Gaming Headset and overall audio setup, so lost..

[cazaderon]

Hello everyone and thanks a lot in advance for any input you can share.

Here is my current setup and why :
- Astro A50 gen3 + base station
- LG oled screen
- PS5

The Astro A50 is linked to the TV via optical cable and to the PS5 via a USB cable. This results in me getting the audio chat from the the USB and the TV sound from the optical, which allows me to use the built-in Game(TV)\chat balance from the headset. So far, nothing really out of the ordinary i suppose.

Now, i want to change my headset because the Astro is starting to fall apart after years of service, and also because since i had it, i never felt like the audio was very good especially regarding "directional audio". And as a former PC player who was relying heavily on footsteps and other audio cue, i really want to improve that aspect while changing hardware.

So i've been looking at a lot of Gaming Headset, rankings from various website which often brought out the same products : Audeze Maxwell, Arctis Nova Pro, etc etc.

But, it seems like all those products will kill one of the main things i do with my headset : Watching TV (with the sound) while keeping the audio chat to talk with friends. My current setup allows just that, if i m on the PS5 source, i get the ps5 game audio from the optical link between the ASTRO base and the TV. If i switch to my netflix\sport channel, well i get that audio while still having the PS5 party chat active through the USB connection.

Most of the headset i mentionned before as potential replacements, all use basically just USB\bluetooth dongle so you're either connected to the TV OR the PS5. Meaning i cannot mix both sources by keeping the audio chat from one and the general audio from the other. i've been trying to find a workaround but suddenly landed into some discussion that got me lost after 2 sentences.

At the moment, i am lost, i m considering :

- Sticking with Astro and getting a new one, using the same setup (optical to tv ; usb to PS5) but i m worried by the quality of ASTRO s headset and overall just questionning if that way of setting it up actually impairs audio performance in game (like the tempest 3d audio from the PS5)
- I saw that the Steelseties Arctis Pro wireless allows to get a simultaneous connection to one of the USB peripherals linked to the base station for general audio and be linked to a BT\WIFI device for voice chat, so i could use the PS phone app for voice chat while keeping the general audio from another source. But i havent been able to confirm that i can actually get the Arctis to work while being linked to my TV through USB.

So, yeah. I m puzzled really. Maybe i m approaching this whole thing the wrong way, maybe there's a better solution. So if anyone can shine a light on all this, i'd be super thankful. I do not change my hardware often, nor can afford to really, but i'm willing to invest if i can get something that works well and will last.

Cheers.

 

[staticV3]

Audio mixing being built into the headset is a rather new feature and not many products support it.

If you feel like the existing headsets with that feature aren't good enough, then you could switch to an external mixer like this: https://www.amazon.com/Mackie-Mix-Mix8-8-Channel-Mixer/dp/B00ND1K8T6/

Then use either the built-in headphone amp or pair that with a high quality external headphone Amp.
Mind you, the mixer will probably introduce some noise and distortion into the signal, and the analog output of your TV and PS5 (via controller) won't be all that great in the first place. You could of course buy dedicated DACs for both the the TV and PS5, but that all adds up.

Alternatively, you may be able to do the mixing digitally with a Pi 4B running Camilladsp and 2x Hifime UT23, then feed that out to a DAC+Amp like the Topping DX1 (or Apple A2049 if you don't need much power).
Issue there is how to implement the user interface. Like, can you plug some potentiometers into the Pi and assign those to TV volume, PS5 volume, overall volume? I don't know.

All in all, it's a lot of fuss, money, and work you'd shoulder in search of higher audio quality and flexibility.

 

[b7676]

Entry level buyers looking for a DAC and mixer for their tv, their console, their pc, and also ADC a mini jack or BT, seem very common to me. Their expectations are; it just works, 8 channels of processing and mixing for their choice of digital/analog (many want two usb inputs to work simultaneously), high power head amp, power over usb, line out, and 100$ max budget.

All in all, it's a lot of fuss, money, and work you'd shoulder in search of higher audio quality and flexibility.

This is about the pursuit of commodified convenience not high quality 2 channel.
They don't know that they are asking for a 2-400$ pro interface + plugins ('everyone a streamer') and they are still short on DAC channels. Then the xlr mic is also a very far bridge to cross for consumers. Collecting a bunch of junk is easier.