[Zaruk]

Sorry about the copy post. My phone hates me.

 

[3X0]

Quote:

I might borrow a pair of DT 880s in the coming weeks and compare them with the other mid-fi headphones. So far, my personal ranking for gaming performance in the mid-fi arena is:
 
W1000X > Q701 > DT 770 LE > A900X > HD 650 > HF-2
 
That's only for imaging and competitive advantage with DH, though. For music listening it's more like W1000X > HF-2/HD 650 > Q701 > A900X > DT 770 LE
 
I'm curious to see where the DT 880 will fit in, since MLE's mention of the rear imaging deficiency concerns me.

Update: I think the DT 880 Premium/250 is the equal of the W1000X in music and gaming, just with wildly different presentations.
 
I once read the complaint of a gentleman who said the AKG 70X series had a "pinched-out" soundstage: as if you took the left and right ends of the sound field, pinched them and stretched them out (like an obnoxiously affectionate older relative might do with your cheeks). At the time, I didn't understand what this meant. Listening to the DT 880 makes this rather obvious. The imaging of the 70X series, IMHO, is too biased towards the left and right extremities. The DT 880 offers a slightly less wide image that appears to have superior specificity as well. I've had no cases of misdirection with the 880's that I had when I use the Q701s.
 
The sound signature of the DT 880 is remarkably similar to that of the JH13s. Balanced, balanced, balanced. In my opinion, the 880's bass is the best out of the 650/701/880 trio in both quantity and quality, and they are the best of the three when it comes to gaming and all-rounded usage. If the 880 Pro offers the same sound for the ~$200, they are also the best buy of the three IMHO.
 
I wasn't expected this from Beyer after being overwhelmingly disappointed with the DT 770 Pro/32.
 
MLE, I'm stunned you preferred the DT 990. I couldn't tolerated that headphone's sucked-out midrange, and I don't hear the deficiency in depth and rear imaging with Dolby Headphone that you speak of for the 880s.

 

[HiFiGamer1995]

Okay. Between the two, which is better for immersion? I presume it's the Samson. And is there anyone here who has also used the SLYR? Taking the guide into account, it seems to be quite exemplary, but I don't know.

The Samson would be better for immersion because of bigger soundstage and better imaging. It would also be better with competitive because it has better SQ overall with neutral instead of the slightly accentuated bass of the CAL.

The SLYR has a small soundstage so you're better off with the Samson or CAL.

 

[benbenkr]

Quote:

If you're using the amp with the DSS the improvement will be very minute.

 
Except the HD558's impedence fluctuates quite commonly in too many situations... the DSS alone felt a little dull with it.
 
Quote:

Th 558 is fairly efficient with the exception of having impedance spikes that raise the impedance by a large amount. The E9K will help with that.

 
Alright, thank you!

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Sweet, SC is letting me keep the PLYR 1, and I intend to keep them. I like them a helluva lot for music, it's wireless capabilities and longer than wide cup shape which makes them so much easier to lay down with.

This will probably be my main anime and relaxing headphone.

They're also the only headset I have, so no more dealing with external mics.

 

[burritoboy9984]

Sweet, SC is letting me keep the PLYR 1, and I intend to keep them. I like them a helluva lot for music, it's wireless capabilities and longer than wide cup shape which makes them so much easier to lay down with.

This will probably be my main anime and relaxing headphone.

They're also the only headset I have, so no more dealing with external mics.

I use my PLYRs for watching movies while the wife is sleeping. IMO, they are perfect for that.

-Erik

 

[Zaruk]

Unless anyone can object to my decision with a superior alternative, it is decided: I shall buy the Samson SR850- Oh, what is this?
Ummm.... How does the Superlux 668b compare?
EDIT: It might seem like I'm beating a dead horse here, but how many of you have used both the above cans, in addition to the SLYR? Consider the horse beaten.

 

[HiFiGamer1995]

The 668b is the same headphone, just with an Audio Technica wing headband design.

 

[Zaruk]

Hmmm... Which would you say is more comfortable?

 

[ztreb185]

Im planning to hook up my hd 598s or gr07 mk2s with my ps3.  I dont need a mic so im guessing the dss2 is better than the mixamp but what about audio quality?  Really worth the dolby processing and whatever the dss2 uses or should i just get something like an e17 or e9?

 

[Change is Good]

Quote:

Im planning to hook up my hd 598s or gr07 mk2s with my ps3.  I dont need a mic so im guessing the dss2 is better than the mixamp but what about audio quality?  Really worth the dolby processing and whatever the dss2 uses or should i just get something like an e17 or e9?

You're better off getting the original DSS because it has 7.1 surround sound. They changed the DSS2 to virtual surround.
 
Yes, the dolby processing is critical for surround sound gaming. I tried some stereo gaming the other day and I can now say that I have been spoiled by the Dolby Headphone feature on my mixamp.
 
Edit: If you search through this thread... this has been mentioned numerous times by MLE.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I'll take the worst Dolby Headphone amp over the best stereo amp if I had to choose one for movies and gaming.

 

[daleb]

I just ordered the JVC HA-S500s. I wonder how well they will work with gaming. Not that I got them for gaming, that's what my Q701s will be for, alongside its many other uses.
 

 

[Evshrug]

Wait, it was AMD messing up? That's really strange, I never have any problems with AMD...

They have good hardware, but generally NVIDIA drivers allow for less "Hiccups." SLI scales more smoothly than Crossfire too, but you didn't ask about that.
The video input issues on Mad's laptop were clearly a driver/software problem, though hard to say if that was due to the input drivers (on separate hardware from the video card, I should think) or the drivers translating said input to the graphics card to pass through to the laptop display. *shrug* If the next laptop works, it works, good done yay-whoo right?
I've been very happy with my NVIDIA cards I've used in the past year, though I've only had one problem with the AMD GPUs used in my older Mac laptops. Wait — those were still ATI components. I guess I have little experience owning an AMD product. Meh. I'm hoping to try out some PhysX soon, the Tesselation feature added in DX11 was already a very cool upgrade from what I had going before.

You're better off getting the original DSS because it has 7.1 surround sound. They changed the DSS2 to virtual surround.

Yes, the dolby processing is critical for surround sound gaming. I tried some stereo gaming the other day and I can now say that I have been spoiled by the Dolby Headphone feature on my mixamp.

Edit: If you search through this thread... this has been mentioned numerous times by MLE.

Actually, Dolby Headphone IS a type of virtual surround. The DSS2 uses a different DSP to produce virtual surround, and it'll probably vary from user to user what sounds "better." Both convert from a console's 5.1 surround output via Optical, and I think they both have the same potential, dunno which DSP is more advanced. I own the DSS with Dolby, it does a good job.

 

[Evshrug]

Mad,
I just wanted to separately give you kudos for your PLYR 1 review. You're in your stride about how to cover a headphone, and you still manage to report the technical while also managing to make me kinda want to own whatever headphone you praise, if I were to indulge myself. SkullCandy is lucky to have found you

I was just in BestBuy and saw Astro A40 + Mixamp bundle selling for ~$250, so the PLYR 1 is apparently one of the better wireless headsets, for less money, same Dolby Headphone processing, and "Winner!" Tonal balance... sounds like a good option if you must have wireless. Could someone optionally wire in a headphone into the base station?