The official PS4 Headset/Headphones Guide/Discussion

[Psycho Sonny]

Plenty of people with first hand experience on here about 10+ of us bought them in fact events those that missed out bought some from others that had or ebay, etc.

I also have plenty of first hand experience.

For £60-70 all you can get is first party sony if you want wireless.

You need to spend at minimum £100+ for a decent setup which will work with all consoles.

Also the original pads on the q701 are fine

 

[Psycho Sonny]

that is what Ryan reviewed over in sound city for £70 they are very good (based off ryan's review) in fact you won't find anything better brand new most likely but second hand you will, but if you want to use them with a PS4 then you will require a mixamp which costs £120 brand new or around £60-£80 second hand which pushes the cost up substantially.

a few people paid £95 for Q701's though which destroy them (deal is now over) so your too late to join in on that but if you wait it's possible another similar deal could pop up. i ended up paying £120 for my Q701's as I got hit by customs but a lot on here didn't.

the main issue is the fact you do really need a mixamp for the best sound quality if you want voice chat, if you don't need a mic then you require a DAC/AMP but again they aren't much cheaper.

it depends on how serious you are and how much you have to spend really.

plugging into the controller - complete no for me the sound quality is awful, it's okay for voice chat but not for game sounds
usb - would be fine for most people i imagine who don't know what hi-fi is
optical - for people that want the best quality and willing to pay for it

basically if your budget is under £100 I would say buy a USB plug and play headset with a long enough wire

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Shake dont listen to Psycho you DO NOT NEED A MIXAMP with that headset m8.

- Connection: mini stereo jack plug (3.5 mm)

you don't need one but it requires a 3.5mm jack connection which the controller can provide but the sound quality from the controller is awful

therefore if he wants decent sound as well as being able to use surround sound (virtual) then he needs a mixamp

 

[Psycho Sonny]

the usb output on the mixamp is for charging stuff, not for audio afaik, well that's what it is used for on the model i own, it charges the wireless receiver

basically you don't need to use your DAC as the mixamp is a DAC/AMP

 

[Psycho Sonny]

What I would do is get a mixamp and use that until they update USB on the console to output surround sound (which may never happen).

I also have a dac/amp and I only use it with pc because of the benefits of my mixamp

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Actually you could double amp the mixamp but tbh it wouldn't be much better because your headphones are very easy to drive.

Basically turn the volume on the mixamp down very low to mitigate the built in amp then use a 3.5mm to rca cable into the amp portion of your dac/amp and just use the amp.

This is what I shall be doing when I get my schiit vali

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Tbh it won't make much difference I imagine unless it's a "coloured" amp.

Better off with just the mixamp less hassle. If you were to use more demanding head phones then it would be worthwhile.

Have you modded your 555's to 595's by removing the foam from the ear cups?

I would recommend the mod as I owned 595's and they were brilliant for competitive fps.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

What were you plugging them into before? The controller?

If you want to try some high end headphones

https://www.massdrop.com/r/6HW75F

sign up there and search for

SoundMAGIC HP200 Headphones

They are £220 in the UK from the popular jungle store, only £90ish from there if you miss customs, they have been very highly reviewed at £200+, you won't get better headphones for under £100 period.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

DT770 are also highly regarded for gaming too, not as good as the HP200 though from head fi reviews.

What kind of headphone you looking for in regards to music? Take a look in sound city for advice. Fidelio X1 is good if you like bass, DT770 for a closed all rounder, Q701 for clarity and space, HD600 for hi-fi reference level smoothness.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

I'm kinda at a loss whether I should look for open back or closed TBH. To make things awkward I like any music as long as it sounds good, but do like music with good bass. I was looking at the Fidelio X1, and I believe the X2 comes out shortly so might take a look at that if it's a decent enough improvement for the price.

As for Sennheiser, I borrowed my dads 598s and just couldn't get along with them, not sure why as the bass was good but they just sounded a bit tinny at times.

Might make a thread in the Sound section. My worry is forking out another £150+ only to find they're not much better than what I've got.

If you want bass stay away from sennheisers, sennheiser focus on reference and clarity and tend to be bass light in terms of rumble but focus on tightness when it comes to bass. HD650 is warmer but it lacks bass if you have listened to something like Fidelio X1's which offer a nice rumble.

For decent bass you should be looking at Fidelio X1's or DT770's, or possibly even Q701's with the bass port mod but even then the Q701's are all about tightness and clarity over rumble.

Are you looking for a bass head can? then look at the bass head thread on head fi. If your looking for a nice pair of headphones with good bass then DT770 or Fidelio X1 (both of which are good gaming cans).

If you want a high end pair of cans with bass then HiFiMan HE-400 pricey though at £300ish but they aren't that great for gaming, good but not great but excellent for music and bass

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Just out of curiosity how much better would this be if you split the mic and audio signal so that the mic signal went into the controller and the audio went into the TV?

Apologies if its a stupid question.

most tv's headphone jacks aren't powerful enough to power decent headphones, they are also full of interference from the TV, it's probably worse than using the controller (well it is on my tv and my tv is a top of the range flagship panel).

the controller is good enough for voice comms (because it's just chat after all), but when it comes to game sounds it is awful you really need to use optical out and convert it into a analogue signal (requires a dac/amp).

I have rated the sound quality before

optical > USB > controller

if you have a budget below £100 buy a USB headset, simple as that really.

budget above £100 get a mixamp and a decent set of headphones.

if you want wireless then get ASTRO A50's if you can afford them otherwise get the sony headsets.

if you want the best sound quality and the ultimate advantage in competitive FPS nothing beats a mixamp and a set of decent gaming headphones.

headphones like the HD595, AD700, HD598, Q701, K701/K702 are regarded as some of the best in terms of competitive gaming.

Fidelio X1's, Q701 with bass port mod or DT770's if you want all rounders (good at everything).

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Cheers, I thought that might be the case, I actually have an older pair of creative wireless headphones that I would have put up with but after scratching my head for the past hour trying to confirm if they're compatible or not, I haven't gotten anywhere which more than likely means they aren't compatible(I can only see the more expensive models as being compatible). I've sent an email off to creative anyway on the off chance they end up being compatible.

The only reason I asked about this as I found the hyperx cloud headset cheap on the internet and it was too good to pass up. I'm getting a PS4 soon and I don't want to be reliant on using the mic that comes bundled with the console. I have read that the Xonar U3 USB dongle works with the PS4. Would that be an acceptable compromise with the hyperx headset? I really wanted to do this as cheap as possible while getting decent performance as I've spent enough money recently and the above headset AND a USB dongle is £60, am I going to get anything better for the money?

no idea if the USB sound card will work or not so it's up to you if you want to buy that.

i have been told a simple USB - 3.5mm connector will work on the ps4 and is the best way to connect it up if you don't want to splash out on a mixamp.

or USB sound card then plug the mic lead into the controller would also work I imagine. better off looking in the mad lust envy thread on head fi for more specific info on that.

I'm using some AD700's which I plug directly into my Onkyo. If I want to use a mic I assume I can just buy any 3.5mm clip on mic and plug it straight into the controller? Will this work?

nope, the controller will also output chat audio to the mic, therefore you won't get any comms. basically people will hear you but you won't hear them.

you need a mixamp i'm afraid, it's just stupid how the ps4 works in that regard hopefully an update will fix this.

Debating getting a set of Astro A40s with the mix amp for ps4/pc etc

Still using wireless turtle beach x41s and the crackling and cut out is unbearable. Its due to the frequency thibg but i bet a40s are 100% better all around!

The x41s just feel cheap and nasty

A40's are better but for that kind of money you could get the hyper x for £40 (deal of the day for today only on a certain site) and a mixamp on it's own and then upgrade the headphones as you see fit to whatever level you want to climb to on the audiophile ladder

Get the hyper x today if your interested deal of the day only so it will jump up to normal price after midnight on the site i'm talking about

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Guys you can use a USB chat cable (costs like £8) direct from ASTRO but beware it only works with certain mixamps (ASTRO cannot tell you why it only works with certain mixamps).

it can work with any mixamp they have made but it's not guaranteed it will work.

i have both the usb cable and the TB cable.

the USB cable doesn't work with my wireless 5.8 mixamp but i have just bought another, it may work with that one.

it's random it can work on any one but it's not guaranteed to work on any model.

the TB chat cable is guaranteed to work with any mixamp model.

the USB cable is obviously the preferred choice as it means less clutter and leaves your controller completely wireless and in fact the SQ is better using USB over the controller for comms, alas it didn't work for me.

any more questions then feel free to ask.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

hi

Im after some headphones for ps4 gaming and movies.

Without scrolling through this whole thread has anyone got some recommendations.

wireless would be good but I dont want to spend other £100.

*if it helps I want to be able to use them without the ps4 as well as I watch movies on a separate bluray player

cheers

just headphones or a headset?

if just headphones you require a DAC/AMP which supports toslink/optical and then with the budget left over you then can buy something like Creative Aurvana Live brand new or HD595 second hand.

Headset and wireless then it has to be Sony first party ones designed for PS4 if you want brand new otherwise second hand 5.8 mixamp plus koss porta pro's or ksc 75's.

Headset and wired, then second hand mixamp plus koss portapro's or KSC 75's then upgrade the headphones when you can.

Whats my best option for a headset below £60? the PS4 earphones are a joke.

wired or wireless? also see above

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Hi Psycho

I want as simple solution as possible, I'm not to bothered about mic.

For instance although over my budget I was looking at Sennheiser RS180 wireless headphones as this will work through my denon avr x2000 which I run all my devices through.

What do you think?

They are good but your paying a lot for the functionality rather than sound quality. e.g. The RS180 is probably comparable to HD558's or something like that (which I own, but only cost me around £80 brand new and can be modded into HD598's for free).

That AVR should have a decent DAC and AMP within it to power headphones, if you don't care about having a mic then get the best pair of headphones for your budget.

Q701 IMO would be the best for competitive gaming. A modded Q701 (bass port mod) for all rounders.

If you want to see reviews of the best wireless headphones look here

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/innerfidelitys-wall-fame-wireless

He seems to like them but a lot of people don't rate a lot of what he says. Head fi should have a lot of info on wireless headphones too but ultimately wired > wireless and costs less too to achieve the same sound quality. Spend the same amount on wired as you would on wireless and generally you end up with better quality.

I see the appeal of wireless though and that is why I bought the wireless mixamp over wired versions. I cannot have a wire trailing across the room where it can get snagged or ripped out by someone damaging equipment.

http://www.astrogaming.co.uk/a50

wireless headsets (which are decent quality) like the above IMO are overpriced too, which is why I opted for the 5.8 mixamp for £60-£80 (which is now very rare and hard to find as it's in very high demand and been EOL for several years now) and a set of decent headphones like the Q701 which only cost me £120 brand new from America (£200-£300 here in the UK with a RRP of £400) but I waited to buy them and I upgraded several times.

I spent <£30 on my first set of decent headphones brand new Panasonic HTF600 then HD595 £75 second hand, then HD558 £80 brand new then Q701 £120 brand new.

The Q701 is end game in terms of competitive gaming and sound quality for the money I will never find a better headphone than that. To beat it you need to spend around £300 or more for minimal improvements, the £95 deal from America was a steal and quite a large number of forum members in sound city bought it, in fact there are 2 HUGE threads in sound city about that particular headphone thanks to me.

If you really want wireless then RS180 (headphones only) or a 5.8 mixamp (headphones + mic) are your best bet tbh. If you can get away with wired, grab yourself a set of Q701's for similar money (a guy is selling his in members market for cheap, second hand ones though) and plug them straight into the AVR.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

It's an AVR and Denon are quite well known in the audio world. Should drive them without any issues.

My mixamp struggles a little but can still drive them. They come with very very long cables so you shouldn't have any issues even if you sit a fair distance away. I think it's a 10 foot cable and a 20 foot cable they come with iirc or something like that.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Thanks for the heads up on the q701s on members market.

No problem, if you had asked earlier you could have gotten them for £90 excluding delivery from america. I paid £120 for mine brand new with delivery and customs. They are £220-£300 here though so £120-£150 easy in the second hand market.

They won't sound very good driven by a phone or a normal pc sound card, your AVR should be capable though.

They aren't forgiving of poor audio sources of weak amps though, they require decent source signal and quality files.

Soundstage on them is phenomenal for gaming like I say you need to spend around £300 brand new to get better headphones and even then they will only be marginally better.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

To really take advantage of any decent headphones you need to use HDMI or optical as your source not usb and definetely not the controller , therefore you require a DAC/AMP. If you want to take advantage and use voice chat then a mixamp is the only real option.

If you don't want to spend a lot then use USB it's in the middle for quality between the controller and optical/hdmi

 

[Psycho Sonny]

settings would be the same, that is what I use I think, just try them all and see what works.

the output on the controller should be chat audio only (not all audio).

you basically want game audio to come through optical and chat through the controller or USB depending on the cable your using.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

You can record messages and listen to them. Pretend to send a voice message as an attachment to one of your friends and then discard it after your satisfied.