[mindole]

consoles -> HDTV ->?? -> headphones
 
Looking for something to fill in the blank. I'm not very experienced when it comes to audio so I'm not even sure I'm asking in the right place. My needs are mostly for gaming, my current headphones are a pair of audio technica ath ad700's and a sennheiser hd 280 pro.
 
Since I occasionally watch TV i'd prefer something that can come from my TV instead of from the consoles directly. A product that I often come across while researching my needs is an astro mixamp? Would a product such as this benefit me with my current hardware? Do I lose the benefits of digital surround If i'm routing it all the way through my TV?
 
I'm aware my headphones aren't super high end, which is why I'm looking for something preferably around or under $100.
 
My TV supports rca out and digital optical out.
 
 
Thanks in advance.

 

[CloakedMistborn]

AD700s are actually great gaming headphones, I have a pair of A700s (closed instead of the open AD700s) and use them for gaming. I use Astro wireless Mixamp 5.8 and find it works amazingly for games of all types as well as movies. I have a 360 and PS3. When gaming you plug it straight into the console, but if your HDTV has a fiber optic cable you can plug it into your tv as well. I do this sometimes when I watch football matches, and my girlfriend wants quiet to study or something. 

 

[Dutchi MerenGue]

what i personally use is the toslink optical cable routed thru my dac so i can use my headphone amp and plug in whatever set i happen to need at the time
 
 
 
the best thing about the ps3 is it can output sound thru all of its connections simultaneously, so i can run the hdmi out to my sony soundbar and get my sound like that and at night i just turn off the soundbar and plug in headphones into my dac and never skip a beat
 
 
 
problem is i dont know of too many dacs at that price range with optical inputs and that also double as a headphone amp, my advice would be to use the ps3 rca outputs and plug those into either a headphone amp that accepts those, or a dac with this inputs and that also fall into your price range or just go the super macguyver route and  use the rca outputs and plug them into a female rca to headphone adapter and plug your headphones directly into that, only thing is you might not get adequate volume at that level but you can buy a cheap fiio e5 or e6 amp to boost the volume and also get you a cleaner signal
 
 
if you buy the fiio e5 plus adapter, should run you no more than $25 to $30, which leaves you money to spend on a quality headphone, its not the best solution but definitely the cheapest

 

[Dutchi MerenGue]

also forgot to mention, i used to use jvc har700 headphones for gaming, they were decent for the price, especially for games like battlefield where the explosions are going off all around you but they didnt really suit my needs as when i play online with friends i use the ps move camera as a mic and my headphones to hear my teammates and in that regard they are garbage
 
 
the mids are almost non existant, i can barely hear anyone over gunshots and explosions so i would suggest you look into open cans for that purpose, i use akg601's but they are out of your price range

 

[Dutchi MerenGue]

actually after reading up on the astro mixamp that sounds like more or less what you're looking for exactly, lol disregard my earlier 2 posts