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DancingShade posted:Grats! That feeling of "holy poo poo, obvious upgrade!" is to be savoured and enjoyed at length. I was worried that it was going to sound basically the same, honestly.
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Dec 17, 2019 16:29
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Spiggy posted:I don't have any of the headphones you have, just the HD 600s, but I'll do a crappy write up. The 95x are a good value on virtue of being effectively a headphone/amp combo at a nice entry point, but I can't personally recommend them to someone with 600/650/6xx. The imaging is a tad better and they're a bit brighter at the expense of having a cheap feeling build. Personally they feel like a slight upgrade at best and a sidegrade at worst. My understanding is that the included amp is terribly underpowered, and to get the best out of those things you need a STAX energizer, at which point they're no longer a good deal and you might as well just go full STAX.
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Dec 17, 2019 17:56
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Spiggy posted:I don't have any of the headphones you have, just the HD 600s, but I'll do a crappy write up. The 95x are a good value on virtue of being effectively a headphone/amp combo at a nice entry point, but I can't personally recommend them to someone with 600/650/6xx. The imaging is a tad better and they're a bit brighter at the expense of having a cheap feeling build. Personally they feel like a slight upgrade at best and a sidegrade at worst. Not much of an upgrade huh? Dang. Been wanting to dip into the electrostatics and this was a great price point. Any suggestions for a relatively cheap starter electrostatic headphone?
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Dec 17, 2019 21:40
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After sitting in customs for a spell, the blon-03s I ordered as a Linsoul special set deal finally came. They really sound thin with the default tips, but once switched out for their blue foam tips it sounds balanced. I also switched out the cable for the copper and silver one that came in the set, but haven’t compared it to the stock cable. I’m honestly surprised how good these sound. I wish I had another pair of IEMs to compare them with, but good recommendation headphone goons and Z Reviews. I’m very happy with these.
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Dec 17, 2019 22:45
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Mang Tomas posted:Not much of an upgrade huh? Dang. Been wanting to dip into the electrostatics and this was a great price point. Any suggestions for a relatively cheap starter electrostatic headphone? What's "relatively cheap"? You can't currently buy a new Stax setup for less than around $1300. edit: oh there's that Hifiman set for $850 but they are apparently not good Dr. Fishopolis fucked around with this message at 23:06 on Dec 17, 2019 |
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Dec 17, 2019 23:03
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Dr. Fishopolis posted:What's "relatively cheap"? You can't currently buy a new Stax setup for less than around $1300. Thanks for answering. $1300 is still too steep for me just for an upgrade to my HD600. One last question for the Koss 95Xs: How do they fare in gaming?
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Dec 18, 2019 02:42
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Dr. Fishopolis posted:What's "relatively cheap"? You can't currently buy a new Stax setup for less than around $1300. I have the STAX base model, the 300 series. It's really good but also keeps you stuck to your desk. Not sure how those drop ones sound.
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Dec 18, 2019 07:35
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Does anyone have a recommendation for mid-range bluetooth IEMs? I have been using Anker Spirit Pro for the past year but managed to break one of the earpieces: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07BMV5T2N/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 They were decent and actually quite robust (I just managed break them by getting them caught on something in an unusual way, on one of the plastic parts), but I figure someone might have come out with something better in the past year? When I last looked it was surprisingly hard to find a set of mid-priced ones which actually have decent build quality, battery life and also good sound. The Spirit Pro's build quality + battery life were fine but volume was a bit low. e: hmm it seems like everyone is recommending BLON 03's for IEMs, perhaps I should just go for those + one of the plugin bluetooth receiver things? Never used that kind of setup before El Grillo fucked around with this message at 13:16 on Dec 18, 2019 |
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Dec 18, 2019 13:05
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Got my BLON 03's yesterday. I had already ordered a better cable and the medium size plugs fit my ears fine so no problems there. After one workday's worth of listening I can vouch for these: one of the best if not the best bang for buck. Tin T2 with front vent plugged are a bit boomier but the both (and koss porta-pro's) have a place in my office setup now.
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Dec 18, 2019 15:09
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What are some good (wired?) headphones I can use with an iMac and an iPad Pro 11? In my previous setup I had an amplifier next to my computer so I didn’t have to think about impedance and things like that when I bought my old AKG headphones. I wrote wired at the top because it seems like most Bluetooth headphones are made more for use on the go and noise cancelling, and not really great sound quality. Am I wrong? Is my goal - good/great sound quality - even doable without an amp? I’m no hifi expert but music sounded a lot better with the amp and AKG headphones than straight into my Bose noise cancelling headphones. Music also sounds a lot better from my phone than from the computer at work with the same headphones, so I know my ears work somewhat.
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Dec 18, 2019 16:12
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So I was listening to my HD650s at a loudish coffee shop for like 5 hours yesterday. I think I compensated for the environmental noise by listening to them louder than normal. Anyways, I have a strange feeling with my ears today that's somewhat new to me. Listening to my music in my car, it sounded way shittier than usual and normal volumes we're somewhat painful for me to listen to. I tried listening to my cans today and can't stand them. My ears feel sore in the inside. I'm worried these new headphones are loving with my perception of loudness and leading inadvertently to ear damage. What are some audiophile tips to avoid this? I think the sound is so smooth that I can tolerate louder music for way longer.
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Dec 18, 2019 18:07
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El Grillo posted:Does anyone have a recommendation for mid-range bluetooth IEMs? I have been using Anker Spirit Pro for the past year but managed to break one of the earpieces: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07BMV5T2N/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 You could use the BLONs with a Moondrop Littleblack cable and have the drape-around-back-of-neck thing. I have been using mine like that some. All-in you'd be at like $60-70 and have great sound quality.
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Dec 18, 2019 18:15
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MOVIE MAJICK posted:So I was listening to my HD650s at a loudish coffee shop for like 5 hours yesterday. Don't do this. You will gently caress up your hearing and bother everyone around you. Open back cans are not for loud environments, ever.
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Dec 18, 2019 18:25
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Dr. Fishopolis posted:Don't do this. You will gently caress up your hearing and bother everyone around you. Open back cans are not for loud environments, ever. IEMs for out and about. Or closed back at the least.
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Dec 18, 2019 19:23
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kid sinister posted:So I loaned my Sennheiser earbuds that I've had for 15 years to my wife and she broke them. Who makes a decent pair of earbuds now? Anyone?
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Dec 18, 2019 20:26
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kid sinister posted:Anyone? BLON-03... Read any of the thread? They're by far the best cheapo IEM right now. I use them a lot and have $1000s in headphones. You might want to replace the cable, especially if you're not wanting the cable wrapped around your ear, but worth a shot with stock cable to save $10.
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Dec 18, 2019 20:30
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Dogen posted:IEMs for out and about. Or closed back at the least. Is it a known thing that open back requires unsafe volume in noisy environment?
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Dec 18, 2019 23:02
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ddogflex posted:BLON-03... Read any of the thread? They're by far the best cheapo IEM right now. I use them a lot and have $1000s in headphones. You might want to replace the cable, especially if you're not wanting the cable wrapped around your ear, but worth a shot with stock cable to save $10. Thanks! No I have not. You can see how often I look into headphones: decade and a half when the old ones break. Speaking of my wife, she likes to meditate, then complain later that I'm making too much noise a room away. Would noise cancelling headphones help with that?
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Dec 18, 2019 23:16
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MOVIE MAJICK posted:Is it a known thing that open back requires unsafe volume in noisy environment? I didn’t know about it until I was shopping for my first pair of headphones over $100. But I remember reading on headphone Reddit, “don’t buy open-back headphones if you travel because they’ll sound like poo poo unless you turn it up to dangerous volumes.” I absolutely don’t think it’s common knowledge for your average consumer. I actually had some next day ear pressure/slight tinnitus from my Phillips Fidelio X2 when I fell asleep with them on. It went away or I stopped noticing it.
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Dec 18, 2019 23:27
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ddogflex posted:You could use the BLONs with a Moondrop Littleblack cable and have the drape-around-back-of-neck thing. I have been using mine like that some. All-in you'd be at like $60-70 and have great sound quality. Weirdly the Littleblack doesn't seem to be available in the UK... there's one company that would ship it via Singapore but it would take 20 to 40 days. Anyone know of other recommended Bluetooth adapter cables? I imagine there's a lot of poo poo out there, and there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of useful info. If I got something with only like 6hr battery life or crap amp, it would be a real pain in the arse.
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Dec 19, 2019 00:14
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El Grillo posted:Thanks! Will Aliexpress ship to the UK? That's where I got mine, shipped from China. Didn't take TOO long.
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Dec 19, 2019 00:33
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So I picked up a pair of Blon B20s from Drop a while ago and they just arrived. I wasn't sure about it because there really isn't a lot of talk about them online other than a couple of positive impressions but for $350 I thought it was worth a shot. I've been listening for a couple hours and what I'm hearing is what I had expected to hear when I got my HD6XXs and amp. Whatever the aural equivalent of putting on a pair of glasses is, that's what it's like. Everything is crisp and clear and I'm hearing details I never noticed before. The bass is better, I don't need to EQ it up to hear it. I can close my eyes and imagine the performance to a much better degree than ever before. They're comfortable. So unless they just fall apart for some reason I don't regret this at all.
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Dec 19, 2019 00:50
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MOVIE MAJICK posted:Is it a known thing that open back requires unsafe volume in noisy environment? Yes It's also pretty lovely to force everyone around you to listen to your music while in public. Don't be that person.
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Dec 19, 2019 01:05
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grack posted:Yes I have amazing taste though
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Dec 19, 2019 03:29
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Also worth noting that when listening for five hours straight unsafe volume is a lot lower than you might think. Here's some random image from Google demonstrating this: Take breaks, don't try to drown out environmental noise with headphones that don't have ANC, you're just radiating more acoustic energy into your ears, masking is a psychological phenomena, it doesn't do your ears any good.
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Dec 19, 2019 12:58
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Your img link is a link to the google site, not the image itself. Here's an imgur of it: 
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Dec 19, 2019 13:02
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Is there a way to measure the decibals my headphones are subjecting me to and just marking the safe volume on my amps volume knob?
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Dec 19, 2019 17:30
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Get an SPL meter inside your headphone earcup?
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Dec 19, 2019 18:59
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Apple Health will log volume levels if you’re listening on an iPhone, though they claim it’s only really accurate with AirPods and beats headphones
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Dec 19, 2019 19:11
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Mang Tomas posted:Not much of an upgrade huh? Dang. Been wanting to dip into the electrostatics and this was a great price point. Any suggestions for a relatively cheap starter electrostatic headphone? While not really the same thing, recently a chifi electrostatic IEM was released (I think the first of its kind) - the Shuoer Tape IIRC. It's apparently quite good. I think it uses a dynamic driver for the lows and the electrostatic one for the highs. grack posted:Yes Yeah, there's no way that everyone in that coffeeshop wouldn't hear music played on the 650s at loud volume.
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Dec 19, 2019 19:29
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Ytlaya posted:While not really the same thing, recently a chifi electrostatic IEM was released (I think the first of its kind) - the Shuoer Tape IIRC. It's apparently quite good. I think it uses a dynamic driver for the lows and the electrostatic one for the highs. There are several on the market now. They're actually electret drivers, like what hearing aids use, similar to electrostatic, but not actually the same thing. I haven't tried any of them yet.
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Dec 19, 2019 19:52
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Ytlaya posted:Yeah, there's no way that everyone in that coffeeshop wouldn't hear music played on the 650s at loud volume. My wife can hear them in the next room. She couldn’t really hear my 598s. There’s really no dampening whatsoever.
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Dec 19, 2019 20:48
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I think measuring the SPL you get from headphones is not that simple, likely to really to it well would require the use of a dummyhead. Just placing an SPL meter next to one of the cups won't be accurate as there won't be any sealing, what's more in short distances 2-3 cms can make a big dB difference. I'd assume Apple did their calibration with a dummy head. As a sorta professional sound engineer I learned over the years to recognize what safe levels 'feel' like, partly by using an SPL meter a bunch of times to calibrate speakers but mostly by recognizing the signs of ear strain when it starts to accumulate.
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Dec 19, 2019 23:56
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Maybe you could measure the SPL from a subjectively volume matched speaker output instead of directly measuring it.
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Dec 20, 2019 00:35
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or you could not blast 650s out in public so loud you go deaf for a day. this seems like a self correcting problem, honestly.
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Dec 20, 2019 01:37
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Dr. Fishopolis posted:or you could not blast 650s out in public so loud you go deaf for a day. ...because if you keep doing it, someone is going to push a stir stick through a driver.
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Dec 20, 2019 08:24
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Honestly though I was sitting across from someone and they said they couldn't hear my music with most songs at the volume I was listening at that seemed to hurt my ears.
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Dec 20, 2019 16:14
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Has anyone tried the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1's? Fully wireless bluetooth IEMs. They have good reviews. Cambridge Audio has a pretty good rep, right?
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Dec 20, 2019 17:15
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El Grillo posted:Has anyone tried the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1's? Fully wireless bluetooth IEMs. They have good reviews. Cambridge Audio has a pretty good rep, right? They should be FINE, but not like amazing. I'd go for the Soundcore Liberty Pro 2 over them at that price point, and if willing to spend a bit more the Sony WF-1000MX3. The case on the Sony's is kinda big, but they're better sound quality and have ANC. Unrelated, but I got my iSine 10s back yesterday after them being broken for months. WOW I love these loving things. I am so goddamned tempted to upgrade to LCD-i3 but they're the most impractical loving form factor. Not uncomfortable or anything, just completely open IEM that sit mostly outside the ear.
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Dec 20, 2019 18:41
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^^Thanks! Although the Soundcores are more like £150, so maybe I'll look at their range of wired Bluetooth ones instead as I assume I can get something better quality for the same price (with the inconvenience of the joining cable but to be honest I really don't mind that..) e: gah, they aren't selling any midrange wired Bluetooth ones, just cheap stuff. I seem to go round and round in circles with this stuff. El Grillo fucked around with this message at 00:40 on Dec 21, 2019 |
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Dec 21, 2019 00:30
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