Astro A40 & ASUS Xonar Essence STX

[zeelive]

Hello everyone!

I would like to buy the Astro A40 Headset.
It Looks a bit complicated to plug into the computer since it has an Astro MixAmp.
You can check out this headset here.
Astro A40 Audio System | A40 Headset & Mixamp | AstroGaming.com

I was wondering if I was able to plug in my headset in the soundcard.
You can check this sound card here
ASUS - Sound & Multimedia Devices- ASUS Xonar Essence STX

and if not,

Can I use the benefit of my soundcard trought my headphone or I am obligate to plug something in the soundcard to hear the difference?

(This is a really newbi question, I don't know much about sound card 😛)

Thanks for any answer!

 

[reprotected]

I would suggest going against buying the A40. It's no good. Consider the Sennheiser HD 598 for both amazing sound, as well as true surround sound experience in games.

 

[bigshootr8]

You will need a soundcard that has dolby digital live or dolby headphone which the card has both. The card comes with a s/pdif adapter so yes it will work with that card. Sound cards typically give you a higher range of sound. I love my astro a40's if you decide on them though be prepared if you voice chat on the pc you will need a pc chat cable.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132010

 

[bigshootr8]

I had quite a few questions as well when I purchased my Astro A40 here is a thread I had where people helped me out.

http://forums.astrogaming.com/showthread.php?23193-A40-with-Mixamp-or-without

Also you will more then likely just hear your headphones in stereo if you used onboard and the quality will be much lower as the asus essence cards are high end sound cards.

Also with that card it looks like you wouldn't need the mixamp.

 

[zeelive]

ha ok alright thanks for your answer !

 

[bigshootr8]

no problem man enjoy! please private message me when you get your setup all done. I'd like to hear how it goes with that sound card I'm in the market for a new one. Creative has some really buggy drivers.

 

[blitzkiller48]

I had quite a few questions as well when I purchased my Astro A40 here is a thread I had where people helped me out.

http://forums.astrogaming.com/showthread.php?23193-A40-with-Mixamp-or-without

Also you will more then likely just hear your headphones in stereo if you used onboard and the quality will be much lower as the asus essence cards are high end sound cards.

Also with that card it looks like you wouldn't need the mixamp.

i getting o pair of a40 too but if i buy a essence stx i wont need mixamp but if i dont i will still get 7.1?my mobo is a asus p8z77-v pro

 

[bigshootr8]

with the essence stx you will yes its a 7.1 surround sound card. And whether you get a mixamp or not make sure you get optical s/pdif cable. It came with my mixamp I'm unsure if it would with just a headset. This is the one I have however there are a lot of other companies that make them and they aren't all that expensive Monster for example makes them the people that make the expensive home theater equipment.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882200031&Tpk=oslink%20Digital%20Optical

Dolby Digital Live reads this under encoder under my creative sound card. In short you have nothing to worry about. Your card may be able to dish out the full 7.1 unlike mine.

Dolby Digital live converts 5.1 audio signal into a digital bitstream in realtime for transport and playback through dolby digitial equipped home theater system or digital speaker system via a single digitial connection.

 

[blitzkiller48]

with the essence stx you will yes its a 7.1 surround sound card. And whether you get a mixamp or not make sure you get optical s/pdif cable. It came with my mixamp I'm unsure if it would with just a headset. This is the one I have however there are a lot of other companies that make them and they aren't all that expensive Monster for example makes them the people that make the expensive home theater equipment.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882200031&Tpk=oslink%20Digital%20Optical

Dolby Digital Live reads this under encoder under my creative sound card. In short you have nothing to worry about. Your card may be able to dish out the full 7.1 unlike mine.

Dolby Digital live converts 5.1 audio signal into a digital bitstream in realtime for transport and playback through dolby digitial equipped home theater system or digital speaker system via a single digitial connection.

i already ordered my astros with mixamp, what you recommend stay with the mobo integrated sound card or buy the essence stx?btw with the essence stx i will need mixamp or what just to know.thanks for the help

 

[blitzkiller48]

o and if i buy the essence i wont need a mixamp, and whats the use of the toslink cable if i will not be using mixamp only with my xbox y have both but i play pc more .i dont know to much about this 😀

 

[bigshootr8]

Well since you're integrated sound does not have the dolby digital live encoder you will not have surround sound. As its a Dolby headset (I know the brand is astro people 😛). So having the astro and the mixamp is good because it will act as amp and its a nice piece of equipment to have you can use it with other headsets as well.

What I would do.

Get a card with dolby digital live.
Doesn't have to be expensive. For example. The mic port will act as the digital out I'm unsure if it comes with the adapter or not but thats what I would do.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132007

And above all else if you have any intent on pc chatting you will need this with this headset. And I guess ps3 as well 😛

http://www.astrogaming.com/mixamp-5-8-ps3-adapter

 

[bigshootr8]

Because the headset is meant to be used with a digital signal It won't sound good without a toslink cable. People have said the quality goes down quite a bit without it. Plus your xbox has a toslink connection you can plug it in and the mixamp is nice because it comes with the xbox connection for your controller.

 

[blitzkiller48]

i do not intend pc chatting only on xbox so ill get a cheap sound card with dolby digital.im finally understanding this i read your post on astro gaming about mixamp or not mixamp it help me alot . thanks for the help 😀

 

[bigshootr8]

Yea man not a problem its a lot to take in if you just intend to listen on your computer the sound card will be needed for surround sound for the xbox just the mixamp and the headset.

 

[bigshootr8]

And if your intent is xbox 360 gaming I think you made a 100% dead on choice with the mixamp

 

[blitzkiller48]

And if your intent is xbox 360 gaming I think you made a 100% dead on choice with the mixamp

i will play games on both but i am more likely to play on pc more but i will not use mic on pc bc i don't talk much

 

[zeelive]

Hey I recieved everything, I plugged everything together so the mixamp with the soundcard.

If you plug those together, the preset of the mixamp are not working.
you can still turn the volume up and down, You can use the bass/voice thing but I can't see any difference, I can just feel that the sound is going up and down.

What I did, I plugged my headset directly into a split Pink/Green for Mic and Sound. I plugged my pink jack into a 1/4 adapter so it can fit in my sound card, and my sound are in another split, Red and White, so they can fit in the sound card.

So I can use the sound card settings with that setup.
I don't know if there's any better setup tho, since im not plugged in optical!

 

[blitzkiller48]

Hey I recieved everything, I plugged everything together so the mixamp with the soundcard.

If you plug those together, the preset of the mixamp are not working.
you can still turn the volume up and down, You can use the bass/voice thing but I can't see any difference, I can just feel that the sound is going up and down.

What I did, I plugged my headset directly into a split Pink/Green for Mic and Sound. I plugged my pink jack into a 1/4 adapter so it can fit in my sound card, and my sound are in another split, Red and White, so they can fit in the sound card.

So I can use the sound card settings with that setup.
I don't know if there's any better setup tho, since im not plugged in optical!

were i get that cables. they sound better without mixamp?

 

[bigshootr8]

You need to use a optical audio cable. If you use the standard stereo and mic cable you won't get decent quality. It's a digital headset. Did you land the wireless or the regular version?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6_xAEqIZSo around 1:20 in that video.

 

[zeelive]

True, we can see that he can plug his optical cable there, but in mine, i have to use an adapter cause the mixamp is not the same, I got the new A40 not the old version.

 

[bigshootr8]

Oh okay I see what you are talking about. I was watching this guys video and he goes into the 2013 model. To help you out as well I'll share my audio settings with you guys. Mic gets very very loud on the pc so I have to turn it down quite a bit so people don't feel there having there ears starting to bleed. It also looks like if you get the new version you will have no choice but to use the optical cable they give you which is fine it will come with the mixamp.

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

 

[zeelive]

Alright I will watch the video and try to test his setup thank you

 

[zeelive]

I plugged everything correctly but I can't see any difference then I use the 2 button on the mixamp (EQ Button and Bobly on/off) Where is the problem?
And when I turn the little circle on the bottom for more game or voice, when I listen to music it just reduce or increase the sound of it.

Is this normal?

 

[bigshootr8]

The dolby with the head phones on it is the dolby headphone button. That should be on the one to the left is the equalizer presets which I don't have I have the 5.8 mhz mixamp wireless astro a40. For me if I turn it more towards voice it gets a louder. Otherwise I keep it in the middle the small game voice turn dial. And zeelive since you got the soundcard you will want to go into the settings and set it up there as well you will need to find the encoder dolby digital and make sure everything is setup there as well.

 

[zeelive]

Yeah I know wheres the dolby button haha, it lights up when I click on it but theres no change at all in the sound that I get. same the the EQ button.
and when you say that the sound become louder when you turn the thing to the left, you mean theres more bass?