Hello! I thought I'd share my audio set up with you using a binaural headphone w /mic kit.
Sorry for the long post, but I thought this may interest some of you since I was surprised that there was no product on the market that supported this type of game play in PS3 land. Hopefully in a future UPGRADE, this can be fixed…until then, reach out with any specific questions and I will do my best to help you out.
The advantage of this set up is that you have headphones (for silent game play around sleeping wives/kids) and a high quality mic without using the Bluetooth feature. Having the binaural headphones helps you determine from which direction your adversaries are coming from AND it incorporates the “in game†communication. All parts are commercially available and can be set up in minutes.
You need:
1. ONE set of binaural headphones with the standard two 3 MM MALE plugs...one for AUDIO (1A), and one for MIC (1B) preferably the PLANTRONICS which comes with a separate USB adapter. This is key since you will be splicing audio feeds.
2. ONE USB 3mm headphone and mic adapter. Again, it’s included in the plantronics, but is available on line as a separate item.
3. ONE STEREO 3mm FEMALE to FEMALE coupler adapter(radio shack )
4. ONE STEREO “Y†splitter Adapter with one MALE 3mm to two FEMALE 3mm(radio shack )
5. ONE 4 foot MALE TO MALE 3mm stereo cable(radio shack )
6. Now here is where you need to know how you want your ambient game audio come in…for example, I have my audio leaving my PS3 via HDMI to my flat panel which feeds my surround system via optical cable. I use the output of the surround sound unit to feed my ambient game sounds to my headset which requires a ¼ inch MALE stereo plug. So in my case, I would need ONE 3mm MALE to 1/’4 inch MALE stereo cable (6A). If your audio is output via RCA plugs, then you will need ONE 3mm MALE to TWO RCA SPLITTER (red and white for left and right channel) again available @ radio shack.
Try to follow along… will reference the part numbers to help you keep track of what goes where.
Headphones have two 3mm plugs, one for audio, and the other for MIC. Plug the MALE AUDIO (#1A) cable into the STEREO 3mm FEMALE to FEMALE coupler adapter (#3).
Plug this into the MALE end of the STEREO “Y†splitter Adapter with one MALE 3mm to two FEMALE 3mm (#4). This is how we get the two different audio feeds into one headset.
Now plug one end of the 4 foot MALE TO MALE 3mm stereo cable (#5) in to on of the FEMALE plugs on the STEREO “Y†splitter Adapter ( #4).
Plug the other end of this cable into the USB 3mm headphone and mic adapter (#2) in the plug marked with the headphones symbol (audio).
Plug the USB adapter (#2) into your playstation .
Now take the 3 MM MALE for MIC (1B), and plug that into the USB adapter (#2) as well. That completes the in Game communication piece of the setup.
Now Grab the STEREO “Y†splitter Adapter with one MALE 3mm to two FEMALE 3mm (#4) which should have one open female plug available. Plug in the 3mm MALE to 1/’4 inch MALE stereo cable (6a) OR the 3mm MALE to TWO RCA SPLITTER (6B) into the splitter (#4).
Plug the other end into your audio output device.
OK yes, there is a slight nest of wire in from of your TV, but…you now have a set up that affords late night immersive game play without disturbing the rest of the family, AND have in game communication at a high quality.
PROS: No background noise (like the in game sounds) feeding into your mic which could create feedback and corrupt the audio for all on the team.
CONS: Unfortunately, other gamers have their mic volume up way too high which forces you to lower the volume overall. ).
Thanks and good luck!
[+30] Ceedub21