[MSnyder85]

Hello all! As far as the title goes, I am wondering which amp do I need to properly push the PC350's? I know they have an impedance of 150. I was looking at the Fiio E6 which is nice and cheap but I don't want to be robbing my cans too short. Is it any good? I was also looking at the E7, E10 and E11. Which one do you think would suffice? I game a lot on my PC, FPS, BF3, CoD MW3 ect. My budget is under $100.
 
Thank you for the replies and help.

 

[lc0756]

For gaming I would suggest picking up a used Astro Mixamp for under $100.  I used an older A40 Mixamp with my PC350 and that thing sounds amazing in BC2 or any other game with their Dolby Headphones turned on and fed from my X-fi Xtremegamer's Dolby Live using spdif.  I sold that set and now use a Denon D2000 with HRT MS2 Dac and amped using the Stepdance amp.  It doesn't even come close to the PC350 + Mixamp set for gaming.  When I play BF3 everything feels so tame without the Mixamp's DH even though my D2000 is suppose to have superb bass.  I don't think you can go wrong with the Mixamp because it makes playing a game like BF3 much more immersive and the bass will rock you when you are near tanks.

 

[MSnyder85]

I never looked into that alternative way before! Is the mixamp going to be enough to drive the cans? I heard that it's only a mixer. 
 
Thanks

 

[lc0756]

Yep, it will be enough.  I found the bass lacking straight out of the X-fi, but using the Mixamp everything sounds a lot clearer, bass is plenty, and music sounds great too.  It didn't need any bass mod that I have seen being recommended for the PC350 in other threads.  I regret selling my Mixamp too because gaming is completely different using an amp designed for music.  I mean I think it will still sound good with a Fiio and you will probably get decent bass, but I doubt its anywhere near what you achieve using the Dolby Headphone technology from the Mixamp.  At least that is how I felt with the Stepdance and sold my Mixamp prematurely because at 3x the price you would expect it being at least equivalent or better.  I mean I still love my new amp and it is a lot better for listening to music, just not for gaming.

 

[MSnyder85]

So the mixamp would utilize the optical input of my card? Finally get to use it! I'll look into it. How about Turtle Beaches offering?

 

[lc0756]

Yep, it would sound best using optical and X-fi's Dolby Digital Live with the Mixamp.  However, I have no experience with the Turtle Beach.

 

[MSnyder85]

Okay so I ended up ordering the Turtle Beach Ear Force DSS. It was only $69.99 on Amazon compared to $140 for the Astro 

. I don't like buying used electronics.  I've read nothing but positive reviews on the DSS and people compared both side by side and said there was no difference in sound due to them both having the same decoder, only downfall is no mic input which I believe I can hook into my sound card? 

 
Thanks for enlightening me about those!  

 

[MSnyder85]

I finally got the Turtle Beach DSS along with my Sennheiser PC350! I'm currently burning them in with pink noise. Quick question though. I noticed that when gaming and if there's an explosion it gets rather distorted, is this a part of the burn in process? I set the Titanium X-fi pro to decode the Dolby Digital and it's working it's magic! I did think it'd be louder though, not nearly as loud as some other headphones I'd used in the past. Would it indeed need a Fiio or an amp of some sort to drive it properly? What would be the main difference and how would I go about connecting everything?
 
Thank you!

 

[lc0756]

For the distortion problem I fixed it for my setup by maxing the volume of my Mixamp + PC350 and lowering the sound in the game itself.  I wasn't able to change the volume inside Windows, which was probably because I was using Dolby.  After setting the game volume to about 25% I was able to hear enormous bass with no distortion at all.  An amp will obviously improve the loudness of the headphones and it may also improve the clarity and bass quantity, which was the case for me using the A40.

 

[MSnyder85]

I took your advice and it worked! Now I'm comptemplating on whether to get an even better sound card or to get the e9? Seeing as how the DSS is a decoder and not an amp that im aware of. What do you think?

 

[MSnyder85]

I took your advice and it worked! Now I'm comptemplating on whether to get an even better sound card or to get the fiio e9? Seeing as how the DSS is a decoder and not an amp that im aware of. What do you think?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

The DSS and Mixamp ARE amps. Not great ones in terms of audio like dedicated headphone amps, but they do have power behind them. Their main selling point is the dolby processing however.

 

[lc0756]

For gaming and movies I think something like the DSS or Mixamp with any sound card that could deliver a Dolby signal would be enough.  However, there are better options for sound cards and amp/dacs if you want to improve the sound quality of music.  If you add an E9 to your DSS you will be double amping and I don't think that would be such a good idea.

 

[MSnyder85]

Gotcha! Thanks for all the input! I'll use the DSS for console gaming so I can use my headphones and get the E9 for the PC setup. I'll use the DSS for movies though