[pepperjinks]

I'm completely new to the audiophile scene but recently got the opportunity to purchase the Sennheiser HD 598s. I found Mad Lust Envy's gaming headphone thread and looked elsewhere and found that these sounded great with music and gaming both. He did say that you should absolutely use Dolby Headphone Virtual Surround while gaming, though.

In his thread he says he uses the Astro Mixamp. It's affordable for me, around $130, but I don't know if it's good for music too. I want to find an amp that supports Dolby Headphone and is good for music and gaming, and one that sounds good with the HD 598s. I would be using it with my 360, PS3, PC, iPhone, a laptop I should be getting sometime in May, etc. I'm mostly concerned about the consoles and being good for music though.

I was also wondering about the setup itself. I need a Toslink cable, right? My thinking is headphone plugs into --> amp plugs into 360 w/ Toslink --> outputs amazing sound? Or am I missing something?

Also, I read something about using HDMI for sound. I have an HDTV and use HDMI cables to connect it to my consoles if it matters.

Sorry about any mistakes, I've been researching nonstop but I'm still pretty confused...

Thanks for all the help, guys.

 

[bowei006]

....i doubt the amp actually does what it's supposed to. probably just some DSP effect. Virtual surround while gaming? Virtual...haha. the 598's are already open, they should do fine. the FiiO E17 should do better. if you use it with the optical Toslink and play games like BF3 on hi-fi settings,,,it is amazing

 

[PurpleAngel]

The Astro mix-Amp comes with a Dolby on/off switch.
Best to run a digital optical cable to the Astro Mix-Amp.
The only thing I would assume that you would not use it for is the iPhone.
 
If your HDTVs have an optical output, you can plug the Astro Mix-Amp into the HDTV.
 
 

 

[hrene]

hi i got HD 598 with Astro MixAmp 5.8 (Wireless option) and they sound great!!! 
i was trying HD438, AKG 530 and then HD 598. 
MixAmp :
before i go for Astro i was using Turtle Beach DSS headphone amp with dolby headphone. The sound was good but the build quality was look very cheep and the unit was under tv so the headphone wire was on all leaving room (nearly kill my Missy). So i buy Astro and not been disappointed sound is great and what is great its wireless and you got button on the station to turn off/on surround to stereo. On RX unite you got volume control and balance for voice chat and game sound, also bass boot great for music (love house music) so go get it if you got a chance