[Goride]

I am outputting via RCA into an external amplifier.  I even swapped out the RCA cables (just incase), with no effect.
 
 
I also tried switching my mouse to 4 different USB ports.  I can hear the mouse in all of them.  Two of the USB ports were on the front, the other two were on the back.  

 

[stv014]

What amplifier is it exactly ? Do you get any noise if you use the Titanium HD to drive the headphones, and skip the amplifier ?

 

[Goride]

Asking me about the amp inspired me to try some things.
 
First of all the "amp" is an Astro Mixamp.  Not exactly the ideal headphone amp, but it has worked well with my Sennheisser 595.
 
I also have an Emotiva Mini-X A-100 (speaker amp) that powers some Arx Ab1 speakers.
 
 
I used to have an optical cable connect my pc to the mixamp, and used the USB to power it and as an input for the mic.  I had absolutely no problems with this configuration.  However, when I got the Titanium HD and connected it using RCA, i started getting that mouse feedback beeps.  (I have not tried a coax optical cable from the Titanium HD to mixamp yet... but circumnavigating the DAC defeats part of the point of upgrading).
 
RCA from the titanium HD to the emotiva to speakers yields NO mouse feedback no matter how high I turn it up.  None.
 
RCA from the titanium HD to the Astro mixamp, then 3.5mm headphone output to rca into the emotiva to speakers DOES yield mouse feedback.
 
Plugging my headphones directly into the titanium HD yields no mouse feedback.
 
I also tried plugging the Astro Mixamp usb into different ports with the same results.
 
It would seem the problem might be the mixamp, but it does not do this when I use an optical cable.  I even tried disabling the mic/usb input of the mixamp, and I still got the mouse feedback.
 
Like I said, it only does it when I do Titanium HD to RCA to Astro Mixamp.  Does not do it optical cable to Astro Mixamp.

 

[Chubtoad]

I have yet to fix my problem with mouse feedback either. The hilarious thing is even when my headphones and amp are not even plugged into my pc I can hear the noise in them. I use the same desk/monitor for my ps3 and pc. All I can think of is to buy a different mouse and see if that stops it. Maybe the g400 mouse cord just sucks.

 

[stv014]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goride /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
RCA from the titanium HD to the Astro mixamp, then 3.5mm headphone output to rca into the emotiva to speakers DOES yield mouse feedback.

 
The problem is caused by a ground loop between the Titanium HD and the USB port through the Astro Mixamp. Do you really need the Mixamp, or only use it as a headphone amplifier ?
Edit: you could also isolate the Mixamp from the USB port of the PC. There are USB isolators available for $50 or less, and it is also possible to use an external power supply.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

RCA from the Titanium HD to the Astro mixamp, then 3.5mm headphone output to rca into the emotiva to speakers DOES yield mouse feedback.
 
Plugging my headphones directly into the titanium HD yields no mouse feedback.

As the Titanium HD headphone jack and the Astro Mix-Amp headphone jack both are about roughly equal for powering headphones, it would seem to stop using the Mix-amp and plug the headphone straight into the Titanium HD.

 

[Chubtoad]

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10844&cs_id=1084402&p_id=6909&seq=1&format=2#description
 
would something such as this eliminate any mouse noise? or would I need to look for an actual usb isolator specifically for the mouse?

 

[Goride]

Quote:

 
The problem is caused by a ground loop between the Titanium HD and the USB port through the Astro Mixamp.  Do you really need the Mixamp, or only use it as a headphone amplifier ?
Edit: you could also isolate the Mixamp from the USB port of the PC. There are USB isolators available for $50 or less, and it is also possible to use an external power supply.

 
The ground loop makes sense.  I could avoid that by using the outlet to power it instead of the usb port.  However, I actually use the usb port as the input for my microphone.  
 
As far as needing the Mixamp, I will not be needing it soon.  Now that I have the Titanium HD I can just use its DPS for 3d-positional sound in games, and not rely on the Mixamp's dolby headphone (my motherboard could output in 5.1, but is limited in some other features that the Titanium HD has, which is why I got it).
 
Quote:

As the Titanium HD headphone jack and the Astro Mix-Amp headphone jack both are about roughly equal for powering headphones, it would seem to stop using the Mix-amp and plug the headphone straight into the Titanium HD.

 
Yes, that works for my Sennheiser HD595.  However, I plan on getting a Hifi-man HE-400 or HE-500 (still deciding) soon.  That port will not cut it for that.  Plus, it is kind of a hassle to physically reach behind my computer and unplug the headphones to listen to my speakers.
 
I was holding off buying a headphone amp, because I have been reading that a lot of people are having success using the Emotiva amp that I already have for my speakers with their Hifiman headphones.  But I am thinking that it might be a bit too powerful for efficient and low impedence headphones like the HD595.  I was kind of hoping I could use the Emotiva with my speakers and Hifiman, and the Mixamp with the HD595 (since I already have it and it would save me from having to plug and unplug all the time).  
 
It still might actually.  When I got from the Titanium HD --> Emotiva --> Mixamp (via the Emotiva's RCA outs) the mouse feedback noise is significantly weaker.  I can still hear it, but it is not anywhere as noticeable as when I go Titanium HD --> Mixamp.
 
But, tbh, I am not even using it for the Mixamp's capabilities anymore (dolby headphone).  My best option is probably to just sell it and buy a dedicated (and much better) amp like the Schiit Magi.  Use the Emotiva for speakers and Hifiman and the Schiit for the HD595.  And just use the Titanium HD's microphone port.

 

[Makiah S]

some one want to walk me through getting Electri Q VST Plugin to work with FooBar -.- I did it like twice and well I can't get it to work again... 

 

[Evshrug]

I do. It's easy. Razer Surround to me has NO rear positional accuracy, at all. The soundstage is a half moon, with the lit part being in front of you. All rear positional cues are basically going through your head instead of behind you. CMSS-3D makes a much easier distinction between what's in front and what's behind, though I still don't think it touches Dolby Headphone or even THX Tru Studio which do an even better job of portraying rear positional cues. The good thing about CMSS-3D is that it's not as processed sounding as the latter two, so I'd choose it over stereo, if only because it makes some sort of attempt to differentiate between front and back. Razer surround is... well, it's free for a reason. Razer Surround is like Stereo 1.5. It does a good job portraying side to front cues, but does little to nothing for things behind you in the virtual space. In that vid, the positional cues on the Razer weren't even aligned with the actual placement.

I'm late to the party, but in light of recent talk about various headphone surround DSPs, I'm hearing what Mad hears here. With Razer Surround (in this vid), Rear cues seem to pan linearly between my ears, instead of sounding as if they come from behind. CmSS-3D sounded much better.

 

[Evshrug]

I just got a hint that Creative has been working on something for Mac users... Maybe an updated version of the Recon3D USB.

 

[Sarith]

Sorry I'm sure this was answered earlier:
Is the Asus Xonar STX able to output Dolby headphone via Optical Out? I know other models can, I just wanna double check.
 
Thanks for your time.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Sorry I'm sure this was answered earlier:
Is the Asus Xonar STX able to output Dolby headphone via Optical Out? I know other models can, I just wanna double check.

The Asus Xonar Essence STX can output, thru it's S/PDIF (optical & coaxial) output, Dolby Headphone 7.1 Surround Sound.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Umm, even if it did, why waste so much when all you're gonna use it for is for it's digital stage? That's wasted money and internals for something when you can just get the lower end models that do the same thing. Key thing here being that you're only using the digital stage, not the analog components, in which the STX would definitely be better. If you have your own dac/amp, the STX seems like overkill.

Just like I have my U3 output Dolby Headphone to my Compass 2 dac/amp. If I used the U3's internal dac/amp, then yes, it'd be not so great. But I'm not.

 

[Sarith]

Quote:

Umm, even if it did, why waste so much when all you're gonna use it for is for it's digital stage? That's wasted money and internals for something when you can just get the lower end models that do the same thing. Key thing here being that you're only using the digital stage, not the analog components, in which the STX would definitely be better. If you have your own dac/amp, the STX seems like overkill.

Just like I have my U3 output Dolby Headphone to my Compass 2 dac/amp. If I used the U3's internal dac/amp, then yes, it'd be not so great. But I'm not.

Well funny you ask. I'm thinking of downsizing from a Beyer T1 and Denon AH-D7000 to either an Annie or the X1. I'm leaning towards the Annie. I am also using a mixamp so I would need an amp for that. I was brain storming if you will, if bypassing the STX to an external DAC and AMP would be beneficial. 
 
I would sell the STX and go with something like the U3 instead but the amount I would get for it, it might just be more worth while to hang on to it. Plus I am currently running some speakers from its RCA output so I would need to come up with something to replace that.
 
On a side note I wanna say thanks for your thread. It led me to buying the Denon's. While I do enjoy them I, like yourself cannot stand the pleather pads. Gotta love hot summer days.