[ruinedx]

The HD mode enables higher than CD-quality resolution, and some people report it sounds louder as well. As a solely USB powered device, it doesn’t pair well with something like an HD 650, but with a lighter load such as a Game One or HD 58X Jubilee, there is a less restrained sound and good performance. It was, of course, designed to meet the needs of the Game One and Game Zero headsets. The output is also cleaner than a motherboard audio jack for connecting to active (built-in amp) desktop speakers via the speaker port, or a stronger wall-outlet powered amplifier if desired for headphones with a larger load.

So, does it beat every audio device on the market? No. But it does present an upgrade over a desktop or laptop integrated audio port with better EMI isolation and clarity.

Even with the GSP500/GSP600 the evga nu audio provided a remarkably better music listening experience than the gsx1200. But the gsx1200 has much better surround audio options than nu audio, can be closer to your play area, and doesn't require a pcie slot.

I have a separate dac/amp for music though, so I use the gsx1200 exclusively for games/surround

 

[Evshrug]

the evga nu audio

Integrated motherboard audio ≠ PCI sound cards. Some sound cards are very good.

At $170, some of what “you” are paying for with the GSX 1000 is the aesthetics and user interface, and of course the binaural surround and other features, but musically I still think it’s fairly fitting for $100-$200 headphones. Maybe not class leading musicality, but I guess EPOS put more “skill points” into gaming and SBE features I guess

Once or twice (just as an experiment) I hooked up the headphone out port to my big beefy HDV 820 amp to drive my HD 800. Yeah I still had a nice gaming experience, but the music definition was a bit soft. With a summit fi headphone like that, it makes more sense to listen to music using the DAC inside the more expensive HDV 820 or some other high end piece of equipment

 

[Slimjin]

After reading all the comments related to the GSX 1000, I still have not found a definite answer to the following question:

In case I want to use for instance the dedicated stereo RTHS audio of CSGO, without any surround processing from the GSX, is it neccessary to switch Windows settings from 7.1 to Stereo (apart from switching to Stereo on GSX itself)? In other words does having 7.1 in Windows mess up the audio, when I want to listen to Stereo?

Thanks a lot.

No you do not need to. If you leave the Windows settings to 7.1, you will get Stereo sound when you have set it to stereo on the GSX 1000 itself (displaying you 2.0). And you can switch to 7.1 by tapping the icon on the screen.
One thing you need to do though since a new Windows update, is to switch back to 16bit / 44.1 kHz in your GSX 1000 Main Audio sound settings. The update sets it to 24bit, which does not support 7.1 surround sound.

 

[Evshrug]

Good tips @Slimjin

 

[Falkentyne]

This is such a strange device.

Hardware wise it’s less powerful and less advanced than my old $30 sound card, while costing 5 times as much.

Yet, despite that, it has the best binaural sound engine that I have ever heard. Maybe even the best in the world, with the exception of devices that cost upwards of 10 times as much. To me personally it is worth every cent.

I’m just left thinking what this device could have been. I would gladly pay $400 for a device that has proper hardware and this exact binaural sound engine, with this exact set of options and controls. I would even pay $400 for the exact same device if it had just an additional digital out, allowing me to bypass the built in DAC and AMP and just use it for the sound processing with a different DAC/AMP.

None of this exists though. Instead of going to something high end, they made the GSX 300, which seems to be just a worse cheaper version of the GSX 1000 with buggy software instead of the touch screen controls that the GSX 1000 has. I don't understand this.

However, I will be keeping the GSX 1000. Maybe I will get an additional AMP to make the setup a bit more powerful. It is just strange that binaural 7.1 virtual surround gets so little attention from manufacturers that this is pretty much the only viable option.

The Super X-fi binaural engine sounds more accurate to me. I have had the GSX-1000 for years and bought the Super X-fi amp as soon as it went for sale. So I definitely prefer the SF-Xi, as the GSX has a more generic HRTF that doesn't work well for everyone. The GSX does have less reverb, however, and the ability to split speakers and voice (mic) sounds directly on the GSX is very useful for gamers. The exact GSX HRTF however is known and downloadable on an emulation HRTF sound driver (results with gaming lag are hit and miss though).

 

[CooloutAC]

Just got some Hifiman Sundara's. Plugged them into my GSX 1000, and wow they sound good. I mean real fkn good lol. Compared to my mobo, Rog SupremeFX 1220 with the OPA1688 amp. it blows it away. cleaner, punchier bass, smoother treble less harsh, wider soundstage. I mean What is going on haha. I got a hd 202, 598, and game zero. And the GSX does not have such a drastic effect on those headphones as it does with this Sundara. this is amazing to me. With the music eq preset on, its punching me right out my socks. but even the 2.0 hd mode blows away my soundcard. Even though the sound card is rated for much more power and has higher bitrate support. There is no way i'm not using the GSX I can't believe people talk bad about it. I'm so glad I kept it. Been using it for 3 years now. No matter what I do with the sonic studio eq and boosts on my pc I can't get the amazing sound the GSX has. music preset on, or just normal eq. The thing fkn rocks and sounds so dam good.

 

[Evshrug]

The exact GSX HRTF however is known and downloadable on an emulation HRTF sound driver (results with gaming lag are hit and miss though).

By emulated, you mean reproduced without permission or license. And yeah, I wouldn’t count on an emulator providing a comparable experience.

The thing fkn rocks and sounds so dam good.

That’s so cool! Often the DAC quality and how the power is delivered can mean more than the sheer quantity of power, and maybe you’ve found some real synergy with that Music EQ preset! The GSX1000 I have isn’t “enough” to power an HD 650 or HD 800 well, but I have used it with the headphone out connected to a bigger desktop amp, and liked the results! You are making me want to use mine with my PC38X… believe it or not, I haven’t tried that combo yet

 

[CooloutAC]

That’s so cool! Often the DAC quality and how the power is delivered can mean more than the sheer quantity of power, and maybe you’ve found some real synergy with that Music EQ preset! The GSX1000 I have isn’t “enough” to power an HD 650 or HD 800 well, but I have used it with the headphone out connected to a bigger desktop amp, and liked the results! You are making me want to use mine with my PC38X… believe it or not, I haven’t tried that combo yet

Yes thats exactly what i'm learning myself. The Sundara's are only 37 ohms but do have a lower sensitivity then normal. Its just a nice combo imo. The bass and clean warm sound the gsx produces on them is awesome compared to my onboard pc sound. I wonder if thats because they were designed for the game zero's which pretty much don't have alot of bass. Might be too much bass for some but its just a real pleasing eq to my ears. It is a pain to keep switching back and forth between stereo 24/48 or 96 and 7.1 when listening to music or gaming, but i've gotten quick at it now and its worth it.

 

[Evshrug]

Yeah, I gave up on 96 and just use the CD bitrate modes (24/48) so that I could switch at the press of just one button on the unit. The hi res mode is nice when you want it… but in my case, I use the GSX for Win/Mac surround and my HDV 820 for high res

I was using my Smyth Realiser A16 for my TV audio surround, but we’ve been having a lot of electrical storms and power outages here, and I unplugged the Realiser before a storm to protect it, and kinda haven’t plugged it back in yet Last time I had the Realiser hooked up to the HDV 820 was for my HD 800 vs HD 8xx testing (link in my signature). Basically, super tryhard, and I appreciate that as pretty much an ultimate setup, but I was also using just my PC38X plugged straight into my DSS controller last night to beat the first boss in Returnal. Took me about 3 hours

 

[CooloutAC]

wow that smyth realizer a16 looks sick! I was just testing out a bunch of wireless headphones to use with my bluetooth tv. sennheiser pxc 550ii, wh-1000xm4 and bose qc35II. The bose is the only one that had good imaging and nice separation. fun dynamic bass and sharp drums too so I settled on that one. But that smyth realizer for actual 7.1 processing with a nice high end headphones would be a dream.

 

[CooloutAC]

Just to note though, its not just switching to 2.0 hd mode on the GSX. Its also having to go into windows everytime i want to switch between 16 bit and 24 bit. Which is necessary to go between 7.1 and 2.0 regardless of hd mode. I think this is one of the main problem people have and why they don't think the GSX sounds good. They don't realize you literally have to match up windows with the Device almost every time. So if I'm listening to music in 24/48 mode and i change the device to 7.1 and hop in a game. Its not going to sound right unless I also go into windows and switch to 16 bit and surround. And vice versa for stereo music. Its very cumbersome but like I said I think the GSX surround mode and its eq sound amazing compared to more powerful amp/dacs. Its hard to tell the difference between 48khz and 96khz or 96 vs 192. but the difference between 16 bit and 24 bit is much more audible and I like to switch back and forth.

 

[Slimjin]

Just to note though, its not just switching to 2.0 hd mode on the GSX. Its also having to go into windows everytime i want to switch between 16 bit and 24 bit. Which is necessary to go between 7.1 and 2.0 regardless of hd mode. I think this is one of the main problem people have and why they don't think the GSX sounds good. They don't realize you literally have to match up windows with the Device almost every time. So if I'm listening to music in 24/48 mode and i change the device to 7.1 and hop in a game. Its not going to sound right unless I also go into windows and switch to 16 bit and surround. And vice versa for stereo music. Its very cumbersome but like I said I think the GSX surround mode and its eq sound amazing compared to more powerful amp/dacs. Its hard to tell the difference between 48khz and 96khz or 96 vs 192. but the difference between 16 bit and 24 bit is much more audible and I like to switch back and forth.

When you say that a difference between 16 bit and 24 bit is much more audible, you mean in terms of sound quality or overall loudness? For me, I feel the 24 bit HD-mode merely increases the overall volume.

 

[CooloutAC]

When you say that a difference between 16 bit and 24 bit is much more audible, you mean in terms of sound quality or overall loudness? For me, I feel the 24 bit HD-mode merely increases the overall volume.

Sound Quality. for me its the opposite, the volume is much lower. But it is clearer and airier. Make sure your music track is at least 24/96 for it to matter more. But even still windows should be upmixing it.

 

[SoFGR]

recent windows updates have made the device unuseable for OBS studio / streamlabs

everytime I try to capture audio1 ( GSX main audio ) + audio2 ( GSX earphone ) + microphone input something breaks, microphone input stops working and/or audio1 craps out

there are some problems with discord as well, you can't have audio1 and audio2 working simultaneously during 7.1 gaming :/
played some back 4 blood beta the day before yesterday and audio1 (game audio) was totally silent, I could only hear my old l4d teammates on audio2 ...

according to my findings there are only 2 solutions so far

1) switch to 2.0 mode ( bye bye surround sound)
2) disable GSX earphone and use audio1 only (bye bye voice chat volume rocker)

I do not remember having any problems before the 21H1 update ... any other OBS users out there ??

PS : the device is always set to 7.1 48khz 16bit, 44.1 does not appear to make any difference

 

[SoFGR]

update : the issue seems to be fixed now, I'm currently on windows 10 version 21H1 19043.1202 for reference.

EDIT : nah, I just forgot to turn on the 7.1 mode in windows control panel :/