5.1 Dolby Digital headset recommendations ?

paulst10

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Having spent a good few hours trying to research the variety of 5 or 7.1 headsets I am still none the wiser :(

The best I can find (that most rate highly) are these Astro A40 Audio System | A40 Headset & Mixamp | AstroGaming.com .. but sadly a little more than I would like to pay, so could anyone recommend a more reasonably priced set ?

Not really interested in stereo so must be Dolby Digital and not Dolby Surround sets :smashin:
 
The Astro's you link to are stereo headphones, with the mixamp, which uses Dolby Headphone, they do virtual surround.
I found them a little flat, and far more expensive that I felt they should be, definitely in the average sound quality list, IMO.
Paying for a name/MLG logo on them, i feel more than anything.

The mixamp with any decent set of cans would be a fine purchase, albeit you might not get ones with a mic, but you could always go with the Turtle Beach PX21's, and a DSS(Turtle Beach's version of the mixamp).
Has one less input, but has bass boost, and sound field widen as extra options, and the PX21's have bass boost too, and really do pack a punch overall.
You could also pair the DSS with a pair of cans too, but TB sell these as a pack/bundle.
You can get both for just under £100 from amazon, or try lime, but they are out of stock at the mo'.

Turtle Beach Ear Force Universal Gaming Headset Bundle DPX21 with Dolby Surround Sound (Xbox 360/PS3/Windows XP/Vista/7): Amazon.co.uk: PC & Video Games

Turtle Beach Ear Force DPX21
 
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I'm also looking for a headset and so far have highlighted a couple of good ones that you may be interested in :
Turtle Beach px3 / px5
Tritton ax720 / ax pro
Sony official headset

The option RottenFox has mentioned also sounds very good too .
 
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Thanks for the options, I will look into each :smashin:

Just a bit curious as to how good these mix amps are at creating a genuine surround experience and how much difference it makes compared to same headphones without ?
 
Just bought the Turtle Beach PX5's from simplyelectronics.net (cheapest deal I could find) for £150.00 delivered and they are great. The finish and overall build quality of this set is excellent, the sound quality is very good especially considering that I have only had them a couple of days so they are not even run in yet!

They are very comfortable and are full of features, far too many to list here, one of the big plus points for me was the fact that they are customizable and upgradable with software updates so in theory they are future proof.
Head over to Turtle Beach's web site and watch the promo video for them which gives a good idea of what they are capable of.

Cheers,

Oddbodd.
 
Thanks again lads, I still keep going back to the Astro website and nearly pulled the trigger last night with the intention of ordering the wired A40 with mixamp. I was put off only by the fact the free headset carry case is out of stock :)

At the moment I think my interest in the Astro's is purely due to their reputation and I was hoping that if I bought the better / more expensive set first I won't be left wondering whether I made the right choice which I'm sure many here can understand :D

The one thing putting me off the Turtle Beach PX5 is that it uses the 2.4ghz wireless that many have experienced interference of some form or another.

The Tritton AX Pro seem to have a few build quality issues from what I have heard on some Youtube reviews and also the cable setup put me off a bit, although the multi driver array in each earpiece seems interesting and what I would expect from a headset delivering multi channel sound.

Not sure about the official PS3 wireless headset as it seems early days still.

The Astro A40 wireless uses the 5.8ghz wireless but seem a little too 'wired' IMO, and the fact that the headsets mixamp control needs batteries or their optional re-chargeable battery plus an optional PS3 chat cable and the price starts to increase rapidly.

So it seems I am back to square one again and I still remain a little dubious about how good the virtual surround is on these headsets compared to a 5.1 home theatre system (my own for example) ?? :rolleyes:
 
Thanks again lads, I still keep going back to the Astro website and nearly pulled the trigger last night with the intention of ordering the wired A40 with mixamp. I was put off only by the fact the free headset carry case is out of stock :)

At the moment I think my interest in the Astro's is purely due to their reputation and I was hoping that if I bought the better / more expensive set first I won't be left wondering whether I made the right choice which I'm sure many here can understand :D

The one thing putting me off the Turtle Beach PX5 is that it uses the 2.4ghz wireless that many have experienced interference of some form or another.

The Tritton AX Pro seem to have a few build quality issues from what I have heard on some Youtube reviews and also the cable setup put me off a bit, although the multi driver array in each earpiece seems interesting and what I would expect from a headset delivering multi channel sound.

Not sure about the official PS3 wireless headset as it seems early days still.

The Astro A40 wireless uses the 5.8ghz wireless but seem a little too 'wired' IMO, and the fact that the headsets mixamp control needs batteries or their optional re-chargeable battery plus an optional PS3 chat cable and the price starts to increase rapidly.

So it seems I am back to square one again and I still remain a little dubious about how good the virtual surround is on these headsets compared to a 5.1 home theatre system (my own for example) ?? :rolleyes:

Hi,

I'm very much in the same boat as you in that i really need some headfones as my previous pair broke. I want it for PS3 and pc mainly, gamin on ps3 and tunes on pc.

from what i've read i fancy these headphones:Sennheiser HD 518 or the Cresyn with a wireless mixamp so i can get full DD from my ps3 but seeing the Turtle beach DPX21 i'm wondering if i need to spend that much money. But the wirelessness of the mixamp is a big plus and voice chat without a seperate mic attachment (if thats even possible??) is good too.

Am i right in thinkin the dpx21's can be used for just music of my pc?

Cheers,

Sun
 
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The Astro's you link to are stereo headphones, with the mixamp, which uses Dolby Headphone, they do virtual surround.
I found them a little flat, and far more expensive that I felt they should be, definitely in the average sound quality list, IMO.
Paying for a name/MLG logo on them, i feel more than anything.

Thanks Scott, when did you try the A40's ? as I've heard the 2011 versions were drastically improved over the older 2010 series.

Hi,

I'm very much in the same boat as you in that i really need some headfones as my previous pair broke. I want it for PS3 and pc mainly, gamin on ps3 and tunes on pc.

Am i right in thinkin the dpx21's can be used for just music of my pc?

I believe they do and the various setup options are listed a little down the page here Turtle Beach Ear Force Universal Gaming Headset Bundle DPX21 with Dolby Surround Sound (Xbox 360/PS3/Windows XP/Vista/7): Amazon.co.uk: PC & Video Games
 
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Thanks Scott, when did you try the A40's ? as I've heard the 2011 versions were drastically improved over the older 2010 series.



I believe they do and the various setup options are listed a little down the page here Turtle Beach Ear Force Universal Gaming Headset Bundle DPX21 with Dolby Surround Sound (Xbox 360/PS3/Windows XP/Vista/7): Amazon.co.uk: PC & Video Games

Yep so it does, thanks. Another question really is can i have the DSS connected to my ps3 and my pc at the same time via the analogue connection on it or will i have to unplug and plug in between them??

I'm very close to ordering them but people mention the hissing on it which is kinda puttin me off.

The Turtle Beach DSS seems like a good cheaper alternative to the astros mixamp from everything i've read.
 
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Just throwing another make out there, have you considered the Sharkoons Digital? 5.1 sound and very good. Not used them myself (although they are on my xmas list) but most of the guys I game with use them and they rave about them.
 
Just throwing another make out there, have you considered the Sharkoons Digital? 5.1 sound and very good. Not used them myself (although they are on my xmas list) but most of the guys I game with use them and they rave about them.

I have heard of them throughout my research, but many report the mic stopped working after x amount of time which put me off a little.

One thing I would like to know is.. do the multiple speaker headsets sound that much better than a more expensive headset that only uses two speakers ? (in terms of creating a more authentic surround experience)


Edit: this looks very interesting but doesn't look console compatible :(
http://www.razerzone.com/tiamat/en/features#tiamat71

 
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Thanks Scott, when did you try the A40's ? as I've heard the 2011 versions were drastically improved over the older 2010 series.

That would be this year mate, I just found they had an uninteresting sound, flat almost.

Your paying for a name associated with MLG(major league gaming), more than anything else.
A mixamp, or DSS(which I prefer, as it has bass boost and sound field wideners, as features), with a pair of Senns with no mic, or another set of cans with a mic, would not only save you cash, but sound better.
Sure they look nice, but in no way are they near the best.

I've had Sharkoon's X-tatic V3's which at the time I thought were ok, but they really aren't, IMO(and it's only IMO), as the positional still sounds like it comes from the sides, more than rear, and they don't have the best sound either.

Also tried an older set of X41's and they were ok, but the 2.4ghz had perpetual hiss.

The Sharkoon's also had a background noise, but in the shape of a "bleeping" noise, very annoying, and yeah, reports of mics failing, etc.

I went and got the mixamp, and Astros, and got rid of them within a few days, and did without for a while, till I tried the DSS, and picked up the PX21's at the same time, for around £100.

And that's what I've stuck with, the PX21's, DSS, sometimes, my in ear Senns from my ipod, a bargain from HMV not so long ago, which sound great, and a set of Sony MDR-XD200 that are around £15 or so, and sound a lot more expensive.

I've tried the Razor Chimaera's, (similar to the video, except they look more like the Razer Megalodon ), for a few rounds of BF3, using them at a friends house, and they are good, and work on PS3/Xbox 360, but I couldn't see myself buying them, they say 8 hours battery life, but his are lucky to get near that, and in his house, they again had an annoying background sound.

If you want to try out Dolby Headphone tech, just plug a pair of headphones, or earphones into your pc, or phone or whatever, and open Youtube, and search for the Dolby Headphone test vids.
That'll give you some idea of what to expect.
And the THX - Amazing Life trailer sounds immense too.
 
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Thanks mate, very helpful :smashin:

You know, I am almost tempted to just try the new official PS3 wireless headset.. I know it's only a virtual surround and probably won't sound as good to what I could achieve mix n matching but the PS3 headset sells itself on convenience alone IMO plus the benefit of no wires at all :eek:

Assuming the wireless remains interference free :rolleyes:

Have you tried one of these yet mate ?
 
I disagree. There is nothing inconvenient about the dpx21. Just a question of 1x optical out and 1x USB connections.

No charging, no potential interference of wifi.
 
I disagree. There is nothing inconvenient about the dpx21. Just a question of 1x optical out and 1x USB connections.

No charging, no potential interference of wifi.

Not sure who you disagree with as I fail to see any mention of the DPX21 being inconvenient to anyone.. are you sure you're in the right thread ? :)
 
It's implied by the ps3 headset being convenient. No offence is intended. Just expressing the inconvenience of the wired ones boils down to two wires.
 
It's implied by the ps3 headset being convenient. No offence is intended. Just expressing the inconvenience of the wired ones boils down to two wires.

Ah sorry, I wasn't implying that wired was inconvenient, just that the PS3 set is just a wireless dongle & a headset, no wires, just simple (assuming it works) which will sell itself IMO :)

If it wasn't for Scott's opinion, I would probably be sitting here awaiting delivery of the Astro A40 wired or wireless which should give you an idea of my stance on convenience over quality as I liked everything about them except the price :D. It's just in the few days researching I feel like I'm going round in circles and the convenience factor is starting to take over when you consider the 'cons' of most systems (be it needing batteries or re-chargeable units and additional cables at extra cost, build quality issues and failure rates)

I did find what I thought would be a good match (TurtleBeach DSS & Sennheiser PC 360 headset only to find that the Sennhesier uses two 3.5mm cables for the headphones and mic. Which I am not sure they will connect up to the DSS using a PS3 ???
 
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That would be this year mate, I just found they had an uninteresting sound, flat almost.

Your paying for a name associated with MLG(major league gaming), more than anything else.
A mixamp, or DSS(which I prefer, as it has bass boost and sound field wideners, as features), with a pair of Senns with no mic, or another set of cans with a mic, would not only save you cash, but sound better.
Sure they look nice, but in no way are they near the best.

I've had Sharkoon's X-tatic V3's which at the time I thought were ok, but they really aren't, IMO(and it's only IMO), as the positional still sounds like it comes from the sides, more than rear, and they don't have the best sound either.

Also tried an older set of X41's and they were ok, but the 2.4ghz had perpetual hiss.

The Sharkoon's also had a background noise, but in the shape of a "bleeping" noise, very annoying, and yeah, reports of mics failing, etc.

I went and got the mixamp, and Astros, and got rid of them within a few days, and did without for a while, till I tried the DSS, and picked up the PX21's at the same time, for around £100.

And that's what I've stuck with, the PX21's, DSS, sometimes, my in ear Senns from my ipod, a bargain from HMV not so long ago, which sound great, and a set of Sony MDR-XD200 that are around £15 or so, and sound a lot more expensive.

I've tried the Razor Chimaera's, (similar to the video, except they look more like the Razer Megalodon ), for a few rounds of BF3, using them at a friends house, and they are good, and work on PS3/Xbox 360, but I couldn't see myself buying them, they say 8 hours battery life, but his are lucky to get near that, and in his house, they again had an annoying background sound.

If you want to try out Dolby Headphone tech, just plug a pair of headphones, or earphones into your pc, or phone or whatever, and open Youtube, and search for the Dolby Headphone test vids.
That'll give you some idea of what to expect.
And the THX - Amazing Life trailer sounds immense too.

Hi Rottenfox,

One question regarding the DPX21s, is it possible to have it hooked up with the ps3 and your pc at the sametime, it doesnt have to work at the same time but just havin it connected to save you having to switch between each platform?

Thanks,
 
Thanks mate, very helpful :smashin:

You know, I am almost tempted to just try the new official PS3 wireless headset.. I know it's only a virtual surround and probably won't sound as good to what I could achieve mix n matching but the PS3 headset sells itself on convenience alone IMO plus the benefit of no wires at all :eek:

Assuming the wireless remains interference free :rolleyes:

Have you tried one of these yet mate ?

The DSS is "virtual" too, turns an optical 5.1 signal into virtual 7.1.

The one thing that put me off the official set, well more than one, is :

It's licensed, not Sony built, and just feels a bit cheap.
and
Stereo in everything but games.

The sounds ok though, but not amazing.
 
Hi Rottenfox,

One question regarding the DPX21s, is it possible to have it hooked up with the ps3 and your pc at the sametime, it doesnt have to work at the same time but just havin it connected to save you having to switch between each platform?

Thanks,

You could connect the PC's line out, to the DSS's analogue line in(next to the optical input on the DSS), or if your pc has optical out, then an optical switch, and an extra optical lead would let you connect them both, and just flick the switch to change inputs.

And from there, just connect the PX21's as normal, to the DSS.
 
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The DSS is "virtual" too, turns an optical 5.1 signal into virtual 7.1.

The one thing that put me off the official set, well more than one, is :

It's licensed, not Sony built, and just feels a bit cheap.
and
Stereo in everything but games.

The sounds ok though, but not amazing.

Thanks, showing my age here, but I dug out my old Microsoft Gamevoice headset that I used to use for Counter Strike and took your advice testing Dolby Headphone and was quite impressed with that :smashin:

I also noticed that my Marantz receiver has Dolby Headphone but all I am lacking is a 6.35mm - 3.5mm jack plug (which I have just ordered from ebay) and this should keep me going for the time being while I decide which route to take :)
 
Cheers for the reply RottenFox.

Well just a heads up really, I bit the bullet and bought the DSPX21 this arvo and have been using them for the past few hours on BF3.

First thoughts: my ears are really hot lol after just a couple of hours and as i wear glasses i find its a bit uncomfortable, i did try extending the "earmuffs" but then its too loose.

Build wise the PX21s are alright, seem fairly well built and the wires are all pretty long if thats a concern and all necessary cables are in the pack for ps3 and xbox if you have a multi system.

Sound wise they again are alright. This is my first headset and i'm slightly underwhelmed . The sound stage is also ok and the "directionalness" of the sound via the virtual 5.1/7.1 isnt that great but this is only speaking from my subjective experience, maybe compared to others these are good?

I've tried both settings within BF3 for headfones and Wartapes, the latter being a bit more "bassy". On the actual DSS its easy to set up but hard to explain settings as its jus all dials. On the actual inline controller i had a play with the Expander on and off, i couldnt really discern much difference (maybe my ears are jus shot from too many DnB gigs)

Also there is an ever present hiss in the cans which is quiet annoying, not very noticeable when gaming/movies but i can still hear it but maybe i'll be able to jus get use it to after a while? but this is now givin me second thoughts on returning them as they are uncomfortable for long periods and the hiss.

Will test the rest of the week and see how they bed in but like Paulst10 i'm seriously considering the Sony Wireless ones now.

If i bought the DSS on its own and some sennheisers would there still be the hiss? is it the input(ps3) or the DSS that maybe creating the hiss as i turned all the volumes to 0 so it cant be the headfones right?

Hope this helps anyone looking at this setup.

Sun
 
Sound wise they again are alright. This is my first headset and i'm slightly underwhelmed . The sound stage is also ok and the "directionalness" of the sound via the virtual 5.1/7.1 isnt that great but this is only speaking from my subjective experience, maybe compared to others these are good?

Could you do me a favour.. try plugging the 3.5mm headphone jack into your TV's headphone socket, and assuming you have Black Ops or a COD game, try adjusting the audio settings to surround headphones (quiet or loud) and see if it compares to the DSS unit ?

I have tested my Microsoft headset direct to the TV with the above settings in Black Ops and I'm not massively impressed and was wondering if adding a DSS unit will make much difference ? There is a surround effect as I tested it on Kowloon with the chickens and various other noise generating points in other maps and the surround does work but it's not as accurate or locatable as I thought it would be.

So does the in game surround being activated at all compare to a dedicated surround device ? If anyone could try on their TV (nearly all have them) it would be much appreciated :thumbsup:
 
5un, the sound in BF3, whilst great, isn't the best for positional, it's too convoluted, and all the settings like home theatre, headphones, war tapes, etc don't help.
I could swear war tapes is stereo, as whilst loud and bassy, there's little to no positional on it.
War tapes is just deafening sometimes.
You picked a bad game to test it on.

The sound on Blops isn't great either, Paul..it was borked from release. :laugh:
but hearing peoples footsteps is the best indicator.

I've got mine set to home theatre, as headphones is a bit to quiet, and the others are poor.

As to the hiss, that could be the voice feedback thing, I'm sure, when you hear yourself in your own headset.
Try muting the mic, trying another usb socket, or turning up the chat vol. on PS3, and turn it down on the headset.(one bit of Turtle Beach's advice)
They also advise trying it on a pc, in case of defective usb or chat interface.

On the noise issue, I've got a hub that squeals, when connecting them, but directly into my 360 is quiet, and my ps3 also.
 
Cheers for the reply RottenFox.


If i bought the DSS on its own and some sennheisers would there still be the hiss? is it the input(ps3) or the DSS that maybe creating the hiss as i turned all the volumes to 0 so it cant be the headfones right?

Hope this helps anyone looking at this setup.

Sun

Sun, the DSS unit does have background hiss, its not that bad and only noticable in quiet moments. I have also owned an Astro Mixamp which has no hiss at all so maybe thats the one you would want to go for...?
 

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