[chicolom]

Quote:

 
another question - will you test the X1?

 
As long as he promises not to "bend the shiz" out of them. 

 

[Happy Bullets]

Quote:

 
As long as he promises not to "bend the shiz" out of them. 

Lol. My X1's have left my PC 360's lonely. 130 shipped in the box with splitter if anyone here wants them! Chico did you ever get around to your X1 review???? 

 

[Evshrug]

In other news...

Got myself Mirror's Edge and Battlefield 3 on my PC.

Gonna have to eat my words...

With the Recon 3Di... the surround cues were ABSOLUTELY AMAZING in their campaigns. SO MANY positional cues... from helicopters, to birds, etc.... I haven't heard this kind of immersion in their console versions...

EVS, I'm gonna have to eat my words here. THX Tru Studio is LEGIT.

I don't have the chance to compare with DH though, but at this point, I'm incredibly happy with my soundcard.

Mad,
It's alright, I wouldn't rub it in your face. I've always said the difference must be down to differences in ears... maybe now your ears are like mine? Mirror's Edge is pretty ridiculously fantastic, neh? Did you try enabling some PhysX, since you have the NVIDIA card? There are times that DH/the DSS works really well for me too, but lately I've had no tactical help from it in CoD4 or Reach. Would you like to borrow mine, so you can hear side by side? I'm coming back to the idea of just buying the Recon3D USB from Nameless so that I can use one thing with PC and console (Mac, Windows, and Xbox)

 

[Reso88]

Great thread, really appreciated. Going with the HD598s and an astro mixamp!
 
I've heard there's problems with the 2013 version of the mixamp though. Can anyone who has used both give some insight? Should I be buying the older version of the mixamp or is the 2013 version grand?
 
Cheers!

 

[chicolom]

Quote:

Lol. My X1's have left my PC 360's lonely. 130 shipped in the box with splitter if anyone here wants them!
Chico did you ever get around to your X1 review???? 

 
Awesome price on the PC360s...
 
The X1 review is pretty much written, I just need to edit some more X1 pics first before I post it.
 
Quote:

I've always said the difference must be down to differences in ears...

 
Are there any good youtube demos of whatever THX the Recon uses vs Dolby Headphone?
 
And is THX less dry than CMSS?  I prefer DH to CMSS as the latter sounds too dry and stereo-like.

 

[Change is Good]

Quote:

It's pretty much written, I just need to edit some more X1 pics first before I post it.

 
I can only imagine how the ending will be. "If I had to choose between the X1 and the Annie...."
 
I know what you've mentioned before but you know people are going to want to know,

 

[daleb]

And now that the Sony love is calming down has been around for a while, a ton of anti-Sony, pro Microsoft comments are flooding in. I'm so confused by that... I own 2 xbox 360s, yet I can't find a single reason the only reason I can think of to support xbox one over PS4 is that it has halo 5... And the xbox one has so many preorders already

 

[chicolom]

I'm glad the Anniversary continues to drop price drop on Amazon...
 
 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

The good thing about at LEAST the Recond 3Di's version is that it doesn't sound processed. Even when playing a stereo source, it sounds like two speakers in front of you, no echoey reverb like DH. It's not as full sounding, but with certain games, it sounds more natural and realistic.

Not always though. I still think DH has better positional cues on console, at least. The usb Recon didn't sound this good. I'm wondering if it's because of some specific difference...

Still irks me that I have to manually go into sound devuces and change it to 5.1, every single time I turn the computer on, or plug in a headphone. Also, if I switch from headphones to speakers and vice versa, I have to go into the Recon software and manually turn THAT surround button on and off, as the laptop speakers get affected by the surround processing and makes things worse.

It's a hassle.

 

[Evshrug]

Are there any good youtube demos of whatever THX the Recon uses vs Dolby Headphone?

And is THX less dry than CMSS?  I prefer DH to CMSS as the latter sounds too dry and stereo-like.

There were a couple YouTube demos from a Tomb Raider benchmark run I saw recently, I'll add them to this post if I find them before I fall asleep. IMO THX sounded best of those. I'm not exactly sure what you mean by dry... But just to say, I found CMSS-3D too bright 70% (when high-pitched sounds play), but I didn't have that problem with THX TSP once I found my preference. I will also add that someone (with heavy-handed bias) did a series of BF3 videos, and The clear winner of those was CMSS-3D... never heard that processing sound as good.

The good thing about at LEAST the Recond 3Di's version is that it doesn't sound processed. Even when playing a stereo source, it sounds like two speakers in front of you, no echoey reverb like DH. It's not as full sounding, but with certain games, it sounds more natural and realistic.

Not always though. I still think DH has better positional cues on console, at least. The usb Recon didn't sound this good. I'm wondering if it's because of some specific difference...

Still irks me that I have to manually go into sound devuces and change it to 5.1, every single time I turn the computer on, or plug in a headphone. Also, if I switch from headphones to speakers and vice versa, I have to go into the Recon software and manually turn THAT surround button on and off, as the laptop speakers get affected by the surround processing and makes things worse.

It's a hassle.

The hassle does suck and seem unreasonable...
The lack of echo and "processed sound" are my favourite aspects of the THX TSP option.
My fear is that, somehow, the unit Nameless got doesn't sound as good as mine did by some manufacturer defect or something (unlikely, but...). Even though that could explain a few things, I still think it highly unlikely that the units vary.
I think I want to roll in a different tube into my amp though, I'm honestly not as in love with the bargain Bugle Boys as I was with my Sylvania JAN spec tube I used before, and I still have four Russian Vokshods to try out.

 

[saintrock]

The Superlux HD681's are amazing headphones for 31$, the highs are very bright and too harsh sometimes but an EQ works, and the soundstage is very open and spacious! I'm happy with my purchase!

 

[NamelessPFG]

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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.

 
Damn, that sucks!
 
It also means my plans to later offer you my SR-Lambda + SRD-7/SB setup for a review just went down the drain if the speaker amp portion is also dead...do you have any means of testing the speaker taps?
 
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Very true. People don't understand initially because before Beats entered the picture, most consumer headphones that people bought were under $50.

So to many, the idea of $200+ headphones is ludicrous. Until they actually hear what that money can give them and their brain explodes.

 
Even I thought the notion of $200+, no, $100+ headphones was ludicrous at one point in my life.
 
Now I'm here and dreaming of $5,000 headphones driven by $5,000 amps that I'll probably never get an ears-on audition with or even see in person, all because of a $250 headphone purchase on this forum, and suddenly a $300-500 amp to drive the headphones of my choice doesn't seem so bad.
 
"Sorry about your wallet" indeed...
 
Quote:

Does the new ps4/xboxone have better surround sound or is it all about graphics

 
I frankly doubt they gave much consideration to sound beyond having an HDMI port...
 
ONLY having an HDMI port, at that, so those of us without A/V receivers with good headphone surround implementations built-in (like the discontinued Dolby Headphone receivers from Harmon/Kardon and Marantz) or a Smyth Realiser A8 are screwed.
 
Quote:

In other news...

Got myself Mirror's Edge and Battlefield 3 on my PC.

Gonna have to eat my words...

With the Recon 3Di... the surround cues were ABSOLUTELY AMAZING in their campaigns. SO MANY positional cues... from helicopters, to birds, etc.... I haven't heard this kind of immersion in their console versions...

EVS, I'm gonna have to eat my words here. THX Tru Studio is LEGIT.

I don't have the chance to compare with DH though, but at this point, I'm incredibly happy with my soundcard.

 
Well, I'll be...Mirror's Edge having excellent positional audio is understandable (it uses an early UnrealEngine3 version which still had OpenAL by default), but praising Battlefield 3 takes me by surprise because it's based on the Frostbite engine, which had TERRIBLE positioning in BF: Bad Company 2 regardless of what settings I used. (And given that BF:BC2 put me off because of that and the overemphasis on unlocks that started back with BF2142...)
 
Chances are BF3's going to sell on Origin for just $5 tomorrow if the vote went like I think it did, in which case I may just buy it solely to evaluate its positional audio quality. (I'm firmly expecting to not bother with playing it when I still have BF1942 and BF2.)
 
Still, this gives me more reason to look into all that hype for those Z-series cards, in case PCIe Sound Core3D hardware actually does fare a lot better than the Recon3D USB. (Or find out if there's a Recon3Di software suite lingering around...)
 
Quote:

There were a couple YouTube demos from a Tomb Raider benchmark run I saw recently, I'll add them to this post if I find them before I fall asleep. IMO THX sounded best of those. I'm not exactly sure what you mean by dry... But just to say, I found CMSS-3D too bright 70% (when high-pitched sounds play), but I didn't have that problem with THX TSP once I found my preference. I will also add that someone (with heavy-handed bias) did a series of BF3 videos, and The clear winner of those was CMSS-3D... never heard that processing sound as good.
The hassle does suck and seem unreasonable...
The lack of echo and "processed sound" are my favourite aspects of the THX TSP option.
My fear is that, somehow, the unit Nameless got doesn't sound as good as mine did by some manufacturer defect or something (unlikely, but...). Even though that could explain a few things, I still think it highly unlikely that the units vary.
I think I want to roll in a different tube into my amp though, I'm honestly not as in love with the bargain Bugle Boys as I was with my Sylvania JAN spec tube I used before, and I still have four Russian Vokshods to try out.

 
I can't say I've ever found CMSS-3D Headphone too bright...even with a history of headphones generally regarded as "bright" in their overall signature. At the very least, high-pitched sounds never felt like they were stabbing my eardrums. (Some say this is one of Stax's general strengths across their entire lineup, so that could have something to do with it.)
 
As for a manufacturing defect, I doubt it. It's probably Creative's drivers that are to blame; all the processing's done in software for their USB devices, after all. And even then, it's not like I haven't tested THX TSP Surround on my X-Fi Titanium HD in Entertainment Mode, only to come to the exact same conclusion: CMSS-3D Headphone just positions far better, even if it does have a side effect of sucking out the bass without EQ compensation.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

It may be that the single player portion does positional cues better than the Multiplayer. the opposite of the earlier current gen CoDs. Great multiplayer positional cues, horrible in single player.

I'll see about jumping into the BF3 online for testing soonish.

Just beat Tomb Raider. That game is AMAZING. Probably playing Mirror's Edge or FEAR 3 next.

And nope, no speaker tap potential.

 

[Evshrug]

I need to own Tomb Raider myself, just got an epic game backlog right now. Partially cuz I'm still replaying competitive games... I did finish first in my silver league division of StarCraft II, season 3 that just ended!

This isn't the video I meant, but I figured I may as well show THX in Mirror's Edge:
[Video]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7JS2_SCTFLM[/Video]


Edit: Update
Ok, not exactly what i was looking for but you guys may be able to find the THX test, here's the new Creative SBX in Tomb Raider:
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pti1l20UGPc&sns=em[/video]


Edit2: Still can't find what I was talking about, but I have to get ready to leave for work now. Here's one more sample, SBX again, the author makes a very good point about quality loss during transcoding into YouTube video (this one is supposed to be better, and now I'm curious what it would be like to turn the surround strength slider off):
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu4MPJ08w1k&sns=em[/video]

 

[modulor]

Quote:

In other news...

Got myself Mirror's Edge and Battlefield 3 on my PC.

Gonna have to eat my words...

With the Recon 3Di... the surround cues were ABSOLUTELY AMAZING in their campaigns. SO MANY positional cues... from helicopters, to birds, etc.... I haven't heard this kind of immersion in their console versions...

EVS, I'm gonna have to eat my words here. THX Tru Studio is LEGIT.

I don't have the chance to compare with DH though, but at this point, I'm incredibly happy with my soundcard.

That would be DICE's incredible sound engine technology at work my friend, so pretty much any surround virtualization technology is going to work really well - I also have THX Tru Studio on my soundcard.  I know you're a huge fan of positional cues so this is probably making you drool haha!  If you truly want your mind=blown (if you ever start playing online with people you know that is) check this out: http://mumble.sourceforge.net/Positional-Audio & http://mumble.sourceforge.net/Games This just solidifies the whole experience!