The official PS4 Headset/Headphones Guide/Discussion

Psycho Sonny said:
best wireless = astro A50.
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I'm looking into upgrading my headset, I currently have the Sony pulse headset (gta v version but identical internally) would a set of A50's be a noticeable upgrade?

I have heard about an issue with a hum when in use, if this is true how bad is it as I wouldn't want to be spending £200 to have a headset with a background hum.

Ita not an essential upgrade just a treat to myself, I like the pulse as I can just pick them up but I like the idea of having something on a stand I can use whenever I fancy and it has its own holder and is top quality.
 
GTanny said:
I'm looking into upgrading my headset, I currently have the Sony pulse headset (gta v version but identical internally) would a set of A50's be a noticeable upgrade?

I have heard about an issue with a hum when in use, if this is true how bad is it as I wouldn't want to be spending £200 to have a headset with a background hum.

Ita not an essential upgrade just a treat to myself, I like the pulse as I can just pick them up but I like the idea of having something on a stand I can use whenever I fancy and it has its own holder and is top quality.
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depends on how good your ears are and if you tune yourself to noticing the differences.

for example i could show a reference quality 50" plasma to someone then a £300 50" polaroid tv and they not see any difference.

if you know what to look for then yes the difference will be noticeable.

however wired beats wireless by miles £ for £. wireless however has the advantage of no wires.

i don't know how the A50's work they could possibly connect by wire to the controller. which doesn't mean true wireless
 
Psycho Sonny said:
depends on how good your ears are and if you tune yourself to noticing the differences.

for example i could show a reference quality 50" plasma to someone then a £300 50" polaroid tv and they not see any difference.

if you know what to look for then yes the difference will be noticeable.

however wired beats wireless by miles £ for £. wireless however has the advantage of no wires.

i don't know how the A50's work they could possibly connect by wire to the controller. which doesn't mean true wireless
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I know they are fully wireless as they are USB from the ps4 to the Base and the mic works through the Base... I might pick them up from Amazon and that way any issues I can send them back atleast.
 
Sonny why do you say an optical DAC for immersion rather than mixamp? Would you not lose the Dolby surround in this case.
I'm more interested in immersion than precision (but still want a decent amount) as I mainly play single player games.
 
The mixamp is more for people who want a headset (chat function).

If you dont need the chat function. A proper dac and amp setup will blow it away.

I use an aune t1 with my pc and laptop. Its a usb tube dac with a cheap solid state amp.

So i also have a schiit vali (tube amp) that i can use with the line out of the aune t1 and double amp the mixamp for when i feel.my q701s are under powered.

The mixamp is brilliant but it only excels at competitive gaming.

A proper dac amp will blow it away but again the products im mentioning are double the price of a mixamp.

If you want go to richer sounds and test some of their dac amps with your headphones.

You will then see the difference for yourself and see if its worth it or not.

Ive tested dac amps ranging from £20 to £800. The sweet spot is around £100-£300.

My aune t1 is ridiculously good for £120. The schiit range are all very good too. £100-£150 per dac and amp from schiit and you have yourself a setup thats end game in clarity and sound.

Anyone spending more than £300 for a headphone dac/amp is literally throwing money away.

For me i think of it simply. If £300 gets you the best setup possible. Thats about £1 a day for less than a year. I spend 5 times that on lunch. Whereas lunch only puts iff hunger for 4-5 hours. A optical dac setup should last a lifetime if made by a reputable company like schiit.

If you dont need chat function then a schiit optical dac and a schiit vali 2 should blow you away.

Doesnt matter that its stereo. Headphones are stereo. The mixamp gives you a sense of virtual surround whilst great for competitive gaming its terrible for audio purists.

You may notice i have both a tube dac and tube amp. The tubes have a limited lifespan of about 10,000 hours. But you can easily buy another and replace them like a lightbulb on the vali 2. Its very simple to do. Bulb prices again range from £2 to £100. The sweet spot is around £10-£20. Which spread over 10,000 hours is nothing.

Tubes to me sound natural. They arent digitally clinical. They sound more pleasing. I dunno my ears just love sound passed through tubes rather than electrical solid state amps.
 
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I bought a pair of Turtle Beach elite 800s.

They sound pretty good to me. I do have a pair of q701s but I really needed wireless and they were cheaper than the Astro a50's but had similar reviews.

The surround is not great, I would say it's passable but I know good surround sound is pretty much impossible from cans.
 
Thanks for the detailed reply Sonny. I have gotten used to having the virtual surround and quite enjoy it, especially in open world games like Fallout as I can tell what's going on and where generally.
It's quite hard to decide but I suppose the advantage of having a mixamp anyway is you can turn the DSS off and still use chat.
I saw you can connect a mixamp+dac+amp on HeadFi. Does that mean the mixamp will just be used for chat at that point and the DAC takes over or?

I may go with a Schiit Magni/Modu Uber stack. I'm not entirely convinced I would miss DSS. I remember flicking between stereo and DSS on Tomb Raider and thought stereo sounded better and I could still tell where hte drips were coming from. I only need voice now and then so maybe I could go with the usb mic route and avoid buying the mixamp.
 
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Noxia said:
Thanks for the detailed reply Sonny. I have gotten used to having the virtual surround and quite enjoy it, especially in open world games like Fallout as I can tell what's going on and where generally.
It's quite hard to decide but I suppose the advantage of having a mixamp anyway is you can turn the DSS off and still use chat.
I saw you can connect a mixamp+dac+amp on HeadFi. Does that mean the mixamp will just be used for chat at that point and the DAC takes over or?

I may go with a Schiit Magni/Modu Uber stack. I'm not entirely convinced I would miss DSS. I remember flicking between stereo and DSS on Tomb Raider and thought stereo sounded better and I could still tell where hte drips were coming from. I only need voice now and then so maybe I could go with the usb mic route and avoid buying the mixamp.
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i use a mixamp plus hd558's with a mod mic

i only use my schiit vali tube amp with the mixamp when using my q701's are they are hard to drive. i basically double amp them and stick the mixamp on a relatively low volume to reduce hiss and make the vali do all the amping.

you cannot use a dac with a mixamp. a DAC is an digital to analogue converter. you can only convert from digital to analogue once. no need for a dac with a mixamp as the mixamp is both a DAC and a AMP.
 
Noxia said:
I see. I'll put the mixamp off for now then. Thanks again.
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the best thing you can do is grab some powerful music and head down to richer sounds and test out their dac/amps with your headphones.

you will then see for yourself the kind of difference they make.

what headphones do you own or are thinking of buying?

the chain is only as strong as it's weakest link.

media - source - DAC - AMP - headphones

all of them should be on the same level. for instance you wouldn't play magnetic tape through £10,000 speakers. the same you wouldn't use a £100 DAC with £20 headphones.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
the k702 all the way then.

make sure you do the bass mod and your sorted.

mod involves removing a bit of film with some tweezers.

i would get a matching schiit optical DAC
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Yeah will do that, haven't gone with them yet. Headphones went the same day you posted this so got a pair for 598's for now as money was a bit tight and couldn't afford the stack at the time.

I'll be looking at a pair of K702's and a Schiit stack either in a few months though. Then i'll relegate the 598's to my TV/HiFi setup so they will still be useful.


Cheers for the help! :)
 
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Psycho Sonny said:
the best thing you can do is grab some powerful music and head down to richer sounds and test out their dac/amps with your headphones.

you will then see for yourself the kind of difference they make.

what headphones do you own or are thinking of buying?

the chain is only as strong as it's weakest link.

media - source - DAC - AMP - headphones

all of them should be on the same level. for instance you wouldn't play magnetic tape through £10,000 speakers. the same you wouldn't use a £100 DAC with £20 headphones.
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Had X1's my first decent headphone barring a brief spell with some AT M50's (which made my ears really hot).

AKG K712 Pro has been ordered, I also like the look of X2, K702 (cheaper too as a +).
 
Noxia said:
Had X1's my first decent headphone barring a brief spell with some AT M50's (which made my ears really hot).

AKG K712 Pro has been ordered, I also like the look of X2, K702 (cheaper too as a +).
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x2's aren't really worth it over a x1 if you already have it.

the x1 is a great all rounder but it's not the best headphone for specific tasks. i loved my x1 and i miss the bass they had. it wasn't reference but it was fun. it's a brilliant headphone for immersive gaming and watching movies.

the k712 pro is a modded k702. the difference between them isn't that much tbh. different earpads i think is the main one. it's like the difference between ferrari with a 3.8 litre engine and one with a 4.2 litre engine. in the real world very slight difference. if you have the cash buy the k712 but the k702 for me is the one to go for. like i said they both use the exact same driver, share the same build, etc. it's only extras which change like the earpads, colour, etc.
 
Well I could get the Schiit amp/dac if I got the K702 right away so that's tempting to say the least. I guess my worry is if I decide to then want chat, my only option then is to throw a Mixamp in the mix or just get a cheap usb mic as previously discussed.
I flick between stereo and surround but to me stereo always sounds better and surround always seem to 'thin' out the sound.

Update: Ordered Schiit Magni Uber and latest Mixamp.
 
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you going to be double amping?

it's not required unless your using chat. stick the dial all the way to game audio.

if using chat then stick it to wherever suits. stick the volume on the mixamp to low and use the uber to control volume as it's the much better amp.

i would have went with a vali 2 personally, but I love tube amps.
 
Yes but mainly as I don't want to use the mixamp fpr other stuff and thought it would be handy to have a 'proper' amp. I must admit I didn't see the Vali, I like the aesthetic of tube amp, I may consider a swapsie but at least you can stack something on the Magni.
 
Oh yeah Mic sorry, was trying to figure out how to connect Boom Pro but not worth the hassle or expense I don't think :)
 
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