[Davefoxx]

My desktop's gotten old and I've decided to upgrade to a laptop for mobility purposes, meaning I can no longer use my internal sound-card, an Asus Xonar DX.

I've always enjoyed the Dolby Headphone effect, and I would prefer to keep it. But I can't seem to find any USB substitutes for this card (Xonar DX). I purchased an Asus Xonar U7 MKII, which has a decent virtual surround option, but it's just not the same.

I'm considering going with the Sennheiser GSX1000 instead, but I'm open to suggestions if anything has Dolby Headphone implemented. I've looked at things such as the Astro Mixamp and Turtle Beach DSS, but I'm fairly certain these only decode surround signals over s/pdif and don't actually function as 7.1 devices on the computer. I could be wrong, though.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[PurpleAngel]

What are you using headphone surround sound (Dolby Headphone) for?
I would say to skip on headphone surround sound and get a USB DAC/amp.

 

[Davefoxx]

What are you using headphone surround sound (Dolby Headphone) for?
I would say to skip on headphone surround sound and get a USB DAC/amp.

I'm not skipping on it.

 

[Blotto80]

You can do DH and various other virtual surround types (atmos, DTS:X, SBX, and many more) in software with HeSuVi on any sound device. To get hardware with dedicated VSS you’ll be making compromises on audio quality. Grab a decent USB DAC (topping D10 is very good for the money) and read up on HeSuVi.

 

[PurpleAngel]

I'm not skipping on it.

I'm guessing sound card makers are getting away from offering Dolby headphone with their sound cards.
I believe the Asus Xonar U3, USB sound card, still offers Dolby Headphone.

 

[Davefoxx]

You can do DH and various other virtual surround types (atmos, DTS:X, SBX, and many more) in software with HeSuVi on any sound device. To get hardware with dedicated VSS you’ll be making compromises on audio quality. Grab a decent USB DAC (topping D10 is very good for the money) and read up on HeSuVi.

Thank you, this is just what I needed.

I ended up buying the Sennheiser GSX1000, which is rather pricey and may seem like a waste considering the effects can be replicated with HeSuVi, however it should be noted that you need an audio device that can be configured as 7.1 channels within Windows and still be outputted to a stereo source (in this case headphones). Thankfully, the GSX1000 does exactly this.

From my experience here, it seems that compatibility with HeSuVi will vary from device to device. Unless you can configure something with an additional piece of software? The first thing that comes to mind is Virtual Audio Cable, albeit I have very limited experience with that, so I'm not sure if that would work.

 

[Blotto80]

Thank you, this is just what I needed.

I ended up buying the Sennheiser GSX1000, which is rather pricey and may seem like a waste considering the effects can be replicated with HeSuVi, however it should be noted that you need an audio device that can be configured as 7.1 channels within Windows and still be outputted to a stereo source (in this case headphones). Thankfully, the GSX1000 does exactly this.

From my experience here, it seems that compatibility with HeSuVi will vary from device to device. Unless you can configure something with an additional piece of software? The first thing that comes to mind is Virtual Audio Cable, albeit I have very limited experience with that, so I'm not sure if that would work.

I’ve used it with VB-Cable and the JRiver WDM driver both with excellent results. The JRiver driver was probably all around smoother.