The NEW Gaming Headset/Headphone Topic! (REQUEST STICKY PLZ) - Page 39

Dude I would consider looking into other headsets first before going for a pair of Astros. The only reason they have a name in the game is because 1) their mixamp and 2) they sponser MLG.

1) Yes it accepts optical in. And it comes with the cable to connect the mixamp to your controller. Note there are two mixamps - one wired and one wireless (mixamp 5.8). Your setup / needs will determine which to go with. I have the wired mixamp and love it. My setup is such that I game relatively close to my TV (prob 4-5'). If I were in my living room, I'd probably want the wireless mixamp.

2) Astro sells primarily direct through their own website. PC 360s you can order on Amazon or Newegg though.

There are a few of us in this thread that could probably point you in the right direction as far as getting a good deal on the PC360's if that's what you decide to do.

^ to add ATB's comment, to use the mixamp with the PS3 you might want to add the PS3 chat cable to your mixamp order which is needed to use your mic on the PS3.

My mixamp doesn't need the chat cable for PS3. Unless he has the pre 2010 mixamp.

Ok thanks for the tip.
So i guess its the Sennheiser 360 on top of the list?
The one thing i need is a headset and not Headphones with mic.
Is the cable modular on the 360? Because i had some Sennheiser 350s and the kabel was 3 meters and i was quite annoyed by it.

edit: Sennheiser 151 was the one i had not 350 :P

Yes I have a pioneer receiver and the feature is fine if you never want to talk to anyone but if you want voice chat you would need the mixamp or something similar. I still use it when I play campaigns.

How so? I think I'll do it at the beginning of the month.

woah...

nice post...

lot of info there :P

you will need to update it once pc360 arrives :P

Nice post. I think you should post it on this thread as well, maybe in one of your reserved spots.

a lot of replies, and many of this stuff has been answered, but i'll post my feelings anyway.

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there are other ways, and cheaper ways, but none i'd consider "proper" ways.... each of them will have drawbacks, and eventually you'll probably get fed up and buy a mixamp anyway.

this isn't IGN, or some other childs-video-game forums... this is AVScience, most of us here have an appreciation for "the finer things in life".... i know that sounds snooty, but look around in some of the other subsections, people go to great lengths at great costs to have good-better-best audio/video in their homes, and headphone gaming in my opinion is no different.


this is hit or miss, depending on the impedance of the microphone he's trying to connect to the 360 headset.... he also wont have a proper method to mix voice, or proper simulated surround unless he's got a supported receiver, which the majority aren't.

i could say it wouldnt hurt to try, but i cannot imagine gaming in stereo, or chatting with anyone without being able to balance the voice channel.

another option... better than the previous suggestion, but like you said, it's still stereo, and i've heard the amp circuit on the chat mix can buzz/hum, and thats also a huge bit of kit hanging from your controller, and you're wired from controller to console now, and with your headset cables plugged into the bottom, you're looking at nearly 4 inches protruding from the bottom of your controller to your groin.

anything plugged into the controller sees added stress from resting on your lap, and it seems like that would be a quick way to destroy the cable on your headset jacks.

it may have been mentioned, but the DSS is 80 bucks, and performs nowhere near what my $99 mixamp does... you'd also have to pair it with the live mixer, making it cost about as much as the mixamp does, for some janky hodge podge solution.

this points back to where i was sounding like a snob, in saying just get the mixamp and the pc360 and be done with it.

IF he's lucky, and his mic doesnt cause any issues, and the controller voice output doesnt blow up through his mic, it may work, but like you/I said... no voice mixing.

and the livemix cable is USB and 3.5mm headphone jack to 360, or your stereo/tv and some other usb power source.

that was me... i was talking with Astro at PAX, some of the guys on R&D, they were trying to license a similar tech as the way the wireless headset from MS connects to the controller/360, either through a dedicated astro headset (no thanks) or more recently, an auxillary device connected to the USB port only on the TX from the mixamp 5.8.

exactly.... some pc headsets may work better than others, depending on the mic... but i wouldnt consider it as a "solution", ever. and while it MAY be possible, of course i'd never recommend it (that would just make me look bad)... headphone gaming is a passion for me, and quite a few others in this thread.... we'd all love to spend no money and have the best setup possible, but we all know that isn't realistic.

you've gotta pay to play.

what was it that Daekwan said? "buy once, cry once"

it stinks, but most of us have done it... i've burned through quite a few DH/headphone surround options, with double digit headphones and headsets.... i wish 2-3 years ago there was someone like me or shincz giving this advice, and i wish i would have had the sense to listen and just buy the products listed (even though they didnt exist at the time).

ask shin how the 598 turned out when i told him to just get the pc360

1. yes
2. i wish i knew... i think they could ship many more units if they had amazon stock their stuff, but i think for now, you can only buy from astrogaming.com, and yes their shipping is a little slow, and expensive.

while i do agree with you, a few of us are a rare breed, most people i've ever met/known actually really like the A40 headset, and coming from the 5xb, i think he'd like the A40, or even the A30 too.... if you compare the price of the A40 minus the mixamp he'd have to buy anyway, there arent too many headsets in that price range that are as good, or better.

you can, but if you PM me, i can point you to a seller at a significant discount.... like nearly the price of the older, crappy PC350 on amazon. (FYI, i make no profit/commission/etc)

they didnt include the cable, then they included it, and now it's not included anymore, not for the wired or wireless mixamp, as far as i know (i'm 100% sure the wireless 5.8 does not include it)

amazing post, i enjoyed reading it, even though i already knew your backstory, and how similar it was to mine.


i think your AD700 bass assesment is either cloudy, or plain unfair though For me, all the bass is present and accounted for, it just has no impact... i think saying "a tin can trying to sound like a subwoofer" implies that the bass sounds bad, to me it sounds fantastic, but it really lacks any impact (which is a definite criticism)

it's like saying the stock muffler on a sports car sounds like crap, when to me it still sounds great, but it's just quiet, and you dont get that impact or feeling that a custom exhaust would offer... weird analogy i know

but oddly enough, like you, my ear lobes were constantly shocked by the drivers, thanks in part to my microfiber chair and blanket i game with downstairs in the dry winter

actually, ppl like Shin, formulared, KBI and many others helped me a LOT to get my gaming/music setup (MixAmp, E7/E9, DT990/600, K702).

I don't live in USA, so is impossible for me to test and return if I don't like it, I needed to make a "safe" buy.. and I think I did it. Pretty happy with the results

glad i could have helped, if even a little

nobody should invest 4 digits into headphones, unless you have a severe passion for it.


actually, if i could go back and do it over, i could probably buy a headzone or smyth svs (ok, probably not the smyth )

I'm still hoping someone on this thread would give the Smyth Realiser a try. Compared to what you can spend on a decent home theater setup it's not that expensive...come on who's going to take the plunge?

Here's a link to Smyth's ordering page to get you started.

I just tried emailing my boy with the PC360s and got an email back saying the email address was invalid. Had to go back into my saved emails to look it up again so to all of you guys that I gave the wrong email address to my apologies...whoops. Looks like everyone that's PM'd me or Nerd or whoever else hasn't had a problem getting them anyways. Peace n' chicken grease.

what would you guys recommend for me?
I am currently using the HD595 with the POS standard xbox mic
the headphones are connected to my monitor which passes the HDMI sound to the headphone jack on the side
I have the xbox mic connected to the controller
I'm wearing both headsets now which is very awkward

I've also used this adapter with the crappy zalman mic
http://www.amazon.com/SteelSeries-Xb...pr_product_top

I'd like something like the PC360 but it's very expensive if you need the mixamp with it
I'd also like something that works well on PC and xbox

suggestions?
thanks

Ender17.


at the minimum, i'd recommend getting the mixamp with pc/ps3 chat cable. You could continue to use the 595, and get a cheap clip on mic that actually works (like the one shincz got from china).

optical would run to the mixamp from the 360 and the pc for audio, and you'd have to either switch optical cables when you switch systems, or get an optical switch (pretty cheap from monoprice)

if you're fed up with the hodge-podge mic solution, i'd recommend selling the 595, and using the funds to help purchase the pc360, they're similar and obviously include the mic.

Hey guys, I purchased a Sennheiser PC360 + Astro MixAmp about two months ago (I haven't got them yet and the time I've waited so far is KILLING ME) and I was wondering if doing a "burn-in" to the PC360 is recommended when I get 'em, if it is recommended... how many hours should I burn-in them until starting to notice better audio quality? (Some say it's just a placebo effect but some say it's not).

Thanks.

BTW, how often do Sennheiser and/or Astro products have problems? I've been worrying too much about my products might come defective and returning them would be almost impossible to do. (I don't live in US).

Where do you live? Astro is expensive to ship out of states I've read. But the Mixamp is worth it. You may be able to get Senns in you country? Ppl who want to go cheap may want to try the Steel Audio Mixer puck?
http://shop.steelseries.com/us/index.php/audio-us.html

Some like it but some ppl don't. Not as good as the Mixamp.But i's cheap. To me the A40 sound good for gaming. Nice and clear. Good mic. But if you want to use them for music or movies. They really don't sound very good to me. Gaming I like clarity which they have. They have enough bass for games. I don't like to much. But they really lack for Movies. For the $$ the A40 and mixamp isn't to bad. I would consider that min for a good gaming experiance if you want good sound with good communication. For an easy set up.I've tried other headset cheaper headset with the mixamp. Some had alot better sound but the mics were terrible. If you like to diy there all kinds of mic mods with better cans. But not everyone likes to do that.JME/JMO

Thank you for your suggestion and your reply, however I've already bought the wired MixAmp and the PC360 cans, I'm just waiting for my friend to come over here since the products were delivered before January. The MixAmp shipping to Mexico is about $100 and US is $13 that's a lot of difference, Sennheiser PC360s are not available here, only PC350s are (and they are SUPER expensive, I bought the PC360 on eBay for $194); My friend lives in the US, so that's why thinking about starting a warranty process worries me a lot because I also don't see him often.

Correct, the PS3 chat cable currently has to be added to your order if you get the 5.8 mixamp.



I'd also like to thank everyone here for their help from getting the deal on the PC360's, to help in making my choice on what to get easier from reading various peoples opinions, to help with solving issues.

"Hola Amigo :P no te preocupes"

nahh.. don't worry a lot, you are getting good gear :P

I'm from Mexico too... and I bought all my gear from outside Mexico (PS3, PSP, NDS, MixAmp, K702, DT990, E7/E9, RE2, iPod Touch, CAL, Sansa Clip, Onkyo HT-5200 HT)

Is practically impossible to get good gear from Mexico, even at a high price. So "what will be... will be" or.. something like that.

I think if something breaks (my Sansa Clip died), was better than never used it :P

We have the advantage to have friends in USA, so...use it! if something breaks, until then, you must worry :P

Sorry I missed the first part of your post. I think the wired Mixamp is pretty solid. If you get a good one no problems. Not to many complaint on the Mixamp. Warrenty wouldn't be an issue. The shipping cost may. But I belive they are in Cali. Probally cheaper shipping than Canada??? Which I hear ppl complainting on the co$t. If you get it good. I wouldn't worry

Do any of you worry about hearing damage when gaming from other *******s blasting **** or screaming in their mics at you? It'd be nice if there was an option to prevent volume spikes on the incoming voice. I run into so many *******s playing Halo Reach it's unreal. lol

can i get a pm with the info for the pc360 please?

sent


nope, i dont get any volume spikes... kids can be as loud as they want... it doesnt bother me with pc360/mixamp

Finally ready to part with my DT 990's, but under what section do I put them in the classifieds?