Lcd gx Xbox controller amp/volume control?

Submitted by Ok-Fennel-3908 t3_10q321f in headphones

I just got the lcd gx and I’m really liking them so far. I’m having a small issue with volume out of the Xbox controller. My Xbox is across the room so I need to use the 3.5mm on the controller. At max volume it’s too loud but one click down needs to be a hair louder. Xbox does there volume in large amounts of volume with no fine control. I was thinking I could get a amp go from The Xbox controller into the amp and get better power as well as volume control. I would need one with a mic pass through but can’t find much online. Some have a mic but it is its own 3.5 connector. I want to keep this setup as clean as possible. Can anyone share there setup or a work around for this?

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DasGutYa t1_j6on6ty wrote

Pretty much everyone here is going to recommend that you get an amp/dac combo to connect through your tvs optical output and just get a long cable so you can have the amp close to you.

Using an amp with a controller output is a little bit of a waste because the controller has pretty terrible audio output and transmits via Bluetooth compression.

I'd imagine after grabbing that behemoth of a gaming headphone, you're willing to sacrifice a lot for the best audio performance, so running a wire from your TV isn't going to be the biggest inconvenience ever.

For a cleanest set up possible however, I'd recommend returning the gx and getting one of the wireless audeze gaming headphones. The GX isn't really built for a 'minimalist' set up (I mean, they're bloody huge man).

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Ok-Fennel-3908 OP t1_j6op386 wrote

Running a optical cable around the room would not be a huge deal. I just don’t know how you would get the mic to work with Xbox for game chat with that setup. Xbox does not use Bluetooth audio through controller so it does not sound bad. I can’t tell a difference from plugging into my gaming laptop or my Xbox controller for sound quality. I do have a par of astro a50 but the sound quality to the gx is much more to my liking.

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DasGutYa t1_j6oxd65 wrote

If your controller is the wireless version then it uses Bluetooth.

Neither the output of a gaming laptop or a controller are particularly 'good' so that's the reason there's no difference.

I thought the GX could split mic audio and game audio, so you'd plug the mic into your controller and the headphones into an amp. If not, then a cheap lapel mic will be of a similar or sometimes better quality than the one on the gx so that can be plugged into the controller and clipped to the headphone wire.

I'd still recommend one of the Bluetooth audezes as it's much less hassle for anyone looking for a clutter free set up. The GX is more for people that already have a nice amp and dac set up for running headphones and just want a dedicated gaming headphone.

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Ok-Fennel-3908 OP t1_j6oxu0u wrote

Thanks for the info. FYI Xbox controller is not Bluetooth when connected to the system it’s a low latency 2.4ghz connection that is better then Bluetooth provides.

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DasGutYa t1_j6p1shm wrote

Ah sorry I forgot they use xbox wireless now instead.

It's a higher bandwidth but from what little information Microsoft has released about it, it doesn't appear to be lossless and does use compression for the audio transfer which might negatively impact sound.

So, you should see quite an improvement to the gx with an amp. I can't find the specifications for the controllers 3.5mm output but being so cheap and small I'd be surprised if it output anything over 1mw.

Having to use them at max volume greatly increases the chance for distortion. So an amplifier will deliver the necessary power to make the gx sing. I'd still personally recommend a dac as well (or a combo unit) just so that you have as clean a chain as you can, after all those headphones can be quite revealing and adding an amp to the controller output might exacerbate discrepancies in sound.

Depending how much you want to spend, a fiio k5 pro would be a pretty affordable little unit.

Also, if your TV doesn't have optical out, you can use a hdmi splitter to create your own. No usb or wireless dacs work with the xbox as far as I can't tell.

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Ok-Fennel-3908 OP t1_j6p9ihu wrote

I’ve noticed with max volume gunshots sounds really loud. Maybe even a bit harsh. Maybe that’s distortion creeping in. The max volume is to loud for me for sure. If Xbox only has a smoother volume adjustment I’d be all set. I’m going to try messing with more settings tonight. I’ve been using Dolby Atmos maybe I’ll try uncompressed stereo instead.

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Tombot3000 t1_j6pf4su wrote

Just to reaffirm, you are correct that Xbox controllers connected to a console (and PC with the wireless dongle) transmit audio via a proprietary 2.4Ghz protocol. I don't think Microsoft has ever released the specifics of the codec or bandwidth used, though there are specific options selectable such as Atmos for Headphones and Windows Sonic.

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