[revollucion]

Hello everybody! I hope I'll find finally answer for all my questions.I spent few days to do research about that however could not find any good results!
 
I have a Creative X-fi Titanium Fatal1ty soundcard which is quit ok for my.I had a Sennheiser pc 350 headset and was very satisfied with this combination.Becouse of some spare money now thinking about to even more improve sound quality! And becouse of my old sennheiser pc350 which just died yesterday (currently have koss porta pro on my head ;o)))) I will get Sennheiser pc360 next week. But what about soundcard? Thats a question ;o)
 
I am mainly playing games and listening music.Priority for my are games i want best possible sound option for games!
 
SHOULD I KEEP X-FI TITANIUM FATAL1TY SOUND CARD OR SHOULD I GO FOR ASUS XONAR ESSENCE ST/STX INSTEAD OF X-FI.(or auzentech forte, but this one i can get only form US and i am located in Czech republic) or maybe other?
 
Is there any cons with this card relating to gaming? (eax)
Is surround sound (dolby headphones) better or similar to CMss-3d..? (i heard dolby headphone is much better more realistic )
 
Asus xonar essence has build in heaphones amp and if I am right x-fi has not does it make any sense with sennheiser pc360 headphones?
 
And finally what about some portable amp to put between x-fi titanium fatal1ty and sennheiser pc360 good idea..? ( maybe astro a40 mixer)
 
I know too many questions but more brains more opinions!
 
thank you to all!
 
Dr.Gonzo

 

[genclaymore]

The Astro A40 I suggest you dont try to use for the PC360s, there would be bad to try to amp them with. I dont know about which external amps as the only one I ever had was a Qinpu Q1 but I doubt that would work. Xonar ST/X would work for amping them. Tho you can grab the Xonar Xense which comes with a PC350 that been made in hand with the Xonar Xense so you can hit two birds with one stone. Tho I dont know if its in yoeur area.

 

[revollucion]

Good morning ;o) Yeah I heard about Xonar xense but I also heard :
 
1, Asus Xonar Essence st/stx should by better with music and about same with gaming
2, this point is more important it coming with senn pc350 and I am looking to get senn pc360 which is open = better flowing of air and beter vibrance =beter sound.

 

[mcnoiserdc]

Some people say cmss3d is better than dolby headphones. If I were you I'd stay with the card you have now.

 

[revollucion]

Quote:

Some people say cmss3d is better than dolby headphones. If I were you I'd stay with the card you have now.

Obrigado I will consider that.

 

[revollucion]

COme on american guys noobody can give advice ..?!

 

[mcnoiserdc]

I am telling you! I have tried several headphones and surround modes.
Keep your card or if you want to go with dolby digital instead of cmss3d, buy the xonar. There will be nothing new for you, unless you get something with multiple drivers that would be different, and with less general sound quality.

 

[revollucion]

Quote:

I am telling you! I have tried several headphones and surround modes.
Keep your card or if you want to go with dolby digital instead of cmss3d, buy the xonar. There will be nothing new for you, unless you get something with multiple drivers that would be different, and with less general sound quality.

wll ok mate thank you. Tomorow i will get one of those
 
1 asus essence stx + sennheiser pc 360
2 just headphones sennheiser pc 360
3 Asus xonar xense set with senn pc 350
 
Still not sure ;(
2

 

[mcnoiserdc]

You could get the pc 360 which is a safe investment.
you can try it with your current card, and then you can buy the xonar if you think it can get better

 

[genclaymore]

The PC360 will need a amp to sound there best, There just like the PC350s which also needs a headphone amp to be driven fully and sound there best. When there not driven they will not sound right. So he best to get a sound card with a headphone amp or a standalone headphone amp to drive them.
 
As for CMSS3D headphone it depends on the person, Some people like CMSS3D headphone While others like Dolby headphone. I used CMSS3D headphone I didnt really like it but  I find Dolby headphone doing a better job them CMSS3D headphone tho another person may be the other way around for them.

 

[revollucion]

Hi I ordered Sennheiser PC 360 today.But still wasnt sure if I did well.Will fint out soon .ANyway i will keep Creative X-fi titanium Fatal1ty and I might consider to get X-fi Titanium HD soon.ANybody knwo if that Titanium HD has a Head amp build in???
 
Genclaymore can u recomend any portable amp to put between x-fi and sennheiser..? I tough head amp is good for surround sound but on crative i have allready CMSS-3D.
 
thank you

 

[genclaymore]

I dont know any portable headphone amp off the top of my head that will drive them,The only ever portable hp amp that I ever used was a Fiio E5 but those will not drive them. You might have to wait for someone that has used alot of diffent portable hp amps to step in. As you will get a better answer. 

 

[Gamerphile]

Sennheiser's 3DM1 USB device uses Dolby Headphone for a reason: Tests showed that it was better than the other solutions in general. BUT remember all HRTF algorithms are highly individual and I know that for an exsample the chef aucustics guy at Sennheiser Communications who made both PC 360 and 3MD1 have problems with all generalised algorithms like DH or CMSS. It sounds like the entire sound scene is moved above his head. Oh and BTW I'm not suggesting you buy 3DM1 course' its not sold seperately and IMO its not worth a real head-fier atleast for one as its DAC/AMP stage just uses a good single chip solution seen from mass marked perspective. I once tried to hack one to get optical out but it didn't work right so I can't say if a good DAC/AMP stage will even improve it. I for one know I won't be using a HRTF algorithm system at the moment unless Sennheiser or someone else comes up with a real digital to digital with near zero loss module given I own a Creative X-FI Elite Pro system that neather is very good for anything hi-fi as you loose a lot of Sound Quality. Well I know there is stuff out there thats good its still very expensive and analog in or out.
Oh and before you ask no I don't work at Sennheiser so can't help. Just hope they make a surround amp as the hinted in at some interview when HD 800 came out.

 

[TheLaw]

I think the Xonar ST is better than the STX though they are very similar in spec. Something about the Op amps if I recall correctly. Well you could always get new op-amps for the ST. I think they are in sockets. Just 8 pin DIPs.

 

[dfwallace]

I have the Sennheiser PC360 with the Asus Xonar Essence ST card.
 
Son and I play games(Battlefield 3) and listen to music. For music, that headset is great. Sometimes I listen to the music thru our speakers (M-Audio AV-40's > good but a bit over-rated IMO).
 
For gaming, with this headset, I'm not sure at this point if the surround sound is as good as other headsets out there out there. Also, our RAW clan guys in TeamSpeak with me say they sometimes hear 'buzzing' when I talk to them...
 
Any ideas/thoughts?  Maybe the Corsair Vengeance headset is better...