Advice for headphone (Optical)

[Kohta]

I did some google searches and i came up with a lot of the same results that get off topic before it even gets to a suggestion.

Right now i have a pair of Triton PC510 5.1 headphones. I bought into the whole 5 drivers etc etc and while they don't sound terrible, they don't sound like i expected, in Skyrim or any Dolby Digital game iv'e tried there will be sound gaps where a npc or such will be speak and if your point of view is turning it will cut them out completely at certain points in the listening area, it will do the same for waterfalls or other ambiance, this is very common with this type of set up there is nothing you can do about it, i have tried other sound cards and all that junk for the last year and it's just how it is, the reason is because the center driver, the one for lows it being directed as a full range and it is, unfortunately if you don't have full range enabled with these, you will not have your stereo sound on the top speaker which also shares range with the center... confusing but if you screw witht hem as much as i have you will know these inside and out.

So the whole 5 drivers is a gimmeck? Not entirely, the sound positioning isn't terrible, in fact its very good, but the quality has taken a massive toll, i have a pair of ear buds that have more bass and crisper highs (Sony PS Vita earbuds)

So here is what i am looking for and i can't come to any conclusions.
Things i want

1. Optical, this is a MUST, i am plugging this into a Playstation 3

2. Clear Highs and Mids, deep Bass, when i fire i want to feel it in my head without turning the volume to MAX

3. It can be USB powered or powered by the wall, whichever, the PS3 USB ports are generally free'd up and this unit will be stationary.

4. Sound positioning is important but it's not at the very top of my list, i mean... if it's to my left or right or behind me i should be able to guess but i'm more interested in the quality of the sound.

5. With Optical it should be able to produce 5.1 and hopefully 7.1 but i need at minimum 5.1 positioning.

Things i DONT want

1. I don't give a flying crap about a mic or it's quality, i'm looking for headphones not a headset.

2. I prefer not to have some concoction of wires and a ridiculous amp box unless it makes a significant difference.

3. Wireless, Nothing wireless please, thanks i have had nothing but nightmares with noise or batteries or delay and i am not interested in wireless.

4. I don't know a whole lot about the Audio Technica AD700, but i do know they are another one of those "Great position, good sound but lacks this, or that" I need to find something with a full package.

I like to play suspense, action adventure and RPGs, all of these games have something in common, phenomenal special and sound effects, i have not been very happy with my Tritton's since i got them and it's mainly because they lack sound quality, i can tell the noise is behind me spot on but sometimes a gun shot sounds like someone tossed a rock into a tin can because it has a terrible amount of bass even when amplified, i am not a bass head but i can tell these drivers are not delivering any punch.
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Maybe it would help if i provided a setting, Lets say you are gearing up to play this.

If you notice it's going to have alot to do with sound positioning and just try to pick up the sound of the frogs and birds around, when the action takes place the thuds from being smashed in the faces need to be felt, the echos clealy represented, this is an example of all the sounds i want to reproduce as accurately as possible, iv'e already wasted $300 on headphones, i need some solid advice and why they will work out, the PS3 paired with a BluRay outputs 192khz stream in Dolby TrueHD and DTS 5.1.

 

[Knufire]

The AD700s don't lack anything, they have a sound signature that is sort of light on the bass. They're more attuned to classical music than much of the bass heavy popular music today. Reason they're popular for gaming is that they have a ginormous soundstage (again, good for classical), so positioning is great. In other words, they're an extremely competitive headset, but only a moderately fun one.

There seems to be a missing part...you can't go optical directly into a headphone. Optical is a digital signal...speakers need an analog signal.

 

[kyfire]

Check out Turtle Beach Inc http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/headsets/ps3 they carry a full line of headset/phones for the PS3

 

[Knufire]

I have a Turtle Beach headset and have used several others and can say that the sound quality is downright terrible.

 

[kyfire]

Sound quality is a subjective thing. Everyone has their own perspective on what it is. With that said I've never used the Turtle Beach products so therefor have no idea of the quality of the sound.

 

[Conumdrum]

The AD700s don't lack anything, they have a sound signature that is sort of light on the bass. They're more attuned to classical music than much of the bass heavy popular music today. Reason they're popular for gaming is that they have a ginormous soundstage (again, good for classical), so positioning is great. In other words, they're an extremely competitive headset, but only a moderately fun one.

There seems to be a missing part...you can't go optical directly into a headphone. Optical is a digital signal...speakers need an analog signal.

+5 on the part about an optical connection. Headphones need electrical power, optical isn't. Isn't there an adaptor to convert optical to a headphone out jack? You'll also need a DAC decoder in the box also, I think the optical out isn't decoded yet.

Like this? No idea on it's DAC capability etc. Might be crap.
http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Optical-Converter-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B003XCHCLC

maybe this?
http://www.audiocubes.com/product_info.php?products_id=1634

 

[Kohta]

Wow lots of information here, thank you all.

I wasn't thinking and that is a good point i was assuming there might be some USB powered headphones out there with a direct optical feed or something but i guess not, i will research these narrowed down suggestions, the main reason i thought of optical is because i have the PS3 coming to my monitor as HDMI, and the only sound i get is from the monitor, the output on the monitor for sound is a Center (Black) and it doesn't have the same sound quality of my PC for example.

EDIT: I like the sound of these alot http://www.turtlebeach.com/product-detail/ps3-headsets/ear-force-px5/51 except the battery requirement, still looking around Turtle beach though.

-I guess the only way i can explain it, is i am looking for a punchy bass theater in my ears experience, that also has an option for a mixamp for Optical, those Pioneer SE-DIR800CII's are $400, i am buying 2 of these so i can't stand to spent that kind of money in some ears. I didn't realize i was going to end up in a field of headphones that aren't cheaper than $150 for everything i needed.

EDIT2: I think i'm going to give the Sony Pulse Elite Edition Stereo 7.1 headphones a try, while it isn't optical it apparently is still somehow digital, the battery life is what worried me about wireless stuff because if you forget to charge it and it dies 30 minutes into your session, it feels like being blinded, with this unit it can be used while charging, the reviews on it are incredibly good, the content of the negatives are nothing that i would be bothered with, like the weight or how it looks, i can see how it looks.

The other thing is i can plug this into my Vita in the top port (comes with the adapter) and have 5.1 (sadly 7.1 isn't available on the vita) i was thinking the pulse emitter was gimmicky at first and it still may be, but everyone reviewing it is saying it is great.

 

[Knufire]

Here's the thing...a large majority of digital headphones are NOT good for sound quality. This is because the digital-analog converter (DAC), which is important for sound quality, is usually some cheap-*** chip thrown inside the headphone.

 

[Kohta]

Here's the thing...a large majority of digital headphones are NOT good for sound quality. This is because the digital-analog converter (DAC), which is important for sound quality, is usually some cheap-*** chip thrown inside the headphone.

From what iv'e gathered the headphones have a chip in them with Dolby Digital stamped on it to emulate the 7.1 sound stage, when using th ePS3 the USB transmits the signal in it's analog state (assumption), which is carried to the headset where the Dolby chip takes over the channel sorting, for other uses it is a straight analog 3 (or was it 4?) ring input.

I don't know much about the rings on the jacks but i am assuming the rings are audio channels for the mic, stereo L/R and ground.

 

[Knufire]

USB can't transmit analog signals...3.5mm TRS jacks do.

The Dolby chip is the DAC. Using USB probably just bypasses the DAC in the PS3 (if there is one?).

 

[voodoo do'er]

The old AKG sextetts are grate for gaming. If you can find a set, and have the power to dive them.
That being said the AD700 are a nice entry set of headphones for gaming. I found them lacking power in the sound, but that's a open headphone thing.

BTW turtlebeach is over priced junk.

headphone-buying-guide
headphone-gaming-guide

 

[Kohta]

I just wanted to stop by and say i got the Sony PULSE Elite headphones, I bought them from BestBuy for about $20 more than Amazon because i had the option to take them back if i needed too and that would end up cheaper and quicker in a long run situation, so here is what i think 5 hours later.

HOLY ****!

That about sums it up. The way this works is you can plug this into any device with the provided 3.5mm jack, TV/Vita/PC/Laptop/Tablet/Net & notebook, Phone and as long as the power on the headphones are on it will activate pulse. There is a better way to connect it to your PC and TV, if your TV has a USB port, you can use the 3.5mm wire in the USB wireless dongle thing and have wireless sound to the headphones, this also has produced a superior sound quality compared to the straight 3.5mm jack in both quality and sound spacing.

The PC is the second best sounding thing in this senario, the vita is third, the vita produces some nice sounds but you notice early on that the bass lacks, however the pulse picks up for it, the sensation is different, i played some gravity rush and when Kat fell to the ground the pulse kicks my head, when changing gravity fiels it would jitter, it's very hard to explain but it is NOT a vibration, it is like a subwoofer in a car, and it isn't audible outside of the headphones but you can clearly feel the hits.

The PCi had an interesting time setting up to balance it, the quality of alot of the youtube videos are not up to this sets standards, a youtube video is far and few between that it doesn't make this headset sound like it is in a can, when you turn off pulse the issue is gone but the pulse is one feature of this headset that makes the experience of anything you're doing more amazing. Unfortunately it absolutely must be a good quality or it will suffer.

The reason i have found is the pulse works off of specific frequencies in the sound samples it receives and in real time deploys a pulse of that hz, giving you the feeling of it while hearing it, and it actually works incredibly well i'm really amazed, not to mention i am able to hear things i could not before, just because the clarity was not there, the bass impact can be adjusted, you can have it maxed out which is a bit rediculous or off, i keep it just under half way which doesn't take away the feeling it gives but doesn't overpower any of the highs.

The PS3 is where this thing gets freakin sick, the 7.1 feature is missing up until this point, the most you can get is what your PC's card allows, in my case i can emulate it up to 5.1. The only way i can do 7.1 is to actually have each channel plugged in, under "Stereo" 5.1 is my limit (It's onboard). The PS3 also does not send heavy frequencies to the headphones has hard, what i mean by that is, pulse is not activated as much and this is almost a good thing, when it is activated, it's because a a gun fired, something exploded, sometimes heartbeats, on the PC in contrast it will pulse on the wind blowing or any deep frequencies, the PS3 seems to have a bit more control over how and what it reacts too, the VSS 7.1 just adds flavor to this soup and it is jaw dropping, everytime i fire an automatic weapon i hear the entire concussion, i hear the "ching-ching-chingching, ching" of the empty shells below me as they echo in the hallway of where i am, and i feel every shot throughout my face and neck, you can turn the intensity up or down but for now thats all i have to say, it's an amazing headset.

I have a new found faith in wireless and i admit, now that i have heard this one, that the multi-speaker is nothing but a good gimmeck, these Trittons get to sit in the closet now.

 

[voodoo do'er]

well if you like them that's whats matters

 

[Kohta]

Damn it...

I went to pop my neck out of habit and when i shifted my head angle i heard something that sounded loose in the head phones, its only in the right side, so i disassembled the right can and the board/chips/battery all the wires in there and the dials are all tight and snug, so i took all that stuff out and with the can empty i put it on my head and reoeated the motion to find it still present, it seems like it's either in the pulse emitter or something else i can't pin point it and i'm not going to take anything else apart, /sigh guess i'm getting them exchanged, they still sound fantastic i hope i don't trade in a subtle weird loose sound for a dying unit, i guess thats the risk with anything, again it's only on the right side so im assuming it's some sort of flaw in production on this unit.

If you want to know what it sounds like, it's like a disc in a DVD box or something.