Gamers, What's Your Audio Set Up?

The_Arbiter said:
Talk about a big desk :D

How are you using PC and PS5 with G6, changing the USB cable each time?
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I'll be honest - this is my near future set up (waiting on a solid wood counter top to be delivered for the desk - 180x100 cm). Yeah, it'll be a bit of a pain swapping USB on the G6. For the PS5 I'd plug the headphones directly into the DualSense except the quality is noticeably worse.
 
ShiWarrior said:
just going back over a couple of pages

@Timber and Co, i have DT770 PRO 250 Ohm version, ive had these for a few years now, and i dont feel im getting the best sound from them
although I game mostly, they are connected directly to my Xonar Essence STX soundcard, how could i make a change to something better to "feel" a difference ? i assume, get rid of the sound car and get a dac/amp ? if so which one would make a difference ? Thanks
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I think that's a subjective and difficult question to answer. I'll certainly try and give some thoughts based on being tagged, although there may be more knowledgeable posters who can answer this question better than me.

I don't have the DT 770's or Essence STX (although I own a pair of DT 990 Pros and one time an ASUS Phoebus - not that comparable) but from what I know of that soundcard, there should be no problems driving those headphones. And despite being old, it still has a good spec. I imagine that buying an £100-200 AMP/DAC risks very minimal (or no) improvement in sound quality. Although there are certainly a wide range or DAC/AMPs in the £100-200 range that might be a very small improvement in clarity. Or to put it another way, lots of good choices, if and when you did decide to move on.

Main uses, budget, headphones and future headphone plans are all going to impact whether it's worth changing the soundcard.

Obviously as you say you mostly game, so there will advantages to a soundcard that a pure DAC/AMP isn't going to be able to offer. For example I currently have a Fiio K5 Pro and Creative SoundblasterX G6 and whilst there is little between them in quality, the G6 has more choice; i.e. VSS for non-3D audio and microphone if I need it (might not be relevant if you have a USB Mic). Equally any external DAC, AMP or Soundcard does offer features an internal soundcard won't and is one of the reasons I moved on from my Creative ZxR years ago. As I spent more time gaming across my consoles and PC and needed a dynamic setup.
 
Random Guy Esq. said:
I'll be honest - this is my near future set up (waiting on a solid wood counter top to be delivered for the desk - 180x100 cm). Yeah, it'll be a bit of a pain swapping USB on the G6. For the PS5 I'd plug the headphones directly into the DualSense except the quality is noticeably worse.
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Oh, nice!
Yeah controller to headphones is always going to be a bit naf. The simplest thing you could go for in terms of cables would be the one monitor/TV with a non processing audio out (spdif/optical lightly), to some active monitor speakers. USB and RCA is also supported by some speakers, whether USB is recognised by the PS5 i don't know but i've read a few instances that USB DACs are supported. But i would not presume all digital audio from PS5 is supported.

With this setup you still have the issue of good headphone support as using the headphone out on the TV/monitor means changing port if using 2x screens, and/or the quality won't be great. So using a DAC that supports surround sound into stereo headphone conversion with USB in for PS5 and optical in from PC if your motherboard has that, otherwise it's pure stereo rca.

There's the route of AV receiver which supports everything, except hdmi 2.1 is causing problems still. None of this would be an issue if next gen consoles still had audio out via optical/coax. However with those you don't get uncompressed audio, which is a small price to pay for 4k/120hz support imo. The AVR eliminates changing settings on PS5/PC when you want to change output as you'll just either choose HP out or speakers via a phone app or remote control for the AVR, mine merely changes based on if headphones are plugged in or not.

I also forgot to mention there's the Creative X7, it's a little pricey in the sense than you can get other audio equipment like a fully fledged AVR at a similar price, but it does offer a built in mic (lightly doesn't work with PS5 unless you can go PS5 controller mic in splitter (if that exists like on Xbox One) to mic input on X7), active and passive speaker support, strong headphone amp, in a compact unit. Again, unknown to me if PS5's USB will support it, and you'll need optical out on your motherboard.
 
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The_Arbiter said:
whether USB is recognised by the PS5 i don't know but i've read a few instances that USB DACs are supported. But i would not presume all digital audio from PS5 is supported.
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Just to help out the PS5, like the PS4, supports USB Audio Class 1 devices. So DAC/AMPs like the Creative SoundblasterX G3 or G6, Fiio E10K will work with the PS5 (and its 3D Tempest audio). UAC2 devices like the Fiio K5 Pro or Soundblaster X7 etc. won't work over USB with the PS5.

At the moment if using an HDMI or optical connection from a TV to a receiver or DAC/AMP there is no support for PS5's 3D Tempest audio. Although you can still extract 5.1 or Stereo fine.
 
@Timber Legend. I might make a thread in sound city at some point to compile what's actually viable, most stuff gets buried in the various console threads. It's like there's PC and console are further moving apart in the AV world in regards to what's actually available right now despite manufactures stating what they're trying to deliver.


@Random Guy Esq. also forgot to mention, you can use software to stream easy enough now, provided your PC has enough power. Not sure if external capture cards are worth it in your case as expensive, and current consoles i'd like to think shouldn't suffer in performance with current gaming. In many years as games utilise all the available hardware may change this, but i'm merely speculating based on what happens when consoles get more mature.
 
Arcane said:
I just caved in and bought the Penrose X. There's no issue with my Steelseries Arctis 9x but it's payday and I fancied something new, should arrive tomorrow.
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Love mine, zero issues at all - have never got a low battery warning even with 6-7 hour gaming sessions (I charge after every session with the PS5 charging).
 
The_Arbiter said:
@Timber Legend. I might make a thread in sound city at some point to compile what's actually viable, most stuff gets buried in the various console threads. It's like there's PC and console are further moving apart in the AV world in regards to what's actually available right now despite manufactures stating what they're trying to deliver
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No worries. With regards to headphones and headsets it's unfortunate that it is much easier to get higher quality sound out of the PS4 and Xbox One. Sony and Microsoft are controlling the accessories to increase licensing revenue. Which is a shame.
 
after carefully reading through all of this thread, I am seriously no further forward, I'm using the onboard sound on my maximus ix, and a pair of logitech G933's so I know it won't be hard to improve on that .
I listen to music, game , etc like most people, budget isn't an issue, but not looking to spend ridiculous amounts £1000 for the lot would probably be my ceiling but could be tempted if there was something special out there.
half of the kit mentioned on here seems to be nil stock at the moment too, things ive looked at a schiit dac/amp combo, with maybe a pair of dt990's and buy a set of 701's for fps only .
the dac / amp seems to be the hard one as well, g6, ae5 hmmm decisions decisions. all advice is welcome thanks in advance
 
magpie1966 said:
I listen to music, game , etc like most people, budget isn't an issue, but not looking to spend ridiculous amounts £1000 for the lot would probably be my ceiling but could be tempted if there was something special out there.
half of the kit mentioned on here seems to be nil stock at the moment too, things ive looked at a schiit dac/amp combo, with maybe a pair of dt990's and buy a set of 701's for fps only .
the dac / amp seems to be the hard one as well, g6, ae5 hmmm decisions decisions. all advice is welcome thanks in advance
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If non competitive fps games and/or don't require perfect positional sound, you can rule out gaming headsets, and open back headphones are no longer a requirement.

Sound style preferences is merely guess work based on research, everyone hears different to some extent. Music genres can sound more preferable on with different brands.

Soundcard again depends on if you want perfect surround or not.

You could spend £200 and be happy. You could spend £1000 and be just as happy. The thing with going straight from the bottom to the top is you will never know how much improvement was gained along the way.

Still no help i know, point being, just jump right in with something affordable :)
 
I run USB out of my PC to the following equipment:

Wyred 4 Sound DAC-2
Wyred 4 Sound W4S STP-SE Preamp
Mjolnir Audio Octave III (Electrostatic)
Monoprice THX AAA 887
La Figaro 339

I own an assortment of headphones and will not list them all but my two main go to daily sets is my Koss ESP-95X and Grado 325is. I own higher end cans but for daily use i use what i consider good but cheaper cans I listed.
 
@foster grant I had a set of HD600 cans for a couple of years. I eventually sold them but I must say they were sweet sounding headphones. I have a really cool custom made OTL amp that just paired so well with the HD600. So well in fact that I may just buy another set of those cans.
 
ShiWarrior said:
just going back over a couple of pages

@Timber and Co, i have DT770 PRO 250 Ohm version, ive had these for a few years now, and i dont feel im getting the best sound from them
although I game mostly, they are connected directly to my Xonar Essence STX soundcard, how could i make a change to something better to "feel" a difference ? i assume, get rid of the sound car and get a dac/amp ? if so which one would make a difference ? Thanks
Click to expand...

The quality of the analogue output from an STX is high, relativity you would have to spend quite a bit on external dac/amp to improve over that sound card.
 
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