Sennheiser gsx 1000 thread?

Most forums seem to think the soundblaster z series is the superior device now the hype has settled down.Seems like sennheiser didnt think this through enough.Way overpriced compared to creatives offerings.
 
The positional audio IMO is superior to just about anything out there - the actual features are a bit down on the Z series but then that is a trade off for ease of use - one of the main sticking points for me however is the DAC/processor sound quality is a touch down on the higher end Creative offerings. The biggest issue though is the price I'm still holding off buying one as I don't think I'm going to use it enough (too lazy to keep swapping around) to justify spending the amount they cost even with a ~£40 discount I can get.
 
My remarks in post #300, are based on me buying this for £100.00.

My thoughts would have probably been different, if I had paid I £200.00 for it.

I personally don't think it is worth £200.00.
 
First thanks to Shankly1985 for all his input and work making video demos, your what swayed me. Lets get one thing out of the way first ...is it worth £200 ? well no but I think even those who have it agree on that, my first thoughts where its very well made and designed and very easy and conveinient to use , I was using onboard sound from a Gigabyte Z170X-GAMING 7 so fairy decent, I found that for music maybe a little better but not enough to make you buy this for that alone, for gaming, this is what stopped me taking it back it sounded so much better in gaming with more precise positioning, it does sound great in Movies too.
If you already have a decent sound set up then its not worth the upgrade for £200, wait a few more months and I think the price will creep down at about £100 this would be a no brainer.
Spend the £200 upgrading your videocard
 
Good luck to anyone waiting for this to come down to £100. Any one hoping for as much a half priced decrease, doesn't know Sennheiser. ;)

They might drop it a bit if sales are not what they expect.
 
Does anyone know if it would it drive akg 612pro's? Also how does virtual surround sound like this compare to an actual 5.1 set up with a receiver via HDMI?
 
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16 – 150 Ω

yes it shouldn't have much trouble driving K612 pro at none ear damaging volumes.
 
OK thanks.

I read that it can drive up to 150ohms but to be honest the whole ohm / amp thing confuses me, some places say it's not the whole picture.
 
Impedance is only half the picture, you also have to take into account the sensitivity (efficiency) of the driver.

The K612 is right on the limit of the impedance recommendation at 150 ohms and they are not very sensitive either - they need 0.99mw to achieve 90db while the 50 ohm Sennheiser HD 598 only need 0.13mw.
 
I see, that makes things a lot clearer for me thanks very much.

One more thing if you don't mind before Im derailing the thread too much?

As the K612 are not very sensitive as you say, Is it just volume that's affected if they don't get fed enough juice or does sound quality / positional accuracy get affected also?

Thanks again
 
rids57 said:
Impedance is only half the picture, you also have to take into account the sensitivity (efficiency) of the driver.

The K612 is right on the limit of the impedance recommendation at 150 ohms and they are not very sensitive either - they need 0.99mw to achieve 90db while the 50 ohm Sennheiser HD 598 only need 0.13mw.
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Do you know how the K612 compares to the K702?

I might be wrong, but I thought I saw Ryan post once that the K612 needed more 'driving' than the K702.

Dwaindibbly said:
Is it just volume that's affected if they don't get fed enough juice or does sound quality / positional accuracy get affected also?
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Would affect more than just volume level.

There were a few people not long back who wanted to know if the SB Z could drive the K612 properly. I found a post from someone on another forum who had a SB Z along with the K612's and he said the headphones sounded like flat cola.

He ended up getting a Soundblaster E5 or G5, something like that, which has a much better headphone amp. Same one that's in the Xonar Essence and ZxR, I believe, which did a much better job driving the K612 properly.

I would imagine it will be a similar story with the GSX, as I can't really see the amp in that having any more power than the one in the SB Z.
 
I might have the maths wrong here - but I believe the GSX 1000 output power at 32 ohm is 31.25mW - not sure how that translates at 120 ohm of the K612 as it would require more information from Sennheiser but quick and dirty that would give around 7.5mW realistically. On paper the 612 Pros require 6.6mW to get to moderate volume levels (100db) and a fairly big jump to 66.27 mW to drive them loud. I can't tell you how they respond to not enough power but given the jump up in power requirement to drive them to the next level up each time I'd imagine you are probably going to see some loss of articulation at some point or points depending on what the spread of impedance is like over the frequency range.
 
WOW! Thanks for all the extremely helpful replies.

As I have only just bought the akg's and think I'll return them for something easier to drive like the 598.
 
That's the best bet really. HD598 or one of the other similar variants still make very good gaming headphones and are known to work very well with the GSX.

K612 could turn out similar to the guy who tried K712 with the GSX and found it didn't do a good job. He added a headphone amp to drive the headphones better, but that just messed up the sound from what I remember. Best to stick with headphones that are easy to drive with the GSX.
 
Marsman said:
K612 could turn out similar to the guy who tried K712 with the GSX and found it didn't do a good job. He added a headphone amp to drive the headphones better, but that just messed up the sound from what I remember. Best to stick with headphones that are easy to drive with the GSX.
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That is a potential problem - though you can find fairly decent headphone amplifiers reasonably cheap - but there is no guarantee they will work nicely with the positional audio - some designs have quite a significant impact on the imaging/width/soundstage.

I've found a design that works quite well if anyone is conversant with electronics DIY though and is interested.

People have generally been positive about the 500 series and the GSX so its probably the easier option.
 
It's a shame as really like the fit and the self adjusting band. I might order the gsx and see how it goes, if it doesn't sound right I'll return the akg's and order some Sennheiser's
 
It's certainly going to be worth trying the pairing as you already have the AKGs but I would expect them to sound fairly lifeless as they need large amounts of current to get the most from them.

The AKG K702 while being lower impedance are even worse, requiring 1.56mw to achieve 90db, so 50% less efficient than the K612s.
 
I went a slightly differnt route and ordered the 598's to compare against the 612's on my sound blaster z.

They seem to sound better over all and im very happy with them, so im returning the 612's and planning to try out the gsx on my next pay day.
 
Can't say I'm surprised you found the HD598 to be better, because the K612 do need a better amp than the one in the SB Z.

Shame really that the K612 require a headphone amp with a decent amount of power. They make great gaming headphones and are less than £90, but they are only really a good choice for people who are willing to spend £140 or more on a sound card. The people who would want those headphones, but would only want to spend £20-£50 on a sound card, have nowhere to go. Unless of course plain stereo sound is preferred and Dolby Headphone etc, is not wanted. In such case, a FiiO E10K will do a decent job for £60.
 
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