DETAILED COMPARISON: Tritton AXPRO, Sony MDR-DS7000 + Audio Technica ATH-A900 w/ Astro Mixamp

I found this review on amazon and I had to share it with everyone - after weeks f research this is starting to point me in the right direction. "This is not my review"

By B. CooperThis review is from: Tritton AX Pro Dolby Digital Precision Gaming Headset (Accessory) on Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more

After finding a disheartening lack of comparative reviews online I decided that I would write about my own experiences with the above headphones. This review is targeted only at headphones for gaming based on sound from a PS3 slim connected via Monster Ultra Fiber Optic and set to Dolby Digital. I understand there are significantly more options than those I have tested. However, my wish is to give a first-person detailed and reliable account regarding the phones I currently or have previously owned. For a summary of what I found just scroll to the bottom of the review.

As a sidenote I have watched just about every youtube video, read every gaming website review, and scanned through every forum in my search for audio bliss. This is the cumulation of my knowledge and experiences.

Originally I had wanted an all in one processor for DTS and Dolby Digital with a simulated surround sound. I watch most movies and play most games at night, and was trying to "kill a few birds with one stone" on this one. After round 1 of extensive research I settled on the Sennheiser RS130s. I bought two sets. The sound was pretty good. I could not detect ANY simulated surround, but for watching movies the dialogue was VERY bright and enjoyable. In addition there was no interference with my Wii or PS3 due to the RF and the charging system was a good setup. Unfortunately, the wireless was also the problem. I tried switching through every single channel and resetting the base unit. I consistently got a weird "modem" buzzing and clicking sound in the background. Some people might be able to overlook it, but I definitely could not. Back they went and back I went to burning my eyes reading everything online.

Round 2 I decided to bite the bullet, and ordered the Sony MDR-DS7000 headphones from Japan, complete with a second set of phones. They cost me a pretty penny. Once they arrived I tested the voltage coming through the adapter from Japan and found it was much higher than the 9V required for the processor and phones when plugged into a US 120V outlet. After shelling out another $120 for 3 adapters from the Sony MDR-DS6000 series available in the US (courtesy of Sony Style) I was finally able to make sure I hadn't been ripped off from overseas. (The headphones each use 1 adapter to charge the lithium ion batteries. The 3rd is for the Processor.) I was quite satisfied to learn that my bluray, ps3 and wii could all be connected to the same unit. Also, the sound was absolutely crystal clear without a single beep or incoming fax noise. Lord of the Rings sounded great and the VPT surround sound cinema mode made the movie sound like it was being played in a large theatre room. Pretty cool, but not really the "surround sound" I had hoped for. Still....it was an improvement from the Sennheisers. And so I proceeded for a few months before deciding that I'd like to get a system more suitable for the PS3. The large hall effect didn't really seem like it was cutting it anymore. So I considered: Should I try ordering the newly improved MDR-DS7100? Hmm...probably not since they just increased the battery life by 3 hours, and increased the drivers from 40mm to 50mm. The surround effect would be the same. I also considered the Pioneer SE-Dir800c once again, but decided against it based on a few factors. The headphones break in nearly 60% of consumer reviews at a swivel point, the batteries (AA) must be charged separately from the unit, the system only has 1 fiber optic input, and additional headphones are only sold in Japan (unless you want to buy a 2nd transmitter as well). It seemed like a lot of trouble, even though I've read almost 2 million times by now that Dolby Headphone technology is vastly superior to Sony's Virtual Phone Technology. And so we come to Round 3: The Tritton Ax Pros.

A long time ago, before my head was filled with all sorts of useless information on headphones, I owned the Tritton AxPros. This was back when people cared less about how they sounded and more about getting sent the wrong set from Amazon or having to look for places to plug in 2 adapters. OMG! 2 adapters! Yeah...I have a surge protector...not a big deal. Back in those times I was very impressed with the quality of the Trittons for 3d mapping in games. Resistance: Fall of Man and other games from way back in the long long ago sounded significantly better when played through the headphones. The only problem was that finding the proper EQ was a pain and my neck felt like I was wearing Rampage Jackson's chains around my neck after playing. After contacting customer service and adjusting the delay to +10, and decreasing the rear speaker and sub (which felt like it would blow out my eardrum on normal) I was satisfied. Looking back I can safely say that my complete satisfaction was, in part, due to my lack of anything to compare sound quality towards. Fast forward to now. After not quite getting the full experience from the Sony headphones, I decided to repurchase the "newly improved" Tritton Axpros I had been so fond of. When I got my new set I looked over it for a long time. The AC adapter is definitely "cheaper" than both of the older ones (lighter less durable plastic), even though there is now only 1. The break-away cable is a good feature, although you still have to roll it up the same as if you just disconnected it from the decoder box. The microphone has gotten a MUCH needed improvement and is now rubberized/bendable and works a lot better. The headphones still shine a halloween orange glow through the Tritton logo. They also still induce serious headaches from squishing your head like a vice. Funny enough, they actually do not weigh much more than my Sonys. The difference is that Sony has a second band to turn the headphones on that takes most of the pressure off from the top and sides of your head. Tritton has no such feature, but feels much sturdier (like it was carved from a plastic tree). The Tritton also has the individual speaker adjustment, as before, with different colors for different sound levels. This works fine, but a digital +1, +2, +8 numerical readout would be much better. Each color level has 3 or 4 levels before bumping to the next color. Between white and red (medium and max) is "cyan" which is the high volume level. This would be fine if you could ACTUALLY TELL a difference from the white. I believe the Cyan simply leaves the white light on while simultaneously turning on the blue. The problem is that the white light completely overpowers everything else. It looks like the volume goes straight from white to red after about 8 clicks. Pretty dumb. Use purple or yellow or a black light. Don't try to combine colors to cut costs Tritton! The newer model also has the feature of being able to turn off the inline controller by holding the "mute and front speaker" buttons for a few seconds. Here's the problem with that: 1.)when turning the system back on you're usually holding the mute button so it mutes everything. The way the mute/volume is set up you usually end up also raising the volume as you unmute it. You probably shouldnt have the headphone on when turning the inline controller on anyway since it makes a HUGEEE POP noise when powering on that almost makes your ears bleed. This doesn't even power the unit itself on though. It just powers up the phones. The Dolby decoder box has a completely separate power on button. So.....they took away one AC adapter, but actually made it just as much of a pain in the A*$ to turn on and off. Here's the rub though - when you turn off the main decoder box, it resets your settings. That's right. All of the DRC, Sound Delay (Center and Surround) and master volume settings you pulled out the decoder box to program have all been reset. At first I kept thinking to myself, dang...the game sounds different everytime I turn it back on again...I must have not put the time delay on the right setting. After testing it though...I found the cause. Maybe mine's defective because I don't remember my old unit ever doing this. Must be an "improvement" eh? Now for the sound quality.

Discrete sounds and directions. This is where the Tritton Axpros start to do something right. I switched the fiber optic input from my Sony MDR-DS7000 into the Pros back and forth about 50 times. I tried it with Uncharted 1 + 2, God of War 3, God of War Trilogy, Infamous, Killzone 2, Modern Warfare 1 and 2, Battlefield: BC2 and Bioshock 2. Results were surprising. The AxPros actually blew the Sony's out of the water. In Battlefield, when I swung the knife I could hear it echo in the winter mountains and the fires flickered on different sides as I walked. Riding the vehicles sounded like I was right there. Modern Warfare 1 and Uncharted 1 were actually the most remarkable. In Modern Warfare 1 I could hear the helicopters flying overhead and DIRECTLY pinpoint where they were. I tried about 10 times to close my eyes and see if I could locate a circling helicopter. I was right 9/10 times. The Sony headphones (playing on the dedicated PS3 "game" mode) were extremely muffled. Gunshots sounded tiny and shallow. The Trittons just made it seem like I was right there in the environment. In Uncharted I kept restarting the 2nd scene in the jungle and testing the sounds while running through the creeks, in and out of the waterfall, and through the group of birds. With the Trittons it sounded like I was right there. With the Sony's it sounded like I was listening through a set of headphones. Then---slowly---as I listened to Sully talk about finding his "bride in a brothel" for the 20th time, I realized I was missing a vital part of the puzzle. Dialogue. Take this into perspective. The Sony's have 2 dedicated 40mm drivers. The Trittons have 8- 30mm drivers. Usually dialogue is only going through 1 set of speakers (center or front) on the Trittons, depending on the game. The driver quality is also considerably lower than the neodymium found in the Sony's. I went back and listened to Modern Warfare 1 and Bioshock 2. Then I listened to dialogue on Infamous and on God of War 3. Holy Jeez! The Trittons were cutting out some of the dialogue or seriously distorting it. This wasn't during key story moments when everything was evenly balanced. Rather, it is when multiple things are going on at once. Funny enough, this is one of the MAJOR things that all the Astro supporters were talking about when discussing potential missteps with multiple drivers. In a helicopter scene on Modern Warfare I could barely make out what people were saying over the radio. On Bioshock 2 the radio feeds were slightly distorted. On Infamous all of the "S" sounds in dead drops or phone calls came across like static on a radio. On God of War 3 on the ending fight (as Zeus is floating down towards Gaia's heart) he shouts "Hmmm....Kratosss..." in this weird almost comical way. When playing through on the Sonys I could hear it clearly and it always made me laugh after I died for the 50th time. When using the Trittons...I couldn't even hear him say it. I could faintly hear "Hm....SSS." I tried adjusting all of the sound levels individually and could not bring out that line of dialogue. So, after all of my research I started asking myself, would I be missing more dialogue on other games if I stuck with the Trittons? I can't look past the fact that while multiple drivers does = better immersion, it also means less clarity. I also agree with the claim someone else on some distant site said: Sound has a few dead zones on the Trittons. When turning you will clearly notice a sound jump from one speaker to the next. It's not a terrible thing. Some might even like it due to its similarity to real 5.1 setups. But in a video game, if you have that right spot the sound starts to vanish unless you keep turning. I was told that decreasing the surround effect negates this effect, but that comes at the cost of reducing the 3d effect. This is what got me thinking about the Dolby Headphone systems.

I read all about using the Astro Mixamp with other headphones: Beyerdynamic 880s, Sennheiser 555s, 595s, Audio Technica Ath AD700s, AD900s. I wasn't so into researching the Turtle Beach wireless because it uses infrared and has a mic that will not connect to a PS3. If I wanted a standalone infrared processor...I'd just go with the Pioneer SE-DIR800c which are also great for movies even though they'll be duct-taped in about a week due to their fragility. I looked at the JVC dolby processor, but read in a few places it has a small lag between what you see and hear. The Astro Mixamp seems quite good, and a LOT more accessible/user friendly than the AXPROs. Most reviews have stated that the Astro headset is fairly comparable to the Tritton Axpros, so I cannot justify spending an extra $100 for such a slight upgrade. The exposed wire on the Astro set also seems like a bad design flaw. Most websites give the Astros a 9.0 and the AxPros an 8.8. If I truly wanted an upgrade in soudstage and quality, I'd have to purchase an audiophile set of headphones such as those listed above. So that's exactly what I did.

I ordered the Audio Technica ATH-A900 headphones in addition to the Astro dolby mixamp. After connecting them together I ran extensive tests using all of the same games as before: God of War 3, Uncharted 1 +2, Infamous, Call of Duty MW 1 +2, Killzone 2, and Battlefield BC 2.
First and foremost, the setup was MUCH simpler than the Trittons. The mixamp is powered by AND provides voice chat through the single USB cable. The ATH-A900s are also lightyears ahead of the AXpros in terms of comfort (using a wing stabilizer to decrease weight). They are VERY large, but since they are closed they keep sound in/out very well. I would say about the same as the Sony MDR-DS7000 headphones, and considerably better than the Trittons. If this isn't an issue for your household I would recommend the AD series since an open sound is slightly better for soundstage. The mixamp uses a Dolby headphone type 2 configuration preset which is not user adjustable. You get one surround/delay effect. Depending on your view this can be a pro or a con. On the one side, you simply plug in your headphones and start up your game. On the flip side, those who enjoy tweaking surround levels and speaker volumes will be discouraged. Personally I enjoy having everything tweaked to standardized optimal settings. For all of the long hours I spent adjusting the Trittons I still never locked onto what I found to be a "perfect" setting. Voice chat is also MUCH easier to control with the single balance knob of the Astro Mixamp. The only problem is that without an inline volume control you will have to find your optimal volume level before sitting down to enjoy whatever game you are playing. The mixamp is "smarter" than the Tritton Dolby box in that it turns itself off whenever the headphones are unplugged. In addition if you have it powered via USB it will turn off whenever the USB power is turned off (in my case the PS3), even though you will have to manually turn it back on. The portability of the mixamp may also factor into your decision since it can be powered via batteries, although this did not affect my review. The first thing I noticed when playing Call of Duty was that dialogue was very bright and crisp. It was SUBSTANTIALLY better than the AXPROs, and marginally better than the Sonys. I would actually say it was most comparable to the dialogue from the Sennheisers I first owned, although lacking the annoying extraneous noises. Without the Dolby Headphone mode it sounds exactly like what you would expect: sound through a pair of quality 2 speaker headphones. However, with DH turned on the game gives you a very enjoyable out-of-head surround that easily surpasses the VPT of the Sony Headphones. I will not lie though. The 3d effect is definitely subpar compared to the effect of the Trittons. In Call of Duty I could no longer pinpoint circling helicopters. In Uncharted I could no longer hear strangle ambient jungle sounds as if they were all around me. HOWEVER, (and this is the most important part of this review) sounds were distinctly more REALISTIC. It seems like a strange trade-off. In Battlefield BC 2 crackling fires and vehicles no longer sounded like they were in-my-face with the Audio Technicas. Instead they sounded like a normal fire crackling on the ground. In short, it no longer seemed like sounds were being "forced" into specific positions coming into my ears. This is no easy task to convey. The Sony headphones failed to convey the spatial quality of games in an accurate setting. The Trittons created a very pleasing 3d effect but with diminishing realism for voice and sounds. The Astro mixamp/audio technica setup slightly decreases the 3d effect but sounds EXACTLY like what I believe the sound engineers recorded. Ultimately the preference is yours. For games like Infamous the Astro/Technica setup blows everything else out of the water. Not only was dialogue extremely clear, but the entire soundstage sounded realistically recreated for the city environment. With the Trittons certain aspects were enjoyable (fountains, passing cars), while others were abysmal (scuttling trash monsters, yelling fans, distant gunshots). Using the Audio Technica headphones I can hear every single detail I was missing with the Sony headphones, but also enjoy ultra realistic sound for everything else in-game. Rear noise is easier to pinpoint with the Trittons, but I still get the same feeling of "being there" with the Audio Technicas. From a trade-off perspective I would say that the Astro/Audio Technica setup definitely takes the crown. I can put fifteen mini-speakers around my head and pinpoint EXACTLY where a crackling fire or babbling brook is located. Yet if the speakers aren't great, will the sound QUALITY make it sound exactly like what a brook or fire should sound like? Instead it sounds like a precisely located yet slightly unrealistic sound reproduction. This is my best analysis of the Trittons vs ATH A900s. The A900s sound like "real water, or real fire." The trade-off is yours to decide between.

Either way, The Trittons or Astro/Audio-Technica setup is still better than the Sony MDR-DS7000s for gaming. Your preference will determine what is the best fit for your style of gaming. Based on my experieces I would say that since the new Tritton AX700 utilizes the same technology as the Astro set, it would be moot to compare similar technologies. If you enjoy the Dolby Headphone processing of the mixamp, then it would be wise to get the astros based on the extent of other relevant gaming features. If you desire an alternative surround experience, then go with a multi-speaker headphone setup.

IN SUMMATION:

Sony MDR-DS7000:
(+) Crystal Clear Static Free Wireless, Decodes Dolby and DTS, Multiple Fiber Optic Inputs, Long Battery Life, Very good for movies, Clear Dialogue, Can be used with a combination of analog and digital inputs
(- ) No microphone input for voice chat, Poor spatial mapping for gaming, VPT is a poor surround sound simulator, VERY costly to import from Japan, Needs alternative power supply or universal adapter

Dialogue: 8/10
Effects: 6/10
Ambient: 5/10
3d Mapping:4/10

Tritton AXPRO:
(+) BEST 3d mapping, Good integration of voice and in game volume, In-line volume adjustment, Very User Adjustable Sound Levels across all fields (speaker volume, delay setting, DRC), Good Immersion and Ambient Sounds, BEST VALUE for surround experience
(-) Most UNCOMFORTABLE of headphones tested, Tendency to distort or unrealistically convey dialogue and certain sounds, Most complicated to setup and fine tune to enjoyable settings, Poor on/off integration based on power being separated into decoder box and inline controller, Closed headphone design with open headphone sound leakage

Dialogue:6/10
Effects:7/10
Ambient:10/10
3d Mapping:9/10

Astro Mixamp w/ Audio Technica ATH-A900
(+) MOST REALISTIC sounds of all headphones, EXTREMELY Precise dialogue and sound effects, Very good out-of head 3d simulation based on Dolby Headphone technology, Integration of voice-chat and power source through single USB cable, Extremely simple interface, Highest level of connectivity and portability for competitive gamers or LAN parties, Most comfortable of headphones tested
(-) Not quite as good Rear Surround as Trittons, Less Ambient effect heard in background

Dialogue:10/10
Effects:9/10
Ambient:8/10
3d Mapping:7/10

Personally, I prefer the Astro/Audio Technica combination above the others. It is probably the most enjoyable surround experience I have had when playing a videogame through headphones. As such, if you do a LOT of voice chat and online play then I would probably suggest purchasing the complete Astro setup for the use of their headset microphone (which from what I have read is stellar). If you care less for voice chat than detailed immersion (but cost is a factor) then go with the ATH-A700s and Astro Mixamp. If you prefer extreme 3d mapping and may or may not be on a budget, go with the Trittons. If you hate wires, then go wireless with Turtle beach or the Sonys from above. If you are like me and play most games without voice chat and demand high quality crisp dialogue and effect then go with the Astro/ATH900 setup.

Hope all of the time I spent writing this helps you decide what is most important to you.
April 24, 2010 By B. CooperThis review is from: Tritton AX Pro Dolby Digital Precision Gaming Headset (Accessory) on Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more

Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Tritton AX Pro Dolby Digital Precision Gaming Headset

 

I have the A700 very similar to the A900 and I like them a lot.

I just use a Blue Yeti microphone for voice chat so I can use good high end headphones without having to make sacrifices by settling for a headset instead.

 

Not even one comparable USB headset to throw into the comparison ring?

 

the astro mixamp is great, easily worth its price.

 

Please help me decide I cant decide between these headphones, I will be using them with a Astro mixamp and mainly for gaming, but will also listen to music & movies etc.

 

Well, I might just say that I have a pair of the ATH-ANC7b noise canceling headphones. They work wonders for gaming and watching movies. And the best part of all, you can't hear anything outside of them.

 

The senns are more for pleasure listening. I personally own the hd 598 but the audio technica ath m50 are quite nice for the price and prob more suitable for gaming.

 

I love my hd555's with soundstage mod + astro mixamp.

 

i in love my g930s to death and will match it to any head set dollar for dollar, def best bang for the buck... comfy as hell too, i have fallen asleep with them on, so many times now

 

Sorry they don't even come close to my HD's imo, I've used them before and wasn't that impressed.