Astro a40 Vs Steelseries siberia elite

[EmoRarity]

I was about to say exactly that. Right after I facepalm everyone.

[mr moose]

**snippy**

 

Yikes,  Dude, if you are going to make us read the encyclopedia every time someone says your wrong then please at least make sure the information you provide is correct.

I think Shearme has put most of it in order. If your still not convinced let me know, I have been building amps, speakers and eq's as well as playing around with e.q's, headphones, compressors, expanders, channel separators, mixers, effects units, etc etc etc since the 80's. So I know a little bit about this stuff.

[h264]

The only thing I'm noticing that nobody has straightened out yet in this thread is that you should ask @Windspeed36 if you want to see what HARDWARE equalizers look like.  All of you use software equalizers.  Most software audio players also have equalization features separate from your soundcard/onboard/external. You'd be better off using those settings rather than your onboard's equalizer.

 

Other than that... I'm out:

 

[mr moose]

All of you use software equalizers

Weeeeeeeell excuuuuuuuuuse me! :angry:

 

snippo what I just said...       nowadays all eq's are going software. They are either part of the digital mixer, on their own as a digital unit or part of the digital amp. Hardware eq's are becoming rare.

 

EDIT: just adding this :P :P   so you know I ain't angry :lol:

[Lauen]

Weeeeeeeell excuuuuuuuuuse me! :angry:

 

snippo what I just said...       nowadays all eq's are going software. They are either part of the digital mixer, on their own as a digital unit or part of the digital amp. Hardware eq's are becoming rare.

 

EDIT: just adding this :P :P   so you know I ain't angry :lol:

well, I have an old Fisher EQ lying around, which I use for my crappy speakers, so I can just adjust the small things I want extra. For my headset, I use a tiny bit of software EQ (TINY as in usually only 1 dB on two lower bands, just for a little more bass)

 

EDIT: it's a Fisher EQ 273, just so you know  

[mr moose]

well, I have an old Fisher EQ lying around, which I use for my crappy speakers, so I can just adjust the small things I want extra. For my headset, I use a tiny bit of software EQ (TINY as in usually only 1 dB on two lower bands, just for a little more bass)

 

EDIT: it's a Fisher EQ 273, just so you know

NIce, I have a very similar Sansui model I use for my monitors at home.  Outside that usually I use 1/3^rd octave rack mounted pro gear for calibrating P.A's or even just the built in eq's in mixer amps.

[saytiger]

Astros are pretty useless without the mixamp. It is the mixamp that makes the sound wayyyyyyyyyyyy much better. Maybe consider getting a mixamp but use it with another headphone

[ShearMe]

Astros are pretty useless without the mixamp. It is the mixamp that makes the sound wayyyyyyyyyyyy much better. Maybe consider getting a mixamp but use it with another headphone

 

I don't think that's how audio works bro...

[MayflowerElectronics]

Astros are pretty useless without the mixamp. It is the mixamp that makes the sound wayyyyyyyyyyyy much better. Maybe consider getting a mixamp but use it with another headphone

 

Lol, it's the other way around.

[Lukiose]

Just saw this thread, not gonna even bother...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEjVpgLkeFg

[EmoRarity]

All of you use software equalizers.

EQ is bad and detracts from the listening experience.

[_ASSASSIN_]

Not all motherboards come with EQ-functionality in the driver software... It's maybe quite the norm on mid-high end and up nowadays, but far from -all-. The motherboard in my HTPC for one (AsRock, AMD E350-based) did not come with a fancy driver software with EQ. Nor does my laptop offer a system-wide software EQ.

You can download and use 3rd party software for it, yes. But FAR from all onboard solutions offer you EQ-functionality in the driver software.

By EQ I, of course, mean a graphical equalizer software where you can modify some sliders to change how everything sounds.

 

Nobody uses hardware EQ? Well surely it exists for a reason. Hardware EQ is better in the respect that it doesn't distort the audio the same way software EQ does, and the amplification works in a much better way generally. Surely audiophiles and recording studios would use them?

 

Then yet again. A digitally sourced sound card or DAC will still sound better than pretty much any onboard solution due to the simple fact that it's better separated and shielded from EMI. It has MUCH less distortion and a lot more detail. Even Linus himself recommends any gamer not to skip over a sound card. Regardless if it's a step backwards or not in the audio chain, it provides cleaner output with less noise and less distortion.

I have 1st hands experience going from the onboard on an ROG board (Crosshair IV formula) to a fairly good sound card (Xonar D2X). Even with my, at the time, crappy Logitech speakers. The difference in clarity was massive.

what in the FUCK is a hardware EQ

[mr moose]

what in the FUCK is a hardware EQ

Analogue eq:

Digital eq (sotfware):

 

[_ASSASSIN_]

Analogue eq:

Digital eq (sotfware):

Seems expensive, I personally don't use software eq's but they aren't even bad. Most producers use eq's themselves anyway

[_ASSASSIN_]

Professionally, sure, but no one sensible person uses hardware EQ at home for just listening.

I don't care what kind of shielding the manufacturer says a soundcard has - if it's in the case it is vulnerable. That said, all the data I've read shows very little difference between onboard and a soundcard (probably an inaudible difference, especially when compared to an external DAC).

Most of us 'round here are against soundcards because their price/performance ratio is rather disgusting, especially when you realize FiiO E10's are cheaper than most "high end" soundcards.

And there's your problem (no offense, Linus).

BONUS ROUND: Spot the zing word.

Not trying to disqualify any personal experience someone's had, but could it have sounded better simply because you wanted it to sound better?

Yeah, I Placebo's my experience with soundcards, I had a xonardg, got rid of it and noticed a huge difference with onboard as it sounds miles better than the soundcard

[mr moose]

Seems expensive, I personally don't use software eq's but they aren't even bad. Most producers use eq's themselves anyway

correctomundo, Except that they are not that expensive, the two I pictured are probably the cheapest on the market at $167 for the analogue and $391for the digital.

 

EQ's are now almost purely the realm of production, recording and live sound.  In headphones there are no environmental factors to consider and with most home hifi units the sounding as good as they do the need for eq is practically non existent domestically.

[Canoas]

Just because they don't listen to our advice when making a purchasing decision doesn't mean separate headphones+mic aren't empirically better at every price point. If they hate the one extra wire (oh no, the end of the world!) then they should be getting a wireless headset anyways.

Not really. It's simply less troublesome to have a headset instead of a separated mic and quite honestly I don't buy into the "if the mic breaks you have to buy a whole new headset" thing. It makes no sense to me. If the mic breaks then I can still get a separate microphone, if the headphones break then I'll get a whole new headset. One thing is claiming that gaming headsets have worse quality, another is to claim that headsets are inherently worse. It just doesn't make any sense. For me a Headset is significantly better than Headphone + Mic, as it is for most gamers, there's just no benefit to have them separated.

 

 

With that said between those two I'd go with Steelseries Siberia

[MayflowerElectronics]

Not really. It's simply less troublesome to have a headset instead of a separated mic and quite honestly I don't buy into the "if the mic breaks you have to buy a whole new headset" thing. It makes no sense to me. If the mic breaks then I can still get a separate microphone, if the headphones break then I'll get a whole new headset. One thing is claiming that gaming headsets have worse quality, another is to claim that headsets are inherently worse. It just doesn't make any sense. For me a Headset is significantly better than Headphone + Mic, as it is for most gamers, there's just no benefit to have them separated.

 

 

With that said between those two I'd go with Steelseries Siberia

 

You just contradicted yourself in that post. But saying "there's just no benefit to have them separated" is 100% false.

[Parkway Drive]

Not really. It's simply less troublesome to have a headset instead of a separated mic and quite honestly I don't buy into the "if the mic breaks you have to buy a whole new headset" thing. It makes no sense to me. If the mic breaks then I can still get a separate microphone, if the headphones break then I'll get a whole new headset. One thing is claiming that gaming headsets have worse quality, another is to claim that headsets are inherently worse. It just doesn't make any sense. For me a Headset is significantly better than Headphone + Mic, as it is for most gamers, there's just no benefit to have them separated.

 

 

With that said between those two I'd go with Steelseries Siberia

 

[Canoas]

You just contradicted yourself in that post. But saying "there's just no benefit to have them separated" is 100% false.

And what would that benefit be then? And no, I never contradicted myself.

[ShearMe]

One thing is claiming that gaming headsets have worse quality, another is to claim that headsets are inherently worse.

 

I didn't mean to say they were inherently worse, just that everything on the market is of a much lower quality than similarly priced headphones (even after adjusting $50 for a mic). Sennheiser's PC 360 is the one exception since it recently came down in price: http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-360-Headset-Pro-Gaming/dp/B003DA4D2U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383185762&sr=8-1&keywords=pc+360

[Canoas]

I didn't mean to say they were inherently worse, just that everything on the market is of a much lower quality than similarly priced headphones (even after adjusting $50 for a mic). Sennheiser's PC 360 is the one exception since it recently came down in price: http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-360-Headset-Pro-Gaming/dp/B003DA4D2U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383185762&sr=8-1&keywords=pc+360

Adjusting 50$ for the mic? The Siberia v2 don't even cost 80$ and come with a pretty good microphone. The vast majority of gaming headsets are cheap for a reason, they don't need to be expensive, but a headset with a good mic is a must for gamers.

[ShearMe]

Adjusting 50$ for the mic? The Siberia v2 don't even cost 80$ and come with a pretty good microphone. The vast majority of gaming headsets are cheap, they don't need to be expensive. I only know one person who has spent more than 80€ on a headphone/headset and personally I'm not going to pay more than 60€. You're just not going to get significantly better headphones + a good mic for that price, and for gaming a decent mic is really important otherwise it'll be incredibly painful for everyone else whenever you speak.

 

Was obviously overcompensating for higher end option, but you can get $10 (or less) clip on mics. It is harder to find good cheap headphones in Europe and similar markets, and in those cases we sometimes do end up recommending a headset that fits their budget.

 

Adjusting 50$ for the mic? The Siberia v2 don't even cost 80$ and come with a pretty good microphone. The vast majority of gaming headsets are cheap for a reason, they don't need to be expensive, but being a headset is a must for gamers.

 

Nice edit bro.

[Canoas]

Was obviously overcompensating for higher end option, but you can get $10 (or less) clip on mics. It is harder to find good cheap headphones in Europe and similar markets, and in those cases we sometimes do end up recommending a headset that fits their budget.

 

 

Nice edit bro. 

Yeah, sometimes I write too much and get side-tracked, so I usually go back and delete everything that isn't pertinent to what's being discussed.

[ShearMe]