Gamers, What's Your Audio Set Up?

Steelseries Artic Pro Wireless headphones/headset. (Another Steelseries wireless set for xbox and the pulse 3d cans for ps5).
Presonus Eris 3.5 speakers just connected to the motherboard sound outputs.
 
I have quite an old setup now (almost 10 years) but still going strong, Schiit magni+modi combo with a pair of HD558's.
I've probably went through about 5 sets of ear cushions and headbands in that time.
 
Shure SRH1540 headphones and Q acoustics 2020i bookshelf speakers. Was using an audiolab M-one amp with these, but has gone faulty :( Got a topping mx3 (not quite in the same league I know) coming today to replace it.
 
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NAD C326BEE Stereo Integrated Amplifier + Acoustic Energy AELite 1 Bookshelf speakers. Not a fan of the amount of heat the NAD puts out though (possibly true of most AB amps), so looking around for an upgrade. Not sure whether to go for another amp/speaker combo, or go for active speakers though.
 
Hyperx Cloud Alpha headset connected to my pc via Creative G3 USB Dac set to 7.1 on Windows 11 and then using HeSuVi to enable Dolby Atmos for a superb 360° soundfield for games and movies.
 
My PC is currently in our bedroom, so using headphones. Luckily I have a set of Fostex TH900 Mk2 and Focal Clear's which I have running through a Chord Hugo2; so it's a pretty nice set-up. Although the Chord needs to go back to them as it has stopped working over USB.
 
Sound Blaster X G6 with Sennheiser 599 and Blue snowball Mic on a stand which is attached to my monitor VESA mount via drilling a hole in a block of wood and screwing it on.
 
Well my NAD D 3045 has started to fail on the speaker outputs, get clicking noises when powered on through speakers and audio cuts out during the click so obviously the speaker output stage relays appear to have gone bad. Headphones output remains perfect though so am currently using that.

I have sent an email to Sevenoaks who earlier said they will do all they can to try and help with a solution once they contact upper management as this is now my 2nd NAD amp from them that has gone bad out of warranty (last one being the D 7050 some may recall).

I have just ordered the Topping MX3s for £219 on Amazon. The specs align with the D 3045, and the headphone amp stage is also high powered just like the NAD so effectively I should be hearing very similar, clean sound with excellent depth of detail.

It's been on my radar for ages but had no reason to check it out until now I guess. If Sevenoaks sort out a repair, then I'll probably sell the NAD if the Topping does indeed sound good. Sad really, I've had NAD amps since the C320 Bee, then C325 Bee. Amazing amps, but the digital range just don't seem to live much past their warranty periods.

It will be really funny if the Topping sounds near identical for both speakers and headphones to the 3045 though, there's a near £400 price difference between them and the MX3s actually has more features :cry:
 
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I will report back! Apart from this fault, everything else about it is essentially perfect! Oh apart from price of course, it has gone up in price! I paid £499 for it back in 2020.
 
Have picked up a Qudelix 5k for use with the PS5 now (comes in handy on the PC and S23 Ultra also). Fasntastic little device - plenty of volume on PS5 with my HD560s and a far, far better mic input than the G6 I was using before. :)

Still wondering what might be the next step up in open backed headphones for gaming from these though (needs to be something where I can find a simple plug in boom mic solution). Maybe some DT1990?
 
WhiteHartMart said:
Have picked up a Qudelix 5k for use with the PS5 now (comes in handy on the PC and S23 Ultra also). Fasntastic little device - plenty of volume on PS5 with my HD560s and a far, far better mic input than the G6 I was using before. :)

Still wondering what might be the next step up in open backed headphones for gaming from these though (needs to be something where I can find a simple plug in boom mic solution). Maybe some DT1990?
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Nice, came very close to buying this one although beyond the PS5 use case I don't really need a BT DAC/AMP.

Is the volume the same on PS5 compared to anything else?

I know their mobile app has the host volume override option which is pretty unique.
 
Timber said:
Nice, came very close to buying this one although beyond the PS5 use case I don't really need a BT DAC/AMP.

Is the volume the same on PS5 compared to anything else?

I know their mobile app has the host volume override option which is pretty unique.
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Yea - I missed the override option to start with and was about to box it back up lol

I'll have a closer listen/look later but if I was to position it, I'd say it has far, far more headroom than the Fosi K5 I had but perhaps not quite the same amount as the G6. That's assuming I'm just using the 3.5mm connection on the 5k. There are so many features to look through on the Qudelix app though that I might not have fully explored what it can do yet.
 
WhiteHartMart said:
Yea - I missed the override option to start with and was about to box it back up lol

I'll have a closer listen/look later but if I was to position it, I'd say it has far, far more headroom than the Fosi K5 I had but perhaps not quite the same amount as the G6. That's assuming I'm just using the 3.5mm connection on the 5k. There are so many features to look through on the Qudelix app though that I might not have fully explored what it can do yet.
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Ty. It looks like a wonderful product, the app support/profiles etc. The way they have engaged with their community.

The killer question for me is does it reach the exact same volume levels on PS5 vs PC in UAC1 mode. Posts likes this; Resetera forum link suggest it doesn't but I thought that was the point of host volume override. Unless it's just a way to extract more volume.

That said it does sound like this is one of the best choices for getting the best out of PS5 USB audio.
 
WhiteHartMart said:
Have picked up a Qudelix 5k for use with the PS5 now (comes in handy on the PC and S23 Ultra also). Fasntastic little device - plenty of volume on PS5 with my HD560s and a far, far better mic input than the G6 I was using before. :)

Still wondering what might be the next step up in open backed headphones for gaming from these though (needs to be something where I can find a simple plug in boom mic solution). Maybe some DT1990?
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I was tempted to look into the T71 from Qudelix. Looks a decent device. The DT1990 would be a solid choice, You can get adapters from this place https://www.electronicmusicservices.co.uk/contact/
They make them so they are short and don't jut out from the headphone too much. I have one for my K702 and its been solid for years. I think it was roughly £18

Q9J6hRi.jpg
 
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michty_me said:
I was tempted to look into the T71 from Qudelix. Looks a decent device. The DT1990 would be a solid choice, You can get adapters from this place https://www.electronicmusicservices.co.uk/contact/
They make them so they are short and don't jut out from the headphone too much. I have one for my K702 and its been solid for years. I think it was roughly £18

Q9J6hRi.jpg
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Thanks - fortunately I have one of those adapters here from when I had a set of AKG K702 and a Vmoda Boom mic.
 
Timber said:
Ty. It looks like a wonderful product, the app support/profiles etc. The way they have engaged with their community.

The killer question for me is does it reach the exact same volume levels on PS5 vs PC in UAC1 mode. Posts likes this; Resetera forum link suggest it doesn't but I thought that was the point of host volume override. Unless it's just a way to extract more volume.

That said it does sound like this is one of the best choices for getting the best out of PS5 USB audio.
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Hard to be 100% sure on Volume but I'll take back my earlier thoughts - the 5k gets to ear bleeding volume levels on the PS5 - I'm not sure there's anything in it between the 5k and the G6. Quick switch back to PC and I really don't hear any difference in max volume between that and PS5 - I can't use max volume with the 560s on either device!
 
WhiteHartMart said:
Hard to be 100% sure on Volume but I'll take back my earlier thoughts - the 5k gets to ear bleeding volume levels on the PS5 - I'm not sure there's anything in it between the 5k and the G6. Quick switch back to PC and I really don't hear any difference in max volume between that and PS5 - I can't use max volume with the 560s on either device!
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Thank you again.

That's very cool news. I appreciate it's very difficult to measure max volume particularly on easy to drive stuff and have had similar challenges when trying to test the G6 and X1's on PS5 & PC.

So it means my earlier statement is wrong as this likely becomes the best choice for PS5 because with no -db output all the dynamic ranges etc. will become unaffected. Damn it. Kind of want one again now lol!
 
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