[pietcux]

The U7 uses Dolby Home Theater V4, which I hear is inferior to Dolby headphone. I'd personally go with whatever has Dolby Headphone. Since I can't get my soundcard to output Dolby Digital 5.1 to it's optical out (so my receiver or PLYR 1's base can decode into Dolby Headphone), I think I'm gonna buy the Xonar U3. It has Dolby Headphone. It's fairly inexpensive, and I'll just run a cable from it's headphone jack to my amplifier. THX Tru Studio is decent, but I miss my Dolby headphone.

That being said, setting up virtual surround seems to be an outright pain in the ass. For instance, on my Recon 3Di, EVERY SINGLE TIME I plug in my headphones, the sound settings default back to 2 channel. In order to get virtual surround, it HAS to be seti to 5.1 surround. So yeah... constantly having to go into the sound options to fix that is soooo stupid.

You might want to take the Xonar U1 lite instead. It serves me since 5 years on different PCs. It has a bit more hardware inside than the Xonar U3 and also serves as a very nice volume knob.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Lol, did you reply, or just quote my post?


AND OMG, MY MARANTZ JUST DIED. Just tested my TV's and PS3's optical signals going through the Marantz and onto my PLYR1. The PLYR1 is connected to the Marantz's optical line out, and is functioning perfectly. The headphone jack on the receviver is dead. I tested my laptop, and when I put the volume on full blast on the Marantz, very little of it goes to my KSC75. I tested my KSC75 with another source and they're perfect, so I know it's the headphone jack on my Marantz.

Sigh...there goes $200 and change down the drain.

I guess I'm gonna have to spend even more money acquiring a DSS in the meantime. That or just stick to the PLYR1 doing just PS3 duty for now.

I'm...upset.

 

[3X0]

Quote:

AND OMG, MY MARANTZ JUST DIED.

Get a screwdriver, open that sucker up and start poking.
 
 
Don't actually do this; it's highly dangerous.

 

[Akin]

Hello Folks,
 
I need some help. I've trapped online looking for a headphone that I can use for gaming and listening to jazz (stuff like Diana Krall), rock (Maroon 5 etc), acoustic (Johnny Cash) and blues music (Eric Clapton). I've been looking at the He400 for a while, but I'm also interested in the 65th anniversray k702. The deep, punchy bass of the he400 sounds like it would be blast in blues and jazz songs, I wonder if the k702 is lacking in that aspect. Also, which amps do you recommend with these? I though something like astro mixamp + e09k would be fit for them. 
 
Thanks

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

​

Damn, I bent one of my hdmi cable plugs... now THAT doesn't work. Today is bad luck day.

Akin,

Diana Krall would probably give you headaches with the HE400. Sibilance is a little problem with the HE400, and DK tends to have a lot of sibilance prone recordongs, FWIH.

Before you even mentioned them, I thought the K702 Annies would be the perfect fit. They do those genres really well, IMHO.

They havs very good bass. Not basshead level, but good bass.

Also, you shouldn't be using the Mixamp as a dac for music. It's terrible for that, and should only use it for gaming and movies. The E9k should be fine as the amp.

 

[Akin]

Hey MLE,
 
I looked up a little more on sound cards, and based on my current experience, I'm happy with stereo gaming. So maybe I should just invest in a good dac/amp combo, as it would benefit me more on the whole gaming + music scale. I watch shows like Game of Thrones, will the Annies be adequate for the more "fun" end of the spectrum? I know it doesn't have ton of bass, but will it be fun enough for explosions and gunfights? Even without digital surround prosessing and instead, a good dac?

 

[pietcux]

I had to finish my post on my pc, as inserting a picture did not work from my Galxy Note somehow.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Hey MLE,

I looked up a little more on sound cards, and based on my current experience, I'm happy with stereo gaming. So maybe I should just invest in a good dac/amp combo, as it would benefit me more on the whole gaming + music scale. I watch shows like Game of Thrones, will the Annies be adequate for the more "fun" end of the spectrum? I know it doesn't have ton of bass, but will it be fun enough for explosions and gunfights? Even without digital surround prosessing and instead, a good dac?

While I think you're making a huge mistake not looking into virtual surround, I understand. yes, I think the Annies are a good choice.

Just remember, my reviews are based on gaming with virtual surround, NOT stereo. All headphones basically sound the same competitively to me when they're in stereo (meaning a low scoring M50 will be as good in stereo as the AD700 to me). It's all left and right directional cues mostly. So 2 dimensional. But hey, that's on you.

 

[Akin]

Hey, thanks for the answer.
 
As you said, a gaming dac will not perform good with music. I feel like it will be too much of a hassle:
 
1) If I buy a gaming dac, having to spend money on another dac for music,
2) Having to keep on changing dacs from music to gaming.
 
Is there a solution?
 
Edit:
 
PS, I would also prefer surround sound, but only if there is a possibility of also having good music quality.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Your answer would be (despite my very, very recent troubles), a used receiver that has virtual surround. The Marantz SR5002, Karman Kardon 254, etc, have Dolby headphone. If you go this route, you have a good dac, virtual surround, AND decent amplifier.

Switching between the Mixamp and a music dac is not really a hassle. For example, if you bought the E9K as the amp, and the E7K or E17 as the dac, the USB input on the E9K would be in effect, leaving the analog line in for the Mixamp. All that you'd have to do is hit the switch in the front of the e9K to switch from the USB to the aux in (for the Mixamp).

I'd go with the E7K over the E17, as you don't need the beefier amp in the E17 (as you'll be using the E9K's amp. You save almost half the cost of the E17).

 

[Akin]

That sounds like a solution. If I bought the e9k and the astro mixamp, I actually do have an external sound card, but it is and audio recording interface with a 24/96 dac inside. I wonder if that will suffice with the Annies, which probably require a fine dac.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I personally find dacs to be overrated. A good dac is a good dac, and I found the E17's dac to be nearly as good as my Compass 2, the marantz, NFB5, and ODAC.

So yeah, E7K, E9K, Mixamp would do you wonders, isn't much of a hassle, and won't break the bank.

Another solution is getting a Matrix Mstage USB. It comes with a built in dac, a better amp than the E9K, and analog input for the Mixamp. Not sure how good the DAC inside is though. The regular Mstage has two inputs, so you can hook up both a dac and the Mixamp. It's like twice the cost of the fiio setup and you don't have a dac there though.

 

[saintrock]

I'm thinking about getting the DT990 pros, they do seem amazing for the price. Will the headphone amp on the asus xonar DG be enough for them? 

 

[Akin]

So how does the setup work? Source--->mixamp--->fiio e9 + e7 and then I switch between e7 and mixamp? Does the audio go through the bypassed mixamp and then to the e9+e7? Or do you just plug the mixamp via usb to your computer, then to the e09k via analog, and also connect the fiio e09k via usb to your computer, and then dock the e7k?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Source -> USB -> E7K (NOT E7) / E9K - Headphones

Source -> optical -> Mixamp-> Mixamp headphone out -> 3.5mm to RCA male cable -> E9K's aux in -> headphones

This is assuming you're using the Mixamp for NON-PC gaming. If ypu're a pc gamer, you're better off with something like a Xonar U3