What gaming headphones to buy? - Page 105

What are you talking about? I can turn the small knob to the left and completely eliminate voice. If I turn it to the right it eliminates game sound and all I can hear is voice. Is that what you're talking about or do you mean actually amplifying the voice?

Oh, ok. I read the rest of the last page and understand what you mean.

No, you are right. I tried it on both chat setting ("headset" and "both"), but must have over looked turning the small knob all the way to the left when on "headset" only. I just tried it, and it indeed turned the voice chat volume completely off. The only problem is, for me having it set to "headset" only doesn't give close to enough chat volume. I have to set it to "both" to make the voice chat volume loud enough. And when it is set to "both", turning the small knob all the way left doesn't lower the voice chat volume. Sorry for the confusion to everyone.

And on a side note... the buzzing that i first experienced when turning the small knob further left is back, and louder then ever. I'm going to have the mixamp replaced, and see if that helps. I sure hope it does, because i'm loving that little thing for gaming. I just have to have complete dead silence when the sound is silent.

Just won the Beyerdynamic DT480. They are very rare. Circ 1972. No info on them on the web, minus ebay, & a few threads on Head fi.. But a user review impressed me enough to purchase one.. 100.

Nice, bro. Let use know how they are.

I'm thinking about getting a pair of Monster Turbine IEM's. They being made by Monster has me a bit concerned, but they have been getting great review on Head-Fi. I'm looking into getting a decent pair of IEM's for $150. Who would have guessed that Monster could make a good product for a reasonable price?

Wouldn't suprise me much.. I think the Beats by Dre sounds very good, especially for a wireless headphone with ANC circuitry. They better the DT770 pro 250 ohm headphone in my opinion. I found some new info about the dual driver 280/290. It seems like the 280 has the drivers in the middle and on top of each other. But the 290 has one driver in the front and one in the back, so the surround feel is more apparant with a larger and wider sound field..3d imaging should be fantastic. And the 290s are a significant upgrade over the 280 in terms of SQ too. So another phone on my most wanted list..K290/K270 play back/K140/K501/DT100/XB700/ K601/K702/DT 880 03 or 880 600 ohm/990 05 600 ohm.......Pro 900/W5000 for the more expensive ones.

Ok so i got the astros and i am very impressed, but to actually hear the voice i have to turn the voice nob almost all the way to the end. is this normal? i have my xbox 360voice set up to hear from headset. If this is normal then is all good, but i just want to make sure...

Something is definitely weird.. I run a sound mix with the knob turned 2/3's of the way towards voice.. and can hear my teammates very clear. I also have the master volume set between 7-8..

try setting it to "both" (xbox voice options)

for the price, someone may want to expiriment with one of these



http://us.creative.com/products/prod...421f0fp0c0s622

cnet review: http://reviews.cnet.com/external-aud...-32105686.html

I have to do the same thing, and the voice chat still isn't enough when set to 'headset' only. I have to set it it 'both' to get sufficient chat sound lvl. But then again, i'm using the DT880 250ohm headphone.

So just for team chat purposes of course, but I seriously want to get one of these for my set-up. Overkill, perhaps, but it's still pretty B.A. Though I probably don't need the PTT adapter for snipers. The only thing I would change would be trying to find a behind-the-ear headphone instead of the included earbud. I don't like having an ear covered up when relying on surround sound. Now if only I could justify $80 on a mic for my 360.

http://www.iasus-concepts.com/nt/nt-3.htm

P.S. I just noticed they also make an adapter for my cellphone...sweet!

Those Astro A40s sound really really awesome. I just moved to my girlfriend's apartment and while I have a room for my PC and consoles (truly something to be thankful for, I know many who are not so lucky), the room is really too small to hook up my surround sound system at the moment. So a setup with A40s might be a good replacement.

Do it #1Laing.. you wont regret it.

Only thing I regret is not buying them earlier!!

Astros will come with enough connections to hook up to your pc as well.

I've found the "right" mix varies by game as the audio seems to be mixed differently by title.

True. But you don't really need to mess with the Master volume, large knob. Just set it, then adjust the small knob accordingly to each game.

I gotta be honest.. all I play is COD4.. so I wouldnt even know how the audio sounds in other games

For gaming I recommend the Astro Gaming A40 make sure you get the mixer unit to virtualize your 5.1 sound from the optical or digital coax port.

If your just gonna play Single player games with no mic or watch a 5.1 movie. Pair up the Sennheiser HD595 with the A40 mixer unit. Sounds great and the headphone is quite comfortable too.

You really need to get/play CoD:WaW then. All i used to play is CoD4, but i'm enjoying WaW a lot more, now.

I'll have to check to see what my settings are set to. I know that I DO have to set the chat knob about 2/3 towards voice to hear voices clearly. I don't have an issue with adjusting the knob, of course I sit right next to the mix amp.

I didn't read the thread...but

this place is dead!! Happy Friday

question:

Saw this:


so if I get an adapter for the "mic" part and then another adapter for the headphone port on my receiver, will this work.

Big fan of Plantronics but it's still not 7.1 right? Since it's probably only 1 speaker per headphone? arg!

*posting this in the headphone thread as well*

had them for 2 days. That's enough time to evaluate them.

Build Quality
These might be a NOS pair. The headphone & cable look pristine.. But the foam covering the drivers literally dissolved when I wore them. I guess 36 yrs will do that. The drivers are protected by a metal casing with several pin prick holes. They are steel heavy, & feel like most good 70's electronics, built to last. They do look like the DT150 but the pads are not as big & cumbersome. The cable is a 6 pin XLR to 1/4 I believe. Easy to plug in. The box is also in good shape considering it's age. These headphones are heavy, & you really need to find the sweet spot to get the most benefit.

Beyerdynamic DT480 Vintage Headphones Beyer DT 480 - eBay (item 120373102145 end time Mar-29-09 12:42:35 PDT)

Growing pains

When I first got the headphones the left channel seemed dead. No sound!! I played with the small wires near the headband, above the left ear cup. I'm getting crackling, then the left channel has sound!! But I notice a huge channel imbalance.. The left side sounds weaker then the right. I played music.. Sounded a bit drab & murky. Ok, was this a 100.00 dud?

I doubt these headphones have been used to any great length. The seller states that he 'found' them, & they work. Like a old car, they needed to get warmed up a bit.. So, I listen for a good 2 hrs on Wed & on Thursday I was listening again, when, again, no sound from the left channel.. Then I heard some drop out & crackling, then boom.. The left driver came to life.. More powerful then before.. They opened up.. Channel imbalance seems to cured, or at least not as severe..

Sound Quality

Ok.. If Beyerdynamics & AKG had a love child it would be the DT480's.. They are a hybrid between the DT48 & AKG Sextetts, sharing many of their strengths, but not as good as either DT48/AKG 240 sextett individually.. The overall sound is dark.. No real treble emphasis like the 770/880/990.. I did EQ the treble to brighten up the DT480, and to give them some life.

The musicality is unique. There is like a sheen or gloss around the instruments & singer, but I find it very appealing to my ears. Some frequencies seem to be over extended or inflated.. When watching a movie, sound effects were ultra crisp in a artificial way, but I still liked it. In Blu Ray terms, it's like post processing was added to remove film grain, to get a 'better', sharper picture. Notes tend to be suspended.. I was listening to Fist of Rage by Kid Rock.. In parts of the song there are heavy guitar riffs. The guitar riff seemed to be suspended in air, eye level or slightly above me. Like it was posing for a snap shot, then slowly faded into oblivion. This characteristic was strong in Fist of Rage, not so with other songs I tested.

There also seems to be a slight & subtle reverb effect, reminiscent of DH.. I found it good for chamber music & vocals.. For movies, IE planet Terror, I never heard foot steps & gun shots like this before.. The 480s definitely add their own flavor into the sound. Like the DT48, they are very picky with the source, maybe even more so then the DT48.. Some songs sound closed in, congested & drab. With a good source they show excellent clarity & nice dynamics.

Round up
The 480 has the analytical quality of the DT48, & the musicality of the 240 sextett. Detail is very good, on par or better then the DT48. But must A/B the two before I come to my final conclusion. These are closed cans, & the sound stage suffers accordingly.. The size is about average, not extremely accurate or balanced, but fun.. The mid range is very good.. Another good headphone for vocals, which seem to be a Beyer trade mark with their older headphones. Bass is grumpy.. & needs a little push to deliver, can sound half hearted at times.. But again, very source dependant. Bass is not bad per say.. But lacks the texture definition I'm accustomed to..

yes, it'll work, a guy uses them here at work for skype, he says/thinks they're really nice.

IMO you'd be better off using them with a mixamp though!


another note, all the good surround gaming setups are 1 driver per headphone... multi-driver setups suck.

i'd also read the reviews on that headset, you may be able to find something better with a mic around that price range.

True. But there are exceptions. The quad phones from the 70's. The AKG 270 playback. The AKG 280 Parabolic.. And the best one, the AKG K290 surround, which had one driver in front and another in the back. You might want to put the Sennheiser surround in this category as well.

I'm looking for a good set of headphones. I will be going on vacation and can not take my home theater with me. So I want to have good quality sound with me in some form. I will be proabably be using them mostly for my Zune player and PSP. I wouldn't mind using them for my PC when I'm at home, or even hooking it up to my receiver late at night.

I was looking at the Sennheiser HD-280 and HD-550. I like the design of the 280 more, but I really want to go with the better one of the two. They are very comparable in price at Amazon, so I was wondering which would be better of the two. Or are there better choices at around that $100 price range?

EDIT: Well now I'm debating on the AD700s or A700s...

Well I bit the bullet and bought the A700s from Amazon and they are on their way now. I will receive them some time on Monday morning. I'll report back!

ok guys ready to move on to next pair of headphones..I like the RX900's they have lots of bass and impact and after modding them the highs are a bit better, they work great for gaming and movie watching but to muddy for music for me. So my next set will either by the ATH AD700's or Senn. HD555's anyone have any recommendations between the two? I just got into FLAC audio so ready to make a new move, I suppose I may use them for gaming but I like the isolation the RX900's provide for that.

I just ordered the Astro A40 set and am sure this will suit my casual gamer needs, audio-wise (been using a crappy pair of $25 cans I got a RadioShack years ago... ). However, I'm a little confused about how to integrate the mixamp into my configuration; my 360 (and PS3) both output audio and video via HDMI to an Onkyo 805, which then outputs to my TV (again, via HDMI). In order to use the A40, will it be necessary to unplug the HDMI cables from my consoles and use component/optical outputs on them, instead? Can the 360 Elite output audio over optical and video over HDMI simultaneously? The guide for the A40 recommends connecting it to an optical out on the AV receiver in a home theater setup, but unfortunately the 805 only outputs to optical those signals it receives over optical; no HDMI in to optical out (at least, this is what I've read).

I have the 805 as well.

Here is what I do (did). I hooked up the component cable to another of my TV's input and then attached the optical for the mixamp to that same dongle thingie. Now, If I want to use the headphones to play xbox, I just switch out the HDMI for that component thing that came with the xbox. IThis setup completely eliminates the Onkyo, and really, you don't need it. The mixamp is the amp anyway.

if I want to go back to surrond and no headphones, just switch back the HDMI into the xbox.

Now I guess, if you wanted always headphones and no surround ever, you could try using the REC out on the Onkyo. But I don't know if you can run HDMI in and record out. You would probably have to go compenent in and out again anyway.

For me, this was easiest, plus I have a Harmony remote so I assigned 2 activities, 1 for headphones, 1 without.

I've read you can modify the xbox Component dongle thing and have them both in the same time but I didn't want to deal with it.