[USCdeacon]

Hello Head-Fi!
 
I recently put together a new gaming PC and ran into an unanticipated audio conundrum.  I have an Astro Mixamp that I used to use with my Xbox 360 primarily to play game with Dolby Headphone (which I fell in love with in Dead Space and Battlefield 3).  I thought that I would be able to use the SPDIF out on my motherboard (Asus Z87-Pro) to output 5.1/7.1 to the Mixamp and get Dolby Headphone out of my PC that way.  Turns out the Z87-Pro only supports DTS/DTS-Connect and not Dolby Digital Live (required for the Mixamp) so I'm left deciding what the next best decision for my PC Gaming Audio is.  The headphones I'll be using are the Audio-Technica ATH-A900X.
 
1) A soundcard like the Asus Xonar DX supports Dolby Digital Live (encoding).  I can definitely use the SPDIF out on the card, feed it into the Astro Mixamp, and have Dolby Headphone into my headphones output that way. Or...
2) The Asus Xonar DX supports Dolby Headphone already.  Does this make the Astro Mixamp redundant?  Has anyone experienced any difference with DH on a sound card like the Asus Xonar DX vs Astro Mixamp?
3) My motherboard's onboard sound supports DTS Ultra PC II which has virtual surround sound of it's own kind.  Does anyone know how DTS Ultra PC II sounds for gaming?  (I currently am running a test OS and can't install the drivers yet).
 
Thanks for your help!

 

[PurpleAngel]

Asus Xonar DG (PCI) surround sound, $26.80 and there is a $10 mail in rebate this month (Amazon)
Will provide the same Dolby Headphone Surround Sound as the Astro Mix-Amp.
And you can plug the ATH-A900Xs into the DG.

 

[USCdeacon]

unfortunately the Xonar DG doesn't support dolby digital live, so if I wanted to use the Mixamp in the future (to mix the game audio and mic input), they wouldn't be compatible, right?

 

[PurpleAngel]

  unfortunately the Xonar DG doesn't support Dolby Digital Live, so if I wanted to use the Mixamp in the future (to mix the game audio and mic input), they wouldn't be compatible, right?

With the Xonar DG, you have no need to use the Mix-amp, the Xonar DG has Dolby Headphone, just like the Mix-amp and the Xonar DG has a line-input, for a mic.
 
The only real future use you will have for the Mix-amp, is for use with a gaming console.

 

[USCdeacon]

Ok thanks! Any experience with DTS UltraPC II by any chance? It's supposed to be a surround sound virtualization solution like DH.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Ok thanks! Any experience with DTS UltraPC II by any chance? It's supposed to be a surround sound virtualization solution like DH.

I really have no idea on how good the DTS Headphone Surround Sound is.
I do not thing I have heard anything bad about it.

 

[wungun]

I could be wrong, but isn't Dolby Digital Live also a "simulated" surround process?


Sent from my iPhone...

 

[PurpleAngel]

I could be wrong, but isn't Dolby Digital Live also a "simulated" surround process?

Nope, DDL (Dolby Digital Live) is used to compress digital audio so you can send more then two audio channels (up to 6-channels) thru S/PDIF (optical or coaxial).