receiver supports Dolby Headphone.
So I still need to figure that part out later... (I do prefer not having to buy a separate amp, as I'll already spend enough money on an amp for my surround speakers )
 
Back to the headphones, these are the possible candidates I had in my mind:
 
1) Sennheiser HD598
+ doesn't really need a separate amp to be driven
+ remains comfortable, also after a long time
+ very nice / pleasant all round sound
- might have a little too little bass for hip hop / action movies
 
2) BeyerDynamic DT880
+ doesn't have too little bass or too much treble
- hard to drive, needs extra amp
- bad positioning from behind
- not cheap
? couldn't find how comfortable these are in long term
 
3) BeyerDynamic DT990
+/- strong bass (some even say too strong, as it gives them a headache when listening too long)
- hard to drive, needs extra amp
- less comfortable when wearing longtime
- too much treble for some
 
4) AKG Q701
+ doesn't have too little bass or too much treble
? I'm not sure if these really need an extra amp or not
- less comfortable when wearing longtime (could be fixable by a mod)
- expensive
 
Now my questions:
1) When using an open headphone at a loud, but still comfortable, volume, how strong is the bass then compared to satellite speakers at low volume? My neighbours are sleeping behind the wall where my TV, computer and Keff Satellite speakers stand and apparently the bass goes through the wall pretty easy... I know these open headphones don't isolate much sound, but I still don't have a clue if there is any risk they could even hear my headphones through the wall...
2) The Sennheiser HD598 seems like the safest buy to me. The only possible downside is the bass. I was wondering, if the low bass appears to be a problem for me, is it possible to fix this issue by using a software or hardware equalizer? Or will using an equalizer lessen other qualities of this headphone and perhaps make the bass overwhelm the high and mid tones? Is there a difference in outcome between a software or hardware equalizer?
 
Thanks in advance for all awesome answers and tips

 

[l00l]

Quote:

 
1) Sennheiser HD598
+ doesn't really need a separate amp to be driven
+ remains comfortable, also after a long time
+ very nice / pleasant all round sound
- might have a little too little bass for hip hop / action movies
 
3) BeyerDynamic DT990
+/- strong bass (some even say too strange as it gives them a headache when listening too long)
- hard to drive, needs extra amp
- less comfortable when wearing longtime
- too much treble for some
 
 
Now my questions:
1) When using an open headphone at a loud, but still comfortable, volume, how strong is the bass then compared to satellite speakers at low volume? My neighbours are sleeping behind the wall where my TV, computer and Keff Satellite speakers stand and apparently the bass goes through the wall pretty easy... I know these open headphones don't isolate much sound, but I still don't have a clue if there is any risk they could even hear my headphones through the wall...
 

ad HD 598: I owned them for a couple of months and never thought the bass was too light. Then again, now I have the Beyer 990 pro and really appreciate the stronger bass, especially when watching movies with explosions and stuff. Couldn´t say that it is too strong.
 
ad DT990 (Pro): I honestly don´t think they are that hard to drive. I drive them only with a Fiio E6 right now and that works well. But yeah, they are harder to drive than the HD 598, I can confirm that.
Where do you get the "not comfortable" stuff from? I think they are very comfortable. No issues so far.
 
And the bass on open headphones is not that strong that it should go through a wall, unless you have one of these Japanese paper walls.
 

 

[l00l]

Quote:

About the mixamp~
 
Comparing the original to the new one, it seems to be a more powerful headphone amp.  Its driving my 770's to levels that the original did not.  There is also less of a veil, but compared to my bifrost holy ssssssssssssssssssssssssssibilance when it comes to music.
 
Obviously thats what I have the bifrost for, music and 2.0 home theater. But besides the sibilance issues its still not a huge degradation, long as the vocals have no sssssssssssssssssss.

You are talking about the Astro Mixamp pro, right? What do you mean by "sibilance issues"? Could you explain that a lil further? thanks

 

[Mastakilla]

Thanks for the answer!
 
I know there are many mixed opinions on the bass of the HD598. It is just because I also listen a lot of hip hop, that I have a bit of doubts about it being ok for me.
Probably it is just fine, but question 2) is there just in case it isn't
 
About being "hard to drive", I mean that it needs an extra amp, like your Fiio. I prefer something that can just be driven from the soundcard or receiver itself., as an extra amp would probably double the price. If it really is the best option for me, I might still consider buying an extra amp, but if possible , I prefer not
 
http://www.headphoneinfo.com/content/Beyerdynamic-DT-990-Headphones-Review-867/Comfort.htm
--> this is where I read about the comfort issues. I know these are just opinions and that it could be different for me, but still...
 
I'll also try to go and listen to these headphones, but I think I will have trouble finding shops in Belgium that let you try all these headphones, so I'm not sure if I'll succeed.
 
My walls also are not thin at all. Actually it is an extremely strong concrete wall that has destroyed my dads 35 year old Metabo Drill
But I guess my neighbours have a bit sensitive hearing
Or perhaps it is just the fact that their head, when sleeping, is probably about 1 meter away from my satellite speakers

 

[ninjikiran]

Listen to a female voice, or someone that makes a snake nose every time they talk. Sibilance is a natural part of life, just some audio equipment unintentionally amplify it to annoying levels.

The original wired mixamp with the newer wired mixamp.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I've starting looking into these headphones since I got a bit too much complaints from the neighbours
I will be using the headphones for  gaming / music / cinema (all using my PC) with Dolby Headphone or CMSS 3D Headphone.
I don't do competitive gaming, but I do play FPS (so a little accuracy is welcome )
I listen to hip hop / jazz / blues / funk / soul / other old music / minimal techno / various other kinds of non-commercial electronic music
I watch most genres of movies (as long as they're good)
I'm not sure yet how I will drive these headphones.
My initial plan was to buy a decent receiver (like the Onkyo TX-NR609/709) and use my ATI Radeon HD5870 to send all sound bit streamed over HDMI. This ideal for movies with Dolby TrueHD and stuff, but apparently hardly any receiver supports Dolby Headphone.
So I still need to figure that part out later... (I do prefer not having to buy a separate amp, as I'll already spend enough money on an amp for my surround speakers )
Back to the headphones, these are the possible candidates I had in my mind:
1) Sennheiser HD598
+ doesn't really need a separate amp to be driven
+ remains comfortable, also after a long time
+ very nice / pleasant all round sound
- might have a little too little bass for hip hop / action movies
2) BeyerDynamic DT880
+ doesn't have too little bass or too much treble
- hard to drive, needs extra amp
- bad positioning from behind
- not cheap
? couldn't find how comfortable these are in long term
3) BeyerDynamic DT990
+/- strong bass (some even say too strong, as it gives them a headache when listening too long)
- hard to drive, needs extra amp
- less comfortable when wearing longtime
- too much treble for some
4) AKG Q701
+ doesn't have too little bass or too much treble
? I'm not sure if these really need an extra amp or not
- less comfortable when wearing longtime (could be fixable by a mod)
- expensive
Now my questions:
1) When using an open headphone at a loud, but still comfortable, volume, how strong is the bass then compared to satellite speakers at low volume? My neighbours are sleeping behind the wall where my TV, computer and Keff Satellite speakers stand and apparently the bass goes through the wall pretty easy... I know these open headphones don't isolate much sound, but I still don't have a clue if there is any risk they could even hear my headphones through the wall...
2) The Sennheiser HD598 seems like the safest buy to me. The only possible downside is the bass. I was wondering, if the low bass appears to be a problem for me, is it possible to fix this issue by using a software or hardware equalizer? Or will using an equalizer lessen other qualities of this headphone and perhaps make the bass overwhelm the high and mid tones? Is there a difference in outcome between a software or hardware equalizer?

Yamaha receivers come with Silent Cinema which seems to compare well with Dolby Headphone. My Yamaha RX-V671 receiver does a great job of powering my DT990 Pro 250-Ohm.
Great thing about the DT990 is it sounds like your in a movie theater (full bass & treble).
My Sennheiser HD558s have nice all around sound, because it does not have the "full" bass and treble like the DT990, vocals are a little better.
I find my Beyerdynamic DT770s & DT990s very comfortable.
 
 
 

 

[Mastakilla]

Thanks for the tip on Silent Cinema.
 
I didn't find this back in NamelessPFG's thread (which I completely read 2 days ago - I know... crazy...)
Is this Silent Cinema a "real" surround or a "made-up" surround? (I mean: if an opponent comes from behind you, do you hear him from behind? or does it just "randomly" positions sounds?)
 
Does it work well with a PC? Does it need a DTS or other specific surround standard as input to the receiver? Or does it work as well with a 5.1 PCM input without any dolby stuff?
(Maybe I'm asking the wrong questions here, but I still need to investigate more on this aspect and actually wanted to have this conversation in NamelessPFGs thread at a later point in time... but if you already have answers on this, they are offcourse more than welcome )

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Thanks for the tip on Silent Cinema.
I didn't find this back in Nameless PFG's thread (which I completely read 2 days ago - I know... crazy...)
Is this Silent Cinema a "real" surround or a "made-up" surround? (I mean: if an opponent comes from behind you, do you hear him from behind? or does it just "randomly" positions sounds?)
Does it work well with a PC? Does it need a DTS or other specific surround standard as input to the receiver? Or does it work as well with a 5.1 PCM input without any Dolby stuff?
(Maybe I'm asking the wrong questions here, but I still need to investigate more on this aspect and actually wanted to have this conversation in NamelessPFGs thread at a later point in time... but if you already have answers on this, they are off course more than welcome )

It's real surround sound as far as I can tell, I've never used it for gaming, but it's great for Blu-ray movies.
I put the Blu-ray disk into my Panasonic Blu-ray player and plug my DT990 Pro 250-Ohm into the Yamaha and it's like I'm at the movie theater.
9 out of 10 reviews on Silent Cinema are positive
As far as I can tell, the Yamaha receivers support all the audio formats just as well as any other receiver brand.
Full support for the latest Dolby Digital, just not Dolby Virtual Headphone, which Silent Cinema covers.
The Yamaha RX-V667 and RX-A700 are the cheapest Yamaha receivers with the better speaker amplifiers.