Hello everyone, Finally got my pair of 'Asus Strix 7.1 True Surround Sound Headphones' to go with my other headphones the 'Astro A40+Mix Amp 2013 Edition' and 'Razor Tiamat 7.1 True Surround Sound Headphones' so I can compare them to one another. I am not a tech person so any specs on these headphones can be 'Googled' and I am only using my ears for the comparison not tech specs and this is not a complete review by any means. Having had the Astro A40+Mix Amp the longest I was really happy with the overall sound quality for Music, Movies and Gaming (Racing Sims Only) and the '7.1 Virtual Surround Sound' was good to my ears when hooked up to the PC via Optical Cable...but...I wanted more, enter the 'Razer Tiamat 7.1 Headphones' about 11 months ago, then read about the Asus Strix 7.1 True Surround Sound Headphones about 3 months ago....and now they are finally here. My first impressions of the Strix 7.1 was, why spend all that money on packaging,...lol...beautifully boxed though. The Strix was easy to set up just plugging the Headphones in to the USB Control Box, then connect the USB Control Box to the PC with the supplied 'USB Y Cable' which will need 2 free USB ports on the PC....not sure why 2 USB connectors as the main usb connector gets it all up and running? There are also included in the package an HDMI 7.1 Speaker Cable, one end HDMI connection (although some reviews have stated that this is NOT an HDMI connection as it is Asus's own make) and at the other end 4x female 3.5mm connectors to plug speakers into so you can get 7.1 surround, I will not be using these as I do not have any speakers. Once the Strix was set up I went into the Windows 7 Sound dialogue box and set it as the 'Default Device' and proceeded to configure the 7.1 through Win7 listening to all the speaker positions activating....all good. Put on the Headphones and..'man o man' these things grip your head...lol...you could do some Jumping Jacks and they would not budge. The Ear pads are soft though and covered with a soft leather type material but found it getting a little sweaty at the contact point with my skin as they are large ear cups and cover my entire ear. I found having to adjust them on a regular basis because of the clamping....but after a couple of days use I found it ok. They are a bit creaky when adjusting and moving them as well but not as bad as the Razer Tiamat, but then they are mostly plastic and made to a specific price point so I am not to worried about that. The Strix Headphone cable is the braided fibre cord but I found this getting twisted and curling up when taking the Headphones on and off at regular intervels, the Razer Tiamat was not quite as bad and the Astro A40 is great as it has the thin rubberized coating and very rearly got tangled. One issue I had with the Strix initially was the sound was cutting out, stopping then starting again...finally tracked it down to the Win7 Sound and having to 'Disable' the other 2 Headphones that were left active or ready...all good. I also downloaded the latest Firmware update for the Strix as Reviews have stated the max volume is a bit weak, the Firmware update fixed that. Sound quality is very good in 'Stereo' mode and found it very acceptable when listening to my old CD collection 'AC/DC - Back in Black', 'Sade - Diamond Life', 'Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Session' and 'Jennifer Warnes - Famous Blue Raincoat'...playing through the installed internal sata BluRay reader. The Vocals were very clear and the bass was clean and defined in the Strix, not sometimes muddy like the Razer Tiamat can be, but on par with the Astro A40 Headphones sound quality over all. Reviews have stated the Strix are not Audiophile Headphones but compared to the $6500 high end 'Grado GS1000' and 'Ultrasone Edition 8' Headphones that were connected to a 'Lehmann Black Cube Linear Headphone Amp' I used to own, the Strix does a very good job, plus it gives the added benefit of 7.1 surround and all for $299, I am very happy. The Strix 7.1 surround sound is also very good while watching 'Captain America - The Winter Soldier', the voices were clear and the action sequences / explosions really came alive with good separation on the surround sound, which is better than the 'Astro A40+Mix Amp as the Astro is only 'Virtual 7.1.'...there is a clear audible difference between 'Virtual 7.1' and the 7.1 surround sound produced by the Strix and eventhe Tiamat Headphones....to me there seems to be more separation of the audio noises etc. I did have a play around with the 'Mode Parameter Control' on the Control Box which gives you the option of some preset sound enhancements but found it was not necessary, and to my taste, I did however, use the 'Headphone Amplifier' button and found this did enhanced all the sounds further...and I have this button on most of the time when listening at lower volume levels. I will not be using the mic either so can not comment as to how good it is, but reading some professional reviews will help out there. Using the Strix for Sim Racing is fantastic and having the 'Control Box' with options to tweek the audio is even better and although the 7.1 surround is not that important in Sim Racing I did find myself using it...but mostly in 'Raceroom Racing Experience' where the 7.1 is very good, and with a bit of tweaking in R3E's Sound Options made for a more immersive racing experience with just listening to all the ambient sounds before you click to start a 'Race' with the likes of Birds tweeting, Crowd noise, conversion, laughing and Speaker commentary to during the race, rumble strips, engine sounds, gear changes, cars passing you by etc....I found the audio more pronounced and separated in the Strix True 7.1 Surround and Razer Tiamat 7.1 than in the Astro A40 + Mix Amp using Virtual 7.1....R3E has the best audio of all the sims I have...only my opinion. I did have an Asus Xonar Essence STX 2 Sound with 7.1 Daughter Board card installed in my PC but found the Asus Strix 7.1 Headphones and Control Box to have more options for tweaking, and at the ease of pushing a button instead of having to open up the software. Which is the best, for me personally the Asus Strix 7.1 is the one, a great all rounder for Stereo listening and 7.1 surround closely followed by the Astro A40+Mix Amp 2013 Edition as they both have slightly different sound characteristics and comfort levels...unfortunately the Razer Tiamat 7.1's days are numbered...lol....but I will keep them all for now. Thanks for stopping by.
nice review man i have the Razer 7.1, and honestly i'm very happy with it (and was pretty lucky to ebay it for only 70 euros brand new), however im only using it for my rig, so cant say anything about music and videos. whatever ...
Thanks for taking the time to reply...Yes, we all will have different tastes in what we like and I am trying a variety of Audio equipment to see which best suit my needs, just as you have found your Razer 7.1 to suit your needs. Thanks for your thoughts
I bought a Sharkoon 5.1 headset for my Xbox 360 a few years ago and it was pretty rubbish. Good to hear there are some decent alternatives though
Thanks for showing some interest...yes, there are some great Headphones out there now, but as far as I am aware there are only the Asus Strix 7.1 and Razer tiamat 7.1 that are TRUE 7.1 surround Sound as they have 10 drivers (5 drivers / speakers in each ear cup) as apposed to your normal headphones with one driver / speaker in each ear cup and it is the included software that creates the Virtual 7.1 surround sound effect.
There's also the tritton ax pro that are true 5.1 Headset. I got one and fully enjoyed them with r3e before it start to only render right and left channel.. Losing center and rear ... Still don't get why. I'm not sure about the use of true 7.1 in a headset....5.1 is enough in my mind. But I'm feel sad about the proliferation of virtual 7.1 solutions.
Thanks for taking the time to reply...Yes you are probably right, 5.1 does sound enough but found this about the difference between 5.1 and 7.1 surround A 5.1 channel system consists of: 1. A Center Channel to provide an anchor stage for dialog or music vocal. 2. Left and Right Front channels to provide the main soundtrack information, or for stereo music reproduction. 3. Left and Right surround channels for side and front to rear motion effects from movie soundtracks and ambient sounds from music recordings. 4. The Subwoofer channel, which provides the extreme low frequency effects, such as explosions or bass response in music performances. A 7.1 channel system consists of: all the elements of a 5.1 channel system, but instead of combining both surround and rear channel effects into two channels, a 7.1 system splits the surround and rear channel information into four channels. In other words, side sound effects and ambience are directed to left and right surround channels, and the rear sound effects and ambience are directed to two rear or back channels. In this set-up the surround speakers are set to the side of the listening position and the rear or back channels are placed behind the listener. The 7.1 channel listening environment can add more depth to the surround sound experience, provide more a specific, directed, and immersive soundfield, especially for larger rooms. The above info and more can be found here http://hometheater.about.com/od/hometheateraudiobasics/qt/5-1vs7-1diff.htm ...unfortunately Headphones with 7.1 will be limited because the drivers / speakers are so close together, but it does sound fantastic when you give them good audio signals...especially in R3E...and I will look up the Tritton AX Pro's and read some reviews
You made the point ;-) Lots of people already say that "true 5.1" Headset can't be that good because of this. For home theater, I'll not argue... But for Headset it's another thing. Even if I fully enjoyed my tritton ax pro, with good spatialisation, it never come close to what I get with speaker set. And what is missing with surround Headset is the virtual head positioning. When I turn my head right or left sound should be spatialised differently. We will have this with virtual reality Headset. But as I'll need to replace my tritton ax I'm glad to learn about the Asus that seems too be really good ^_^
Yes...but have a listen to this as this sounded amazing with the Asus Strix 7.1 and Razer Tiamat 7.1 with fantastic spatial awareness and not so good with the Astro A40,...and the replacement for your Tritton AX Pro is the Tritton PRO+
Update: I have been playing around with the Strix 'Control Box' settings etc and have found it to be very flexible when wanting a different sound signature to car engine noises in Racing Sims. The Asus Strix 7.1 Control box has 4 preset sound modes 'FPS Immersion' that gives extra weight to bass and lower mid-range sounds,'FPS Footsteps' gives extra weight to the high and higher mid-range frequencies while reducing the bass notes, 'Action / RPG' gives more emphasis on mids and some bass frquencies and finally 'Racing' which focuses on the low-end to bring out engine rumbles.I found each one of the presets did a great job that gives the car engine noise a slightly different sound character eg. in Raceroom Racing Experience car pack DTM 1992 the 'Ford Mustang GT DTM' has a nice V8 growl to it, activate 'FPS Footsteps' and the sound suddenly has a more throaty V8 sound, change to the 'Racing' and you get a more rumbling V8 sound etc. I found the 'FPS Immersion', Action/RPG' and 'Racing' to be slightly similar, but still different enough, but the 'FPS Footstep' being the most noiceable difference in sound signatures. While having one of the pre-sets activated you then hit the 'AMP' button. WOW, which gives more of..well, everything...lol...as it boosts the overall sound without having actually turned the volume button up....then while still in pre-set mode with the amp on, hit the 7.1 button to get even more sound variation...all this variation for just one car...LOL...the Control Box is a very versatile, easy to use with fast instant results when adjusting the sound to my liking....all this will however depend on your own personal tastes, but I am quite impressed with it now