The official PS4 Headset/Headphones Guide/Discussion

Psycho Sonny

Psycho Sonny

Psycho Sonny

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This is a long read and will be updated as required.

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Well I have been trying to find a mid-high end headset solution for my PS4 for as little cost as possible (bang for buck) ever since it came out.

I had these delivered today they only cost me £27 through flubit or normally under £30 from amazon

http://www.head-fi.org/t/571005/the-panasonic-rp-htf600-s-headphones-more-fun-than-the-hd650

http://www.head-fi.org/products/panasonic-rp-htf600-s-step-monitor

they are as you can see headphones not a headset, the reason being gaming headsets are not usually designed with sound quality in mind and if they are they are usually far more expensive than their headphone counterparts. proof of this can be seen through this thread

http://www.head-fi.org/t/534479/mad...ide-update-3-12-2014-monster-dna-on-ear-added

the best headset solution is most likely the A50's they are £250 though which is a lot of money but they are wireless and offer SQ probably comparable with the panasonics i bought for £27. I don't know this for a fact but people have compared A40's to being similar to 558's which are overpriced at £130 (a fair price for them would be around £75 IMO) I expect the A50's to be slightly better than A40's and the panasonics are supposedly a lot better than 558's so they are in a similar ball park I imagine. the difference being one is a set of headphones at 10% of the price of the headset.

if you want headphones which eat the A50's for breakfast then your probably looking at the Philips Fidelio X1 which are around £180 delivered so again £70 cheaper than A50's and offer far better SQ.

So once you have picked a set of headphones which is good for your budget you now need a mic and then figure out the best way to use both the headphones and the mic with the PS4.

What I can assure you is the DS4 is terrible for SQ especially when talking about game sounds, it's okay for voice chat but SQ from the game is absolutely horrible, now this could be down to a combination of 2 things. The first being it is a bluetooth controller device and therefore sound quality was not a priority when designing the DS4, I imagine it has a fairly crap controller. The second thing which could be hampering SQ further is most likely the controller is not powerful enough to drive a set of headphones which if they are decent usually require an AMP.

The only way to test if amping is an issue would be by using in ears which are far easier to drive (I have currently given my in ear sennheisers to the wife and she is away for the weekend so I cannot test until monday evening). If that is where the issue lies (i suspect it's the bluetooth controller though) then you could just buy pair of SoundMAGIC E10 for £28 and use them instead of headphones to get superb SQ if it's a power issue rather than bluetooth sound issue.

Anyway I want to use headphones so therefore the only decent solutions are a mix amp or a DAC/AMP and using the consoles optical feed for game sound and the controller for voice chat.

Some people are using a DAC/AMP for game sound with a set of headphones and then using the free sony earpiece with the controller as their mic and voice chat. IMO this is a crazy way of doing things but if your on a budget it could be an option. Basically they put the earpiece in their ear then put their headphones over their ears. so they have 2 completely different sources of sound to one ear. This will actually give you the Best possible SQ though as a DAC/AMP will be better than a mixamp £ for £ much like headphones being better then headsets £ for £.

So now that I have ruled out the DS4 as my source I have been forced into buying a MixAmp, as good as a DAC/AMP and the sony earpiece would be the idea of using an earpiece within a headphone is just crazy to me, but probably a great option to those who don't use the mic a lot.

So I was looking at mixamps and specifically the reviews in here

http://www.head-fi.org/t/534479/mad...ide-update-3-12-2014-monster-dna-on-ear-added

Astro Mixamp Pro (2013 Edition)

This is the worst Mixamp of all 3 but it is also the newest and it costs £110 brand new from astro. Therefore the other 2 are only available second hand. It is also wired. This creates a huge problem when it comes to getting the wiring correct as you need long enough cables to get it to work, etc. I think it allows USB for voice chat though (not 100% sure but iirc that is correct) so you don't need the Turtle Beach PS4 Chat Lead Cable but it is an option.

Astro Mixamp Pro (2011 Edition)

This is better than the 2013 model. It is also wired but has no option for USB chat and therefore the chat cable is required (available from ebay for £4.99) to connect the DS4 to the mixamp

Astro Mixamp 5.8

This is similar in SQ to the 2011 model but it is the oldest. It is wireless and has a slight amount of background noise due to this. It also requires the Turtle Beach PS4 Chat Lead Cable

Therefore if you want a wired setup get a 2011 Mixamp, wireless then the original 5.8.


Now after choosing a MixAmp there is only one piece of the puzzle left the microphone. There are 2 ways to hook it up though:

the first being using the PC headphone splitter cable (only certain types of splitter work so be careful), which basically splits the audio from the mic and therefore you buy a seperate mic. The cheapest option which gives you good mic quality (so others can hear you clearly) is the Zalman ZMMIC1 Lapel Microphone which is about £7 online. Otherwise you can get a Antlion Modmic for a lot more money if you want the best of the best in this option. With these options you have to be careful

the second option is using a similar type of cable that is that of included sony earpiece where the mic and audio go down the same line, for this you need a mic like the Belkin F8Z605cw, i got one for <£5 off ebay refurb (looked brand new to me) or if you have a compatible set of headphones which allow you to unplug the cable (philips fidelio X1) then you can use something like the BoomPro Microphone from V Moda, it isn't cheap though but probably the highest quality option if you have a compatible headset.

My 5.8 MixAmp hasn't arrived yet but when it does I will update on how good it is.

You have to be really careful when picking a solution that you get all the right options, some are incompatible with each other and some are stupid when it comes to cable lengths required, etc. e.g. the zalman mic is only an option if the mixamp or the receiver is close to you, so I shall make some example setups below for different budgets.

Top End

Mixamp - ANY (will need a long toslink cable with 2011 version as well as ps4 chat cable from turtle beach for all MIXAMPS but the 2013 version)
Headphones - Philips Fidelio X1
Mic - V Moda Boom Pro


This is probably the most straight forward and best setup you can get for the money, your talking £250-£300 for everything. Make sure you research the mixamps to know how they all work (they are all completely different and therefore set up different with different lengths of cable, etc required as well as different types of mics, etc).

Mid End

MixAmp - 5.8 wireless (need ps4 chat cable)
Headphones - Panasonic HTF600
Mic - Zalman (you will need the correct type of splitter for this to work)

£100-£120 ish for this setup which is better than the £250 A50's most likely for SQ. I have this setup but using Belkin mic instead of Zalman, IMO the Zalman is the better way to do it.

Low End

Headphones - Panasonic HTF600 connected to your TV for game sound
Mic - Sony Earpiece set up for audio chat only connected to DS4

£27 for this setup through flubit but you need to wear the headphones over the earpiece.


As for the panasonic HTF600 they are brilliant for £27 delivered, only downside is no removable cable (so cannot use boompro mic) and that the cable is really long, other than that I cannot grumble for the price. A long cable can become a nuisance as in I only really need a 2 foot cable but it's about 12 foot long. You therefore have a choice to make spend a lot more money to get headphones which are similar in SQ but have a short cable or try and shorten the cable yourself, or tie it up or spend less money and sacrifice SQ for cans with a shorter cable.

If your not interested in a mic or chatting online and just want a set of headphones. Pick one for your budget from the head fi link or try the panasonics out. You will most likely require a DAC/AMP though for the best possible sound quality and connect that to the optical out.

Any questions are welcome as is more detailed info, pictures of your own setups, corrections, etc.
 
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I find the 3m Optical cable with the 2013 Mixamp more than enough but I can imagine in a lot of living room setups it wouldn't be enough. Some good info in this thread but sadly I think a lot will be ignored by people who genuinely believe TB and Astro are the best money can buy. Gaming headsets are one of the biggest cons. No way aimed at da_mic_1530 who was simply suggesting a good cheap headset.
Let this not digress into a debate on grown ups headphones compared to those things though. I will have the VMODA Boompro mic sometime in the future and will write my findings then.
 
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da_mic_1530 said:
Turtle beach p4c's .....19 quid. Cant complain for that price. Comfy too
Click to expand...

you connected to the DS4?

albeit a very cheap setup the SQ off the DS4 is horrible but I'm yet to test in ears (very simple to drive phones).

it may sound good to you but this thread is aimed at those who value quality over simplicity/cheap setups.

if i only had £20 to spend i would opt for the belkin mic in OP plus £15 in ears over your p4c for example, it would offer better SQ for the same price i imagine even with it being connected to the DS4.

USB headsets are probably the best way to go for those on a very tight budget and want SQ but then you need a long wire or the £27 option using sony earpiece and the panasonics.
 
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You can get the Turtle Beach XP400's for £100.
Dolby Digital, Wireless apart from the chat cable from the DS4 to the headset.
I've got a pair and they're fantastic.
 
i was messing about with the belkin mic which has 3 buttons on it. if you press the volume up or down nothing happens. press the middle button and the mic stops working until you unplug it again and put it back in. i never knew this and pressed the buttons whilst in party chat with some of the BF4 guys so i was probably talking away and they couldn't hear me after i had pressed the button.

obviously none of the buttons are designed to work with ps4 but good to know in case i ever accidentally press it and my mic cuts out i know i just need to unplug it for a second.

after that i recorded a message and played it back to test SQ and it sounded very clear to me.

cannot wait for the mixamp to arrive, should make a big difference.
 
MrMoonX said:
Steelseries wireless H work a charm on ps4 they are epic at around £200
Click to expand...

I think people are missing the point of this thread.

Gaming headsets are usually very poor value for money when it comes to sound quality, for £50 more you could get the top end setup in OP, that way you also have a top set of cans for music/movies, etc. The fidelio x1's will smoke any headset and cost around £150-£185 (price fluctuates a lot).

If you want a hassle free setup and don't mind compromising on SQ then a turtle beach or steelseries headset is for you.

If your after quality you can get a lot better by spending your money wisely on a headphone and mic setup.
 
kmetek said:
be real....wireless......MIXAMP 5.8 ?
Click to expand...

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2010/11/02/astro-gaming-mixamp-5-8-review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaWfhfA1T2M


it's a wireless mixamp which has a TX (transmitter) and a RX (receiver). so you hook up the transmitter to the consoles optical input using a toslink cable.

you then hook up your DS4, headphones and mic to the the receiver and place the receiver beside you or in your pocket.

you still have wires but they only run to the transmitter not across the room. i think it has a 60 metre range and very clear with only slight background noise.

if your looking for an all in one solution and not the best SQ for your money Biron made a post above you may want to look at.
 
kmetek said:
yeah all in one preffered.....

SONY PULSE or XP400?
Click to expand...

well in this 180 page thread

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1285726/the-new-gaming-headset-headphone-topic-request-sticky-plz/4500

they say the xp400's aren't that good, they probably say the same about sony pulse tbh

heres another view on the XP400 being compared with another headset but it's not from an audiophile.

"Figured I'd post my observations and impressions of the PLYR1 and some comparisons to my XP400. Comments are regarding PLYR1 unless otherwise noted:

*** I AM NOT AN AUDIOPHILE

PLYR1 seems to have a much fuller sound than the XP400. Music and movies sound better. That's the best I can describe it. I'm guessing that this has a lot to do with the bass it outputs. Still need to play with the three different EQs. On the XP400 sounds would get distorted.static-y at times when using the bass boost presets.
The wireless range on this thing is GREAT. I was listening to music and I experienced no signal drop-outs or other sound anomalies from anywhere. Note that most of my wireless devices are on 5ghz, I still have a few devices on the 2.4 and I live in 1300 sq. ft condo so I expected some interference. In contrast, XP400s would start to crackle or drop sound if I got out of line of sight. Almost makes me think that the dual-band wireless is a gimmick and that the issues people had with 2.4ghz of the XP500 were strictly due to a poor quality wireless receiver.
mic is not removeable but you can simply flip it up to mute your voice.
mic audio quality is much better with a wired xbox cable than with the bluetooth puck on the xp400. the puck on the xp400 also drains your headset batteries. comparable to xp400 using the talkback cable
I think the soundstage felt larger on the xp400s if thats the correct terminology? Listened to a few Dolby sound test videos off Youtube and I felt like I could slightly differentiate audio position on the XP400s. So in that respect, XP400 might be better for gaming? Seemed like positional audio on online BLOPS2 was also better on the XP400 i.e. easier to tell where gunshots, explosions, footsteps, reloads, etc. were coming from. With that said I've noticed that Treyarch also really turned down your sound whoring capabilities so its hard to tell if its the headsets or just the game design. It could also be that the bass is less boomy on the XP400 so I'm hearing footsteps and enemy noise easier on them.
i could always hear brief audible static whenever an audio source was detected.
no mic monitor setting. could bother you if you use voice chat when gaming? personally these felt less closed off than the XP400s so I didn't have as hard a time telling how loud I was speaking.
the power button is kind of hard to press using your fingertips. maybe on purpose to prevent you from powering off the set? I had to fingertip it to make sure the button was pushed down fully half the time.
the game volume/voice chat balance joystick nub. Reminds me of the nub on the psp. Very difficult to tell if you are just adjusting up and down or left and right. Individual buttons or sliders like on the TB would be much better in this regard. you basically have to play it by ear when adjusting this. There are different sounding beeps when adjusting voice/game balance so I guess that's kind of helpful. Nothing on the master volume end though. Liked the XP400s better due to adjustments being separate and the auto-voice adjust feature.
power button and dolby headphones button on wireless receiver are on the back. That could get annoying but hopefully won't have to use these much.
xbox chat cable very loose and doesn't snap snuggly into place. can get unplugged easily.
Netflix Ps3 app issue where starting a video with 5.1 audio selected resulted in no audio. no other games or apps did this (can anyone else with a ps3 reproduce this?) switching to stereo and back to 5.1 fixed this but still annoying.
PLYR1 headset looks kind of cheap up close. think hard plastics you might find in a cheaper car dashboard compared to a luxury one.
PLYR1 usb charge cable is really short so you'll need to buy a separate one if you want to be able to charge while playing. xp400 included a 12ft one.
Comfort wise they feel about the same to me. PLYR1 do clamp more on the head but I also have had the XP400s for two months versus two days for the former.
No bluetooth. But XP400 doesn't even support A2DP. Wouldn't pay $50-100 more just to get this in the top end TB sets.

Not sure which set I will end up keeping. SQ so far seems to favor the PLYR1, while XP400 seem to be better at positional audio (for anyone who has had both has that been your experience with the surround sound as well?). Price wise is kind of wash since I got the XP400s used for $125 with no warranty and PLYR1 were $144.99+tax new."

in contrary to that review most of them on there say that the

http://uk.skullcandy.com/plyr-1

is one of the better wireless headsets (unsure if it works with PS4, you will need to do your own research).

"No one said the PLYR1 is the best solution. Far from it. But it's a SAFE choice as far as wireless solutions go."

Personally I would choose my solution over any of them. Not many audiophiles tend to buy these types of headsets for a reason therefore there aren't many really good reviews.

Anyway the PLYR seems to be received well for what it is.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
Top End

Mixamp - ANY (will need a long toslink cable with 2011 version as well as ps4 chat cable from turtle beach for all MIXAMPS but the 2013 version)
Headphones - Philips Fidelio X1
Mic - V Moda Boom Pro


This is probably the most straight forward and best setup you can get for the money, your talking £250-£300 for everything. Make sure you research the mixamps to know how they all work (they are all completely different and therefore set up different with different lengths of cable, etc required as well as different types of mics, etc).
Click to expand...

Helpful thread thanks!

I have a Astro set up at the moment: A30's with the older 2011 wired Mixamp. But I am having a bit of trouble getting them to work well with PS4 voice chat.

However, I do like the Astro headsets, so for a better setup could I keep my Mixamp and just get a new A40 headset only and the Turtle Beach chat cable?

Understand the X1's are great, but the A40 isn't a bad headset and I would prefer a built in mic...
 
I don't understand the Mixamp 2011 comment about not supporting USB chat and needing another cable.

Where did you get that from?
 
LackyT said:
Helpful thread thanks!

I have a Astro set up at the moment: A30's with the older 2011 wired Mixamp. But I am having a bit of trouble getting them to work well with PS4 voice chat.

However, I do like the Astro headsets, so for a better setup could I keep my Mixamp and just get a new A40 headset only and the Turtle Beach chat cable?

Understand the X1's are great, but the A40 isn't a bad headset and I would prefer a built in mic...
Click to expand...

the http://v-moda.com/boompro-microphone/ is a built in mic. with the fidelio x1's it has a removable wire so you take the stock wire out (simply unplug it, no tools needed) and then plug this wire in which has a built in mic.

the 2011 mixamp is better than the 2013 one so I would advise keeping your current mixamp so you only need the headset part.

you could always buy a lower end set of headphones with a detachable cord just look through this thread

http://www.head-fi.org/t/534479/mad...ide-update-3-12-2014-monster-dna-on-ear-added

see if any of the other ones are highly recommended.

with the fidelio x1's though you could always unplug mic cable, plug back in the stock cable and now you have one of the best headphones on the market to use for music, movies, etc.

you may say you don't really listen to music or watch movies with headphones, but i take it you have travelled long distance in the past on a train/plane/coach or something?

so you get a lot more for your money this way a gaming headset and top quality headphones.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18571647

look through that thread it's about these headphones and they will poo all over the astro's all you need to do is buy the cable with mic built in like i said before and you have your headset.
 
anticonscience said:
I don't understand the Mixamp 2011 comment about not supporting USB chat and needing another cable.

Where did you get that from?
Click to expand...

It works on the PS3 but not the PS4 I believe from what I read somewhere.

Basically the ps3 can output all sound to multiple outputs at once, the PS4 currently cannot.

If you plug in a USB headset you have the option to choose voice chat or all audio. Obviously with the mixamp choosing all audio would be stupid as you would want to use optical out (because it's far better quality of signal). Therefore you would have voice chat selected and plug in the USB. This then means voice chat only goes through USB (it won't go through optical).

I read somewhere that it doesn't quite work with the 2011 Mixamp, you can hear the game sounds, you can use your mic but you cannot hear anyone talking back (unless you use USB - all audio).

If that is wrong then I'll update the OP but I'm sure I read that somewhere. That is why a lot of people have been buying the chat cable to use with the older mixamps. With the chat cable it works perfectly but then you have to connect the chat cable all the way to the MIXAMP which can be a problem.

This could be wrong though as I was reading a hell of a lot of different info from lots of different sites when making the OP.

Maybe it was referring to the original wireless 5.8 MIXAMP


Apparently it works if you have the official astro USB to 3.5mm cable

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1500739/astro-wireless-mixamp-5-8-tx-and-ps4/30

which is discontinued and no longer available, but I think this refers to the 5.8, I assumed it was the same for 2011 that is why they brought out the chat cable.

http://forums.astrogaming.com/showt...ing-to-the-PlayStation-4-A40-A30-Audio-System

It says USB works on the A40 and A40 system but Nothing about the 2011 MIXAMP is that the same one as above I though headsets had their own special MIXAMPs


edit:

http://forums.astrogaming.com/showthread.php?44371-PS4-Mixamp-5-8-issues


there you go apparently there are issues with SOME MIXAMPS and the official USB chat cable on the PS4 and astro do not know why, so they advise using the turtle beach chat cable. If you have no low voice chat issue then your okay but some do.
 
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anticonscience said:
Well I will try my A40's and 2011 Mixamp out on my PS4 to see what happens.
Click to expand...

Could you take a picture of how it's all connected up? Also whether you have the special proprietary cable or a standard USB cable?

My 5.8 MIXAMP should be here tomorrow and TB posted out my chat cable.

So I should have my epic budget setup fully working soon. It is working now but game audio is horrible when you up the volume, had to turn it down.
 
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