[AxelCloris]

  Thanks again! I didn't know the U3 offered surround sound! I am convinced to go for the U3.
 
Is it a good match up with the AD700? I realise that gaming requires a large/wide soundstage, but I also want a normal pair of headphones for rock/classical music. Think the AD700 come the closest to satisfying all this.

 
I can't speak too much to the AD700 as I haven't heard it in several years. It didn't fit well either so I'm pretty sure I wasn't getting the most out of it. I have a larger head, but it's a little more oval shaped, and narrower from ear to ear, so the wing design on the ATs is absolutely horrible to me. Others swear by its comfort. It's an entirely personal headphone. Also, I remember there being a lack of low end that just sounded unnatural. But that's my sonic memory.

 

[Chubtoad]

Nameless, the model numbers are different for North America than they are for Europe.
 
the model number for North America is KDL42W650A I believe.
 
 
At least in Canada that is what it is. This is the Best Buy Canada link - http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/sony-sony-42-1080p-120hz-led-smart-tv-kdl42w650a-kdl42w650a/10269269.aspx
 
I'm sure its the same in America. (I live in Canada)

 

[Evshrug]

Thanks again! I didn't know the U3 offered surround sound! I am convinced to go for the U3.

Is it a good match up with the AD700? I realise that gaming requires a large/wide soundstage, but I also want a normal pair of headphones for rock/classical music. Think the AD700 come the closest to satisfying all this.

The AD700 was my first awesome gaming headphone, and I personally think it hits the gaming sweet spot for a very affordable price. I heard that it fits wider heads better in stock form, I have a bit of a narrower head but by flexing the "arcs" and putting a rubber band between the wings, both with the goal to have the top and bottom of the earpads rest flush with my head, I achieved what was probably the most comfortable (for me) gaming marathon headphone. The wings were kinder to my head than any headband (or ear hook). For music though... the sound lacks body, the bass is very tight but kinda recessed, most of the headphone's frequency response is kinda "laid back." Which can sometimes be a good thing, but I alternated between headphones and speakers for music till I upgraded to an AKG, which has soundstage AND isn't as laid back and has more bass body. Still, I think the AD700 (and Koss KSC75) make for GREAT VALUE, they stand up well against average headphones and make a good reference point in the future to ask yourself "is this new headphone worth it over the AD700?"

The U3 does offer surround, using Dolby Headphone processing, but you'll probably hear an improvement with the AD700 if you get a FiiO E5 or E6. Those are cheap amps, but the main reason you'd want them is because the U3 has pretty high output impedance while the AD700 has low dampening ability, putting a little FiiO amp between them will benefit you with less harshness and distortion, sound clearer and more detailed. The other benefit is the little FiiOs have a little bass boost option, if you want it sometimes.
My favourite pairing with the AD700 was my Recon3D. I plugged the phones straight in, and I thought it was awesome I could use the one processor for my Mac (movies and Starcraft II), Console (Xbox360, but PS3 is supported too), and Windows (hardcore games). Using the bass boost and setting the "crossover point" low sounded pretty awesome, the ambiance of Metro 2033 blew me away.

 

[vikaman]

The AD700 was my first awesome gaming headphone, and I personally think it hits the gaming sweet spot for a very affordable price. I heard that it fits wider heads better in stock form, I have a bit of a narrower head but by flexing the "arcs" and putting a rubber band between the wings, both with the goal to have the top and bottom of the earpads rest flush with my head, I achieved what was probably the most comfortable (for me) gaming marathon headphone. The wings were kinder to my head than any headband (or ear hook). For music though... the sound lacks body, the bass is very tight but kinda recessed, most of the headphone's frequency response is kinda "laid back." Which can sometimes be a good thing, but I alternated between headphones and speakers for music till I upgraded to an AKG, which has soundstage AND isn't as laid back and has more bass body. Still, I think the AD700 (and Koss KSC75) make for GREAT VALUE, they stand up well against average headphones and make a good reference point in the future to ask yourself "is this new headphone worth it over the AD700?"

The U3 does offer surround, using Dolby Headphone processing, but you'll probably hear an improvement with the AD700 if you get a FiiO E5 or E6. Those are cheap amps, but the main reason you'd want them is because the U3 has pretty high output impedance while the AD700 has low dampening ability, putting a little FiiO amp between them will benefit you with less harshness and distortion, sound clearer and more detailed. The other benefit is the little FiiOs have a little bass boost option, if you want it sometimes.
My favourite pairing with the AD700 was my Recon3D. I plugged the phones straight in, and I thought it was awesome I could use the one processor for my Mac (movies and Starcraft II), Console (Xbox360, but PS3 is supported too), and Windows (hardcore games). Using the bass boost and setting the "crossover point" low sounded pretty awesome, the ambiance of Metro 2033 blew me away.

Thanks so  much for the help!
 
Think I've decided to go with: Xonar U3 -> Fiio E5 -> AD700x. 
 
I'd love to have the Recon 3D, but it's like £75 here, which is a lot of money. Infact, it costs £10 less than the AD700x I sourced on ebay. 
 
Thanks again!

 

[Aphexbug]

Thank you for this great list, i will buy Skullcandy SLYR since my budget is 100 USD, i'm so curious about the MixAmp thing, is my first time to read about this.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Think I've decided to go with: Xonar U3 -> Fiio E5 -> AD700x. 
I'd love to have the Recon 3D, but it's like £75 here, which is a lot of money. Infact, it costs £10 less than the AD700x I sourced on ebay. 

You might consider skipping on the E5 and AD700X and get the HD558 and plugging the HD558 directly into the U3.
I believe the U3's headphone amplifier is ok for headphones up to 150-Ohms.
The HD5XX series seems to do well with FPS gaming, comes with a decent amount more bass then my Audio Technica ATH-AD700s.
And the HD558s are 50-Ohm and are not as negatively affected by high impedance, my HD558 sound fair good plugged into my Yamaha receivers high impedance headphone output.

 

[Evshrug]

Well, vikaman hasn't stated his sound preferences, I just mentioned the AD700 pros & cons to confirm what he/she has found from previous research. In a surround gaming audio thread, I make the assumption that surround and soundstage are important, and the AD700 (and Sony MA900) have the best soundstaging I've heard. And, I don't know how much a Sennheiser HD558 is in Europe, but £85 sounds like a high-enough price for the AD700x (my old-style purple AD700 were $80 US), I thought the HD558 cost a fair bit more. Still, the HD558 bass has better extension than the AD700x (I think) and may be more fun with music.

The FiiO E5/6 was just a suggestion to round-out the AD700, I personally enjoyed music more with the humble amp attached, but it is an optional purchase. No harm in trying a headphone without it first, and an amp could always be added later. Would be a good way to learn the difference made by output impedance. However, on that note, the AD700 didn't sound "bad" out from my Yamaha receiver either, and 32 ohms resistance isn't that different than 50 ohms, especially if you're trying to keep the 1/8 output to input impedance ratio suggestions.

 

[widdyjudas]

I want to ask regarding the U3. So the xonar U3 is like a mixamp solution for laptop with onboard soundcard right? It emulate surround like mixamp in laptop, just like mixamp with console?
So if in my case is laptop usb -  u3 optic out - optic in aune x1 - fidelio x1.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I want to ask regarding the U3. So the xonar U3 is like a mix-amp solution for laptop with on-board sound card right? It emulate surround like mix-amp in laptop, just like mix-amp with console?
So if in my case is laptop usb -  u3 optic out - optic in aune x1 - fidelio x1.

The Xonar U3 and the Astro Mix-amp both provide Headphone Surround Sound
They also both bypass the laptops on-board audio features and just use their own.
If the laptop comes with a S/PDIF optical output, the Aune X1 could also be used plugged directly into the laptop, using the on-board audio features, for gaming and movies (or use the Xonar U3, if it works better).
But for music or any other basic 2-channel audio, you can plug the Aune X1 into the laptop, using USB.

 

[widdyjudas]

  The Xonar U3 and the Astro Mix-amp both provide Headphone Surround Sound
They also both bypass the laptops on-board audio features and just use their own.
If the laptop comes with a S/PDIF optical output, the Aune X1 could also be used plugged directly into the laptop, using the on-board audio features, for gaming and movies (or use the Xonar U3, if it works better).
But for music or any other basic 2-channel audio, you can plug the Aune X1 into the laptop, using USB.

So its basically a mixamp, but for laptop or pc?
Yes, I usually plugged my aune via usb, so it bypass the onboard soundcard. My laptop only got the crappy realtek soundcard, no optic output. The U3 come with optic dongle, so I can plug it to my aune via optic out from laptop usb.
So the U3 is best with movie and gaming, not good for music?

 

[benbenkr]

I don't know how the U3 is actually good for movies though since most movies are encoded in DTS format these days. Unless I'm missing something here, DH doesn't work with DTS encoded movies.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  So its basically a mixamp, but for laptop or pc?
Yes, I usually plugged my aune via usb, so it bypass the on-board sound card. My laptop only got the crappy Realtek sound card, no optic output. The U3 come with optic dongle, so I can plug it to my Aune via optic out from laptop usb.
So the U3 is best with movie and gaming, not good for music?

So basically the U3 is "Mix-amp" that uses a USB connection (for a desktop or laptop)
 
The U3 will really have no effect on the "audio quality", when it's connected optically to the Aune T1.
For 2-channel audio, like music, all the U3 is doing is passing along the digital audio signal, to the Aune T1.
Try using the program Foobar2000, it's good for sending a audio signal, from a computer's the USB port (or a computer optical or coaxial port)
 
When using the U3 for surround sound for gaming and movies, the U3 will process the 6-channels (5.1) of digital audio
down to 2-channels of Dolby headphone surround sound, which is passed to the Aune T1, where the Aune T1 handles "audio quality", using it's own DAC and amp.

 

[widdyjudas]

Well, I will use it mainly for gaming...
Movie I will test it later.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I have mentioned countless times that I use the Xonar U3 myself.

It is basically a Mixamp for any computer.

Hook it up via USB, and boom, instant Dolby Headphone, even for the worst/cheapest netbook in existence.

As mentioned, you can set the U3 in the software to outout a digital signal with dolby headphone, so you can attach another dac/amp, so that way you can have a better quality dac and amp, instead of the crappy ones built in to the U3.

The U3 has a horribly large output impedance of 23ohms, so it will affect the frequency of almost every headphone you connect to it. You will want to use another dac/amp with it, for optimal quality. I attach the Fiio E17 to it, via the U3's optical out to the E17's optical in.

It doesn't matter how horrible the U3 is, because you will ONLY be using it to turn the audio signal to dolby headphone. That is ALL it will do, as you will be bypassing the dac and amp and using your own. However, if you use the U3 and attach JUST an amp, then you will be using the U3's dac. Or if using the U3 alone, then of course, you're limited to the U3's dac and amp. The amp is NOT good, so I'd advise on getting at least something like a Fiio D03k optical dac ($30 or so), and a Fiio E5 ($20) to bypass the U3's inferior dac/amp. Of course, if you want the simplest solution with no clutter, U3+E17 is the better choice, more powerful, cleaner...

 

[widdyjudas]

Thanks for the explanation. I will use it with the aune x1.
So it will be laptop usb--u3 optic out--aune x1 dac/amp optic in--fidelio x1.