So I'm continuing my odyssey of getting a decent headset. It's been a rough ride. I ended up splurging for the Astro combo, since it seems pretty highly regarded. I'm having a bitch and a half getting it to work right on my pc, though. It seems ok on my 360, so it's got to be something with my PC set up. So I'm looking to you guys for a little help. I'm going to divide this into two main problems.
Problem 1: The sound quality was terrible, so I replaced my sound card. It sounds passable now, but the sound frequently gets a buzz or crackle in it that persists until I restart the computer. I normally use speakers and they don't exhibit any problems. The sound and voice are ok with the headset plugged in via the crappy headphones/mic slots on my pc. So it seems like that's working ok. I assume the problem at this point is between the mixamp and the computer.
Problem 2: The sound quality is super annoying, but my main peeve for the moment is the voice quality. When I play with other people, they say the voice quality is abysmal. As far as I'm aware, the mixamp only sends voice over usb, so it isn't a problem with the sound card, right? I normally use a usb headset, and that works fine, so I don't think the problem is with the motherboard.
So I've got two main questions:
1. If you use a Mixamp, what sound card and mobo do you have? Have you noticed any issues with sound quality or voice quality?
2. Can you think of anything that would impact sound or voice quality? I'm willing to test basically anything, because I hate the idea that I wasted $300 on this thing. Can anyone think of software settings or something that might be the problem?
Astro support consists of, "Got your money already, bitch!" so I'm out of luck on that front. I'm going to see if I can scrounge up another set of headphones to try with the mixamp in case that makes any difference. My main hope is to at least figure out what the fuck is wrong. I don't even care if it's fixable or not, I just want to understand why it's so bad. Any help you guys could offer is greatly appreciated. We can beat this thing together.
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Also which amp? The wired or wireless one?
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When I get home from work I'll try hooking up in the same way as you to see if mine has a similar behavior. I'll also try with my astro earbuds since that should better approximate your set up than my X11s.
if it helps, my mobo is an asus z68 pro.
honestly, I'm not an astro whore or anything, I promise. I just got a retarded coupon once that saved me over $400 on astro stuff (and got me anything under $100 free)
Same setup as me.
Have you tried recording your voice (just through audacity or even windows sound recorder) to see what it sounds like? Make sure it's the sound out of the mixamp (or headset) and not a software.
Do you sound fine with the headset hooked directly up to the pc? Make sure it's not the mic.
Are you still under warranty? I believe it's a year. Agreed that their support has gone downhill... I get the idea that they grew a bit too quickly. You might check the community support area on their forums, too... There are a couple guys there (or were) that can sometimes elevate or expedite issues. Stanimal and Warblade, IIRC, were good guys to talk to if you weren't getting resolution through the normal support channel.
What you want to try to eliminate as the issue, though:
Mic
Software
USB interface (or driver)
The poor sound quality on pc is surprising, though. You have Dolby Digital Live and everything set up?
I can try to come up with more when i get home tonight.
Did you just not get any response back off of support? Or just nothing helpful?
I'll have to find another headset to try it with the mic into the pc and the sound into the mixamp, since the a40 only has one cord. I'll give it a shot once I scrounge one up.
I've tried recording my voice, and it's real choppy. It starts super loud, then autocorrects real low or cuts out. I've messed with all the software settings I could find, but it didn't seem to help.
For their support, I might be under warranty still. The only thing they said was I could send it back for testing, but since it seems ok with a console I don't really want to do that and wind up with some refurbished one. Other than that they don't offer any help for pc issues. Which is funny because I went with them primarily because they seemed like a more pc-focused company.
Is there specific software for the mixamp or did you mean in general? I've got all the most recent drivers that I can find, but if you can point me to whatever beta drivers there might be, or something along those lines, I'll give it a shot.
Is the primary way to get voice from the mixamp that usb cord? If I try to use usb as the connection for sound, it sounds completely awful. Is that the same for you too? Maybe the usb thing is busted?
By software, I just meant whatever you're playing, or vent, or whatever. I've never installed anything from Astro, I don't think, I'm just using the standard HID drivers that come with Windows for the USB.
So does the mic work fine when hooked up through your motherboard's mic input? Also, does it work through the Mixamp on Xbox Live?
It really does sound like you just got a bum Mixamp, it happens. But I definitely understand wanting to be sure before you swap out.
I guess I'll see about sending it back, then.
I'm assuming you're no longer within your 14-day return window, or you could even (for the cost of shipping, which admittedly isn't cheap) just return and order a new one...since getting a refurb back seemed to be of some concern to you.
Various aspects of the device can be treated as discrete systems for troubleshooting.
I mean, it's possible to have some weird failure based on the interaction between, say, the optical and USB. But it's not at all likely.
I think my issue is just general noise in my onboard sound and on my USB ports. ASUS, I am disappoint.