17xR3 - External Soundcard - Gaming Headphones? How & What?

I have a Alienware M17xR3. I want to buy some gaming excellent headphones I do want to experience the true 5.1 in gaming that some of the headphones offer like the Roccat Rave. They have 4 x 3.5mm plugs and a USB connecter like in the image below:

(Centre, Front (left & Right), Rear (left & Right), Sub)

So obviously my laptop audio card does not support all these plugs so i will need to buy an external sound card.

1. What Soundcard can you guys recommend? That's works well and is not too hard to configure.

Note: I know these will not produce good stereo as they have multiple cones in each ear. I will be buying other headphones for stereo music.

Note 2: The m17xR3 Has no PCI Express slot

P.S - Is this the best place to post this?

 

Update: I am considering the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1

I found this review on amazon - can anyone comment on this? in regards to EAX for games "I also read a review where this device doesn't support EAX. That is not true. It does support EAX sound environments natively. The confusion may be over EAX for game sound effects. This is not supported in hardware, but is supported by software emulation (and probably why Creative doesn't put a checkmark in their EAX support column for this device). This may have been a negative for Windows XP class machines, but is no problem on a Windows 7 machine. In any case, I tried a couple of older games that used EAX and they worked fine using the emulation."

 

The m17x R3 should have an optical out so you could run a toslink cable from the R3 to a Astro MixAmp and into a pair of A30/A40's saving a ton of cables. You just need a USB connection to power the MixAmp and a toslink cable to drive the 5.1 audio which is what I use for my gaming setup.

 

Astro A40 is what I recommend....It's great

 

Wireless or not wireless?

 

I can recommend the Turtle Beach HPA2's They are absolutely amazing, I also own a pair of Audio technica AD700's and they pale in comparison don't understand the hype about those at all. The HPA's are loud and have a built in inline amplifier and adjustable dials for the surrround, center, bass, and front channels. Comfortable after being broken in can be a little tight at first. I have gone on a 15 hour gaming session with no fatigue. Blu-rays sound amazing as well, I hear things in games that I have never heard before and everything is clear and the directionality is impressively precise. Sad thing is alot of people bash True 5.1 and call it a gimmick and some products are...not these.

Here is a review on them
http://hothardware.com/Reviews/Gaming-Headset-Roundup/?page=7

Search youtube for reviews as well.

 

Im not conviced with the bass quality of The Astro A40's, as lots of reviews are saying not enough bass... you thoughts? and are they true 5.1 are there seperate cones like the Roccat Kave's?

 

your laptop does support 5.1 audio so no need for an external sound card there are four analog plugs on the R3
There is lots of bass, but it can be boomy at times and yes these are true 5.1 surround they have 4 speakers per ear cup:

Specs: check out that review I posted in the last post
Headphones
Front Channel Speakers
40mm diameter speakers with neodymium magnet
Speaker Frequency Response: 20Hz - 20kHz, >120dB SPL+3dB/mW

Surround Channel Speakers
40mm diameter speakers with neodymium magnet
Speaker Frequency Response: 20Hz - 20kHz, >120dB SPL+3dB/mW

Center Channel Speakers
30mm diameter speakers with neodymium magnet
Speaker Frequency Response: 80Hz - 16kHz, >110dB SPL+3dB/mW

Subwoofer Channel Speakers
30mm diameter with high-impact magneto-resonant vibration coil
Speaker Frequency Response:20Hz - 500Hz

Condenser Microphone Frequency Response: 50Hz - 15kHz
Weight: 11.9 Oz (337.359g)

Surround Sound Amplifier
Includes 6 independent amplifiers
Frequency response Sub Channel: 20Hz - 200Hz
Frequency response (Front, Surround and Center channels): 20Hz - 20kHz
Amplifier power (all 8 channels): >100mW rms @ THD <1%
3.5mm stereo line input jacks x 3
3.5mm microphone jack
Maximum analog input level with volume control on maximum setting: 2Vpp (700mV rms)
Dimensions: Height .5 in (1.27cm), width 2 in (5.08cm), depth .75 in (1.905 cm)
Weight: 3.9 oz.(110.563)
specs

 

^ he said Astro's, I guess he updated the post lol....

 

Tell me if I'm wrong please - but per the alienware website Dell ? The Official Site | Dell Australia

this is what is say in regards to ports (note this laptop is in shipment to me and I do not have it in my posession yet)

DC-in Jack (Back of system)
2 x USB 2.0 ports
2 x USB 3.0/2.0 Combo ports
1 x eSATA + USB2.0 Combo port (with USB charge function Support)
3 x Auto-sensing jacks for Line-out (2 line out; 1x SPDIF/Headphone)
Microphone Input jack
1 x RJ-45 (10/100/1Gb IPv6)
1 x HDMI-1.4 port with Audio
1 x HDMI Input
1 x mini-Display Port
1 x VGA Port (DB-15)
9-in-1 Media card reader

Please explain how I could use the Roccat Kaves which have 4 x 3.5m jacks?

Also there is the SPDIF port this is for the Toslink cable yes? for Atro A40's

Please help

 

Come on Guys HOW do I get the ROCCAT Kave to connect my m17xr3 they come with 4 x 3.5m that it (1 x Centre, 1 x Front (left & Right), 1 x Rear (left & Right), 1 xSub) and these are obviously no where to be seen on the side of the m17xr3 - even a Creative External X-Fi Surround 5.1 Prodoes not have these connections - How is it possible?

 

Love my Astro A40's as well!! + using the mix amp with your laptop works well! Plus you then have a Audio solutions for PC/Xbox/PS3...

I have heard good things from the Turtle Beach PX5, but I have no exp with them.

 

Dude you just plug them in the c/sub is one plug not two different plugs it has 4 plugs the green one is front L/R, the orange one is C/Sub, the black one is Rear L/R and the pink one is for the mic. Do you own them? Have you tried using them? it goes like this green goes into the plug closest to the front then orange goes in next then black then pink. Yes the creative X-fi pro does have them the red and white is used for the fronts and they come with a 1/8" adapter to plug in 3 x 3.5MM(1/8") jacks.

 

I have a set of Tritton Ax 5.1 surround headphones and they're awesome. They also have a USB version that is still true 5.1 if you don't want to mess with the phono jacks.

Don't know why you're looking at external soundcards though...can just plug the different jacks right into the side of your m17x R3.

 

Get sound blaster tactic 3d sigma, or alpha if you want to save cash. They are amazing and have the best support in games. They use EAX and I use them every day!

 

I know understand how the Creative External soundcard plugs into the headphones, thankyou.

 

It doesnt have all these jacks it only has:

3 x Auto-sensing jacks for Line-out (2 line out; 1x SPDIF/Headphone)
1 x Microphone Input jack

 

the 3 headphone jacks are the 5.1 surround jacks. Plug in your headphones and its done... even my m11x can do 5.1 out of the three headphone jacks.

 

Exactly.

Don't know about the others, but the trittons make it really easy to modify the volume of the various channels with the inline control too. I usually don't need to mess with it at all, but some games, say L4D2 have really loud bass in certain areas (generator rooms). Quick push sub button, lever down a bit, done.

 

reguarding the Astro A40's does the mixamp work with 5.1 if you use the optical out?

 

Family member got me Razer Megalodon headset for xmas... Haven't gotten my new r3 yet, but hoping that they're awesome!

Anyone use these before?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/acc...-compared-fiio-e10-m17-stock.html#post8186194

 

Ok, How can I put this nicely, they are mediocre at best.

I will just list the pros and cons.

Pros:
+Excellent directional positioning(spot on 99% of the time, however, can occasionally mess up directional cues, but it's rare)
+Individual channel audio control
+amazingly comfortable(Like ear pillows, only set I have ever used that is more comfy are the AD700s)
+Nice design
+PNP
+Lights (I own an Alienware so I am all about the lights )

Cons:
-Horrendously bad sound leakage(extremely annoying)
-Mic is not really noise cancelling
-extremely low even when maxed out on volume(this is subjective depends on how sensitive your ears are, my friend thinks they are fine I think they are way to quiet)
-Overpriced

Now the Megalodons are a decent headset definitely not the worst headset, but far from the best. The major gripe I had with them is the volume and the sound leakage both were deal breakers for me. Sound leakage is when the audio you are hearing is being broadcast over the mic. So basically every in game sound you hear anyone else on voice chat is going to hear. This has caused me many frustrating games where I hear a gunshot to the left(friends megalodons) and I get shot from behind after I turn because I couldn't tell which sound was coming from my headset or his. (very annoying issue.)

My friend loves them though I have used them extensively and we used to often swap between my HPA2's and his Megaolodon. He regrets that I didn't give him my HPA2, but is still extremely happy with the performance of the megalodons I gave him , but that is because he is not on the receiving end. So honestly I don't like them and my friend does, but he wants true 7.1 or 5.1 next time for sure because it does mess up directional cues at times Where he noticed mines never messed up if the noise came from the left it was the left all the time and every sound cue is exact because it has a dedicated driver rather than emulation, and he says he feels left out cuz we refuse to voice chat with him unless he is on PTT.

The mic's poor noise cancelling only makes the person on the receiving end even more frustrated because, I can hear his fish tank in his living room from his computer room while playing with him + his in game sounds + mine + any other noises around me = You banging your head on your desk from all the frustration and deaths due to not being able to decipher your in game noises from everything else.

Best combo I have ever owned are the current set/combo I have now TB HPA2 + TB Z6a In line Amp + Creative Soundblaster 1095 External Sound Card.

 

Well, the comfy is good news. I need that... but...



Doesn't the mega have mic sensitivity settings? Even with these at a super-low level you get the leakage?

Also, you have to be listening to music fairly loudly to want them to go past 102 Decibels... Unless they don't actually get that loud, which would suck.

And yeah I leave all my games on PTT anyways since I often have my girlfriend in the room if I'm at my house or my parents are around if I go home, lol.

But, if that leakage is true, this really sucks. The whole point of getting headphones was to get away from my laptop mic which results in my friends constantly ing LOL

But, these can't be returned... so good luck to me. Gunna try them out next week sometime =P

 

Like I said man they maybe fine with you, with PTT the sound leakage is a minor nuisance with voice activation it is extremely frustrating. As far as the volume goes they maybe prefectly fine for you, I may have less sensitive ears than you and my friend is all, but idk about them pushing out 102DB my HPA2's are rated at I think 102 and they are really loud I only turn them up halfway at the most. The Leakage is true unfortunately, but with PTT it won't be to bad, the Mic is clear enough and I hear him fine and while he is talking I hear a brief amount of his ING sounds. It's only when Voice activation is used that it is really bad. I think it's a crossing between the speaker wires and mic wires or something because it is irregardless of mic sensitivity. I never knew what caused it, but it was bad without PTT.


Sound Leakage is what you hear through the actual headphones not what is around you, which won't cause ING Lol's, but lots of frustration.