gsx 1000 or soundblaster xG6

sunshinewelly · 22 Mar 2019 at 11:19

has anyone used both of these and can compare the sound. Ideally i am looking at adding one to my PC for movie use through headphones

A lot of people say that the xg6 has the better specs.

the gsx is currently less than £100 at the moment - usual retail price is £200

Tombles · 22 Mar 2019 at 11:26

I've recently been in the same position.

The GSX1000 isn't as good as the G6 as a headphone amp. If it's for movies I would pick the G6, if it was more for gaming then the GSX1000 has great surround sound (but not for music/movies).

Both sound good though. The G6 can drive higher ohm headphones so you will need to take that into account too.

The GSX1000 looks great, can switch to speakers really easily and needs no software but the G6 is more powerful and comes with software that is very customizable to suit your preferences (although some find the software buggy)

Marsman · 22 Mar 2019 at 13:53

As mentioned above; a lot depends on the choice of headphones used. G6 has better headphone amp for headphones that need more power. AKG 702/712 being the prime example. GSX1000 output is rather weedy in comparison; but then Sennheiser probably designed that way, so people buying it would be shown towards their headsets, rather than use with what you could call audiophile headphones.

G6 can be used with consoles as well, which the GSX1000 can't; so that might be something to take into consideration.

As for the actual surround sound effect itself, if you want to call it that; then that really comes down to personal preference. That really is something no one else can tell you. I've seen people say they prefer the GSX1000 compared to Creative's SBX prostudio, and I've seen people say they sent the GSX1000 back because they preferred Creative.

sunshinewelly · 22 Mar 2019 at 15:42

cheers - i have a set of sennheiser Hd599 and a set of audio techna Ad900.

Marsman · 22 Mar 2019 at 16:02

Well GSX1000 will have no problem with those. HD599 are probably the ideal choice for pairing with it.

EsaT · 22 Mar 2019 at 19:22

sunshinewelly said:
the gsx is currently less than £100 at the moment - usual retail price is £200

Now that's starting to approach real value level.
Let's hope that becomes standard price, because for that low end DAC and standard phone/tablet level headphone amp £60-70 would be correct pricing.
Thoug for those particular headphones it would be certainly enough.

As for which HRTF is better we can't tell because we don't know the shape of your head.
All algorithms use some head model, and if it works better for one head shape, it's likely worser with another head shape.