[tan1415]

Hi guys what's is the best headphone that I can attach a vmoda mic boom to it?

 

[SaLX]

Hi guys what's is the best headphone that I can attach a vmoda mic boom to it?

 
Philips Fidelio X1 - great headphones.

 

[MrEleventy]

If you want to upgrade he (or you) could get an external DAC and amp (or a combined one) with optical in. An external DAC will almost always be better than a soundcard.

The soundcard would send the surround out to his DAC in a PCM stream optically. The external DAC does all the work and as an added bonus you still get complete control of your soundcard's control panel ie EQ, your surround sound settings exactly as you want them, filters and DSP's etc etc. You'd still be connecting your mic into the soundcard though.. it'd just be configured as any other device. 

No guarantee it will transform your experience, however I've been very happy going that route. Thing is.. your O2 is probably doing a very very good job in conjunction with your own X-Fi. In MrEleventy's case though, I'd score an optical lead asap, as his DAC section on his amp is not being used at all, and will be better than his soundcard   !!!!!!!

Thanks. Putting an order to amazon then. I tried it out with Nameless's setup and it sounds really good playing Dishonored. Vast improvement over the Razer.

 

[390043]

NamelessPFG and other contributors, thanks for the thread, audio is probably the part of PC building I've spent the least time on historically so this has been quite informative to read so far.
 
My current setup is pretty basic: onboard Realtek audio driving Audioengine A5+ speakers. My usage is about 50-50 gaming and music (majority metal and industrial, high bitrate/vbr mp3)
 
I have a Xonar DX available but left it out of this PC because while I thought the hardware was just fine, my experience with Asus driver/software was inconsistent at best and I wasn't really expecting good windows 8 support on such an old card. I see from reading here though that there are third party drivers available that are reliable.

Based on reading it seems like I mainly have 2 changes I can immediately make:

1) Install the Xonar and use that to drive the speakers
 
2) Acquire a Modi or some other basic DAC, use stereo-mix/"What U hear" functionality to push the Realtek/Xonar output to it
 
 
What I'm less clear on is that given my usage, whether I need to do both of these to see much benefit, or if one or the other would be the more drastic improvement. Any thoughts?

 

[motorwayne]

   
Philips Fidelio X1 - great headphones.

I loved these headphones , but had to give them up because of the weight when turning from left to right with a TrackIR unit attached. The momentum combined with the weight was just to much and found the view swinging around a bit. I switched to the K612's that are half the weight, but still remember the dynamic sounds of the X1 fondly.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  NamelessPFG and other contributors, thanks for the thread, audio is probably the part of PC building I've spent the least time on historically so this has been quite informative to read so far.
My current setup is pretty basic: on-board Realtek audio driving Audioengine A5+ speakers. My usage is about 50-50 gaming and music (majority metal and industrial, high bitrate/vbr mp3)
I have a Xonar DX available but left it out of this PC because while I thought the hardware was just fine, my experience with Asus driver/software was inconsistent at best and I wasn't really expecting good windows 8 support on such an old card. I see from reading here though that there are third party drivers available that are reliable.
Based on reading it seems like I mainly have 2 changes I can immediately make:
1) Install the Xonar and use that to drive the speakers
2) Acquire a Modi or some other basic DAC, use stereo-mix/"What U hear" functionality to push the Realtek/Xonar output to it
What I'm less clear on is that given my usage, whether I need to do both of these to see much benefit, or if one or the other would be the more drastic improvement. Any thoughts?

I've used an Essence STX and Xonar DS with Win 8.1, so far no problems.
I do use the Unified Xonar Drivers.
 
So I would suggest you disable on-board audio, in the BIOS and install the Xonar DX and Unified Xonar Drivers.
The Modi might be a (slightly?) better DAC then the Xonar DX, but from what I understand, using the "What u hear" feature has a negative effect on audio quality.

 

[SaLX]

Congrats on Contributor status Purple - you've been a huge help for me since I joined.

 

[Wibble Wobble]

I was hoping that I wouldn't have to hijack a major thread like this one to answer my questions but I haven't had much luck posting my own thread.  I will try and keep this short.
 
Objective:

1. Primary - PC gaming - I have previously used 2 different models of the Medusa 5.1 headset and the Zalman 5.1 headset.  Both were terrible for audio quality but incredible for positional accuracy and got me kick and banned from private servers with the belief that I was walling.  I want to replicate this experience however this time with great audio quality too.
2. Secondary - Music - I enjoy a range of music and I'm far from an audiophile so I'm probably not going to notice most of the cons listed on expensive headphones.  I do enjoy something with a beat but honestly as long as it's not opera or death metal - I'm happy.
3. Tertiary - Laying back watching movies.  Comfortable and clear.

 
I am setting myself a negotiable budget of around $1000 (au).  I'm from Australia so I will probably buy from overseas as that's just about always cheaper even with shipping.
 
Current thoughts:
 

1. ZxR - It's overkill but it can drive lots of headphones without the need of a DAC or AMP.  It is internal so interference is a possible problem and I have had this in the past with an X-Fi gaming card.
2. Beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO or better.  Leaving that as the benchmark to beat.  I could run it off the ZxR without need of an AMP.

 
Questions:
 

1. Portable AMPs?  Do they run off batteries or somehow suck more power perhaps via usb from the source device like a smartphone?  Just with the pictures I have seen at times it has me puzzled.
2. Internal sound cards can have interference - I have a larger board (rampage extreme IV) and the PCI-E is near the bottom away from everything.  Is it likely that interference will be detectable on this board?
3. Off topic slightly - my Sennheiser MX 685 SPORTS were stolen and I need a new pair for gym and running.  These won't really comfortable and I opted for the open version which was a mistake as too much noise was let in and the audio quality was pretty bad.  Possible recommendations for replacements if you have a minute to spare?

 
Thanks heaps for any and all assistance!  I'm more than happy to answer any questions you may need to ask before you're able to give an accurate recommendation.

 

[3stun]

Has anyone compared SBX Pro on the newer SoundBlaster Z cards against THX TruSturio on Titanium cards?
Do they produce the same results when mixing multichannel audio to stereo for headphones?

 

[AUserName501]

Here is a comparison of different Virtual Surround Sound software with the same audio track that you can listen to as the audio has already been processed into stereo. What do you like best?

 

[Fegefeuer]

Something from NIXXES about Thief. Not the most spectacular list though I guess something like elevation doesn't sound good enough for a slide.
 
 

 
I mostly hate proprietary stuff. Don't want to buy an AMD card just for Thief. 

 

[genclaymore]

AMD said it will work on any audio hardware and that it was just a API that you turn off the sound card virtual surround effects to use.

 

[Fegefeuer]

It won't work without an AMD graphics card that features the Tensilica DSP. What it does is let codecs, drivers etc. read the final mix out of the ram and onto your soundcard, onboard whatever. That's what they mean with working on every hardware. 

 

[Orodromeus]

   
Honestly, head over to MLE's thread and listen to the youtube videos in the OP and see what kind of surround sound you prefer. You don't need an STX or Titanium HD at all. The DAC will be slightly better in those, but it's not worth the extra money. You can get a cheap card and run the sound out of the optical port to a standalone DAC if you wanted to go that route. This offers far greater flexibility in the end. 
 
Cheap soundcards to choose from:
Xonar DG/DGX (DG is PCI, DGX is PCI-E) - Dolby Headphone
Creative Titanium - CMSS-3D
Sound Blaster Z - SBX Pro Studio 
 
If you just want something simple, the STX will probably do it, but you can get a cheap soundcard and desktop amp for around the same price.

Heya! Apologies for the late reply...(hectic times at work ^^)
 
I did as you suggested and watched / listened to some other comparisons online...I didnt spot too many bad things between them, but SBX sounded pretty sweet...they all did, but it felt like SBX was a bit more accurate perhaps? DH was nice as well...I did notice that reverb thing people talk about...SBX, THX, CMSS-3D and DH were all sounding pretty decent I guess...
 
When I have the time, I watch a lot of movies / shows, and play games...music not as much, but I'm going to change that when my Q701s arrive next week
 
I am still confused and unsure of which direction to go with this...
 
Any idea how the Sound Blasters z's are for movies / games / music? 
I'm also assuming less driver problems on windows 8.1 since it's a rather new card series...
 
Aside from Music, is the STX stellar for movies & games as well?
 
SB Z is 160$ here, Essence STX is 245$. DGX is 54$ and DSX is 94$....If I import the SB ZXR it'll cost around 341$...
 
I really want to make the right choice haha...
Will SB Z give me the ability to use DH as well?  
 
I have the tendency to spend a lot on a product, but only if I'm assured it's good and going to last me a long time ;P
 
I would like to get an external DAC + Amp...like the Modi & Magni stack for example, but it'll end up exhausting my budget atm, since I'll need a sound card for the surround anyhow, haha
(Or am I wrong? :O)
I thought of maybe getting the best possible sound card I can atm, Last with it for a while and upgrade to an external stack in the future...It's just that I understood the Q701 need a good amp to sound good ;/
 
What would you have done in my stead?
 
I apologize in advance..I must be sounding like an idiot
 
Thanks ahead!

 

[tsine]

I did get creative soundblaster ZXR pretty awesome card ! Surround is amazing !