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I was under the impression the amps didn't matter with IEMs
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Feb 8, 2022 06:27
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Boba Pearl posted:I was under the impression the amps didn't matter with IEMs amps always matter I think what you heard was that amp power output doesn’t matter with IEMs
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Feb 8, 2022 06:38
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Boba Pearl posted:The DAC made a huge difference which makes me think my onboard sound card or dongle was kind of garbage, but holy poo poo, I thought I liked music, but actually I really really really love listening to music now. amp / dac pedantry aside this rules, headphones rule, enjoying headphones is the best.
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Feb 8, 2022 15:57
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Boba Pearl posted:I was under the impression the amps didn't matter with IEMs Like a lot of things with this stuff, you don't need an amp for almost any IEM. But better ones will be able to make use of and often sound slightly better with one. It's not the kind of difference in my opinion to make it worth buying an amp but if you have one anyway (and decent ones like the E10K are getting pretty drat cheap) you might as well at least try stuff.
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Feb 8, 2022 16:06
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Boba Pearl posted:The DAC made a huge difference which makes me think my onboard sound card or dongle was kind of garbage, but holy poo poo, I thought I liked music, but actually I really really really love listening to music now. Onboard sound cards tend to pick up a lot of EM interference from computer components, and dongles tend to have poor filtering due to space limitations. If your USB is noisy an external DAC can help a lot.
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Feb 8, 2022 19:32
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Boba Pearl posted:The DAC made a huge difference which makes me think my onboard sound card or dongle was kind of garbage, but holy poo poo, I thought I liked music, but actually I really really really love listening to music now.
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Feb 8, 2022 22:23
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Speaking of amps/dacs just treated myself to the JSD Labs Atom+ stack. Really happy with it. Looks and sounds great
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Feb 8, 2022 22:24
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grack posted:Onboard sound cards tend to pick up a lot of EM interference from computer components, and dongles tend to have poor filtering due to space limitations. If your USB is noisy an external DAC can help a lot. This is exactly why having an amp with spdif optical in is best.
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Feb 8, 2022 22:41
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101 posted:Speaking of amps/dacs just treated myself to the JSD Labs Atom+ stack. Really happy with it. Looks and sounds great I wish the Element III was a bit cheaper because I love the way it looks and now it even has a cool little screen.
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Feb 8, 2022 23:25
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qirex posted:I wish the Element III was a bit cheaper because I love the way it looks and now it even has a cool little screen. Is there a quality/generational difference between the Element III and the El-Amp/DAC II?
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Feb 8, 2022 23:30
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Ok Comboomer posted:Is there a quality/generational difference between the Element III and the El-Amp/DAC II? According to the ASR review they've decided to drop out of the "SINAD race" and the focus is more on usability but it's still a bit better than the older platform.
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Feb 8, 2022 23:43
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qirex posted:According to the ASR review they've decided to drop out of the "SINAD race" and the focus is more on usability but it's still a bit better than the older platform. I like the Amp II because it has an actual analog input, but it only has one input, so if you use it with the companion DAC, and you don’t want to bung in a splitter/switch, you’re pretty much committed to only using the DAC—in which case the all-in-one is cheaper anyway. And if its a better amp on top of it, then the separates really are a losing bet
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Feb 8, 2022 23:47
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So I was complaining to some friends (who have traditionally cared more about audio than I have) about wanting to up my headphone game, because I have been feeling my current ones (ATH-M50S) seem kinda hollow/empty lately. These are just being driven off the built in output from my old Gigabyte Z170 motherboard. My friends suggested an amp and/or DAC may get me more return on my dollar than upgrading the headphones at this point, so I have kinda started down that rabbit hole. I'm not looking to spend audiophile money, but willing to drop a few hundred to see what I can do to improve things. Scanning the last few pages of this thread, and some other stuff online - seems like something in the JDS Atom/Schiit Magni-Modi/FiiO K5 is in the right ballpark from a cost standpoint, and can find good things about all of them online (minus some recurring posts on reddit about Magni's left channel exploding). Is there anything as a complete novice here I should know that differentiates within that tier of amps/DACs? Am I barking up the wrong tree entirely? Also, any appreciable difference between hooking up via USB or TOSLINK? Thanks! ROJO fucked around with this message at 01:49 on Feb 9, 2022 |
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Feb 9, 2022 01:43
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ROJO posted:So I was complaining to some friends (who have traditionally cared more about audio than I have) about wanting to up my headphone game, because I have been feeling my current ones (ATH-M50S) seem kinda hollow/empty lately. These are just being driven off the built in output from my old Gigabyte Z170 motherboard. My friends suggested an amp and/or DAC may get me more return on my dollar than upgrading the headphones at this point, so I have kinda started down that rabbit hole. I'm not looking to spend audiophile money, but willing to drop a few hundred to see what I can do to improve things. Scanning the last few pages of this thread, and some other stuff online - seems like something in the JDS Atom/Schiit Magni/FiiO K5 is in the right ballpark from a cost standpoint, and can find good things about all of them online (minus some recurring posts on reddit about Magni's left channel exploding). The Magni channel imbalance issue was resolved like 6 years ago. They’ve released like two iterations since then.
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Feb 9, 2022 01:48
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Also upgrading your headphones is always the better option than getting a DAC, if you're not liking the M50s any more then a DAC probably won't change that. DACs make headphones you already love better, they don't make headphones you don't like good.
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Feb 9, 2022 02:55
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ROJO posted:So I was complaining to some friends (who have traditionally cared more about audio than I have) about wanting to up my headphone game, because I have been feeling my current ones (ATH-M50S) seem kinda hollow/empty lately. These are just being driven off the built in output from my old Gigabyte Z170 motherboard. My friends suggested an amp and/or DAC may get me more return on my dollar than upgrading the headphones at this point, so I have kinda started down that rabbit hole. I'm not looking to spend audiophile money, but willing to drop a few hundred to see what I can do to improve things. Scanning the last few pages of this thread, and some other stuff online - seems like something in the JDS Atom/Schiit Magni-Modi/FiiO K5 is in the right ballpark from a cost standpoint, and can find good things about all of them online (minus some recurring posts on reddit about Magni's left channel exploding). Most of the low end recommend stuff is all you would ever need for amp/dac. A lot of the low-end stuff had gone way up in quality over the years. Schiit stack, atom, d10 etc. I'd say outputs, (like do you want a preamp out) looks, and features is what I would be looking at if I was buying. But also agree with njsykora, if you don't like the headphones an amp/dac isn't going to do anything crazy, unless you have a ton of noise.
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Feb 9, 2022 05:53
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There is no source update that would make M50(X) not sound like rear end. Update headphones first and buy dac / amp later if needed.
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Feb 9, 2022 09:29
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Is there a thread for microphones and recording equipment?
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Feb 9, 2022 17:46
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Sorbus posted:There is no source update that would make M50(X) not sound like rear end. Update headphones first and buy dac / amp later if needed. njsykora posted:Also upgrading your headphones is always the better option than getting a DAC, if you're not liking the M50s any more then a DAC probably won't change that. DACs make headphones you already love better, they don't make headphones you don't like good. Rakeris posted:But also agree with njsykora, if you don't like the headphones an amp/dac isn't going to do anything crazy, unless you have a ton of noise. OK, heard loud and clear I think. How would I go about determining what a good headphone upgrade (or even sidegrade) would be? It all seems pretty subjective, and without having a place to go try them out (maybe those places exist?), I feel like I would be taking a stab in the dark. My only real requirement is they need to be closed (share an office with my wife) and I have a giant dome (size 8 fitted hats).
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Feb 9, 2022 19:19
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ROJO posted:OK, heard loud and clear I think. How would I go about determining what a good headphone upgrade (or even sidegrade) would be? It all seems pretty subjective, and without having a place to go try them out (maybe those places exist?), I feel like I would be taking a stab in the dark. This might be below your budget but I always swing through to recommend the Status Audio CB-1s for reasonably priced, good circumaural headphones that are easy to drive.
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Feb 9, 2022 19:49
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RichterIX posted:This might be below your budget but I always swing through to recommend the Status Audio CB-1s for reasonably priced, good circumaural headphones that are easy to drive. I bought a set of these to move up a price bracket after my second pair of Monoprice headphones cracked in the course of a month. 10 months later I'm still satisfied with their build quality and general comfort, but I did get glasses a few months ago and the combination is not the best. I'm not really sure how any over the ear headphones could solve that without notching out the pads though so I don't really hold it against them. Sound quality doesn't leave me with any complaints. I listened to a shitload of music with headphones turned up to 10 as a kid so I don't claim any particularly sensitive hearing though.
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Feb 9, 2022 20:06
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ROJO posted:My only real requirement is they need to be closed (share an office with my wife) and I have a giant dome (size 8 fitted hats). I recently got the new Beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro Xs and as someone with a pretty large head I'm really happy with them. They are no longer painful in their treble like their older models could be without EQ and I really like their stock sound. They also look a lot nicer/sleeker than the older 770s if that matters to you.
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Feb 9, 2022 21:25
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ROJO posted:OK, heard loud and clear I think. How would I go about determining what a good headphone upgrade (or even sidegrade) would be? It all seems pretty subjective, and without having a place to go try them out (maybe those places exist?), I feel like I would be taking a stab in the dark.
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Feb 9, 2022 21:30
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TenementFunster posted:[contrarian zone] if you buy some fancy headphones, you're gonna want to get a dedicated amp/dac as well, so might as well try a ~$100 Schiit Fulla or FiiO K3/E10K/whatever or equilvant try to see if that makes you any happier. i can't imagine paying more than ATH-M50 money for a pair of headphones just to raw dog them right out of a motherboard header. there's nothing inherently wrong with motherboard audio except that it's often badly implemented and noisy. if it isn't noisy and you get enough volume and it doesn't sound obviously worse than, say, your phone, then hooray you're not missing anything and there's zero reason to spend money. if it is noisy, you can get an apple usb-c adapter for 8 bucks and solve the problem that way. the reasons to get an external amp/dac are: - I require more power to drive my headphones and dongles won't cut it - I need to integrate my headphones into my existing stereo setup - I need a real volume knob that's pretty much it.
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Feb 9, 2022 21:57
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Dr. Fishopolis posted:there's nothing inherently wrong with motherboard audio except that it's often badly implemented and noisy. if it isn't noisy and you get enough volume and it doesn't sound obviously worse than, say, your phone, then hooray you're not missing anything and there's zero reason to spend money.  anyway, somebody get focal to put their drivers in a sennheiser headset. i love how the elex sounds so much more than the HD-6XX and K702, but jesus they are conspicuously heavier
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Feb 9, 2022 22:29
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TenementFunster posted:yes, correct. all anyone needs is an apple dongle hooked up to some porta pros. yep, sure, that's exactly what I said. really wrapped up my whole post there, great job goon.
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Feb 9, 2022 22:38
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Dr. Fishopolis posted:yep, sure, that's exactly what I said. really wrapped up my whole post there, great job goon.
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Feb 9, 2022 22:45
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Dr. Fishopolis posted:the reasons to get an external amp/dac are: This sounds like there is absolutely no reason to get an external amp if I already have a pair of speakers with a headphone jack. Good to know!
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Feb 9, 2022 23:59
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My old Sony WHH900N headphones that I've had for 4 years are starting to get worn out. Picked up a Fiio K5 Pro Ess and some DT770's. Also bought a little passthrough dac that I connect between the ps5 and the Fiio in order to get sound out of that. The K5 plays great audio out of both. First listen out of the DT770's was a little jarring compared to the Sony's. The treble or sibilance was pretty pronounced. Got used to them though and love them now. Games and music sound incredible.
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Feb 10, 2022 00:02
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nrook posted:This sounds like there is absolutely no reason to get an external amp if I already have a pair of speakers with a headphone jack. Good to know! which speakers?
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Feb 10, 2022 00:12
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nrook posted:This sounds like there is absolutely no reason to get an external amp if I already have a pair of speakers with a headphone jack. Good to know!
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Feb 10, 2022 00:47
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nrook posted:This sounds like there is absolutely no reason to get an external amp if I already have a pair of speakers with a headphone jack. Good to know! As a general rule, if your headphones get loud enough without distortion, it doesn't hiss, and there's no weird phase or channel imbalance issues, then it's probably fine. In my experience with built-in headphone jacks in general there's around a 50/50 proposition it'll pass that test. Also, listen to a song you know and compare it against a source you're already familiar with to see if anything sounds obviously wrong.
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Feb 10, 2022 00:49
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TenementFunster posted:you're welcome! wait i thought you were being sarcastic, so i was sarcastic, but i suppose you weren't so i take back being a jerk.
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Feb 10, 2022 00:50
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Dr. Fishopolis posted:wait i thought you were being sarcastic, so i was sarcastic, but i suppose you weren't so i take back being a jerk.
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Feb 10, 2022 01:47
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TenementFunster posted:a practical suggestion is indistinguishable from sarcasm. Solid thread title material here.
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Feb 10, 2022 02:24
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I will say that OP will probably get less noise/better sound straight from the mobo than through an extension/splitter by way of an inexpensive set of computer speakers with a headphone out jack
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Feb 10, 2022 03:48
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njsykora posted:Solid thread title material here. i second that
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Feb 10, 2022 04:28
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To be honest we probably need a whole new OP, when this thread was made Airpods didn't exist.
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Feb 10, 2022 05:04
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njsykora posted:To be honest we probably need a whole new OP, when this thread was made Airpods didn't exist. yeah, and like even Beats got semi-recommendable if you need Bluetooth headphones for working/working out/kicking around and prioritize convenience in other news, I’m thinking about finally pulling the trigger on a DarkVoice while Drop currently has them for sale. How is it as a speaker preamp? I’m hoping to sandwich it between my PC and my 305 MkIIs
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Feb 10, 2022 05:07
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Beats imo are straight up recommendable these days since they're basically bassier and cheaper Airpods Pro, the rumour about the upcoming redesign of the Pros is that it's straight up lifting the design of the Beats Fit. In other news the Etymotics I bought from Drop have now drifted their ship date from January 21st to March 22nd.
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Feb 10, 2022 05:10
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