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Turtle Beach DSS Part 2: Review
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Video review of the Turtle Beach Earforce DSSPlease visit for more informationPlease comment/rate/subscribePlease follow me on Twitter @ visit mlgpro.com for my written reviews on headsetsSo the DSS is Turtle Beach's answer to Astro Gaming's Mixamp. It is a dolby headphone decoder unit that adds virtual surround sound to any stereo headphone or headset for 90 dollars while Astro's Mixamp sells for 130 dollars. So the DSS is more of a mixamp for those with budget in mind. But as with everything, you're getting what you pay for. There are some differences in features between the Astro Mixamp and the Turtle Beach DSS.- Virtual surround sound is the same. Turtle Beach advertises the DSS as a 7.1 decoder, but optical signals cannot transfer over 5.1. What Turtle Beach does here is emply Dolby Pro Logic IIx that takes 2 channels from the 5.1 signal and then duplicates them(matrixes them) to add 2 more channels. So it's sort of like you have 2 more speakers playing the exact same sound as the other speakers are playing, doesn't really provide another cue of positioning. In any case, I refer to this kind of processing as "virtual virtual 7.1". So like I say in the video, performance between the DSS is comparable to the other popular decoders out there today.-While the Astro Mixamp has Coaxial, RCA, and optical inputs, the DSS only has an optical input and a 3.5mm input. If you got an RCA to 3.5mm adapter, you could connect your system to the DSS that way, but with the included optical cable, there isn't really any reason to not use the 5.1 for your DSS and put your 3.5mm port to other uses like as the aux in for you ipod.-As mentioned, Turtle Beach includes a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable and an optical cable with the DSS while Astro includes neither of them in their product packages.-The DSS has a bass boost dial that lets you control some of your bass power while gaming or listening to music, other decoders lack this feature, the only one resembling bass boost is the Tritton AX720 decoder box's different "scene modes" if you will, a setting for music/movie/gaming.-The biggest difference between the DSS and the Mixamp is headset usability. The DSS is optimized for use with headsets like the X11/PX21/Z2 that can connect directly to a 360 controller and have game/chat balance incorporated into the headsets themselves while the Astro Mixamp is compatible with any PC stereo headset with its included 4-pole adapter. In order to use a PC headset on the Turtle Beach DSS, you must use the SteelSeries Xbox 360 adapter to allow you to use voice communication with your headset, but you will still lack game/chat balancing. So one big feature is lost with the DSS vs. Mixamp and the price difference when adding the SteelSeries adapter and the DSS is now 25 dollars. -But something to look out on the horizon for is actually from SteelSeries. SteelSeries is coming out with an Audio Mixer, which is basically an upgrade to their Xbox 360 adapter, and it incorporates game/chat balancing. It looks like it will connect the same way their 360 adapter will, so depending on the price of that product, they could make or break the DSS. If the price of the audio mixer is reasonable, that and the DSS will still equate to less than the price of the Astro Mixamp and provide virtually the same features. If it's priced too high, you will end up spending the same if not more on the DSS and the audio mixer, which in that case, it would just be worth it to have the Astro Mixamp since you have other features like daisy chaining.So all in all, if you currently have one of the latest Turtle Beach headsets like the X11/Z2/PX21, the DSS would make a great accessory in your home to give you virtual surround sound on your headsets while retaining their game/chat balancing features. However, if you have a PC headset like the Sennheiser PC350/360, or even the Turtle Beach HPX, it may be wise to wait it out to see what SteelSeries' pricing will be on their audio mixer unit to determine whether it and the DSS will be a money saver over the Astro Mixamp.
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