|
Thanks for the Beyerdynamic 770 recommendation, and to all who posted. So, I'm not an audio enthusiast. I need something with more sound isolation and better quality than my monitor, nothing more. DACs and proper audio equipment are entirely out of my league, not to mention budget. I asked the audiophiles precisely because I'm not an audiophile, I was hoping this thread would have a good all-around quick pick and you did! I've ordered the 770s, I'll report back in a couple days.
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2024 03:18
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 6, 2024 11:22 |
|
|
Dr. Fishopolis posted:well he's very lucky, a dac isn't necessary. My suggestion that a DAC or amp might be needed with a set of 300 ohm headphones (I'll happily stand corrected that it isn't the case anymore) and the fact that minor-to-moderate sub-bass roll-off is extremely common in open backs in a way that someone might want to compensate for with EQ were two separate, unrelated points. I used to own a set of HD 58Xs briefly, and though they were adequately driven (which is easy enough to do since they're designed to be), they needed a little extra help in the sub-bass department via EQ with games or movies--and they responded well when given it. Captain Walker posted:I've ordered the 770s, I'll report back in a couple days. Great. I hope it ends up being exactly what you were looking for. Even if you eventually discover that other headphones are more pleasing to your ears, DT 770s are still durable, comfortable workhorses that should last you many years, if not decades. Zorilla fucked around with this message at 04:04 on Apr 29, 2024 |
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2024 03:46
|
|
|
a dac is a completely separate and unrelated thing to an amp. you might need an amp, you do not need a dac. most motherboard audio of the last 5 years or so can drive high impedance headphones. most dynamic open backs have some amount of sub roll off but most open back planars do not.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2024 04:27
|
|
|
If by some misfortune, you ended up with an audio output without adequate power for headphones (but sound fine on powered speakers), would your motivations for shopping for either a DAC or headphone amp not be more or less the same? Seems like different solutions to the same problem to me, but I could be wrong. Now if a DAC falls flat of expectations because it has crosstalk, a high noise floor, high THD, or awful, buggy drivers, then yeah, I wouldn't want to boost a signal that's already fundamentally bad. Have motherboards improved significantly in 5 years? With how much PC hardware has stagnated, I'm left wondering how many of us are still using motherboards that are older than that. I think the one in my SFF PC I have hooked up to my TV is over 8 years old and my desktop's was at least 7 years old when I replaced it in 2021. I also have a spare HP laptop manufactured in 2021 that work gave to me when they no longer needed it. That thing has a headphone jack with a noise floor that really reveals itself with low impedance/high sensitivity devices like IEMs. I would definitely want to be using an external DAC in that situation. Zorilla fucked around with this message at 06:52 on Apr 29, 2024 |
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2024 05:52
|
|
|
a dac converts digital audio to analog line level. it is not an amplifier. if you plugged your headphones into it, you would get a 2vrms audio signal, that's it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2024 07:05
|
|
|
Just wanted to chime in to say I haven't had issues driving the 6xx or 770s off of a headphone jack without an amplifier.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2024 16:25
|
|
|
Cockmaster posted:About three years ago, I bought the FiiO FD5 earbuds (after previously owning a different FIIO set which also lasted for three years), and now the left driver just died. Is there something comparable that can hold up to the shaking and ear sweat from regular workouts, or is three years a normal lifespan under those conditions? Dr. Fishopolis posted:Honestly yeah, I'd get something much more durable and much less expensive to work out with. I use Sony MDR-XB55AP and had this recently happen to me, although not nearly as expensive and fancy as those FiiO, but I'm also wondering if I should have another set of more durable wired earbuds when working out, doing outside yardwork, stuff that involves sweating? Any recs, or is the consensus just use cheap stuff that you won't care when they inevitably give out saving the ones you prefer using?
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2024 20:03
|
|
|
Dr. Fishopolis posted:a dac converts digital audio to analog line level. it is not an amplifier. if you plugged your headphones into it, you would get a 2vrms audio signal, that's it. its a bit more electrically complicated: a combo line + HP out with a 2V output will easily drive a nominal 10K impedance line-in load, but that doesn't necessarily mean it will have the current capability to drive headphones that has much lower impedances (16 to 600 ohm) or have the desired <1 Ohm output impedance it all boils down to the design of the output stage after the DAC chip what im saying is not every 3.5mm freebie jack is bad; you should definitely try them out first since its already there (and chances most are good enough by tyool 2024). And if it isn't good enough then consider an external DAC/HP combo...which doesn't even need to be expensive
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2024 01:20
|
|
|
The Sennheiser HD 560S was brought up recently, and by sheer coincidence, one showed up on Marketplace for dirt cheap, so of course I bought it. My impressions of it are somewhat positive, but with some marks against it. I usually expect a mid-forward sound with most Sennheiser products, but these are surprisingly bright. Looking at RTINGS.com's graphs, they even have a 10kHz spike that is similar to the DT 770 (but not as pronounced). They also have a second 4.5kHz peak that can make them sound slightly harsh/cheap, but both of these problem areas can be smoothed out with a little EQ. These don't dig quite as deep in the sub-bass region as a competing closed back, but their performance not far off at all. The build quality, on the other hand, is a bit frustrating. For a design that's pushing 20 years old, you would think they would have worked out how to eliminate the creaks and squeaks by now. The plastics themselves feel decent enough, but the tolerances must be subpar because even the slightest flex results in popping and creaking, particularly in the left yoke where it meets the earcup. I have made a couple attempts at tearing these down and cleaning/lubricating all friction surfaces and experimenting with different screw tensions, but nothing completely eliminates the noise. This seems to be a problem with two-piece yoke designs in general because it's also a problem on the Sony XM3/4 and Bose QuietComfort series which use similar assemblies. Sennheiser headphones often get praise for being easily serviceable, and while a pretty decent portion of the 560S can be taken apart with just a screwdriver, I'm a bit disappointed the headband padding is glued on and that the inner earcup lining is permanently integrated into the driver instead of a separate, removable piece (or part of the earpad instead). I consider these both to be wear-and-tear items and it would have been nice if they had been treated as field replaceable units. At least the drivers can actually be taken out, though. On the HD 58X, they're plastic riveted in. Comfort-wise, I can't really find much to complain about. They come close to reaching the level of the DT 770, which is high praise coming from me. The vertical pivots have to be fiddled with a little bit to even out the earpad pressure top-to-bottom, but once they have been, these headphones can be worn for hours. These are also one of the few models with enough clearance for my left earlobe, which presses against the inside liner of so many others. That can make or break comfort for me, so I'm glad that isn't the case with these. The velour on the earpads is better than I remember them being on other Sennheisers, but they're still a little scratchy after extended use. All things considered, they do a lot of things right, but I don't know how Sennheiser justifies charging $200 for these. The good news is they appear to be going for $100 if you go with Amazon Renewed. At that price, they make a lot more sense. Zorilla fucked around with this message at 03:18 on May 1, 2024 |
|
#
?
May 1, 2024 02:51
|
|
|
Why did they remove the capacitive slider to adjust volume on the Nothing Ear headphones?  Only v.1 has it and it was amazing. Lost mine the day before they were pulled off shelves for a more expensive less good copy
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2024 11:46
|
|
|
Jiro posted:I use Sony MDR-XB55AP and had this recently happen to me, although not nearly as expensive and fancy as those FiiO, but I'm also wondering if I should have another set of more durable wired earbuds when working out, doing outside yardwork, stuff that involves sweating? Any recs, or is the consensus just use cheap stuff that you won't care when they inevitably give out saving the ones you prefer using? I mean, you can pick up a set of tangzu wan'er or moondrop chu 2 or 7hz zero 2 for literally 20 bucks or less and they all sound better than most things did at the $100 price point 4 years ago. That seems to make more sense to me than going for "sweat proof" stuff that tends to sound bad and not actually be much more durable, but that's just my experience.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2024 19:21
|
|
|
So my airpods max have been acting up recently and I’m getting sick of dealing with them. I pull them out of their case and it just refuses to connect to anything and doing a hard reset just cause the light to blink amber three times and then nothing. I can get it working by sticking them in the freezer for fifteen minutes like people online suggest but its a ridiculous thing to have to do to $500 headphones that are just over 18 months old. So anyway I’m in the market for a replacement but headphones research is overwhelming so I’m looking for suggestions. Id like them to be over or on ear, have both Bluetooth and wired functionality, but also have a transparency mode, noise cancellation isn’t a priority. I have a bit of a tin ear so audio quality isn’t important and I’d like to keep it below $300 if I can
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2024 19:26
|
|
|
I've found that passthrough modes are still lacking on anything that isn't Apple, sadly. Even at maximum strength, this feature still sounds a bit muffled on flagships like the Bose QC 45, Sony XM3/4/5, and Sennheiser Momentum 4. My Sony Linkbuds S do little better, but it's still pretty hissy and artificial. If you don't plan on holding lengthy conversations with headphones on, this might not be a problem, but it could be a dealbreaker if that was one of your favorite features of the AirPods Max. My experience is limited only to headphones I've tried, so if anybody knows of any non-Apple models that do passthrough well, I'd be interested in knowing about them. Zorilla fucked around with this message at 22:07 on May 1, 2024 |
|
#
?
May 1, 2024 20:53
|
|
|
Hey MUSIC PEOPLE. My nephew wants a comfortable pair of noise-cancelling over the ear headphones for his birthday. I would like recommendations so I can help my family shop for a pair for him, maybe. He doesn't always take the best care of his stuff so something not too expensive would be preferred but all options and recommendations are welcome. Ideally $100 or less would be perfect, but if there's no reasonably good noise-cancelling options in that price range I would understand. We'd go more expensive if he would take better care of his poo poo. Wireless preferred but if necessary we can still do wired. Comfort over long periods of listening is his #1 priority, with cutting out outside noise and distractions being #2. Normally my father who reads CR and browses audiophile forums would be the one we'd turn to for guidance but he passed last year and so now the family has turned to me for advice on what we should be looking at, and I am turning to you all.
|
|
#
?
May 3, 2024 17:41
|
|
|
khy posted:Hey MUSIC PEOPLE. My nephew wants a comfortable pair of noise-cancelling over the ear headphones for his birthday. I would like recommendations so I can help my family shop for a pair for him, maybe. These are currently on sale for $50 (normally $100) and I’d just go with them  https://www.status.co/products/coreanc They make decent headphones all in all.
|
|
#
?
May 3, 2024 17:50
|
|
|
JLab JBuds Lux are comfortable, ANC, and about 80 bucks. JLab's app is also one of the better ones, allowing for 10-band EQ and a volume limiter for most models
|
|
#
?
May 3, 2024 20:04
|
|
|
JBL has a bunch of sub-$100 over-ears and they're known for being pretty durable. e: I don't think you'll do better than those $50 Status ones, though. qirex fucked around with this message at 21:21 on May 3, 2024 |
|
#
?
May 3, 2024 20:40
|
|
|
Buy two of those if the budget is $100 and he breaks poo poo
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2024 04:18
|
|
|
Looking for a recommendation here for some earbuds after accidentally bringing the case for my Sony xm4s into the hot tub and killing it. If it helps I’ve had a bunch of shure iems over the years e3, e3c, e215 I think we’re the last ones i had but I wanted to ditch the wire and get a better battery situation so I got the xm4s. Shures sounded great and all had nice tips available Looking for: Comply foam tips available - my ‘tism goes a bit nuts about poo poo in my ears after a bit but comply tips have worked for all the different models over the years Decent sound and ANC options- the sonys were pretty great there with anc and transparency options Better water resistance than the xm4s - I like to listen in the hot tub Decent battery life both in the earbud and the case, I tend to forget to charge them regularly I got my wife soundcore A1 for her to use in wet environments and I’m stealing them for the moment till I figure out what I’m getting - they sound decent enough but comply doesn’t make tips for em… I don’t really give a poo poo about cost here if the quality is good, they get a lot of use and I’ll pay for quality/durability but I’m pretty lost here nowadays on where the value sweet spot is…
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2024 18:59
|
|
|
Soylent Majority posted:Looking for a recommendation here for some earbuds after accidentally bringing the case for my Sony xm4s into the hot tub and killing it. Samsung Buds 2 Pro are IPX7 rated, which should allow them to be dropped into a hot tub for a short time and survive. I think they check all your other boxes as well (Comply tips, decent sound/ANC/Transparency). The battery life is less than the XM4, so I'm not sure if that would be long enough for you. Those Sony's have one of the longest reported battery lives I've ever seen and I'm not sure I've ever seen anything close to that. If you're not using ANC the battery life should be longer, but I don't see any measurement on that. The Buds 2 Pro are typically available for around $110 on Amazon and sometimes less expensive from Samsung with a trade-in of dollar store earbuds. https://www.rtings.com/headphones/t...&threshold=0.10
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2024 19:33
|
|
|
Soylent Majority posted:Looking for a recommendation here for some earbuds after accidentally bringing the case for my Sony xm4s into the hot tub and killing it. Did you kill just the case, or were the xm4's in it and those died too? If it's just the case, you can just get a cheap used one off eBay. There are tons from people who lost the earbuds.
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2024 19:46
|
|
|
HamburgerTownUSA posted:Did you kill just the case, or were the xm4's in it and those died too? If it's just the case, you can just get a cheap used one off eBay. There are tons from people who lost the earbuds. Well poo poo, should’ve thought of that - I’ll give that a try first. If I’m lucky I’ll get away with it but I’ll probably wind up killing these in water eventually, so maybe those buds mentioned above will be a good option.
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2024 20:09
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 6, 2024 11:22 |
|
|
I bought these $200 Monolith M565C headphones based on some review and compared to the Sony MDR-7506 the Monolith has crisper sound and better bass response when I listen for clarity in music with percussion or string instruments. But for some reason when I play video games the Monoliths sound tinny and like poo poo. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079YZXNZZ?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details Am I just noticing that certain games have poor sound quality now that I have better headphones?
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2024 16:16
|
|
