best ps3 gaming headset: px21 + dss vs tritton ax 720/720 pro?

I searched for a definite answer but only found scattered nuggets of info here and there. I thought it would be good to a centralized thread for ps3 users. From the research I gathered, the decision comes down to Turtle Beach's Ear Force px21 + TB's Ear Force dss unit vs tritton ax 720 or pros.

I'm interested in having a headset more for sound than voice. Unfortunately, late night gaming can't wake up others. Also, I read that these options aren't the best for movie and audio but are fantastic for game sounds. While the Ear Force x11, x31, and x41 are targeted for the 360 crowd, the px21 is targeted towards the ps3 crowd. The dss unit adds a surround sound environment to your sounds. I read that people say that you can hear others sneaking up on you in fps games. I listed the major choices with msrp pricing. I love the feature on both models that allow you to muted voice for those tween trashtalk or rages.

I know a few of us - Kefka and Option, have already or going to be testing these products. I appreciate any advice on this "pricey" decision. Or any others? I wish there was a place that you can test how these things fit on your head. The TB ones look like regular headphone cups and the trittons look like rectangular helmet. So any clues on:
* quality
* fit
* durability - will it break on me in a month/etc?
* ease of use - does it weight like a ton of bricks on your head after some many hours?
* stimulated surround sound (dss) vs true surround sound (AX PRO)
* others - astro a40? senheisener?

ear force dss 7.1
89.99

Ear Force px21
wired
79.99

ear force pdx21 (contains both px21 and dss)
149.99

Triton AX 720
wireless
129.99

Ear Force x11
wired
59.99

Ear Force x31
wired
99.99

Ear Force x41
wireless
199.99

update: found a great resource at avs fourm's shin cz
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1285726

It really depends on how hardcore you are with your online play. If I was still playing competitive CS I'd get the best headset I could afford, but random games of CoD during the night -- are footsteps really that important?

So a headset that sounds good and that's sturdy. Spending money in the "pro" range of products is probably over doing it. Unfortuatenly I can't give an opinion though as I do not own a headset for my PS3 =p.

And I'm personally looking for a headset (PC/PS3) or even an ear piece that has crystal clear voice audio, noise canceled and everything. So if this thread takes off as the official PS3 headset discussion area, I'd appreciate any advice as well.

Hopefully I'll get the DPX21 tomorrow (according to shipment tracking). My friend actually has the AX 720s so I could actually compare side by side. Another has the X41s (wireless TBs) as well. But I sure am excited nontheless.

Sound quality can become very subjective, but I'll try to remain nuetral as possible when listening through these.

Also, it'd be nice to post some links to the deals on both (if there are any). Right now, DSS is 69.99 and the PX21 64.23, which is basically the DPX21 bundle, both on Amazon.

good news. waiting for your review option.

while flipping today, i noticed that my local gs carried px21 and ax 720s. but they don't carry the separate dss unit. i immediately shifted into amass a shitload of credit mode. i was going to use it to buy gt5 ce.

found a great resource at avs fourm's shin cz
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1285726

general consensus is that the ax720s are a great starting point for new people. there always going to be more expensive options. the ax720, dss, and astro mixamp are pretty much the same since they all use Dolby Headphone. The pdx21 should be better only if you can't hear the hiss. Some people cite this as the dealbreaker. The hiss is due to an inline amp. I'm interested to see if option confirms or refutes these agreements.

I actually have the mixamp, though no astro headsets. I do run a Sony MDR-7506 studio monitors which are good at driving and providing a good sound.

But yeah, hopefully there's no hiss. I'm fairly good at pointing out any white noise. Play some bass here and there and have an analog mixer.

But keep in mind that with any amplified setup, noise (hiss, etc.) is amplified as well.

Alright, just got the DPX21 headphone bundle at my doorstep and for now have to say there is hiss with the px21s. Like you said, it is exactly due to the amplifier because wherever I plug the usb, the hiss appears, even with volume and chat levels all the way down. Now, before you turn away, the hiss is not noticeable once the game sound kicks in. It's only discernable during silent parts of a game/movie. The hiss is basically like the hiss from cassette playback, albeit slightly softer. Now the hiss can be made worse if the chat dial is upped.

Think about the hiss from most songs during the more quiet/completely silent parts. They decide to not filter the noise out so as to not alter tone/sustain/etc. I'll talk a little more about this in a bit.

Despite this, the headphones have a lot of other pros and sound great nonetheless. The hiss is far from dealbreaking for me. I'll have to spend more time with these babies to give a decent outlook on them.

First impressions though, there were no defects with my unit, don't feel cheap, are light, comfortable, and lots of wire is provided (i'm pretty much getting tangled, haha). Right now though, things like the mic monitoring, individual chat control, and bass boost far outweigh the overblown hiss.

My theory on why there is hiss is because hiss was probably introduced with how their mic and amplification is included on the PX21s. They could either add resistors and filter out noise and any other sound within that frequency. Or leave the noise and any other sounds within that frequency for you to hear all the sounds for what they are without altering their quality.

edit: I've been playing more with the cans, but i'm starting to get turned off. The noise seems to be from some sort of ground loop hum. I tried plugging into my pc and it picked up the fans and even more noise. The DSS by itself also produces noise as well. I managed to compare it to my mixamp. Despite estimating the same levels between the two processors, the Astro Mixamp produces minimal noise at higher levels/gain. But the TB DSS produces noise even at 0 volume. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to return these. I guess I'm more of a audio-whore than I thought.

since you already have the mixamp, would you consider mixamp + sennheiser pc360 or even the akg 701? the pc360s are relatively new. but they are getting rave reviews from the avs guys. its out of my budget for now. and i only have credit at gs to spend stuff on.

I honestly can't comment on those headsets since I haven't tried them.

Right now, I'm running a pretty ghetto but decent setup.

Mixamp -> Sony MDR 7056 (studio monitors)

I have sony bt on open mic mode.

These dolby processors aren't perfect, but the amount of noise/hiss was far less on the mixamp than the dss. In fact, the mixamp doesn't have any real noise unless cranked up to the max, which is how an amplifier should work.

I mean, the TB headsets have those great features like the in ear monitoring and chat boom, but I believe those very things are what's causing the hiss that cannot be avoided.

In general, I wouldn't expect stunning sound quality from gaming headsets. They're meant for optimal communication which means they might sacrifice sound quality. If you were to go the mixamp route and wanted the best sounding quality, I would invest in wired dedicated stereo headphones/monitors and have another type of mic, i.e. Sony BT headset. You also have a great set of cans for listening to music or whatever. But keep in mind Dolby processors alter the sound too, however, I prefer Dolby processing to the actual surround sound headset (the ones with multiple speakers in each ear) since those very speakers tend to be low quality.

if you're having a poll for 'best' ps3 headset and you leave out the astro a40s.. you're nuts.

i did leave other as an option. i only found out about the astros after i created the poll. the definitive choices are listed in the link to the avs forum

You should try the Sharkoon X-Tatic Headset, I use one and have no issues. I think there are some reviews on Utube. Once you get the headset dialed in there is no equal

New to the forums, best buy employee here. Back when gears of war 2 came out I had purchased the now replaced TB x4 wireless headphones, at the time playing on a panasonic plasma. I thought gameplay sounded very good, deep bass and surround effects. I noticed i got quite a bit of hissing sounds, which apparently had something to do with interference from the plasma.

Luckily my manager was nice enough to let me exchange them. I later purchased the Tritton AX Pro's,
since i had gotten a PS3 and needed a multiplat capable headset. I remember thinking that these definitely were an audio improvement over the TB x4's, but were similarly heavy and definitely got hot playing Uncharted 2 with them for extended periods. I took the opportunity to try watching a movie with the dolby 5.1, and man, the scene from the Matrix where Neo is shooting the heavy machine gun off the helicopter was glorious. Definitely a plus, since i typically had to play games or watch movies late and didnt want to disturb the family.

After a few months i kept having mic problems with the AX Pro's, so once again my manager let me swap them out for something else. This time i went cheaper and got the TB px21's, and liked the weight drop and comfy fit. the much more flexible mic was also appreciated. Feeling as i had found my headset, I started using them for MW2, and other single player games, and even without being surround sound, felt they added to the immersiveness of the gameplay. not nearly as bass-heavy as the AX Pro's, but well rounded. I didnt like the analog connection though, and had to borrow the a/v adapter from a coworker bc i had thrown mine away long ago.

Finally about a month ago I started seeing some things about the DSS decoder, and how it would work in conjunction with my px21's. after reading lots of reviews and unboxings i decided to go ahead and get it, and have been very impressed in my limited experience with them. the sound quality in my opinion is just as good as the AX Pro but the benefit of the lighter headphones and better mic let me play as long as i want in comfort. definitely wish i started this route. Also am holding off but like the added bonus of being able to use the DSS adapter with any standard headphone, in case down the line i decide to splurge on some high quality cans.

All in all, sorry for the super long post, but figured i should speak up since i've had the opportunity to try these great headsets personally over the past couple years.

[quote name='iImploreU']After a few months i kept having mic problems with the AX Pro's, so once again my manager let me swap them out for something else. This time i went cheaper and got the TB px21's, and liked the weight drop and comfy fit. the much more flexible mic was also appreciated. Feeling as i had found my headset, I started using them for MW2, and other single player games, and even without being surround sound, felt they added to the immersiveness of the gameplay. not nearly as bass-heavy as the AX Pro's, but well rounded. I didnt like the analog connection though, and had to borrow the a/v adapter from a coworker bc i had thrown mine away long ago.

Finally about a month ago I started seeing some things about the DSS decoder, and how it would work in conjunction with my px21's. after reading lots of reviews and unboxings i decided to go ahead and get it, and have been very impressed in my limited experience with them. the sound quality in my opinion is just as good as the AX Pro but the benefit of the lighter headphones and better mic let me play as long as i want in comfort. definitely wish i started this route. Also am holding off but like the added bonus of being able to use the DSS adapter with any standard headphone, in case down the line i decide to splurge on some high quality cans.[/QUOTE]

welcome to cag Iimploreu. thanks for the feedback. if you liked the tritton pros, i believe that you could have called tritton. their customer service is really good about replacements. the px21 aren't just the same without the dss. im glad that the hiss doesnt drive you mad.

as much as i thought the tritton pro's sounded great, i found myself taking them off if i was playing more than a couple hours because my head would just get too hot, and the weight was a little much for my taste. of course i'm normally on the edge of my chair leaning forward playing my shooters, so a lighter headset would have an advantage.

Not going to lie though, i definitely like trying new things and swapping things out, I had even gotten a really nice plantronics bluetooth i had for almost a month before i returned it because i missed using a full gaming headset

well if you want to try more stuff, then look into the mixamps. doesn't best buy now have the new policy of no restocking fee. so you're try to your's heart desire.

with all the research and knowledge that i have accrued, i suggest:
1. getting a mixamp: Astro Mixamp, Tritton box from the ax720 or the TB DSS

2. next get a headset (headphone + mic) or headphones to connect to the mixap

I recommend the tritton ax720 since it is basically the mixamp box with organized wires + a free closed headset for ~MSRP $130. Some "gamers" only buy astros a40 or a30. but you are going to be paying a $100 more and the tritton mixamp is about 95% as good as the astro mixamp since both use dolby headphone. The astro a40 and a30 are packages like the ax720 where you get the astro mixamp and the headset.

3. if the tritton or the astro headset is not good enough for your ears, then you need to buy another headset or headphone and maybe a mic. BUT you are still going to need the mixamp (astro or tritton) to connect to the headset.
Key points to consider:
* positioning
* soundstage

Down the line, i'd like to try the astros, but i'll be fine for the time being. also wish that best buy sold them so i could use my discount.

got the px21 + dss for $150 less than i could get the astros and mixamp.