Found a Source for a Working Y Adapter Cable

[jahjahwarrior]

Hello everyone I registered so I could pass on this info that I've found out over the past few weeks. Like many I ordered my Mixamp alone and needed a Y cable adapter which I ordered along with the Mixamp. To make things short it was back ordered until March. So I sought out a replacement.

As you may know it's a 4 pole 3.5mm cable that leads to two 3.5mm plugs for headphones and a mic. I found a potential company selling it albeit a bit more expensive but much higher quality (It uses pro audio connectors and cable. I figure most who use there own headphones with the Mixamp might be an audiophile with nice headphones in one way or another). So I narrowed it down to two of this company's cables. One was for the iPhone and the other for the Droid. They both had a slightly different wiring. Here is an email exchange I had with someone at the company using a custom cable quote form:

"I and many people face a problem with a product known as the Astro Gaming Mixamp (http://www.astrogaming.com/products/detail/69/MixAmp/). This is a headphone amp/surround sound encoder/decoder. The company sells it with there own headphones but many opt to utilize a 4 pole 3.5mm Y cable (http://www.astrogaming.com/products/detail/71/Y-Adaptor/)
they sell separately to be able to use their own hi fi headphones and microphone. Well the Y cable has been out of stock and won't be in stock until March. So there's a heavy demand for this cable from reading their forum and I'd spread the word if you could make me one. I'm not fully sure of the pin layout. I'm 90% sure your standard iPhone Y cable will work. If it helps when you plug just a headphone 3.5mm cable into the MixAmp, the headphones will operate normally, you just lose the mic. So it would seem that the 3rd ring is for the mic. I just wanted to make sure there's nothing funky going on with your wiring on the iPhone Y cable. Let me know if I will need a custom cable or can just order the iPhone one (http://www.kvconnection.com/product-p/km-iphone-2trs.htm).
Also this Mixamp works with the Xbox 360 2.5mm connector to send the mic signal. It seems this company and many others have problems with the connection not working or filled with static (http://www.astrogaming.com/support/), click "problems with your headset". The Astro 2.5mm I have looks to be a stereo 2.5mm with some sort of ferrite choke, but it still has a ton of noise (it could be due to the 360 controller). If I order one of your premium quality 2.5mm cables, do you think the noise will be reduced? Or can a choke be added to one to improve noise even more? Sorry for the long requests I appreciate your help and will send all the forums to you guys for these special cables. Thanks."

Here is there response:

"Thanks for the detailed request!

I did some looking myself to see it I could find the pinout for the mixamp but was unsuccessfull.
There are basically 2 different pinouts for these type adapters.

1. The iPhone pinout is also compatable with the Xbox 360 and is as follows:
(Tip=Left+, R1=Right+, R2=Common-, Sleeve=Mic+)
http://www.kvconnection.com/product-p/km-iphone-2trs.htm

2. The Droid pinout is the more common pinout for other standard headsets:
(Tip=Left+, R1=Right+, R2=Mic+, Sleeve=Common-)
http://www.kvconnection.com/product-p/km-droid-2trs.htm

I would think that the iPhone version should be the one that you need. If you order it and it does not work, we will exchange it or refund it.

As far as the click/noise problems you ask about, I doubt they have to do with the cable it'self; it is more likely caused by the circuitry. It sounds like they may have some monitoring circuitry that is injecting some noise into the line or it is happening on the controller side. Do you notice that the noise is increased when the controller is in use?

Best Regards,
Rob Neal
www.kvconnection.com
"

To sum it all up I got the 2 cables to test out which was the right one and what do you know I found out my Y adapter from Astro shipped. I can say that I am using the iPhone one although the Droid one did seem to work despite the mic and ground being switched. I will test a little more and also compare it to the official Astro one when it comes in. I hope this helps somebody.

In another note I am using my Sennheiser HD280 Pros with a cheap Zalman mic. The mic can barely be heard even when speaking directly into it and turning the channel to voice only. But the computer amps it up when sending it to the game. The knob just isn't very useful with low output from the mic itself. Does any know of a good mic with a 3.5mm connector. Thanks and enjoy!

-Joey Rodriguez

edit: Sorry I was frustrated at the time. I should have used more discretion in my choice of words. You guys make awesome products and I'm loving my Mixamp. To someone who's not as anal as me about sound I would totally recommend buying the whole kit with your headphones. Just wanted everyone to know in case the Y adapter ever goes out of stock again.

[ASTRO stanimal]

Hi!

Thanks for the kind words, much appreciated!

As for our Y-Adapter (http://www.astrogaming.com/products/detail/71/Y-Adaptor/), we have it back in stock early and it's good to go.

Let us know if you have any questions,

- ASTRO Stanimal

[Astropin]

I've seen both of those adapters myself but was not sure if either one of them would work with the mixamp. I did order the adapter from Astro but would still be interested in knowing which one works.....just for future reference.

[nealh]

The fact the shipping is at least $10 on this stupid cable is amazing...$10 cable and $10 shipping ground..WTF

Try this..$10 total

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-5mm-4-pole-Splitter-Y-Adapter-Cable-for-AV-Video-Lead_W0QQitemZ150415866773QQcategoryZ32837QQcmdZVi ewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DSIC%2 6its%3DI%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BIEW%252BFIC S%252BUFI%26otn%3D10%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D804904503 3325341419

[ASTRO Warblade]

Hi nealh,

While I know the shipping and duties prices to outside of the US are enormous, the $10 shipping rate for this cable is pretty standard for UPS. You can look up the rates yourself on UPS.com.

Astro's shipping zip code is 94103. You can type in whatever zip code you're shipping your products to and see just how much UPS is charging.

Please don't think we're trying to make money off charging you some crazy rates for shipping, because we're not. With all UPS shipments, we're ensuring the delivery of the package, along with their tracking numbers that we pass along to the customer, so they will know when their things will arrive.

I've also deleted your other two posts of the same exact information. In one case, you were just bumping a post from two months ago.

[nealh]

Thats unfortunate removing posts to help people, those threads all asked the same question and people may not post but look back for an update. They need to know there are less expensive alternatives. As moderator you can remove the posts as you see fit.

This is a cable, as I understand until recently, was included with a $130 mixamp. Now it costs $20 additionally to get this, absurd to expect customers to pay this price for it. There are less expensive methods to ship a cable.

You sell an item as an ala carte item to people who clearly want to use it with other headset options but you cripple its use and do not post on the product page in an obvious way they may need this for microphone and headphone use at the same time.

Wanting additional customers is great but do not handicap them with a proprietary setup without including the necessary items.

I have to say I am disappointed as many people are to learn this cable is no longer included. This is true not on your forums alone but other headphones forums on the internet. IMHO, this is a vey poor PR move by your company and you are losing customers.

[ASTRO stanimal]

Hi nealh,

Responses inline:


Thats unfortunate removing posts to help people, those threads all asked the same question and people may not post but look back for an update. They need to know there are less expensive alternatives. As moderator you can remove the posts as you see fit.

We have no problem if our customers find cheaper alternatives for our cables. You can see this throughout our forums. What you don't see is the same message reposted on multiple threads.

I trust ASTRO Warblade to keep identical posts to a minimum. After all, reposting the same stuff over and over kinda sounds like spam. :)


This is a cable, as I understand until recently, was included with a $130 mixamp. Now it costs $20 additionally to get this, absurd to expect customers to pay this price for it. There are less expensive methods to ship a cable.

Like I said, if you find a cheaper alternative for a cable, fine by me.


You sell an item as an ala carte item to people who clearly want to use it with other headset options but you cripple its use and do not post on the product page in an obvious way they may need this for microphone and headphone use at the same time.

To be perfectly honest, I think it's pretty cool that we even provide the option to let everyone use our MixAmp with other headsets. You don't see any of our competitors doing anything of the sort.


Wanting additional customers is great but do not handicap them with a proprietary setup without including the necessary items.

That option is entirely up to us whether we want to product a product that only works with our A40s or not. Again, it's to your benefit that we opened that up.


I have to say I am disappointed as many people are to learn this cable is no longer included. This is true not on your forums alone but other headphones forums on the internet. IMHO, this is a vey poor PR move by your company and you are losing customers.

To be clear, a bad PR move would be to hire Tiger Woods to be our spokesperson. The Y-adapter issue is simply a business decision that upset only very few people because they weren't getting free cables anymore. Everyone feels so entitled to everything these days... right? :)

Now I apologize for your frustration and I understand your concern that our website wasn't clear enough . We'll be fixing that right away. Additionally, we're looking at a better solution for our MixAmps and 3rd party headsets for our next run.

If you have any other questions, please let us know.

- ASTRO stanimal

[nealh]

I dont spam and was only posting the same info in threads where people asked for the item.

I not entitled to anything but to remove a cable necessary for use with a 3rd party headset, that was previously a part of the Mixamp package seems very questionable. The business decision was what on the cable removal? Just more income??? If the number of people needing this cable is a small number the cost is small as is the profit from an ala cart sale???

Why have any unhappy customers in this economic climate?

If you leave off the Astro headset and mixamp fine but to sell the amp alone you have to know people are not using your headset, so why not inlcude the cable????

Anyway, I respect your business decision but as a prospective customer, I am so glad I found out first, if I had bought the item and realized it was not included would have really angered me.

Not sure if I will purchase this amp or another solution now.

[sk3tch]

Hi all, will this cable work since the Y-adapter is sold out?

http://www.astrogaming.com/products/detail/21/Xtra-Long-Quick-Disconnect-to-4-pole-Cable/

I'm looking to use Sennheiser PC 350s.

[Izzy]

orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr you could do the recommended route and purchase the headset and mixamp... then you have no problems at all :)!!!!!! its awesome how the way things are supposed to work do.

[sk3tch]

orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr you could do the recommended route and purchase the headset and mixamp... then you have no problems at all :)!!!!!! its awesome how the way things are supposed to work do.

Understood...but my brother has the complete A40 Audio System and a pair of Turtle Beach HPX headphones - and they're much better than the A40 headphones in both my opinion and his. Which is what led me to do some additional research. Universally, the Astro Mixamp is considered an amazing product - it is the headset that is under question. Which is why I am going for a hybrid solution to get the most bang/buck.

Here's an interesting review you may want to look at...I found it very helpful:
http://www.overclock.net/sound-cards-computer-audio/601982-astro-a40-vs-sennheiser-pc-350-a.html

[ASTRO stanimal]

Understood...but my brother has the complete A40 Audio System and a pair of Turtle Beach HPX headphones - and they're much better than the A40 headphones in both my opinion and his. Which is what led me to do some additional research. Universally, the Astro Mixamp is considered an amazing product - it is the headset that is under question. Which is why I am going for a hybrid solution to get the most bang/buck.

Here's an interesting review you may want to look at...I found it very helpful:
http://www.overclock.net/sound-cards-computer-audio/601982-astro-a40-vs-sennheiser-pc-350-a.html

Hi sk3tch,

In regards to the HPX headset, it's a headset w/ multiple channels in each ear as oppose to our A40 which is a stereo headset. The reason we went with a stereo headset is because our MixAmp uses Dolby Headphone, which is designed to work with a stereo headset and not a multi-speaker headset.

Imagine pushing a cylindrical object through a square hole. You might get it through if you push hard enough and get something out of it, but it's not what it's supposed to be. In fact, far from it.

That's what happens when you put the HPX on our MixAmp, despite what an amateur forum reviewer says. :)

- ASTRO stanimal

[jahjahwarrior]

@Astropin

The iPhone adapter works just fine.

[Cartel-Cashflow]

we're looking at a better solution for our MixAmps and 3rd party headsets for our next run.
- ASTRO stanimal
Ha I just ordered last night am I going to get screwed in like one month?

[ASTRO Warblade]

Ha I just ordered last night am I going to get screwed in like one month?
If you read thoroughly, ASTRO stanimal is talkin about the Y-Adaptors, in particular the bad batch that we encountered from the company that makes them. Currently there's no way to order the Y-Adaptor online, so you should have no problem, as you couldn't have ordered that part yesterday. =)

[Cartel-Cashflow]

If you read thoroughly, ASTRO stanimal is talkin about the Y-Adaptors, in particular the bad batch that we encountered from the company that makes them. Currently there's no way to order the Y-Adaptor online, so you should have no problem, as you couldn't have ordered that part yesterday. =)

Oh no I ordered my mixamp and I just dont want to wait for ages to get the Y-Adapter becuase I use the AD700s and HD555s, no offense to astro but I think I can find better sound quality elsewhere, but for ease of use astro is where its at and nowhere is there anything like the mixamp.

[Steggy]

Hi sk3tch,

In regards to the HPX headset, it's a headset w/ multiple channels in each ear as oppose to our A40 which is a stereo headset. The reason we went with a stereo headset is because our MixAmp uses Dolby Headphone, which is designed to work with a stereo headset and not a multi-speaker headset.

Imagine pushing a cylindrical object through a square hole. You might get it through if you push hard enough and get something out of it, but it's not what it's supposed to be. In fact, far from it.

That's what happens when you put the HPX on our MixAmp, despite what an amateur forum reviewer says. :)

- ASTRO stanimalThe hpx has 4 drivers in each earcup, but only the 2 40mm drivers in each earcup are used when paired with the astro mixamp. on paper multi channel is just bleh, but it works out with the HPX.

As far as the original topic goes, while getting the y adapter from astro directly is always best because you can just group the item with the other items you purchase to avoid extra shipping charges, the following links also have y adapters that work.

http://shop.steelseries.com/us/index.php/accessories-us/steelseries-mobile-device-adapter.html
http://headphonemicmods.com/index.php?p=1_5_Services


Those are the only 2 I know of that their adapters have been confirmed to work with the astro mixamp. I know ebay has some very cheap ones available, but people who have bought them have reported back that they do NOT work. So don't waste your money.

[AllTimeMitch]

Those are the only 2 I know of that their adapters have been confirmed to work with the astro mixamp. I know ebay has some very cheap ones available, but people who have bought them have reported back that they do NOT work. So don't waste your money.

No need to waste money because the official Y Adapters are in stock now!. Click here to purchase (http://www.astrogaming.com/products/detail/71/Y-Adapter/).

- TheHyperVertigo

[Drayken]

I don't think the big problem is that the y-adapter is sold separately, I think the problem is, that many new customers do not know they will need it if they use their own headphones. I will be buying SOON, like in a day or two hopefully. But I did alot of research, and across many forums. When reading the item description of the mixamp, the headphones, and the kits, it can be confusing what comes with what. Unless I am missing something, Astro should have, at the bottom of their description, a detailed list of what exactly comes with that particular item. Remember, many potential customers have no idea how this all works, they just know they want it, lol.

Heck, even after all my research, I am still unclear about the problems some people are having with the 2010 mixamp and static. Not sure if I should wait a bit. I swear I read a post from a moderator that said they were working on a solution that would take a couple months.

[ASTRO stanimal]

I don't think the big problem is that the y-adapter is sold separately, I think the problem is, that many new customers do not know they will need it if they use their own headphones. I will be buying SOON, like in a day or two hopefully. But I did alot of research, and across many forums. When reading the item description of the mixamp, the headphones, and the kits, it can be confusing what comes with what. Unless I am missing something, Astro should have, at the bottom of their description, a detailed list of what exactly comes with that particular item. Remember, many potential customers have no idea how this all works, they just know they want it, lol.

Heck, even after all my research, I am still unclear about the problems some people are having with the 2010 mixamp and static. Not sure if I should wait a bit. I swear I read a post from a moderator that said they were working on a solution that would take a couple months.

Hi Drayken,

We've since updated the MixAmp description and other products as well.

The issue you've read about only happens to a very small percentage of MixAmp owners, less than 1%. And in the very unlikely circumstance you have an issue, our Support Team will take care of you 100%.

If you have any other questions, please let us know. :)

- ASTRO stanimal

[FEAST]

I have been looking into buying a mixamp for quite some time now for use with my sennheisers.

I want the dolby headphone technology for soundstage and the ability to adjust gave volume/chat because Bungie studios is not intelligent enough to include an adjustable game volume in Halo.

The concerns I have are these:

1 - I refuse to buy the astro headset because quite frankly its obscenely overpriced for the lack of sound quality.
2 - I have a pair of sennheisers with an xbox360 headset modded into them and I want to know, even with the y-adapter, if the mic portion of the headset will still work or if I will need a PC mic.
3 - Is there any way I can line in a mic channel say from a mixer? Basically can I plug a mono track of say an ipod into the mic port on the y-adaptor? Just a basic line input?
4 - I have major concerns about the sound quality of the amplifier in the mixamp. Who makes it? What kind of D/A conversion are we getting here?

Steggy can you compare the mixamp (regular stereo) to some high end headphone amplifiers?

If not has anyone found a dolby headphone encoder for 5.1 that will just convert optical to stereo for my current PS Audio amp?

[Steggy]

I have been looking into buying a mixamp for quite some time now for use with my sennheisers.

I want the dolby headphone technology for soundstage and the ability to adjust gave volume/chat because Bungie studios is not intelligent enough to include an adjustable game volume in Halo.

The concerns I have are these:

1 - I refuse to buy the astro headset because quite frankly its obscenely overpriced for the lack of sound quality.
2 - I have a pair of sennheisers with an xbox360 headset modded into them and I want to know, even with the y-adapter, if the mic portion of the headset will still work or if I will need a PC mic.
3 - Is there any way I can line in a mic channel say from a mixer? Basically can I plug a mono track of say an ipod into the mic port on the y-adaptor? Just a basic line input?
4 - I have major concerns about the sound quality of the amplifier in the mixamp. Who makes it? What kind of D/A conversion are we getting here?

Steggy can you compare the mixamp (regular stereo) to some high end headphone amplifiers?

If not has anyone found a dolby headphone encoder for 5.1 that will just convert optical to stereo for my current PS Audio amp?The mixamp isn't actually an amp, it's just called a mixamp, just sort of a coined term. It is the same as other decoder boxes that ship with other headsets though it has many more features. It's a DAC with virtual surround thrown in, it doesn't have any high end amplifier to give extra drive to headphones. that being said, it'd be interesting to hear the sound from xbox>mixamp+DH>an amp like an LD mk2 or something.

[FEAST]

The mixamp isn't actually an amp, it's just called a mixamp, just sort of a coined term. It is the same as other decoder boxes that ship with other headsets though it has many more features. It's a DAC with virtual surround thrown in, it doesn't have any high end amplifier to give extra drive to headphones. that being said, it'd be interesting to hear the sound from xbox>mixamp+DH>an amp like an LD mk2 or something.

So, let me get this straight....its just plain DAC and then straight to the headphones, with mixing circuits for chat and aux?

So, is the volume control pre or post amp?

And line level signals are not loud enough to power headphones so there must be a reasonably powerful amp embedded in the DAC....if there is none after?

Sounds pretty unusual to have a DAC that doesnt output line level signals....

I'm just curious from someone who has heard the mixamp how it compares to a good quality headphone amplifier.

[Steggy]

So, let me get this straight....its just plain DAC and then straight to the headphones, with mixing circuits for chat and aux?

So, is the volume control pre or post amp?

And line level signals are not loud enough to power headphones so there must be a reasonably powerful amp embedded in the DAC....if there is none after?

Sounds pretty unusual to have a DAC that doesnt output line level signals....

I'm just curious from someone who has heard the mixamp how it compares to a good quality headphone amplifier.

Erm, you're throwing a bunch of mumbo jumbo at me man. I'm not a forefront expert on amplifiers, I've listened to quite a few but I don't know their specifics and all of that, I'm sorry.

What the mixamp does is this. It takes in an optical signal(or the other ones but for the sake of discussion i'll just talk about the optical) and takes the 5.1 from games, and decodes it with its Dolby Headphone chip so when it spits out the audio from the 3.5mm headset port, you get virtual surround sound in the stereo headphones that you plug into it. It also has the mic port where you have a cord go to your controller to it, which allows you to balance/mix game/chat audio to whatever level you want.

So now everything after this sentence is speculation ha. So like I said, there is obviously some amp in the mixamp, but it's not going to be a high end amp like you're thinking of. I haven't tried low end amps like cmoys or pa2v2's, but i'd imagine it would be comparable to them at most I guess. In the specs I think I saw its output was 32ohms, which is about an ipod's amp's power if i'm not mistaken. Anyways, I do have quite the collection of headphones and headsets, and I haven't had any problems driving them properly with the mixamp if that's what you're worried about. Another user on the MLG forums however, was just telling me that he has his master volume always at max, he hasn't told me what headphone though, I'm guessing it's his beyerdynamic dt880's, or one of his other higher impedance headphones.

[FEAST]

So on sennheisers do you prefer the 5.1 decoding or just plain stereo when gaming, and does the technology really pinpoint sounds like it claims to?

[Steggy]

I personally like the Dolby Headphone a lot on the mixamp. It's hard to describe, it sort of like opens up the sound stage to just make you feel more immersed/being able to pick out the noises. For some people it sort of takes getting used to for a bit, but I love it.

[Alpha I Omega]

You can pinpoint a persons location on certain games, on BC2, i can hear a friendly spawn behind me.

[FEAST]

I personally like the Dolby Headphone a lot on the mixamp. It's hard to describe, it sort of like opens up the sound stage to just make you feel more immersed/being able to pick out the noises. For some people it sort of takes getting used to for a bit, but I love it.

Can anyone do me a favor and check to see if a regular xbox mic (only care about mic function) will work on the 4-pole adapter with some headphones so I can hurry up and buy this thing?

I have a pair of sennheiser HD570's with a regular xbox mic modded into them.

Currently I just plug the mic cable into my controller, and set chat to come through the speakers (headphones), and plug the headphones into my headphone amp.

The problem is that I dont get the dolby and I cant adjust chat volume relative to game volume.

[lilstone87]

Well I'm just wondering does this Y-Adapter come with the mixamp now or not? When clicking on the Y-adapter for ordering it, says it now comes with the mixamp, and you can't order it by itself atm.

[AcIdC0R3]

Yes it comes with the mixamp now. :)

[Todaay]

so im guessing it didnt come with the mixamp before? eww that must've been a small pain

[ASTRO Warblade]

For a brief few months it did not ship with the MixAmp (this was the Triangle opening MixAmp box I believe you mentioned in another post).

It's only bad if you were wanting to use it with a set of PC headphones. Still worked out of the box with ASTROs.

-ASTRO Warblade