[quiktake]

I've been learning a lot from these forums lately, and I've been trying to talk myself into buying a highend pair of headphones for gaming and watching movies on my computer (nforce 2 w/ Dolby digital live).

I love the wireless 800C headphones for it's positioning and freedom to walk around in my apt. But they are not the most comfortable and I know now where the sound can improve (weak deep bass, slightly bright highs compared to the midrange, lack better of transparency/soundstage). If not for Dolby headphone, these cans wouldn't be that special.

I've thought about buying a good set of headphones to plug into the headphone jack on the sending unit.

I'm looking for headphones that could be driven without an amp by an Apple Ipod or the Pioneer 800C.

I live in Japan so I'm basically limited to Japanese models. Has anyone tried the Audio Technica A500, A700 or A900 with the Pioneer 800C? (these seem to be the only decent, affordable headphones sold in shops here)

How does Dolby Headphone compare on good set of headphones?

I appreciate any advice!

 

[Franchot]

Since you live in Japan, you could easily pick up a pair of DCL-3000s from Audio-Tech and use them with your Pioneer base unit. You would still have wireless freedom and a better-sounding and more comfortable pair of headphones.

From what I've read on this forum, the A-T models you've listed are highly regarded and should work well with your unit. (Don't know about your ipod--I've got a Rio Karma.) (I have the A-T AD1000s and they perform very well and are very comfortable and work very well with both the Pioneer base unit and the Rio Karma.)

 

[quiktake]

I read your comments about the DCL3000R's and they seem great! I've seen them in Osaka, but they are a little too big and expensive for what I want.

I can buy the A900 for about $150 U.S. from rakuten.
http://www.rakuten.co.jp/babadenki/6...614019/#519275

The A500 cost about $85.
The A700 cost about $120.
The total ATH-DCL3000 system runs for almost $640. (head phones only $280).

Has anyone tried the A900 for dolby headphone? I'm a bit worried that this is overkill for what I want. So maybe the A500 is a better choice.

 

[sfxjames]

I'm doing a 5.1 set-up vs 800 vs DCL3000 comparison page using one movie. I'll be posting it soon. I will be using both 'phones with DIR800C wireless system.

So far I done away with my set-up but I have recorded some of the sound impressions I have gotten from it using a single movie.

The 800 wireless does seem somewhat flatter.

My DCL3000 should be arriving soon.

Pay Pal is great way to send money.

Franchot have you seen any newer movies lately? I-robot, Resident Evil: Appocalypse, via

Do you sit where the screen is aimed at the center of your head, or do you sit where the screen is much higher?

 

[quiktake]

Well I've been using the A900s long enough to break them in now. I found them in an a large electronics retailer down the road from me.

I was initially impressed with the pioneer DIR800Cs. Dolby headphone is very cool. You can easily identify the left/rigtht, center, and the "rear speakers".

Normally headphones sound like they are coming from the left ear, right ear, and middle of your head. The DIR800Cs got rid of that well. But the location of the speakers always seemed a bit off to me. The center channel sounded like it was coming from right above my forehead. The "rear" speakers sounded like they were above and behind my ears by about a foot. The separation between channel locations was very clear, but almost too precise. It sounded just like five speakers but the speakers just didn't have good spaciousness. Also the the headphones lacked good deep bass. I mainly use them watching DVDs and downloaded Divx (5.1) films from my nforce 2 (Dolby digital live out) based computer.

I live in Japan so the winter here is humid, cold, and difficult to escape from (poor construction and no insulation is standard everywhere). I ended up buying the ATH-A900s because all the positive reviews here and the easy availabilty.

With the ATH-A900s the the channel separation is gone. I can't easily identify each "speaker" as I could with the pioneer 800c headphones. This is a good thing. The spaciousness really opens up the "world of sound" locked in the 5.1 encoded movies. Instead of speakers it sounds very realistic and alive. Better than any speaker system or theater experience I've had. The bass from the A900 doesn't replace speaker bass, but that doesn't bother me much. It's plenty for me. Also, the A900 are far more comfortable for extended periods of time. The Pioneer 800Cs give me a bit of headache from headsqueeze. A900 are much better.

If I had to choose one or the other, I would choose the A900 over the 800Cs.
But A900 with quality Dolby headphone is a wonderful experience. It adds a lot to my PC gaming and movie watching experience.


I hope this comparison helps someone.

Thanks for everyones' comments on this site. They've helped me a lot!

 

[thomase]

Why would you use Dolby Headphone for PC gaming as opposed to your soundcard's built-in 3D spatialization technology? I believe Soundstorm uses Sensaura. Have you compared the two?

You can compare 1) DirectSound3D (via Soundstorm/Sensaura) and 2) Dolby Headphone as follows:
1) Connect the A900s directly to the line-out of your soundcard. Configure your game and/or audio settings for headphone mode. Also, make sure you try this with a game that supports DirectSound3D hardware acceleration (not Doom 3, or Half-Life 2).
2) Connect the A900s to the line-out of your receiver/decoder unit, with the Dolby Digital Live out of your Soundstorm connected to the input of the unit. Configure your game and/or audio settings for 5.1 output.

Dolby Headphone should add acoustics and coloration on top of the positional and environmental effects already produced by DirectSound3D. I'd be suprised if bypassing your Dolby Headphone receiver/decoder did not sound better for PC games supporting DirectSound3D acceleration.

In essence, your soundcard and/or sound drivers already do something similar to Dolby Headphone for games that support hardware sound acceleration. The overall result should sound like you are actually in the game itself, with effects coming from all around in 3D space. Dolby Headphone is specifically engineered to reproduce the experience of listening to multiple speakers in a room, movie theater, etc.

 

[sfxjames]

I have noticed that too much volume can make dolby headphones sound way too close to your head, cranking up the volume control isn't good idea really. Distorts the imaging. I suppose with these you get much more volume and space. 800c see lack that spaciousness, so when I have them turned up everything sound too close to my head, I have to turn the volume 3/4 of the way, in order to get more correct sounding image, I do notice some improvement with volume slightly louder, but the impact can seem essentially transparent. It's as if DH sounds louder than your actual speaker in full volume that the experience doesn't sound like speakers at all. By turning it down you recreate that natural speaker like loudness so that when you see your speakers the illusion is much more believable.

 

[Wmcmanus]

Nice thread, guys. I've just recently bought the 800c system here at head-fi, but I had them shipped to Florida so I haven't had a chance to give them a listen yet. I'm looking forward to it, and will also try the Dolby surround processer with a bunch of other headphones.

 

[sfxjames]

when you get your 800c put the volume 3/4 the way loud and you'll find a much more spacious soundfield.

If you were willing to upgrade to better headphones, a better phone for this unit is DCL3000 hands down! I've just heard that they sound better with one of my all time action sci-fi movies.

Other wired headphones are also stated to sound good with SE-DIR800C.

1. A900s
2. Any Grado phones
3. CD3ks
4. Sennheisier HD595 or 590s

 

[quiktake]

I agree with your comment about increasing the volume to increase the spaciousness of the pioneer headphones.

BUT with the DIR800C headphones, in heavy action scenes (especially action games) I have found that the sound gets very muddy. The headphones just cant keep up with all the gunfire in Call of Duty in my experience. The bass just damages all the separation in the channels.

A900 (with or without Dolby headphone) are far better for a gamer than the pioneer 800C headphones. I wish it wasn't so, but that's my opinion.

Anyone looking for a good reciever with Dolby headphone should check out this:
http://www.buy.com/prod/Kenwood_VRS7.../90139533.html

For $300 it's a better value than buying the Pioneer headphones/transceiver for the Dolby headphone function alone.

 

[Wmcmanus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sfxjames when you get your 800c put the volume 3/4 the way loud and you'll find a much more spacious soundfield. If you were willing to upgrade to better headphones, a better phone for this unit is DCL3000 hands down!

Hummm, DCL3000's are $949 at Audio Cubes. I'd expect them to sound a LOT better. I'll try the 800c system with a variety of wired cans. I'd love to hear the DCL3000's as well. Maybe at a meet some day.

 

[quiktake]

I've seen the 3000's for less than $650 in Japan for the whole unit (headphones and transmission/ decoder unit).

Most people here talk about buying the DIR800Cs and then getting the wireless ATH-3000R headphones alone separately. The total is still over $600 though.

 

[sfxjames]

Forget about all that jazz I said about the volume control setting, it is true that Dolby has recommended a slightly less than maximum amount of volume, but DH as well as surround sound isn't working for my set-up. There seems to be difference in sound imaging when ever sit in a couch as opposed to a bed, even with surround sound as a whole. I can't go into details all I know is from experience my bed is not the best place to sit for home theater. A couch is much more comfortable but the imaging seems to improve whenever I am sitting back in a seat, but on my bed DH sounds unnatural, still a bit flat. Leaning back the imaging improves, but that's with my ears. To those who like DH don't use a bed to sit up on, surround sound is a bit more trickier this way, a couch makes everything fall back into focus while on a bed you're facing a point much higher. It would be simpler to move the bed against the wall put in a couch where you have a lot more flexibility with where your head is from the screen. Surround sound for my set-up has always worked for me in terms of laying back on my bed as opposed to sitting up. With a couch the head can lower to where the screen is at eye level, on a bed you would have raise the screen much higher, or lower but your line of sight has no flexibility. Ergo, not very many home theater set-ups involve the listener seated up on a bed.

 

[quiktake]

I've been playing FarCry lately and I've been comparing the sound settings in the game.

Setting the game to 5.1 surround (over Dolby digital live) and then through the dolby headphone of the DIR-800C is much, much better than the built-in headphone setting of the game.

Doom 3 was a similiar experience for me. Headphone setting alone didn't have very good positioning compared to 5.1/Dolbyheadphone.

I really hope the next gen of soundcards has better support for Dolby digital live and built-in dolby headphone. That will be a big step up for anyone who plays games with headphones.

I hope this is interesting to someone...

 

[Wmcmanus]

I've been playing around with the DIR-800C quite a bit of late and really enjoy the sound of this system for 5.1 movies. Because of the surround sound processing, I find the stock DIR-800C headphoens preferable to the Sony CD3000 and even the Sony R10's for movies, and this includes The Doors (movie)!

Yet, when I'm watching concert DVD's (the other night it was George Thorogood), I prefer to use the DIR-800C base station with my UE 10-Pros. Since these IEMs are only 13 Ohm, the additional volume this provides makes a huge difference which really allows you to get to concert level of fidelity. It was still better "unplugged" (i.e., using my regular 5.1 speaker setup and without the DIR-800C) but the UE-10 Pros through this system come pretty close and don't wake anyone else up.