[ribuck]

Hi All,
 
Rich here from sunny north east England.....ok ok it cold cloudy and dark.  Joined the site to try and get a better understanding of all the different headphone technologies available to help me Choose the right one in the future.
 
I'll save all my questions for the proper sections in the forum.
 
 
Rich.

 

[ribuck]

by the way how do you post in other sections as i can't see the option to start a new thread other than here.  Do i need to wait for an admin to grant me the power ?

 

[ribuck]

As the nights start to draw in, it's time to settle down and start watching some Blurays.  My only problem this year is that I now have a baby, so gone are the days of loud booming sound.
 
So i'm looking for some Home Cinema headphone options, so i can listen on a night time without disturbing my family.
 
I dont have an amp, only a soundbar, which has no Audio output for Headphones.  
 
In terms of headphones i would like a set that supports surround sound, and this is where i'm a little confused about all the different technologies.
 
The first i'm confused about is DTS Headphone X. DTS claim that it works with any headphones, yet reading between the lines, it almost seems that they are misleading consumers a little bit, as they forget to mention that you will need a device to process the sound or a special pair of cans with a built in processor.  So far i'm yet to find a AVR that supports Headphone X.
 
So looking at the options,  i can either buy a headphone with built in Headphone X, or settle with Dolby Headphones.  In terms of Headphone X the only ones i can find are some turtle beach gaming cans, but at £250 it seems a bit of a steep price or gaming cans.
 
 
Next choice i'm looking at is the sony MDR-HW700, which are Dolby Headphones, which seem ok, and i can import them for about £238
 
 
My 3rd option is to by a higher quality headphones, something like the AKG K550 and to buy and a Hdmi Audio extractor and a external Dolby Headphone processor. Which will cost about £160
 
Would love to get peoples feedback on these options.

 

[cel4145]

I dont have an amp, only a soundbar, which has no Audio output for Headphones.  

So the first step is to consider what options you do have to hook headphones up to your setup.

 

[ribuck]

Hi Rob, I see the options as follows :-
 
Option 1
-----------
The gaming headset i would need to get a HDMI Audio extractor with an optical out that supports Dolby, DTS, DTS-HD etc to make this work, but this adds another £30 to the cost, bumping it up to a whopping £280  - This is just too much for poorer quality gaming headset.
 
 
Option 2
-----------
The AKG K550 option, for this I would need to get the same Hdmi Audio extractor as above, plus an additional Dolby Surround processor which would cost around £160 in total.  This is a more messy option, but i get much better quality cans that i can plug into portable devices.   With this option, i could possibly upgrade the external processor with a DTS Headphone X one when they become available.
 
 
Option 3
-----------
Buy the Sony MDR-HW700, which has it's own base station with HDMI Inputs / Outputs and built in Sound processor cover most formats. It's a very neat solution, but doesn't support DTS Headphone X and it doesn't have a 3.5mm socket on the cans to allow me to use it with my other devices, such as tablet or phone.
 
 
Option 4
-----------
Buy a AVR to drive the cans, again this is a neat option like the Sony but at the moment, there are no AVR's supporting DTS Headphone X. some people have suggested checking out Yamaha AVR that have Silent Cinema technology, 2hich also work with any headphones.
 
Trouble is that this option is also expensive as i would need to buy a AVR + decent set of Cans, so were probably looking at £300+
 
 
Just beginning to wonder if headphone X will ever take off, as it's been nearly 2 years since it was first introduced at CES, yet there seems virtually no support, i.e. only 1 headset  in the entire market with no AVR or external Sound processors available. 

 

[ribuck]

Anyone got any comments on the above options ?

 

[cel4145]

I don't know anything about HDMI audio extractors nor DTS Headphone X.

I have the K550s. Good headphones.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Anyone got any comments on the above options ?

 
Unless your willing to spend the cash for a Yamaha receiver (Silent Cinema) or a Marantz receiver (Dolby).
You might be better off just getting stereo audio (no surround sound) for your headphones.
Assuming your TV or Blu-ray player has an optical or coaxial output.
Get a Fiio E17 and then see how much you have leftover in your budget for headphones.
Connect the E17's S/PDIF (optical or coaxial) to the TV's or Blu-ray player's S/PDIF output.
Then connect the headphone to the E17
Set you Blu-ray player and or TV to stereo audio.

 

[ribuck]

Hmm it sounds like it's going to be expensive just to get virtual surround sound through the headphones.
 
Think i'll just stick with the K550's which are already on their way and maybe next year when DTS Headphone X becomes better established then i'll take a look at it again.
 
Many thanks for Everyones help and advice.
 
Rich.