Which settings for Sennheiser PC360

[screamer980]

Hey folks,
first of all, I'm really happy with my current hardware. The Phoebus sounds way better than the Recon3D Fatality Pro, from which i upgraded. Okay as a BF3 Player I got a little bit disappointed at first, but with the new Beta drivers the problem has been solved. So the reason I'm opening this thread is the fact, that I don't know how to adjust the driver settings, so the Headphones perform as best as possible for every scenario.

1. Music:
I must admit that I don't like Dolby Home Theatre. It's hard to find a setting that suits my taste for the majority of songs.
One sounds great, next one other music type sounds horrible. Too echoey or too distorted, too artificial. Hard to describe.
So for music I decided to turn Dolby Home Theatre off. But that leaves me with a liitle bit too silent sound.
Now I set the Headphone settings to High Gain (6dB for 64-150ohms). Unfortunately as you can see HERE (http://en-de.sennheiser.com/pc-360) the impedance of the headphones is only 50 Ohms. But with High Gain the headphones
sound more volumetric and pleasin. So my question, can I damage the card or the Headphones with these settings.

2. Gaming:
Big Point. They sound nice, but I'm a bit confused which settings to use. Dolby HT deactivated or not? Which Sample Rate?
Is it useful to activate XEAR Surround Headphone? Since the PC360 is a Stereo Headphone does this option help in FPS?
I just want to share thoughts about this and probably somebody uses the same Headphones.

Thx for your answers.

My ROG Gaming RIG (http://www.sysprofile.de/id71626)

[Jandenengelsman]

Hey Screamer,

I also got the PC360 headphones, connected on the phoebus. I exactly did all the same test and had the same feeling. So I use also the high gain settings (64-150 Ohm) In some other threads you can read all about this option and if it can damage your headphone!

1. Music
For music i leave Dolby HT off, I use for sample rate 96/24 cause thats wat the card support.
In my opinion the headset sound the best with all options off, no xear surround and al that kind off stuff. Just gain settting to high and sample rate to 96/24.

2. Gaming
In gaming i got most of the time the same settings like the music settings. But in some game's it's nice to play with Dolby HT. (singel player game's) cause when i play multiplayer I'm often with my mates in TeamSpeak, and when you use surround settings, my mates sound like they are standing in a big big bathroom. ;)
But you also can use Dolby HT with all settings off, and only use the equaliser to boost the sounds the way you like.
Xear surround is a big fail in my opinion, there is too much echo in it.

Greetz,
Jan

PS. I love your gaming rig! Looking awsome!

[screamer980]

Thank you for your compliment.
I'm glad to hear, that someone has the same opinion. Because sound related opinions are often very subjective.
The sound is more natural and music sounds more the way meant to be heard with DolbyHT turned off.
I also connected the PC360 to a AV-Receiver from Yamaha and there is still a difference. So I just wondered, whether I get similar results with the Phoebus. Sound is warmer with the Yamaha. Phoebus sounds more analytical. I wish the Phoebus would gain a little more level in the middle frequency range. Thats just my opinion.

So did I just understand you right, that nothing can get damaged with High Gain settings as long as the sound level isn't too high?

So that's, what I will use:
High Gain (6dB for 64-150ohms), DolbyHT off, XEAR Surround off, Xear3D and Sound Radar off. Sample rate 96/24.
Thanks for your fast answer.

[Jandenengelsman]

About the risk for your headset read this topic http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?16044-Headphone-Gain-Setting-Question&country=&status=

It should be great when there was a middle gain setting for 35-64 Ohm or something like that, but just dont turn up your volume too much! I even asked the Sennheiser technical help desk and they also didnt think it gives much problems, but never put the volume too loud!

[Raja@ASUS]

Just set the gain to a place where you can comfortably use the volume control without it being overly sensitive. The gain just increases the volume, nothing else. If you don't need more volume, then there is no need to use a higher gain setting. It really is that simple.

[screamer980]

Thank you very much for your replies.
I will stick with normal gain then and if I need I will raise the gain, to get a little more level in some situations.
Despite that I want to appreciate the work of the moderator.
I followed the problem thread but I denied myself a comment on that thread. I just had nothing valuable to admit.
No I can just enjoy my soundcard and play Bf3 till the 200 rounds of MG will ring my head.
Thread can be closed since my questions are answered. Thank you very much.
Cu.