[Mad Lust Envy]

Dolby Headphone is tied to your internal soundcard. USB dac = external soundcard. Meaning you can't send dac info into another dac in that way. You can only use one source at a time. You HAVE to use your soundcard as the main device for DH

From the looks of that software, you can clearly see the Headphone virtualizer on the bottom right. The only issue there is that you can't see where it goes from a Dolby headphone 2 equivalent to Dolby headphone 3 (a reverb-y mess). Or are the sliders for volume, and not surround effect?

this is how it looks on the Creative...



And on the Xonar (no slider, just a choice between the 3 DH modes.



Also, not sure if you knew this or not, but make sure your sound device is set to 5.1 or 7.1, because if not, you won't get proper DH, THX Tru Studio, etc.

.

Despite what the image shows, the Xonar U3 digital out isn't tweakable (but the top one is, which directly affects the digital out anyways)

 

[Fegefeuer]

Is there a device like the U3/U7 that outputs DHP via coaxial? 

 

[Evshrug]

No.
But you can get a U3 and an Optical to Coax conversion cable, probably cheaper than a U7.

 

[spikes]

Have a quick question regarding the guide, is the review of the akg k702 65th annie and the great stuff written about it also true for the new K712 which seams to be the same thing with a differnet colour?

 

[Sinister596]

MLE, what are your opinions/thoughts on the PC363D?

 

[chicolom]

Quote:

MLE, what are your opinions/thoughts on the PC363D?

 
The PC363D is a special edition of the PC360 (already reviewed on the front page, and discussed a ton throughout the thread).
 
If you search this thread for "PC363D", you will see all this information has already been mentioned. 

 

[HolyCheese]

Thanx MLE,  Unfortunately I can't set it to 7.1. I only have an option for stereo. And I guess I'll set the slider to half. Maybe that's better.

 

[pietcux]

Quote:

Dolby Headphone is tied to your internal soundcard. USB dac = external soundcard. Meaning you can't send dac info into another dac in that way. You can only use one source at a time. You HAVE to use your soundcard as the main device for DH

From the looks of that software, you can clearly see the Headphone virtualizer on the bottom right. The only issue there is that you can't see where it goes from a Dolby headphone 2 equivalent to Dolby headphone 3 (a reverb-y mess). Or are the sliders for volume, and not surround effect?

this is how it looks on the Creative...



And on the Xonar (no slider, just a choice between the 3 DH modes.



Also, not sure if you knew this or not, but make sure your sound device is set to 5.1 or 7.1, because if not, you won't get proper DH, THX Tru Studio, etc.

.

Despite what the image shows, the Xonar U3 digital out isn't tweakable (but the top one is, which directly affects the digital out anyways)

In Dolby Home Theater the slider is for the room size like in Dolby Headphone. But here you have a step less operation between small and large room. With the U7 you can only get Dolby Headphone functionality when using the headphone out. The line out seems to be bound to Dolby virtual speaker.

 

[HiCZoK]

So ive already discussed headphones here. I will prolly get cal after listening to them.
Now about sound card.
External or internal? Or maybe separate dacamp?
Xonar dg or dx or sound blaster z?

And whats the deal with that dolby headphone?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

So ive already discussed headphones here. I will prolly get cal after listening to them.
Now about sound card.
External or internal? Or maybe separate dacamp?
Xonar DG or DX or sound blaster z?

And whats the deal with that Dolby Headphone?

The Asus Xonar DX (& D1) sound card is a good card, but does not have a headphone amplifier.
So it's a good choice if you have a separate external headphone amplifier to plug into it.
 
Better just to buy the Xonar DG, Amazon sometimes sells used ones for $20,
comes with a basic headphone amp.

 

[HiCZoK]

What about external sound cards like u7 or xfi usb ?

 

[Evshrug]

They have pluses... and minuses. In a practical sense however, I was happy with my Recon3D USB. That said, if internal soundcards worked with Mac (or even if my Mac could boot with a soundcard and just ignore it, use onboard sound instead), I would choose a Creative Sound Blaster Z or ZxR for myself. Your mileage may vary. PurpleAngel's suggestion is viable if you like Dolby Headphone to process your headphone surround, for my ears DH works Okay but other processing sounds better to me.

 

[deanorthk]

I really wish I could get an internal soundcard, but no space left the the Z77 shuttle XPC, dual slot GFX card stuck...
 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

So ive already discussed headphones here. I will prolly get cal after listening to them.
Now about sound card.
External or internal? Or maybe separate dacamp?
Xonar dg or dx or sound blaster z?

And whats the deal with that dolby headphone?

Look at the first video on the first post, and listen at the time frames I mention. Just plug your headphones in and listen. If you like what you hear, then Dolby Headphone is for you. If you don't, you might be better off with Creative's virtual surround (THX Tru Studio), which sounds a little less processed, but not as spacious. CMSS-3D is another one, but I personally don't care for it. I prefer Dolby Headphone over THX Tru Studio, but the latter still works pretty well, and I like it a lot.

Seriously, its a quick demo.

I don't like the other youtube demos, as they don't represent DH properly to me.

The problem with virtual surround DSPs is that the effect varies on a game to game basis. Some games do it well, others...not so much. Like on the vid, DH sounds more reverb-y than what I'm used to. I'm wondering if he's doing DH3, not DH2. Or something in between.

Also, if you use Dolby Headphone 1, it well be the least processed, and sound on par with THX Tru Studio. Since I prefer DH, if I was anal about reverb, I would go with Dolby Headphone 1 over THX Tru Studio.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

The vid tag didn't work last time:

[VIDEO]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1q9t6PAl2E[/VIDEO]