Free Standard Shipping in the US on orders over $99

DAC/Amp for consoles, only 1 choice?

Mar 6, 201810316 VIEWS

I am no audiophile, but if I am going to spend some money, I'd like to get a quality product. That said, I upgraded my initial $20 gaming headset to a massdrop AKG-K7XX headphone and a modmic 5. Its been pretty good, a definite improvement over the cheap crap I was using. But I am also interested in adding a DAC/Amp into the mix here. For a LONG time I could only find 1 option that actually supported console play- Xbox specifically. That, of course, is the Astro MixAmp. It gets great reviews from many gamers who purchased the MixAmp along with the A40 gaming headset as an upgrade from their cheap gaming headsets. However, anyone who is in to audio in general HATES the MixAmp, declaring it a piece of garbage, and that ANY DAC/Amp is better. Thats fine for PC gamers, but for us console guys, a standard DAC/Amp combo starts to become a bit of a logistics issue.
From what I can tell, to get a functional setup for an XBox I need an DAC/Amp with optical in to get the audio from the Xbox. Then I also need to have a line out that will pass through the Mic input, which then has to be run to the controller. (Thanks microsoft...) So its a bit of a wiring mess. I'm not sure if there is a better setup that people are using- maybe just use a standard DAC/Amp, and since my modmic can be plugged in separately, I could run that straight to the controller- not sure if that works or not.
However, I recently came across the Mayflower ARC DAC/Amp, which has headphone output, but also has mic input, and a seperate pass through mic output. Clearly designed for Xbox compatibility. It seems to get pretty good reviews.
What are other people using for console DAC/Amp solutions? Is the Mayflower ARC literally the only option that doesn't suck?

100% upvoted

10.3K

Fusi0nCatalyst

Sort by: Newest

Fusi0nCatalyst

Mar 6, 2018

I hadn't even consider the option of using a receiver as the headphone amp. Currently I play game on a mobile cart that lets me move my whole setup to my porch when I want to watch TV or play games out side. Currently it has some super old reciever that only has RCA inputs. But for the $200+ range I have been looking at for a headphone amp, I might could get a receiver that does what I need, plus actually have HDMI ports and whatnot.

Vote

A community member

Mar 7, 2018

Fusi0nCatalystHey there
Yeah for me it's the best option get one with HDMI or with optical inputs if needed and you can decode all the formats you need it will take care of everything for you.

Vote

vbarto3

Apr 23, 2020

Fusi0nCatalystCan you explain more about HDMI receiver option. What are you using for a mic

Vote

A community member

Mar 6, 2018

Hi there
I had a time when I used my ps4 originally with a dss2 and it worked fine could also hook up the mic separately to the controller or usb port. Then I decided to upgrade to a dac/amp and had problems using the toslink and usb it would make horrible noises every now and then if the game sounds were not correct and even after making all the settings pcm 44.1/48k it still wouldn't always work. Tbh the external dac idea wasn't a good one for me and instead went for a receiver with a headphone out of it, can hook it up properly and the receiver can decide all the formats properly. If a dac like the mayflower is more console friendly that will work but for me the convienece of the av receiver means I'd never go down that road again. Hopefully that helped a little.
Alan

Trending Posts in Audiophile

Ebuka

Tecno spark

Dec 8, 2023

Audiophile

Photos

Vote

storyboardtech

Finding your groove: getting into vinyl with Audio-Technica

I’d like to think that I could’ve been friends with the late Hideo Matsushita, founder of Japanese Hi-Fi powerhouse Audio-Technica. If I could, I’d travel back in time to 1960’s Tokyo, where a young Matsushita curated “vinyl listening sessions” at the Bridgestone Museum of Arts, exposing visitors to the sounds and possibilities of high end audio and the warmth of vinyl records. I imagine sitting with him in a mod coffee shop, listening to the stories of what he witnessed in those sessions, the conversations he had with visitors, and what ultimately motivated him to head back to his small apartment above a ramen restaurant and start an audio company of his own. In the histories I’ve read regarding AT’s humble beginnings, Matsushita’s motives seem clear. Produce high end audio at affordable prices, bringing audio excellence into spaces and to customers that simply didn’t have access to it before. His first two products, the AT-1 and AT-3 phono cartridges did exactly that, and...

Dec 6, 2023

Audiophile

General

Drop Updates

Hxxdhippy

PC38X sound leakage into mic

Recently purchased the mic for the PS5 and I am receding gameplay sound leakage into the mic and was curious if there is a way to fix this without having to lower my mic volume and sacrifice audio

Dec 3, 2023

Audiophile

General

Vote

Endymion

Best reasonably priced desktop DAC/AMP combo

I currently use the HD 58X with the 7HZ 71 portable AMP/DAC. It works but I don't know how close to it's full potential. For some songs (rarely) the song sounds OK with the volume set to 40%, but usually 60% is the sweet spot (but sometimes, I need to crank it up even more, especially with metal songs). My friend who has the same headset, he has them connected directly to the motherboard. It's probably because he has a high-end mobo that the audio sounded better directly off his mobo (20% was enough to play most songs OK). As I said in the title, I want a DAC/AMP combo because I want it to take less space and usually from what I saw online, they are cheaper than separate (but if we have anything good, worthy of going split, then why not). I plan in the future to get more premium headphones like the HD 8XX/800S/820 series (or a planar magnetic of the same price range). They say that you don't see much difference (like less distortion and more power being delivered to each driver)...

Nov 30, 2023

Audiophile

Questions

Vote

andrei.v

Why does Drop think it's ok to not honor warranty claims?

Bought the PC38X in Dec 2021. Stated on the item - and still on the product page - that they have a 2 year warranty. For the last 2 weeks the balance is not working anymore, and the sound ends up in just the R side or L side of both. It especially happens when I adjust the volume knob. I tried different cables and devices, same problem. The Drop rep so far has tried to lie to me several times, saying that: 1) I should try things I already mentioned I tried (they never read my first e-mail carefully) 2) That they're not in warranty anymore (bold lie, as per the website, and they confirmed the order date is within 2 years) 3) That they're in warranty, but no stock is available, so would I accept a $20 Drop credit instead (again a bold lie, they're available and IN STOCK on the website) Why does Drop think it's ok to blatantly not honour warranty on a defective product, and why is it ok to make-up random excuses every step of the way?

Nov 28, 2023

Audiophile

General