[inthere]

 
I inquired about getting replacement ear pads for my Ether C, that I purchased from another headfier!  I didn't get an answer from Dan, after email sent last week.
 
Do they just use Alpha Pads?

No, the Alpha Pads are thicker and seem to suck out the mids a bit to me. Ether Pads are definitely different. I wonder if there are any official plans to sell the pads separately, I'd buy like 4 pair; I have 3 pair of Alpha pads already.

 

[t1174]

I did reply to your enquiry immediately, but we've been having some issue with DMARC blocking our emails.  Another thing we can thank Cybercriminals for...

Our site clearly states 2-3 week lead times for ETHER C, you ordered 12/20, so it should ship this week.  We may be a little behind because last week we had CES, floods around the office area, and half the production team out sick, so we got a few days behind.

We spend a LOT of time answering questions on ship dates, and that is time we could spend building product or shipping, so it helps us a lot if people can be patient and check the lead-time status on the website...  

Thanks!

Thanks for info.
I just miss leaded the lead time is a date the mrspeaker will email me after the order set and paid.

 

[greenkiwi]

We spend a LOT of time answering questions on ship dates, and that is time we could spend building product or shipping, so it helps us a lot if people can be patient and check the lead-time status on the website...  

Btw the guys at schiit often just post the most recent order number every week or two... And then hopefully people can interpolate from there. And hopefully not bother you as much.

 

[cute]

 

 
I inquired about getting replacement ear pads for my Ether C, that I purchased from another headfier!  I didn't get an answer from Dan, after email sent last week.
 
Do they just use Alpha Pads?

No, the Alpha Pads are thicker and seem to suck out the mids a bit to me. Ether Pads are definitely different. I wonder if there are any official plans to sell the pads separately, I'd buy like 4 pair; I have 3 pair of Alpha pads already.

I have purchased several pairs of Alpha Pads, because Mr Speakers headphones deform the pads if they aren't kept on one of their metal stands.  The get smashed in the shipping box and don't always come back to life even though they are supposed to be memory foam!

 

[mrspeakers]

  Mhmm some one posted it earlier, though tbh I think it's more than a cable it's the entire system. Including the Dac/Amp you see in the back ground 

 
We went with the creative solution for gaming because we found that for an audiophile headphone to really stand out a little bit of DSP goes a long way.   You can use the headphone/mic on any system, but the Creative has gaming DSP functions work really well for enhancing positioning cues like voices or footsteps, and the hardware EQ works really well for games that are mixed too hot.  ETHER C has really good attributes for DSP, the distortion is very low and there are no time domain issues, so EQ and other effects very effective.
 
With this setup you flip on the DSP (SBX Creative Calls it) for gaming, and go direct mode or use EQ without other gaming effects for audio.  You can save named DSP presets so you can preset EQ and audio effects for many scenarios, for games and music, even specific games.
 
If you use audiophile DAC/Amps you have to find a way to modify the system audio to get the enhanced gaming effects or EQ, which is trickier, and for consoles not viable.  Given that the X7 LE has very good sound for it's price and also allows for op amp rolling, and the gaming features work really well with ETHER C so this seemed a logical pairing to make audiophile gaming easy for people.  Is it the only solution?  No, but it's great and it's convenient. For strictly purist audiophile playback most people who own an ETHER C will have higher end gear anyhow, so this is a complementary system to them.  
 
I've had a lot of fun working on this, it got me back into gaming after 20 years, and to me the immersion was really awesome.  Gamers who heard the rig at CES really liked the immersion and positioning, mostly saying they'd not heard anything like it before.  
 
Hopefully a few gamers who tried Witcher 3 with us at CES will chime in about their perceptions.  Warren and Stillhart checked it out, so maybe we can get some comments from them...  

 

[Makiah S]

   
We went with the creative solution for gaming because we found that for an audiophile headphone to really stand out a little bit of DSP goes a long way.   You can use the headphone/mic on any system, but the Creative has gaming DSP functions work really well for enhancing positioning cues like voices or footsteps, and the hardware EQ works really well for games that are mixed too hot.  ETHER C has really good attributes for DSP, the distortion is very low and there are no time domain issues, so EQ and other effects very effective.
 
With this setup you flip on the DSP (SBX Creative Calls it) for gaming, and go direct mode or use EQ without other gaming effects for audio.  You can save named DSP presets so you can preset EQ and audio effects for many scenarios, for games and music, even specific games.
 
If you use audiophile DAC/Amps you have to find a way to modify the system audio to get the enhanced gaming effects or EQ, which is trickier, and for consoles not viable.  Given that the X7 LE has very good sound for it's price and also allows for op amp rolling, and the gaming features work really well with ETHER C so this seemed a logical pairing to make audiophile gaming easy for people.  Is it the only solution?  No, but it's great and it's convenient. For strictly purist audiophile playback most people who own an ETHER C will have higher end gear anyhow, so this is a complementary system to them.  
 
I've had a lot of fun working on this, it got me back into gaming after 20 years, and to me the immersion was really awesome.  Gamers who heard the rig at CES really liked the immersion and positioning, mostly saying they'd not heard anything like it before.  
 
Hopefully a few gamers who tried Witcher 3 with us at CES will chime in about their perceptions.  Warren and Stillhart checked it out, so maybe we can get some comments from them...  

Very nice! I used to use the Creative Audio Sand Box in the XP days when I was playing my dinky pc games back then lol, but the DSP really does work well in a gaming enviorment
 
It's great to see you guys pairing up with to bring a product for the gamers out there, I'm egar to see what @Mad Lust Envy thoughts are on the system with the Ether C, as it seems they've already gotten their hands on the X7 
 
Either way, given... some disappointments with Hifiman as of lately I've still got my eye's on the Ether C as my next upgrade! 

 

[Astral Abyss]

I have a Creative Sound Blaster ZxR in my gaming rig and their SBX and other audio enhancements are a godsend for gaming.  It really does enhance the experience, especially if you're using more neutral sounding head-fi type headphones.  
 
I'm really glad to see audiophile gear make it's way into the gaming scene.  Us gamers have grown used to being victims of plasticy, gimmicky, overpriced junk.

 

[Makiah S]

  I have a Creative Sound Blaster ZxR in my gaming rig and their SBX and other audio enhancements are a godsend for gaming.  It really does enhance the experience, especially if you're using more neutral sounding head-fi type headphones.  
 
I'm really glad to see audiophile gear make it's way into the gaming scene.  Us gamers have grown used to being victims of plasticy, gimmicky, overpriced junk.

Your not kidding, I'm happy Creative choose to go with something more refferance, It bothers me when I see these "pro" gamers wearing Turtle Beach stuff :/ 

 

[JerseyD]

The dum cable is an upgrade, right? So it is $100 more than the stock cable, rather than getting a second cable for 100, right?

That is correct. For the $100, you get the DUM cable instead of the standard cable (not in addition to). Here at Inner Sanctum Audio, we believe the DUM is absolutely worth the extra $100. That said, we love the WyWires Red cable even more ($300, and in this case you end up with two cables; the standard and the Red...you could get different connectors on each to give you some options in amping).

 

[Stillhart]

   
We went with the creative solution for gaming because we found that for an audiophile headphone to really stand out a little bit of DSP goes a long way.   You can use the headphone/mic on any system, but the Creative has gaming DSP functions work really well for enhancing positioning cues like voices or footsteps, and the hardware EQ works really well for games that are mixed too hot.  ETHER C has really good attributes for DSP, the distortion is very low and there are no time domain issues, so EQ and other effects very effective.
 
With this setup you flip on the DSP (SBX Creative Calls it) for gaming, and go direct mode or use EQ without other gaming effects for audio.  You can save named DSP presets so you can preset EQ and audio effects for many scenarios, for games and music, even specific games.
 
If you use audiophile DAC/Amps you have to find a way to modify the system audio to get the enhanced gaming effects or EQ, which is trickier, and for consoles not viable.  Given that the X7 LE has very good sound for it's price and also allows for op amp rolling, and the gaming features work really well with ETHER C so this seemed a logical pairing to make audiophile gaming easy for people.  Is it the only solution?  No, but it's great and it's convenient. For strictly purist audiophile playback most people who own an ETHER C will have higher end gear anyhow, so this is a complementary system to them.  
 
I've had a lot of fun working on this, it got me back into gaming after 20 years, and to me the immersion was really awesome.  Gamers who heard the rig at CES really liked the immersion and positioning, mostly saying they'd not heard anything like it before.  
 
Hopefully a few gamers who tried Witcher 3 with us at CES will chime in about their perceptions.  Warren and Stillhart checked it out, so maybe we can get some comments from them...  

 
Yep, I had a chance to check it out briefly at CES.  
 
I have a Creative Omni (for PC) and Creative Recon3D (console) that I use for gaming currently.  I'm very familiar with Creative's DSP suite and I'm a big fan.  The key is having a headphone that can take that software and translate it into a great gaming experience.  
 
Generally you want a few things in a quality gaming can:  good soundstage, good imaging, easy to drive, clear highs with unintrusive bass.  The Ether C has all this easily.  The soundstage is the one thing that may concern some, but anyone who's heard the Ether C knows that the SS is very very good for a closed can.  You get the best of both worlds:  good SS with superb isolation.  On the CES show floor, I couldn't hear squat besides the game with the Ether C on (and this was in a quiet peaceful village in Witcher 3 where most of what you're hearing is the wind in the trees, flowing water in the distance, fire burning and footsteps as you wander around.)  People had to wave their hands in front of my face to get my attention.
 
The Ether C is a very very good gaming headphone.  It pairs really well with the X7 for gaming. 
 
Oh, one other thing to note about Dan's post above:  if you're using a Creative device for DSP when gaming in Windows, you can use WASPI to bypass the DSP when listening to music.  That way you can leave the DSP on all the time and forget about it.
 
Happy to answer any questions.
 
PS - I think MLE is taking a break from reviewing gaming headphones.  

 

[bflat]

 
That is correct. For the $100, you get the DUM cable instead of the standard cable (not in addition to). Here at Inner Sanctum Audio, we believe the DUM is absolutely worth the extra $100. That said, we love the WyWires Red cable even more ($300, and in this case you end up with two cables; the standard and the Red...you could get different connectors on each to give you some options in amping).

Good to see both sides of the argument! I think there are some folks who absolutely trust a specific custom cable maker and would rather get a custom made for Ethers. I am one of those and if Mr Speakers offered a no cable option and discount by $50, I would jump on that.

 

[mrspeakers]

Creative's control software now has a "direct" mode that bypasses all DSP, so you can actually work directly through their app for that...  It's supported on Windows and OSX.  Also, if you setup the DSP on a Windows or Mac then connect it via Toslink to a console the DSP is stored locally.  This could get a bit OT so maybe someone wants to start an ETHER C Gaming thread?

 

[ejong7]

   
We went with the creative solution for gaming because we found that for an audiophile headphone to really stand out a little bit of DSP goes a long way.   You can use the headphone/mic on any system, but the Creative has gaming DSP functions work really well for enhancing positioning cues like voices or footsteps, and the hardware EQ works really well for games that are mixed too hot.  ETHER C has really good attributes for DSP, the distortion is very low and there are no time domain issues, so EQ and other effects very effective.
 
With this setup you flip on the DSP (SBX Creative Calls it) for gaming, and go direct mode or use EQ without other gaming effects for audio.  You can save named DSP presets so you can preset EQ and audio effects for many scenarios, for games and music, even specific games.
 
If you use audiophile DAC/Amps you have to find a way to modify the system audio to get the enhanced gaming effects or EQ, which is trickier, and for consoles not viable.  Given that the X7 LE has very good sound for it's price and also allows for op amp rolling, and the gaming features work really well with ETHER C so this seemed a logical pairing to make audiophile gaming easy for people.  Is it the only solution?  No, but it's great and it's convenient. For strictly purist audiophile playback most people who own an ETHER C will have higher end gear anyhow, so this is a complementary system to them.  
 
I've had a lot of fun working on this, it got me back into gaming after 20 years, and to me the immersion was really awesome.  Gamers who heard the rig at CES really liked the immersion and positioning, mostly saying they'd not heard anything like it before.  
 
Hopefully a few gamers who tried Witcher 3 with us at CES will chime in about their perceptions.  Warren and Stillhart checked it out, so maybe we can get some comments from them...  

Hey Dan would like to know if the mic cable would be available in the Mr.Speakers store/dealer and if they do would they come in the DUM/non-DUM cable? Really like the fact we will be able to used your products for gaming now (well some of us probably already did). Thanks.

 

[Stillhart]

  Creative's control software now has a "direct" mode that bypasses all DSP, so you can actually work directly through their app for that...  It's supported on Windows and OSX.  Also, if you setup the DSP on a Windows or Mac then connect it via Toslink to a console the DSP is stored locally.  This could get a bit OT so maybe someone wants to start an ETHER C Gaming thread?

 
Yeah, there's plenty of stuff about Creative's DSP suite in the MLE thread, Nameless's thread, @Evshrug's thread, etc.  No need to recreate the wheel here.  Tho I'm happy to answer any questions via PM.

 

[Mentis]

  Creative's control software now has a "direct" mode that bypasses all DSP, so you can actually work directly through their app for that...  It's supported on Windows and OSX.  Also, if you setup the DSP on a Windows or Mac then connect it via Toslink to a console the DSP is stored locally.  This could get a bit OT so maybe someone wants to start an ETHER C Gaming thread?

Omg Dan, if you can get Creative to get their X7 line out or optical out to work in SBX headphone mode would be much appreciated.  Right now there's no way to plug a headphone amp into X7 without compromising their SBX headphone mode... (unless you double amp it...)