[NamelessPFG]

Quote:

Glad to hear it. I've been raving about the AKGs since day 1, and I don't know of any headphone short of the HD800 that will take them off their throne as being the best competitive-oriented all-rounder.

 
I have a hunch for a possible contender, but then there's the whole amplification issue that's keeping me from loaning these out to you as a review set, not to mention availability for the vintage sets and the sheer price tag on the current ones (and even the discontinued vintage sets, to a lesser extent).
 
It would be so much easier if you just had an integrated receiver or speaker amp lying around for this so I don't have to spend the big bucks on an electrostatic amp and send that over too...
 
In other unrelated news, I decided to fire up a bit of Battlefield: Bad Company singleplayer on the PS3. (I got it bundled with the PS3, along with a few other games.)
 
-Wait a minute...when the hell did pinpointing the direction of explosive sounds become this easy in a Frostbite engine game? Did they completely screw up the positional audio mixing only with Bad Company 2 onward or something? MLE, have you ever played Bad Company 1, or just BF:BC2 and BF3?
 
-The control scheme is giving me nasty muscle memory issues, coming from other console FPSs. I keep hitting Triangle instead of Circle to enter and exit vehicles (a habit from GTA and Saints Row), which means I'm often swinging the knife or changing seats instead, and crouch is on R3 instead of L3 (Halo, GTA) or Circle (Call of Duty). On top of that, the use of L1 to accelerate and L2 to brake/reverse in ground vehicles is a rather peculiar choice, and one for which DICE didn't bother implementing pressure sensitivity (not that it matters much for controlling ground vehicles well in a Battlefield game, where digital keyboard inputs work pretty well).
 
Why don't they ever think of allowing fully-remappable controls like most PC games have as a rule? Just look at the TimeSplitters series; 2 had fully-remappable controls, and Future Perfect was almost fully-remappable short of the D-Pad functions. For that matter, just let me use a USB keyboard and mouse on the consoles. (Bad Company 1 is one of the few Battlefield titles to not have a PC version, the others being Modern Combat and 1943.)

 

[mgdunaway]

Hey MLE, Is there a reason why you have not reviewed the Razer Carcharias? Paired with the Mixamp of course since they aren't powered. I have read that for the price, they are pretty damn good. Bang for the buck, they may be the best bet if I want to try some open back cans. If anyone else has used them, would appreciate any input!

 

[roguegeek]

Great post and great discussion. I'm finding a lot of useful stuff here. A couple of quick questions. I'm going to be ditching my Logitech G35 for something that is going to give me a lot better directional audio. Narrowed my two choices down to either the Audio-Technica AD700 with external mic or the Sennheiser PC360. The guide seems to be written for console gamers, but I'd like to know what audio card you guys would recommend for a PC. I'm hearing good things about the Asus Xonar cards, but there's so many versions. Thoughts?

 

[ruuku]

Check out http://www.head-fi.org/t/593050/the-nameless-guide-to-pc-gaming-audio Nameless seems to be the go to guy for PC audio questions, Evshrug and Purple Angel are also reliable resources, maybe they can chime in on this one

 

[NamelessPFG]

Quote:

Great post and great discussion. I'm finding a lot of useful stuff here. A couple of quick questions. I'm going to be ditching my Logitech G35 for something that is going to give me a lot better directional audio. Narrowed my two choices down to either the Audio-Technica AD700 with external mic or the Sennheiser PC360. The guide seems to be written for console gamers, but I'd like to know what audio card you guys would recommend for a PC. I'm hearing good things about the Asus Xonar cards, but there's so many versions. Thoughts?

 
I see you didn't ask this in my own PC gaming audio thread, which ruuku has conveniently linked above. Still, I'll answer here.
 
The Xonar cards and other C-Media chipset offerings like from HT Omega are good choices, so long as you've made sure the card in question has Dolby Headphone.
 
I just place higher priority on X-Fi-based cards since I still play a fair share of older games that relied on hardware sound acceleration from specific sound card DSPs to sound their best, for which X-Fi cards have the best compatibility. That's why I usually recommend the X-Fi Titanium HD by default.

 

[DARKFiB3R]

Great post/thread. Signed up just to say thanks (though I may as well ask a question or two while I'm at it)
 
I've had this pair of Sennheiser HDR 140 wireless headphones for years. And I'm wondering how I can use them for gaming+chat on xbox live. My current (ridiculous) setup is as follows...
 
Xbox360 RCA out > RCA to 3.5mm > Tivoli iPAL (AUX in) > Tivoli iPAL (headphone out) > Sennheiser HDR 140 wireless base station
 
Xbox360 pad > official ms wired headset/mic > my head > HDR 140 cans
 
Sticking a chopped up, official ms wired headset/mic under one of the ears, isn't much fun :/

I'm liking the idea of these "Virtual Surround Devices", and it sounds like putting one of those in the picture, would achieve what I want, but is there a more basic solution, just to get me started? I have no problem breaking out the soldering iron in order to modify/integrate an external mic.

Also wondering if these cans are even suited for this application.
 
Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

 

[DoctaCosmos]

I drew this up for you guys.  It's how i plan on setting up my next setup. Got tired of reading about coloration of amplifiers, slew rates, Signal to noise ratio's, damping factor, THD, load and impedance matching.  Decided i'd just go 2 gauge straight from the telephone pole, use electrical tape to bind the rca's from my dac to give me my signal and then straight to my headphones.  Didn't include the mixamp because i didn't know how to integrate all that electricity and not hurt the other people in my game while using DH. 
 
 
 
I wonder when they will stop worrying about the important stuff in electric cars like specifications and start adding different electronics to somehow change the pure electricity into "different electricity" to make the sound of the car more warm or smooth.

 

[Sleinzel]

Thanks for this awesome thread.
 
I need some help on deciding which headphones I would like to buy.
 
Me and some mates are starting to play CS:GO a little bit more serious and I'm looking for a new Headset. I have been using a Creative Fatal1ty Headset for years, and it surved its purpose well. But I'm looking for an upgrade.
 
The Headphones I've been looking at are these:
 
 
- Sennheisser HD598
- Beyerdynamics DT 880
 
 
Would a Fiio E09K with E7/E17 as a DAC/AMP Combo be enough to drive the DT 880 600 ohm version, or should I just go with a Gamer Soundcard for DAC (and maybe a desktop amp)? I got an Ipod video, so having a portable AMP (like the E7 or E17) would be a nice thing.
 
I looked up the HD598 Specs, and it seems, it doesn't need amping. Am I right?
 
My budget is 600$
 
Thanks for your advice guys.

 

[Moby1]

Hey mad lust, would the he400 be fine with a mic out of the mixamp? Or is a amp a must

 

[TMRaven]

it's fine without another amp.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Not only does it need the power of another amp to help drive the volume when chat is added, but the HE400 lacks in positional cues and depth when using the Mixamp alone. I originally reviewed the HE400 off just the Mixamp. It was a mistake. It needs an amp.

 

[Proxymanity]

Wait a minute there MadLustEnvy, SKULLCANDY gave you a free pair of $300 A50 to test and review on here? Someone's getting famous 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

They also sent me the A40+Mixamp 2013, which will fare quite a bit better than the A50s.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Thanks for this awesome thread.

I need some help on deciding which headphones I would like to buy.

Me and some mates are starting to play CS:GO a little bit more serious and I'm looking for a new Headset. I have been using a Creative Fatal1ty Headset for years, and it surved its purpose well. But I'm looking for an upgrade.

The Headphones I've been looking at are these:


- Sennheisser HD598
- Beyerdynamics DT 880


Would a Fiio E09K with E7/E17 as a DAC/AMP Combo be enough to drive the DT 880 600 ohm version, or should I just go with a Gamer Soundcard for DAC (and maybe a desktop amp)? I got an Ipod video, so having a portable AMP (like the E7 or E17) would be a nice thing.

I looked up the HD598 Specs, and it seems, it doesn't need amping. Am I right?

My budget is 600$

Thanks for your advice guys.

The HD598 would be driven quite well by the E17 alone, with the exception of some impedance spikes. The DT880/600 would be driven well by the E9K but not to it's fullest potential. The Magni would be a better choice for 600ohm headphones.

Hey MLE, Is there a reason why you have not reviewed the Razer Carcharias? Paired with the Mixamp of course since they aren't powered. I have read that for the price, they are pretty damn good. Bang for the buck, they may be the best bet if I want to try some open back cans. If anyone else has used them, would appreciate any input!

Unfortunately, I haven't. Can't say I have any opinion either way, though I would assume the Onza would be better, though for some strange reason, it doesn't have a mic.

Great post/thread. Signed up just to say thanks (though I may as well ask a question or two while I'm at it)

I've had this pair of Sennheiser HDR 140 wireless headphones for years. And I'm wondering how I can use them for gaming+chat on xbox live. My current (ridiculous) setup is as follows...

Xbox360 RCA out > RCA to 3.5mm > Tivoli iPAL (AUX in) > Tivoli iPAL (headphone out) > Sennheiser HDR 140 wireless base station

Xbox360 pad > official ms wired headset/mic > my head > HDR 140 cans

Sticking a chopped up, official ms wired headset/mic under one of the ears, isn't much fun :/


I'm liking the idea of these "Virtual Surround Devices", and it sounds like putting one of those in the picture, would achieve what I want, but is there a more basic solution, just to get me started? I have no problem breaking out the soldering iron in order to modify/integrate an external mic.


Also wondering if these cans are even suited for this application.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks


 

If anywhere on that audio chain has an analog input, you can definitely start with a virtual surround device like the Mixamp, and use a cable from the headphone out to your setup's first analog input (rca or 3.5mm).

You could just get another mic, and hook it up directly to the Mixamp as well, which would clean up that mess of a setup you have, lol.

 

[ruuku]

Thanks for this awesome thread.
I need some help on deciding which headphones I would like to buy.
Me and some mates are starting to play CS:GO a little bit more serious and I'm looking for a new Headset. I have been using a Creative Fatal1ty Headset for years, and it surved its purpose well. But I'm looking for an upgrade.
The Headphones I've been looking at are these:
- Sennheisser HD598
- Beyerdynamics DT 880
Would a Fiio E09K with E7/E17 as a DAC/AMP Combo be enough to drive the DT 880 600 ohm version, or should I just go with a Gamer Soundcard for DAC (and maybe a desktop amp)? I got an Ipod video, so having a portable AMP (like the E7 or E17) would be a nice thing.
I looked up the HD598 Specs, and it seems, it doesn't need amping. Am I right?
My budget is 600$
Thanks for your advice guys.

Just a heads up, the E9K will not work with the E7, only the E17, OTOH the E9 will pair with both.

You'll have to decide how important surround sound is vs portable sq. Any soundcard worth its salt (especially within the gaming category) will have some sort of 3d processing which should make a difference in FPS (if you don't already have some sort of 3d audio processing natively). Either way, the 598s should be fine with either the E7/17 or your soundcard.