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 Posted: Tue, 22nd Jan 2013 07:28 Post subject: |
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| Mchart wrote: | Well, USB connection isn't bad if you go the external DAC route.
http://shop.grantfidelity.com/Grant-Fidelity-TubeDAC-11-D-A-Converter.html
These provide better audio quality then something like the Essence STX could.
That being said, you loose out on stuff like Dolby Headphone, etc. So if you have the spare PCI-E slot in your case it's best to just get the STX. |
Something like Xonar DGX will do absolutely fine for normal non-audiophile humper. Can drive headphones up to 150ohm. Sound quality is amazing aswell for its price (about 40€, which is a steal).
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| Posted: Tue, 22nd Jan 2013 09:28 Post subject: |
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| Prefetian wrote: | I don't know, I'm absolutely happy with my logitech G35's.
The audio is actually quite good and does what it's supposed to in videogames, it locks out outside noise and I can hear everything in-games.
I just don't see the point in getting a pair of expensive headphones when still using onboard soundcard (not that they're bad, just that the plug-in ones are a bit better).
So honestly, I can wholeheartedly recommend the Logitech G35 which don't cost more than 80€... |
Even if using on-board audio your money would still be better spent getting one of those fairly cheap fiio headphone amps and a nice set of headphones.
I think the problem is that most people really have no idea just how good good headphones are capable of sounding. If you knew you'd ditch that G35 today.
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Werelds
Special Little Man
Posts: 15098
Location: 0100111001001100
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| Posted: Tue, 22nd Jan 2013 09:47 Post subject: |
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For 80 EUR you can get a pair of Sennheisers that sound far better than the G35. Heck, for half that money you can already get something that quite easily matches it in audio quality. The G35 is 95 EUR here. For that money you can get an X-Fi Titanium or Xonar D2 (50 EUR) and AKG's K518 DJ (45 EUR); the K518 has the same impedance as the G35, but a larger frequency range. The difference is that it'll be driven by a far superior soundcard, even if it's the entry models. These entry models are more than sufficient for anyone who isn't a non-audiophile; particularly the Creative is good because CMSS (their 5.1 -> stereo algorithm) works wonders for games (and at this price level, it still is better than similar Xonars, which don't take off until the upper range).
The problem is not only people not realising how much they're missing out on, but also not realising that it's not hard at all to match any headset's audio quality. The big difference is that if you start with what I outlined above, you can easily just still spend less money on a new pair of headphones than you would on a new headset later and get far superior audio quality 
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| Posted: Tue, 22nd Jan 2013 09:50 Post subject: |
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I know that a lot of people avoid head phones mostly because they want the microphone.
Which, again - www.modmic.com solves that problem.
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Werelds
Special Little Man
Posts: 15098
Location: 0100111001001100
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| Posted: Tue, 22nd Jan 2013 10:49 Post subject: |
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Or just 5 bucks at any random electronics store 
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[sYn]
[Moderator] Elitist
Posts: 8374
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| Posted: Tue, 22nd Jan 2013 15:50 Post subject: I have left. |
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| Posted: Tue, 22nd Jan 2013 16:31 Post subject: |
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Well, I get that there's obviously a quality difference between my G35 and an expensive set of normal headphones. But does it really make THAT much of a difference when playing videogames (such as battlefield 3)?
With my G35 I still can hear footsteps, ambient sound and bullets whizzing past my head.
How much would a pair of 200€ headphones really be? How much clearer could the sound be?
I'm also using a pair of "cheap" sannheiser HD407 plugged into my front jack (through onboard sound using TruStudioPro software from Creative that came with my MB) and I have to say, the sound coming from the G35 in games IS much better.
I don't know, I'm just not convinced enough to spend such a high amount of cash on first a pair of headphones and then a soundcard.
10 years ago I would have been on your side because there was a clear difference between the onboard sound and an audigy 2 (which I did buy) but these days....I dunno. o.O
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Werelds
Special Little Man
Posts: 15098
Location: 0100111001001100
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| Posted: Tue, 22nd Jan 2013 20:08 Post subject: |
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| Prefetian wrote: | | I'm also using a pair of "cheap" sannheiser HD407 plugged into my front jack (through onboard sound using TruStudioPro software from Creative that came with my MB) and I have to say, the sound coming from the G35 in games IS much better. |
If you had spent that money on an X-Fi or Xonar you wouldn't have had to buy a headset. The HD407 may be an extremely cheap product, they're still not worse than most headsets. The only reason the G35 sounds better is because there's more audio processing done for it 
And yes, there still is a very distinct difference between onboard, some headset audio card or a proper one. Especially when it comes to sound clarity and "surround" sound, it matters a lot. Like SpykeZ and I have both pointed out, a "true" surround experience in headphones is horseshit. If you have 3 speakers blasting on both of your ears from less than a centimeter away, it doesn't work for your ears. It won't be able to pinpoint the audio that precisely; the only reason those headsets sound good is because their audio chips still post-process the audio to adjust volumes based on position. Which is exactly what ASUS or Creative can do. With speakers so close to your ears, it's much better to have just one large, good speaker that completely fills your ear and have "software 3D" take care of the volumes to trick your brain.
I don't know, a G35 still sounds muddy to me, I didn't like it when I used it. Even a pair of HD201's (which are probably about the same as your 407's) sounded better when used with an X-Fi Titanium, sound is just so much clearer :S |
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| Posted: Tue, 22nd Jan 2013 23:38 Post subject: |
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Ohh well, I guess I'll try it out sometime when I've got the money for it (since it's quite low on my list atm.) but until then I'm sticking with my G35's.
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| Posted: Wed, 23rd Jan 2013 08:57 Post subject: |
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| Shoshomiga wrote: | | Mchart wrote: | I know that a lot of people avoid head phones mostly because they want the microphone.
Which, again - www.modmic.com solves that problem. |
I don't understand why people would want a microphone attached to their headphones, just duct tape it to your monitor or something, my 5$ mic picks up talking from across the room just fine so I can place it anywhere really |
Because I want something that isn't duct taped to my $300 headphones. The nice part about the modmic is that you only attach that very small magnet base. So whenever you want to use your nice headphones as a headset you simply grab the microphone and it snaps on to the magnet.
Plus, the modmic has higher audio quality then those $5 zalman mics you are talking about.
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| Posted: Wed, 23rd Jan 2013 23:01 Post subject: |
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| Mchart wrote: | | Prefetian wrote: | I don't know, I'm absolutely happy with my logitech G35's.
The audio is actually quite good and does what it's supposed to in videogames, it locks out outside noise and I can hear everything in-games.
I just don't see the point in getting a pair of expensive headphones when still using onboard soundcard (not that they're bad, just that the plug-in ones are a bit better).
So honestly, I can wholeheartedly recommend the Logitech G35 which don't cost more than 80€... |
Even if using on-board audio your money would still be better spent getting one of those fairly cheap fiio headphone amps and a nice set of headphones.
I think the problem is that most people really have no idea just how good good headphones are capable of sounding. If you knew you'd ditch that G35 today. |
Those FiiO's are great. I got an E7/E9 combo for my laptop
[img]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GIHOKCj_fNI/T0V0XpbqWxI/AAAAAAAAAjg/rkM6LGfIu1g/s1095/2012-02-22+16.56.06.jpg[/img]
ugh..fuck it, I'm not fixing the fucking link. Can't link shit on these forums. |
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| Posted: Thu, 24th Jan 2013 01:28 Post subject: |
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Well I'm not sure how much better a dedicated 7.1 headset is for gaming but since I got the Sennheiser HD598's I can say the following:
The quality of sound is amazing and the soundstage is big but the problem is that it is a half circle that is in front of you, and nothing is behind you. I played The Darkness II and set my character up in front of a radio broadcast. Then I closed my eyes, turned around and tried to guess which direction the sound was coming from. (12 o clock, 1 o clock etc)
Well it didnt work at all. The sound started left, then in front, then right...then it REVERTED to in front again, left, etc. back and forth. The most crystal clear sound does not help me with games if I'm not able to tell where the sounds are coming from.
I have a X-Fi soundcard, so I had to enable CMSS-3D and NOW the sound truly comes from all directions. I am able to locate the radio with accuracy of 24 clocks (half hour steps).
The price - CMSS-3D makes the sound slightly muddier, and it loses the clarity it has in pure stereo mode.
So if its not even possible to get proper 3D audio on high end headphones without having to use sound card goodies I wonder if a lower quality gaming headset wouldnt get the same results, at least in games. (for Music and Movies the Sennheisers are clearly the superior headphones though)
The bass on the other hand is great, those Headphones are known to have a rather "mild" bass but the quality is very high so its possible to use the equalizer and AMP up the lower frequencies by 3-7db without getting any distortions. But again - to get desired results I needed to use 3rd party tools. (X-Fi Equalizer)
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| Posted: Thu, 24th Jan 2013 02:05 Post subject: |
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The rear very rarely works in any surround set. The problem with those "surround" sets is they use small drivers that hover ABOVE your ear. There isn't enough distance from the speaker and the rear of your ear to really distinguish that sound. I had a 5.1 set and they did no better at rear than my sennheisers do.
The whole idea of them being surround is gimmicky as fuck. They're a bunch of low quality drivers hovering above your ear and barely in the angels they need to be. Surround works because of the position and distance from the speaker and you so you can distinguish where it's at. Having "directional" speakers barely an inch away from your ears is just stupid.
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Werelds
Special Little Man
Posts: 15098
Location: 0100111001001100
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| Posted: Thu, 24th Jan 2013 09:46 Post subject: |
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| Shocktrooper wrote: | I have a X-Fi soundcard, so I had to enable CMSS-3D and NOW the sound truly comes from all directions. I am able to locate the radio with accuracy of 24 clocks (half hour steps).
The price - CMSS-3D makes the sound slightly muddier, and it loses the clarity it has in pure stereo mode. |
You can get around the muddyness by enabling the crystallizer and fiddling with your EQ setup. Keep in mind that your X-Fi (I'm assuming Titanium here, like I have) is still very much a cheap, entry level card. The more expensive cards will fuck sound better. For what an X-Fi costs you really can't go wrong
But yes, that is exactly what CMSS does. It takes a multi-channel audio source and adjusts the levels of each to basically fool your brain into thinking it's *actually* coming from where that channel is supposed to be.
Can cheaper STEREO headsets with USB soundcards do it? None that I've tried do it as well as Creative do it. Not Steel, not Logitech. Razer I don't know, I hate that brand and haven't used any of their headsets. They get some of it done, but they don't adjust the levels anywhere near well enough.
Can "true surround" headsets sound like that? No. Like I said and like Spykez says, the speakers are just in the wrong position for your brain to really pick it up. This really is one of those cases where you're paying for the wrong things. |
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.. Shame.
