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The NEW Gaming Headset/Headphone Topic! (REQUEST STICKY PLZ) - Page 169

post #5041 of 5199
1/9/13 at 9:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jasnmb View Post

Hopefully the next xbox does away with that silly headset wire to the controller. I supposed it saves MS money when bundling the xbox with a short wired headset, vs a wireless one or a long cable to connect directly to the xbox. But aside from that, ideally they would switch to standard usb for wired chat, and bluetooth for wireless.

Hopefully. They've kind of dug themselves into a corner though. If they want to go open spec they have to break compatibility with their current gear, or build in redundant hardware to cover the BC for accessories. I think they like it closed so they can overcharge, its just what they do.

Unless Sony moves to proprietary wireless specs....I'm fairly certain all the PS3 compatible headsets should work 100% going forward.
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post #5042 of 5199
1/9/13 at 1:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jasnmb View Post

Hopefully the next xbox does away with that silly headset wire to the controller. I supposed it saves MS money when bundling the xbox with a short wired headset, vs a wireless one or a long cable to connect directly to the xbox. But aside from that, ideally they would switch to standard usb for wired chat, and bluetooth for wireless.

They want to have it be proprietary so you have to buy their products. This is why the Warheads had to be licensed to use it.
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post #5043 of 5199
1/9/13 at 2:34pm
I currently have a theater setup with surround sound thru an av receiver. I was wondering if i could just hook the Astros (or any gaming headset) to the optical output of my receiver. I use hdmi switching for my Xbox, directv, Mac mini, etc. and was hoping to use the headset with all of the above when I was unable to turn up the volume.

Thanks for the help
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post #5044 of 5199
1/9/13 at 2:56pm
you'll need an optical switch. Has to be directly connected to the system, I think.
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post #5045 of 5199
1/9/13 at 2:59pm
thanks for the help
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post #5046 of 5199
1/9/13 at 10:30pm
New cans from Turtle Beach shown at CES here
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post #5047 of 5199
1/10/13 at 8:12am
So I got this Monoprice headset in the mail yesterday. I've only tested very briefly but two things jump out right away. 1. It has an incredible amount of hiss/background noise when in "amp" mode, which is necessary for XBL communication. It's crazy how much hiss there is. It's like standing under a waterfall. lol. With that much hiss I would think this may be a defective unit. I've read several reviews and it's not been mentioned as a problem. 2. They're unquestionably more comfortable to me that the TB Delta/XP500. However, the big caveat here is the pleather earcup padding. I can see that that might be hot after a while compared to the cloth padding of other headsets.

I think I'll contact Monoprice tech support about the hiss to see if they think it's defective. Right now I'm leaning toward sending them back for a refund and going with the Mixamp and a different headset.
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post #5048 of 5199
1/11/13 at 8:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbn008 View Post

I currently have a theater setup with surround sound thru an av receiver. I was wondering if i could just hook the Astros (or any gaming headset) to the optical output of my receiver. I use hdmi switching for my Xbox, directv, Mac mini, etc. and was hoping to use the headset with all of the above when I was unable to turn up the volume.

Thanks for the help

Quote:
Originally Posted by b_scott View Post

you'll need an optical switch. Has to be directly connected to the system, I think.

Do any AVR's have "general" optical outs that pass along audio from whatever input is currently selected? On my Denon the optical out is tied to the input that is using the optical in I believe. So the limiter is the nature of the AVR, not the mixamp.
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post #5049 of 5199
1/11/13 at 8:47am
my denon optical out will only output from the optical in on the same source. defeating the purpose. wish it could take sound from hdmi on same input and output it through optical
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post #5050 of 5199
1/11/13 at 9:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Threefiddie View Post

my denon optical out will only output from the optical in on the same source. defeating the purpose. wish it could take sound from hdmi on same input and output it through optical

agreed. I wonder if this is a Denon limitation, or a limitation of AVRs in general... Is there a price point above which this limitation goes away? I'm really just thinking out loud here.
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post #5051 of 5199
1/11/13 at 9:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by coyote_5 View Post

agreed. I wonder if this is a Denon limitation, or a limitation of AVRs in general... Is there a price point above which this limitation goes away? I'm really just thinking out loud here.

I'm pretty sure it's a universal limitation. I've never seen an AVR that can do it.

If your AVR has dolby headphone or any other surround processing, you can just use the headphone jack on the front. Assuming you can bypass the DH processing on the mixamp.
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post #5052 of 5199
1/11/13 at 12:13pm
I'm debating replacing my main AVR for one with Dolby Headphone. I have a Mixamp 5.8 and I like it a lot, but even powered off a USB charger it can run out of steam pushing my HD-650s. Volume is generally OK for gaming (if I don't mix in voice chat thru the Mixamp). But if I hook it up to my Blu-Ray player instead, sometimes I can't get it loud enough. I do have a long headphone extension cable that I sometimes use, but that of course drops things back to stereo (good for concert discs, not so great for some movies). Any decent, cheap AVRs out there with Dolby Headphone?
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post #5053 of 5199
1/11/13 at 1:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tlniec View Post

I'm debating replacing my main AVR for one with Dolby Headphone. I have a Mixamp 5.8 and I like it a lot, but even powered off a USB charger it can run out of steam pushing my HD-650s. Volume is generally OK for gaming (if I don't mix in voice chat thru the Mixamp). But if I hook it up to my Blu-Ray player instead, sometimes I can't get it loud enough. I do have a long headphone extension cable that I sometimes use, but that of course drops things back to stereo (good for concert discs, not so great for some movies). Any decent, cheap AVRs out there with Dolby Headphone?

Other than the extra clutter, why not hook a headphone amp between your mixamp and headphones instead?
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post #5054 of 5199
1/11/13 at 1:23pm
As if anyone using a mixamp needed more wires? tongue.gif
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post #5055 of 5199
1/11/13 at 3:42pm
I believe Marantz still uses DH. Harmon Kardon used to. I think I downloaded a manual once from a Marantz (a generation or two old) to see if it would extract the audio from an HDMI input and I think it may have, but can't recall the specifics. Of course that would never work with the higher end audio codecs bluray introduced such as TrueHD or DTS Master, since those can't be carried on optical at all. But if the HDMI source audio is set for Dolby Digital, maybe? My Yamaha receiver BTW does have an optical out that's switched per the active source, but only if that source has audio connected to it via optical (or SPDIF coax.) Perhaps use HDMI for video and optical for audio if your sources allow it?
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post #5056 of 5199
1/11/13 at 6:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bd2003 View Post

I'm pretty sure it's a universal limitation. I've never seen an AVR that can do it.

If your AVR has dolby headphone or any other surround processing, you can just use the headphone jack on the front. Assuming you can bypass the DH processing on the mixamp.

my 2012 LG 55lm7600 3dtv can do it! With hdmi in on all 6 hdmi inputs, outputs to the only optical out on the tv. although only stereo, but still it can do it and my home theater receiver can't do it at all!

I don't game on that tv anyways, I use a projector, but reason I want my receiver to do it is because Nintendo didn't put optical out on the stupid NEW wii u. Wii u can only do lpcm 5.1 anyways so it's too much for optical bandwidth wise...but still... I want my receiver to do it. Even to connect multiple headsets or whatever. options are endless.
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post #5057 of 5199
1/13/13 at 12:57pm
Can someone recommend a headset for Xbox 360 gaming that does not have all of the bells and whistles like Bluetooth and or wireless?

I mainly play Black Ops 2 right now and from my reading of this massive thread its a lot to take in. I believe I read somewhere that people considered virtual surround was probably better than real surround? If that's the case then the Best Buy guys were telling me wrong and to go with Dolby Digital ones and I did. So I purchase the Turtle Beach X-Rays Black Ops 2 edition and they sounded pretty good however my problem was with the voice chat. I could not seem to get them to sound good with voice chat, it was either too LOUD or I could not hear the other players even though the mic icon was blinking. They also had bluetooth which I don't need or care to have. I did like they were rechargeable but I'd be fine with a wired pair that worked and sounded good especially for voice chatting with virtual surround.

Comments?
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post #5058 of 5199
1/13/13 at 2:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by todd1010 View Post

Can someone recommend a headset for Xbox 360 gaming that does not have all of the bells and whistles like Bluetooth and or wireless?

I mainly play Black Ops 2 right now and from my reading of this massive thread its a lot to take in. I believe I read somewhere that people considered virtual surround was probably better than real surround? If that's the case then the Best Buy guys were telling me wrong and to go with Dolby Digital ones and I did. So I purchase the Turtle Beach X-Rays Black Ops 2 edition and they sounded pretty good however my problem was with the voice chat. I could not seem to get them to sound good with voice chat, it was either too LOUD or I could not hear the other players even though the mic icon was blinking. They also had bluetooth which I don't need or care to have. I did like they were rechargeable but I'd be fine with a wired pair that worked and sounded good especially for voice chatting with virtual surround.

Comments?
I used to use the X41's, loved 'em. Think they're round $100 now...
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post #5059 of 5199
1/14/13 at 9:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by todd1010 View Post

Can someone recommend a headset for Xbox 360 gaming that does not have all of the bells and whistles like Bluetooth and or wireless?

I mainly play Black Ops 2 right now and from my reading of this massive thread its a lot to take in. I believe I read somewhere that people considered virtual surround was probably better than real surround? If that's the case then the Best Buy guys were telling me wrong and to go with Dolby Digital ones and I did. So I purchase the Turtle Beach X-Rays Black Ops 2 edition and they sounded pretty good however my problem was with the voice chat. I could not seem to get them to sound good with voice chat, it was either too LOUD or I could not hear the other players even though the mic icon was blinking. They also had bluetooth which I don't need or care to have. I did like they were rechargeable but I'd be fine with a wired pair that worked and sounded good especially for voice chatting with virtual surround.

Comments?

These are supposed to be really good for the money. I've bought a lot of products from Monoprice, and everything has been very good.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=114&cp_id=11403&cs_id=1140304&p_id=9771&seq=1&format=2
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post #5060 of 5199
1/15/13 at 8:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by biglen View Post

These are supposed to be really good for the money. I've bought a lot of products from Monoprice, and everything has been very good.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=114&cp_id=11403&cs_id=1140304&p_id=9771&seq=1&format=2

I have (had) those. The first set they sent had a TON of hiss. It was....loud. I got them to RMA that set and they're sending me a new one, which I should have this Thursday. I'll be sure to report back on it.

Comfort-wise they seemed pretty good. I was able to test the mic by recording some XBL messages and it seemed to be clear and sensitive enough. It has the option of turning voice monitoring on or off. I tried with it on and hated it but that's a preference. I also liked the form factor of the amp/decoder. It's small so it can fit just about anywhere. Other than the tremendous amount of hiss the only other complaint I could really give it was that the cable between the inline box and the controller is way too short, but that can be remedied with a new cable.
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post #5061 of 5199
1/15/13 at 10:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jasnmb View Post

Other than the extra clutter, why not hook a headphone amp between your mixamp and headphones instead?

Bd2003 pretty much hit it. smile.gif I did do that a couple of times back when I still had my Fiio E7&E9 -- but the game of "disconnect E9 from PC, carry to media room, hook up line out from Mixamp to line in on E9, go find an extension cord so I can actually plug in the E9 and have it sit close enough I can reach the volume control..." was more hassle than I wanted to deal with on a regular basis. (waah, waah, I want my entertainment NOW tongue.gif )

I could seek out a portable/battery-powered headphone amp, I suppose. But that still wouldn't solve the single source problem (i.e. it'd be really cool to have Dolby Headphone output for not only the XBox 360, but also Blu-Ray player, HTPC, etc). I find that since having kids, I only get to crank things up through my speakers about once a month... so the headhpones see heavy usage!
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post #5062 of 5199
1/15/13 at 10:34am
This looks like a killer deal,no?

http://1saleaday.store.buy.com/p/factory-recertified-turtle-beach-ear-force-xbox-live-chat-w-wireless-7/246707710.html
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post #5063 of 5199
1/15/13 at 11:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tlniec View Post

Bd2003 pretty much hit it. smile.gif I did do that a couple of times back when I still had my Fiio E7&E9 -- but the game of "disconnect E9 from PC, carry to media room, hook up line out from Mixamp to line in on E9, go find an extension cord so I can actually plug in the E9 and have it sit close enough I can reach the volume control..." was more hassle than I wanted to deal with on a regular basis. (waah, waah, I want my entertainment NOW tongue.gif )

I could seek out a portable/battery-powered headphone amp, I suppose. But that still wouldn't solve the single source problem (i.e. it'd be really cool to have Dolby Headphone output for not only the XBox 360, but also Blu-Ray player, HTPC, etc). I find that since having kids, I only get to crank things up through my speakers about once a month... so the headhpones see heavy usage!

If they really see that much usage, I'd highly recommend you find an AVR with good virtual surround. Dolby headphone only tends to be found in the higher end receivers, but even the lower end denon receivers I've used have their own virtual surround, which I thought was pretty good. The positioning is just as good, and it doesn't have any added reverb like DH, but the general sound quality is a little degraded. Then you can use any stereo headset you want, on any source, you just plug right into the headphone jack.

I dunno what inexpensive means to you, but I recently bought an anthem mrx300 for $600ish on eBay, which I absolutely love in every way. Includes DH, of course.
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post #5064 of 5199
1/15/13 at 12:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by biglen View Post

This looks like a killer deal,no?

http://1saleaday.store.buy.com/p/factory-recertified-turtle-beach-ear-force-xbox-live-chat-w-wireless-7/246707710.html

Yes, thats better than when I got the same refurbed headset on Woot for $80...so yeah. Go for it. The only issue I've had is the talk back cable got messy and then started to short out, so I had to order a new one. It only cost $5.95 on their website but its $10 to ship, so $15 out of pocket for the cable, that I will take better care of when it gets here. Don't let it get all tangled up.
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post #5065 of 5199
1/15/13 at 4:50pm
Anyone with the Mixamp Pro 2011 willing to trade for the Mixamp 5.8? I'll ask for the person to pay for my shipping, as the 5.8 is more expensive, more rare, and comes with the rechargeable battery pack which was extra...as well as the PS3 chat cable. All I ask is for the shipping cost to be covered, and I'll call it a done deal. PM me if interested.
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post #5066 of 5199
1/15/13 at 6:46pm
I'm happy with my TB x41s or whatever they are called, but the chat cable went bad, the sound is fine to me. I see a lot of people not high on much more expensive sets, like the Astro 50 and 40s, which are about $200-$300, they can't be that bad? I'm not real picky with the sound, I'm glad I found a way to listen and game where I don't wake up the house so having the head phones is great. I wanted to steup up to a totally wireless set, so I'm looking at the TB 500s and the Astro 50s (are these not total wireless?)
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post #5067 of 5199
1/15/13 at 6:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by biglen View Post

This looks like a killer deal,no?

http://1saleaday.store.buy.com/p/factory-recertified-turtle-beach-ear-force-xbox-live-chat-w-wireless-7/246707710.html

Hard to beat that price.
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post #5068 of 5199
1/16/13 at 7:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by chrisjmccord View Post

I'm happy with my TB x41s or whatever they are called, but the chat cable went bad, the sound is fine to me. I see a lot of people not high on much more expensive sets, like the Astro 50 and 40s, which are about $200-$300, they can't be that bad? I'm not real picky with the sound, I'm glad I found a way to listen and game where I don't wake up the house so having the head phones is great. I wanted to steup up to a totally wireless set, so I'm looking at the TB 500s and the Astro 50s (are these not total wireless?)

If you're happy with the set why don't you just pick up a new chat cable?
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post #5069 of 5199
1/16/13 at 3:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bbexperience View Post

If you're happy with the set why don't you just pick up a new chat cable?

I did. It was delivered to my next door neighbor by accident, lol, got it today. But I don't really like the cable that went bad, its sure to go bad again.
So I've been shopping for a full wireless solution, thats all.
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post #5070 of 5199
1/16/13 at 3:59pm
There are two fully wireless solutions (for the 360):

1) The tritton warheads, which at $299, are outrageously expensive for how mediocre they sound.
2) The TB XP400s are also wireless, a lot less expensive ($199) and also feature mediocre sound, in a different way. They're fully wireless through a Bluetooth dongle that plugs into your controller, although I found the voice quality to be questionable.

I really wanted a fully wireless solution, but the compromises were just too great. You can find much better gear for much less if you can tolerate the chat cable. Or just play more ps3 games, most headsets that require the chat cable for 360 are fully wireless on ps3.
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