[oqvist]

Soundcards is just about always more bang for the buck in the way you get more for the money. I needed to go to a Keces 131 mk 2 to find something that actually beats the Elite PRO for example. I would say the Elite PRO is on the same level as the DacMagic approx. There is other soundcards which many people preferr over the Elite PRO as well.

In general as for headphones bass is hard to hear where it comes from so you want an emphasized treble. Hench the audio technica, K701 suggestions. Light on bass and not that full mid range so you hear a lot of detail in the treble easilly if you are looking at it competively. I actually preferr my PRO 900 since they both give me the body and have a great treble to boot so I get more of the full sound so to speak. But then I am all for immersion and preferr single player over multi player any day

Of course I preferr my spanking new 5.1 setup of all these by far it´s not even a contest anymore but the PRO 900 is the one that emulate my surround speaker setup the best I feel. Second being K701 in term of positional audio.

DT 770 PROs are actually not that bad for positioning but it´s quite narrow and as mentioned the bass may drown out some audio cues. On the other hand if you have a noisy computer it has good isolation much better then the A900 for example which may negotiate that quite well.

 

[oqvist]

might add as for headset I use the zalman mic. It´s not noise cancelling but it´s something that will hold. The headsets just tend to brake for me and as mentioned there is very few headsets out there that has any kind of sound quality. And those that have is quite expensive like the DT 770 Qpad headset.

 

[SneakyNinja]

Thanks for all the input guys. I will keep you posted on what I decide and how they work out for me.

Any advice as to which type of input I should use on my DAC/Amp? If I go with the Zero I'll have the option of Coax, Optical, or USB....

 

[Oggranak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SneakyNinja /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for all the input guys. I will keep you posted on what I decide and how they work out for me. Any advice as to which type of input I should use on my DAC/Amp? If I go with the Zero I'll have the option of Coax, Optical, or USB....

I'm pretty sure it doesn't have a USB input.

 

[SneakyNinja]

Oops my mistake. I was thinking of the SVDAC06. Either way, it's a valid question. Which input source is better?

 

[Townyj]

HFI-780's are insane for positioning in CSS. They are great for gaming in general, closed phones are my preference for both gaming and music listening.

 

[Skin]

proper positional effects are related to the quality of the soundcard, it has little to nothing to do with the speaker/headphone choice.

For gaming i'd pick something based off its comfort first, audio secondary. Most any $150-$200 headphone will suffice. I game in very cheap KSC75s all the time personally because they're so light and still allow good airflow. I wouldnt use a FS for gaming myself. But thats me. To be honost I think you're wasting money.

If you have the cash to do so get a nice 2.1 setup consisting of some decent monitors. Add in a good subwoofer if you can afford it. A 16 x 16 foot room is plenty big to enjoy it in.

 

[coredump]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SneakyNinja /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oops my mistake. I was thinking of the SVDAC06. Either way, it's a valid question. Which input source is better?

Sound wise it wont matter but optical is the default selection on the Zero. If you want coax you'll have to select it everytime the Zero powers up. At least thats what I remember. It's been a while since I've used it.

 

[coredump]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skin /img/forum/go_quote.gif proper positional effects are related to the quality of the soundcard, it has little to nothing to do with the speaker/headphone choice.

You've probably never tried gaming with an MS1. Up, down, left, right, it's all the same.

 

[Skin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by coredump /img/forum/go_quote.gif You've probably never tried gaming with an MS1. Up, down, left, right, it's all the same.

then i'd say there was something seriously wrong with that particular headphone. Even a pair of stock mp3 player buds will give you workable positional audio.

 

[Townyj]

Errr i doubt your statement is correct, i have had alot of phones for gaming. A900, DT770Pro, PC150 headset and now my 780's. The 780's are very precise with positioning, i dont even use my Razer Soundcard for gaming as i prefer my DAC/Amp combo over it. I think it has alot to do with both the Source and Phones. You have **** phones with a good source, its not gonna go well and vise versa.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Skin /img/forum/go_quote.gif proper positional effects are related to the quality of the soundcard, it has little to nothing to do with the speaker/headphone choice. For gaming i'd pick something based off its comfort first, audio secondary. Most any $150-$200 headphone will suffice. I game in very cheap KSC75s all the time personally because they're so light and still allow good airflow. I wouldnt use a FS for gaming myself. But thats me. To be honost I think you're wasting money. If you have the cash to do so get a nice 2.1 setup consisting of some decent monitors. Add in a good subwoofer if you can afford it. A 16 x 16 foot room is plenty big to enjoy it in.

 

[Menisk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Townyj /img/forum/go_quote.gif Errr i doubt your statement is correct, i have had alot of phones for gaming. A900, DT770Pro, PC150 headset and now my 780's. The 780's are very precise with positioning, i dont even use my Razer Soundcard for gaming as i prefer my DAC/Amp combo over it. I think it has alot to do with both the Source and Phones. You have **** phones with a good source, its not gonna go well and vise versa.

I think what he's talking about is things like EAX that attempt generic HRTF, but I don't think he's thought about the fact that the you still need decent headphones to produce what you're being sent from the sound card and also decent headphones add depth whereas HRTF is pretty much just directional.

 

[RedSky0]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SneakyNinja /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, can you define "head banging bass"? Based on my musical tastes, I'd say I enjoy bass. However, I like the price tag on those AD700s. It would allow me to do a DAC/Amp in addition to them...

The AD700s are quite efficient already, I wouldn't bother with a DAC/amp. For reference, using my AD700s with a Compass DAC/amp combo the difference is very minor, certainly not worth the cost.

As for the whole topic, forget the notion of gaming and just pick whatever headphones you think will sound good for you. I almost guarantee just about any full-size pair recommended here in the $150-250 range will serve just fine as long as you keep in mind you want at least a reasonable soundstage, fairly good detail and positioning, and not an overblown bass response. Don't fall into the mindset that you need the best of the best of all those facets, you really don't, even for competitive gaming.

As for sound cards, I again feel it's all been blown out of proportion. The shift nowadays is towards software audio APIs rather than hardware anyway. Again, if the headphone has a high impedance or is hard to drive, perhaps get something along the lines of a Zero DAC/amp if you want. In my case I'm perfectly happy with a Compass DAC/amp right now for gaming, particularly since none of the games I play even use EAX.

 

[coredump]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skin /img/forum/go_quote.gif then i'd say there was something seriously wrong with that particular headphone. Even a pair of stock mp3 player buds will give you workable positional audio.

If you think stock mp3 player ear buds are sufficient for gaming you probably should be giving any advice on the matter. Grado's and Allesandro are known to have an unusual sound stage and that characteristic becomes very obvious in FPS.

Positioning is 50% source 50% headphone. It doesn't matter how good a job the source does at positioning if the headphones can't project it appropriately.

 

[Skin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by coredump /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you think stock mp3 player ear buds are sufficient for gaming you probably should be giving any advice on the matter. Grado's and Allesandro are known to have an unusual sound stage and that characteristic becomes very obvious in FPS. Positioning is 50% source 50% headphone. It doesn't matter how good a job the source does at positioning if the headphones can't project it appropriately.

Its not music, it doesnt require high fidelity, if a crappy headset is entirely sufficient then why spend 20x that on a audiophile quality headphone? To brag?

As i said i'd get a nice 2.1 speaker setup.