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a40 Astros

Jabberwookie
By Jabberwookie
in Audio
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Go to solution Solved by KaminKevCrew,

yeah, at this point, you may be better off going with something like a fiio e17k, which is an amp/DAC that runs over USB, so you won't have issues with whatever your onboard sound setup is.

I have the e17k, and it works great for everything that I put it through. the onboard bass/treble boost is a very welcome addtion, as my headphones sometimes decide they don't want to hit hard enough for the Bass.

 

Also, I got into the thread a bit late, but I would recommend just getting a decent pair of regular headphones, and add something like an antlion modmic 4.0 onto them. I have a pretty strange setup personally, but it works for me... 

 

It's an Asus Xonar Essence STX, with a pair of Shure SE535's as my main gaming/listening headphones, with an MAudio Producer USB condenser mic. I also have some Speakers hooked up through the Line out on my sound card, but those are hooked up to my computer, my turntable, and my N64...

 

But I digress... I think you should try out something that is external, and runs off USB before you go spending more money on headphones, since that is very unlikely to be the issue at this point.

Posted

so I have asked a few questions and I got literally no answer so i figured id ask about my sound problem, so I have been trying to get a decent mic/headset option and basically all I have done has sucked :( I finally came around these astro A40s because they are supposed to be then best and the mic quality is the best so far and the sound is great but!!! when I max the volume out its what would basically be 50%.... fine for gaming but still when a cheap headset can out volume these at almost 200 that's a problem... Yes all cords are plugged in and its default, setup as headset with realtek and play back settings are also maxed, I even messed with dolby eq and squeezed a tad bit more volume and tried converting it too .25 and plugged it in to a headset amp haha, annnnd it didnt work. but its an issue still. I didn't get the model with the mix amp but I am beginning to think the are worthless without it to which for another 150 I might as well go to guitar center and get actually audio stuff for 300 plus dollars...any thoughts? or am I just doing something wrong?

 

  • CPU
    AMD FX-8350 Black Edition Vishera 8-Core 4.0GHz
  • Motherboard
    GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3 AMD 990FX SB950 SATA
  • RAM
    G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DD 1866
  • GPU
    MSI Radeon R9 290X GAMING 4GB 512-bit GDDR5 PCI E x16 3.0
  • Case
  • Storage
    Raid 0 Western Digital WD VelociRaptor WD5000HHTZ 500GB
  • PSU
    Corsair cx750m 750 watt
  • Display(s)
    Insignia™ - 46" Class / 1080p / 120Hz / LED-LCD HDTV
  • Cooling
    Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO with Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver and CASE FAN NOCTUA | NF-F12 PWM RT for CPU, 2 frontCorsair CO-9050033-WW Air Series SP120 purple LED 120mm , 1 side antec Truequiet 120mm, top Corsair Air Series AF140 CO-9050017- purple LED 140mm, rear Corsair Air Series AF120 CO-9050015 120mm purple LED
  • Keyboard
    corsair K65 rgb ( amazing lap board)
  • Mouse
    Razer Death Adder 2013 (kinks)
  • Sound
    Astro A40 (best ever! but needs a good amp!)
  • Operating System
    Windows 7 OEM sp1
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Posted

 

so I have asked a few questions and I got literally no answer so i figured id ask about my sound problem, so I have been trying to get a decent mic/headset option and basically all I have done has sucked :( I finally came around these astro A40s because they are supposed to be then best and the mic quality is the best so far and the sound is great but!!! when I max the volume out its what would basically be 50%.... fine for gaming but still when a cheap headset can out volume these at almost 200 that's a problem... Yes all cords are plugged in and its default, setup as headset with realtek and play back settings are also maxed, I even messed with dolby eq and squeezed a tad bit more volume and tried converting it too .25 and plugged it in to a headset amp haha, annnnd it didnt work. but its an issue still. I didn't get the model with the mix amp but I am beginning to think the are worthless without it to which for another 150 I might as well go to guitar center and get actually audio stuff for 300 plus dollars...any thoughts? or am I just doing something wrong?

 

  • CPU
    AMD FX-8350 Black Edition Vishera 8-Core 4.0GHz
  • Motherboard
    GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3 AMD 990FX SB950 SATA
  • RAM
    G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DD 1866
  • GPU
    MSI Radeon R9 290X GAMING 4GB 512-bit GDDR5 PCI E x16 3.0
  • Case
  • Storage
    Raid 0 Western Digital WD VelociRaptor WD5000HHTZ 500GB
  • PSU
    Corsair cx750m 750 watt
  • Display(s)
    Insignia™ - 46" Class / 1080p / 120Hz / LED-LCD HDTV
  • Cooling
    Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO with Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver and CASE FAN NOCTUA | NF-F12 PWM RT for CPU, 2 frontCorsair CO-9050033-WW Air Series SP120 purple LED 120mm , 1 side antec Truequiet 120mm, top Corsair Air Series AF140 CO-9050017- purple LED 140mm, rear Corsair Air Series AF120 CO-9050015 120mm purple LED
  • Keyboard
    corsair K65 rgb ( amazing lap board)
  • Mouse
    Razer Death Adder 2013 (kinks)
  • Sound
    Astro A40 (best ever! but needs a good amp!)
  • Operating System
    Windows 7 OEM sp1

 

I prefer the steelseries H series myself. But I'm about to buy my brother a set of A50's for his birthday so I can get mine back (and so he can't can't confuse his with mine)

Astro is a well reviewed product, and while I can't give personal testimony linus can in his video's (if you're on his forum, you probably trust his opinion)

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Posted

sorry didn't read all the way through. you're not using a discrete sound card are you? my guess is that the impedance. (measured in ohms...basically resistance in the headset circuit) is too much for whatever onboard solution you're using. You could use a discrete sound card, or an inline DAC to rectify this problem. (basically you need to be able to push more power through audiophile grade headphones without a whole heap of signal noise)

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sorry didn't read all the way through. you're not using a discrete sound card are you? my guess is that the impedance. (measured in ohms...basically resistance in the headset circuit) is too much for whatever onboard solution you're using. You could use a discrete sound card, or an inline DAC to rectify this problem. (basically you need to be able to push more power through audiophile grade headphones without a whole heap of signal noise)

that what I was afraid of, would it be better to just run to an audio store and get a set up with actual  professional mic and headset, or am I going to still require a sound card that will fix this issue?

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had a look at the spec sheet astro recommends 50 ohms. a onboard realtek driver on most motherboards (we're not taslking about motherboards with their own semi-discrete audio solutions here) are rated at 2-4 ohms. basically a pair of low impedance headphones like the ones you buy a a supermarket for 5 bucks (or specialist low impedance headphones, they do exist, so I'm not bagging them)

 

I prefer a discrete sound card as they are usually a more elegant solution. But an inline audio amp as @SSL recommended is also an option. Pick whatever is in your budget. Just make sure it's rated for 50 ohm impedance headphones.

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had a look at the spec sheet astro recommends 50 ohms. a onboard realtek driver on most motherboards (we're not taslking about motherboards with their own semi-discrete audio solutions here) are rated at 2-4 ohms. basically a pair of low impedance headphones like the ones you buy a a supermarket for 5 bucks (or specialist low impedance headphones, they do exist, so I'm not bagging them)

 

I prefer a discrete sound card as they are usually a more elegant solution. But an inline audio amp as @SSL recommended is also an option. Pick whatever is in your budget. Just make sure it's rated for 50 ohm impedance headphones.

 

There aren't any headphones on the market with an impedance that low. The key here is the sensitivity, which is infuriatingly given as 104 "dB". If this is dB/mW then these headphones should be trivially easy to drive; however if it is dB/V then it might explain why the OP is having issues.

 

As I've said a billion times, the impedance alone is not enough to determine what the best source for a headphone will be.

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not to mention mic quality is too, I can get audiophile stuff on the cheaper end that just sounds so much better, but will I need a sound card for that or will placed like guitar center have stuff that you will need ( I would assume yes being that that have huge mix boards using laptops but the guy there didnt seem like he really knew that much, he just threw a head phone amp and was like here (which absolutely did not work)

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There aren't any headphones on the market with an impedance that low. The key here is the sensitivity, which is infuriatingly given as 104 "dB". If this is dB/mW then these headphones should be trivially easy to drive; however if it is dB/V then it might explain why the OP is having issues.

 

As I've said a billion times, the impedance alone is not enough to determine what the best source for a headphone will be.

No but it provides a guide. If you're onboard amp can't power it, chances are it's going to have problems. I couldn't actually find a power output for this board, so had to use the onboard realtek engine's native output. I'd assume any audio solution would boost this somehow.I also agree with SSL a top of the line xonar essence or sound blaster sfx isn't necessary in this case. Those things are designed to drive thousand dollar studio monitors, and reference headsets (up to 300 ohms). A cheap solution is enough, will be better than most on board solutions (even on a more expensive board). You don't need top of the line here. You just need something that will do the job properly without inputting it's own signal noise. Asus and creative are the sound card people I'd recommend. SSL has given his top pick, but I'm sure if you asked nicely he'd go through the range of options for you.

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you returning this and getting studio stuff would be a waste? so the A40 is pretty good so long as a get a DAC or a sound card?

 

I'm having a really hard time following you.

 

My proposed solution to your original problem of insufficient volume is to get an inexpensive amp - Fiio E6.

 

If you would rather return the a40 for something else, give us a total budget.

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No but it provides a guide. If you're onboard amp can't power it, chances are it's going to have problems. I couldn't actually find a power output for this board, so had to use the onboard realtek engine's native output. I'd assume any audio solution would boost this somehow.

 

It doesn't. "Driving up to X ohm headphones" is a gross marketing simplification, at best. I've seen products advertised as being able to drive "up to 600 ohm headphones" when they could not possibly put out more than 2Vrms max.

 

It really depends on the impedance AND sensitivity of the headphone, voltage and current output of the amp at that impedance, and the desired listening volume. Sadly, most of this information isn't available because manufacturers don't bother to publish meaningful specifications.

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I'm having a really hard time following you.

 

My proposed solution to your original problem of insufficient volume is to get an inexpensive amp - Fiio E6.

 

If you would rather return the a40 for something else, give us a total budget.

sorry forgive me, I have been kinda ill lately and head is jacked lol, I should have been more thorough with my response, basically I just wanted a functional head set with a good mic and good sound, didnt need to be insanely good and the A40 from what I hear analogwise ( I dont like usb head sets) was about as good as a solution as any... well... astro... basically includes a mix amp that basically allows the head set to operate the way its intended unless you have a DAC, that was my fault for not catching the fact they include in with some headsets that mix amp. This one does not have the mix amp so I need to get one they have or another, by then ill have spent anywhere from 250 to 300 so I figured by then I could just go to a music store and buy actual audio stuff instead of wasting money on these head sets and get the best bang for the dollar for the audio quality I was needing. 

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basically i need a head set that sounds good enough because I both listen to music, play games, study, and do music production and do live streams, so if it sounds good and doesnt interfere with the communication and recording that would be great I need a good mic that doesnt sound like I am on a world war 2 radio. just stuff thats good for the price point, I dont need insanely good stuff.... if I was making money at it then that would be different :P

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Try setting the audio to stereo mode. I've never liked the headphone setting with any soundcard Ive used, dedicated and integrated. Also make sure everything else is turned off, no effects or enhancements. I've never had a volume problem with integrated audio so I think the problem is software/driver related. At least with the output. 

PC Audio Setup = Beyerdynamic DT 770 pro 80 ohm and Sennheiser pc37x (also for xbox) hooked up to Schiit Fulla 3

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okay so, I upgraded to audiotechica `mthm50s with condenser mic by them hooked to presonus... so spend like 200 more bucks... lmao

 

and same problem!!!! except!!! when I run windows media player or test the headset it plays full volume... what thee HELL

 

I went and reinstalled drivers and everything!

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It could be your onboard sucks. It happens sometimes. Do the headphones sound fine when using other devices like your phone? Also, did you disable all the extra audio features in the Realtek program and set the audio out as 2 channel stereo?

PC Audio Setup = Beyerdynamic DT 770 pro 80 ohm and Sennheiser pc37x (also for xbox) hooked up to Schiit Fulla 3

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