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eddiewalker posted:Headfi likes the Fiio X3 and it seems to fit most of your criteria. Quick swap batteries are pretty much gone in favor of cramming as much liion capacity as possible in a small form. This is basically exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks!
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Sep 14, 2014 22:04
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For years now my home cinema setup has been 5.1, but with all five channels directly in front of my viewing position (arrayed on the wall around the TV, essentially) because it is simply unworkable to put the rear speakers actually behind me. Recently, I've thrown out my viewing cabinet in favour of a smaller one, and I'm considering moving to a 2.1 setup. I would use the decent subwoofer I already have, and get a pair of midrange floorstanders. I would also keep my 6 year old Denon 1909 AV receiver. Is this really stupid and am I, by extension, a moron? Should I just get one of those soundbar things?
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Sep 23, 2014 13:56
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I think you should go with a 3.1 system. The center channel is nice to have for dialogue. Forget soundbars. They're only for people who don't care about sound and/or want something that must be compact at all costs.
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Sep 23, 2014 14:04
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I'm buying new speaker cable. I've always just used bare wire connections, but I'm thinking of going with a banana plug this time. My receiver and speakers have the kind of connection where you unscrew a knob and tighten the cable down. Is this compatible with banana plugs?
me your dad fucked around with this message at 14:15 on Sep 23, 2014 |
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Sep 23, 2014 14:10
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me your dad posted:I'm buying new speaker cable. I've always just used bare wire connections, but I'm thinking of going with a banana plug this time. My receiver and speakers have the kind of connection where you unscrew a knob and tighten the cable down. Is this compatible with banana plugs?
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Sep 23, 2014 16:29
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The Dude posted:I think most receivers and speakers nowadays can take banana plugs. Do your screw terminals have a little hole through the center of the knob that looks like a banana plug would fit? They may have a piece that has to be popped out before you can insert the plug: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zuchv9-XvQ Ah interesting, thanks. I was totally off base in how I thought they'd work. I'll have to check the plugs when I get home.
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Sep 23, 2014 16:53
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KozmoNaut posted:I think you should go with a 3.1 system. The center channel is nice to have for dialogue. Hmm. I could do that. Not sure where I'd put the center speaker, though. I'll see what the new cabinet's like.
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Sep 23, 2014 17:11
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For what it's worth, I have a 3.1 system with tower speakers and balancing them for normal tv watching has been challenging. Especially with BBC series which are especially muddy sounding. Cranking the volume to deaf old man settings fixes it but I'm not a deaf old man and can't stand it. Might just be peculiar to my set up but something to consider maybe when picking speakers.
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Sep 23, 2014 23:44
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Anyone have any opinons on the KEF LS50s? Is it insane to spend that much? I have a pair of floorstanding Polks that I'd like to replace with bookshelf speakers.
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Sep 24, 2014 03:04
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wormil posted:For what it's worth, I have a 3.1 system with tower speakers and balancing them for normal tv watching has been challenging. Especially with BBC series which are especially muddy sounding. Cranking the volume to deaf old man settings fixes it but I'm not a deaf old man and can't stand it. Might just be peculiar to my set up but something to consider maybe when picking speakers. That's... weird. Maybe check your receiver settings and make sure you're getting 5.1 from your cable box and not stereo. SteveMcQueen posted:Anyone have any opinons on the KEF LS50s? Is it insane to spend that much? I have a pair of floorstanding Polks that I'd like to replace with bookshelf speakers. Holy gently caress, those are expensive. Edit: Yes, it's insane to spend that much money on speakers from Amazon on the basis of what strangers on the internet say. Find a way to listen to them first if you're going to spend that much on a pair of studio monitors. KillHour fucked around with this message at 03:59 on Sep 24, 2014 |
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Sep 24, 2014 03:53
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KillHour posted:
I figured I could return them to Amazon if they aren't stellar. I'll check locally though, that's a good idea that I often forget about. Thank you.
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Sep 24, 2014 04:07
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KillHour posted:That's... weird. Maybe check your receiver settings and make sure you're getting 5.1 from your cable box and not stereo. Yeah, I've been through it dozens of times and set up a mic to run calibration. I think the floor speakers just have too much midrange for the room. I'm going to switch them out for a set of bookshelf speakers and see if that helps.
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Sep 24, 2014 05:13
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I built a subwoofer a couple weeks ago. Dayton RSS315HF-4 12" in a 4.5ft^3 enclosure with port tuned to 19Hz. Yung SD300 amp modded to disable boost and put HPF fc @ 16Hz. I'm using a 2006 mac mini (the first Intel model) that I had laying around for EQ. A crappy picture:  I'm pretty happy with how the sub turned out, it has good output to 15Hz and goes much louder than my mains. I have a question about (I think) room modes and resonance. I was playing around with Room EQ Wizard and doing THD measurements at various frequencies. At 100Hz, THD jumps to >50% and the measured frequencies really spread out. The sound gets really "hollow". I thought it was the sheet metal of the receiver at first. It wasn't the receiver, it seems to come from everywhere. I found several more frequencies that have this type of response. Is this called a room mode? Does anyone have some links to good articles on approaches to fix it? I think I could try moving the sub or adding absorbing material to the corners/walls. Is that the right approach or are there other options? taqueso fucked around with this message at 19:49 on Sep 25, 2014 |
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Sep 25, 2014 19:42
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SteveMcQueen posted:Anyone have any opinons on the KEF LS50s? Is it insane to spend that much? I have a pair of floorstanding Polks that I'd like to replace with bookshelf speakers. I have heard many, many good things about LS50s but keep in mind that while they're technically 8 ohm speakers they can dip down to 3.2 so you probably need a pretty beefy amp. If you have a decent sub there's not much point to floorstanders anyway. Are you anywhere near a large city? I bet there's a hifi store that has them and they cost $1500 everywhere so you might as well go listen.
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Sep 25, 2014 21:23
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qirex posted:I have heard many, many good things about LS50s but keep in mind that while they're technically 8 ohm speakers they can dip down to 3.2 so you probably need a pretty beefy amp. If you have a decent sub there's not much point to floorstanders anyway. Thanks - an amp upgrade is definitely in the works as well. I have an Onkyo NR717 currently and and was thinking of a Peachtree Nova125 though not sure. I do have a sub as well. There's a store near me (Portland, OR) that has them so I'll give them a listen one of these weekends.
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Sep 25, 2014 22:28
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SteveMcQueen posted:Thanks - an amp upgrade is definitely in the works as well. I have an Onkyo NR717 currently and and was thinking of a Peachtree Nova125 though not sure. I do have a sub as well. The Peachtree stuff is worse than cheaper, less attractive gear. It's made in China, for starters. So is NAD at this point, but they haven't compromised on audio quality. I was considering some Peachtree gear but after more research bailed on the idea.
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Sep 25, 2014 23:10
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ShaneB posted:The Peachtree stuff is worse than cheaper, less attractive gear. It's made in China, for starters. So is NAD at this point, but they haven't compromised on audio quality. I was considering some Peachtree gear but after more research bailed on the idea. What did you end up going with for an amp then? All of the stuff I've read regarding Peachtree has been positive but Internet reviews...
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Sep 26, 2014 00:08
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SteveMcQueen posted:What did you end up going with for an amp then? All of the stuff I've read regarding Peachtree has been positive but Internet reviews... A hi-fi store that SOLD the stuff told me to look elsewhere. For the cost of the Nova125 I'd be looking hard at the Bel Canto C5i, if you need the DAC as well. I am still in the hunt for my amp, as I think it will be the one I own for a few decades.
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Sep 26, 2014 00:14
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Next week I am going to buy some floorstanding speakers. I used to have some I liked when I lived overseas and now I want good but slightly better ones. (these are the ones I used to have - http://www.richersounds.com/product/floorstanders/cambridge-audio/s70/camb-s70-blk ) I am torn between the: klipsch rf-52's - http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-RF-52-Reference-Floorstanding-Loudspeaker/dp/B0041578BE/ And the BIC PL-89's - http://www.amazon.com/BIC-Amercia-Acoustech-Platinum-PL-89/dp/B001VIXH7I/ I wanted the klipsch for ages, but i've been reading that they're super bright and the BIC's have a better low end. I live in an apartment, but it's got 2 feet thick walls and basically soundproof. I also am not an audiophile, so who knows if i'll even notice. No way to test them beforehand. I prefer the look of the klipsch... e: went with the BIC's. user review score was slightly lower, but all the 5 star klipsch reviews came from people who had never owned good speakers before. web reviews just edged the bic's further, and they were 40% off with an 8 year(!) warranty. cubicle gangster fucked around with this message at 19:21 on Oct 1, 2014 |
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Sep 26, 2014 23:29
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Any recommendations for good value, closed back, over ear headphones? I'd ideally like to stay under £50 but I could probably go to twice that if there's some really big jump in comfort and quality.
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Sep 27, 2014 22:40
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I currently have a Xonar DX connected via optical spdif to a Pioneer VSX 92x-something reciever. I upgraded CPU and motherboard some months ago to a Asus MAXIMUS_VI_GENE that has an on board SupremeFX chip and optical out. My question is: Do I need the DX any more? I mean since the onboard sound handling is purely digital anyway? Supradog fucked around with this message at 15:01 on Sep 29, 2014 |
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Sep 29, 2014 14:59
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Unless you're doing anything fancy with some onboard processor the sound card has, in general there will be no difference between sound cards when using a digital output. I say in general only because there are still some old enough cards in use that some may not have Dolby Live/DTS Realtime (required for games to do surround over S/PDIF). There are also probably still some really terrible drivers where changing vendors will make a difference not in quality but in performance or usability. Funny thing though, those potential differences will generally have the standalone cards on the losing end. Onboard generally had DDLive/DTS-RT before it was widely available in standalones and a lot of onboard stuff "just works" with Windows' generic drivers so the OEM doesn't even have a chance to screw it up.
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Sep 29, 2014 16:00
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I suppose this thread is as good as many others to post this in. My wife has decided that we need more room in the house, and by that she means build a separate wife/man cave on the property with two rooms. My eyes kind of popped out that she suggested it instead of me, or the fact that she wants to spend that kind of money. One room will be her office/hobby room, and the other will be my man cave. She was throwing out numbers of 1,000 square feet and 100,000 dollars. I would put my projector theater setup in my half and use it as a dual purpose theater/guy hangout area. I ask this in here because I'd have to know what kind of sound proofing I can get away with. Would I use soundproof sheetrock or would I need to build a room in a room? I would try and separate the rooms with a hallway so they don't share a wall. The other issue is wiring, would general contractors know about properly wiring a theater setup or do I need to go with a specialty service? Or some DIY? Also service runs, how would satellite and cable internet be routed between the house and separate property? This is already exploding out of the scope of this thread as I write this, is all of this possible with the budget layed out? I know nothing about this, and this isn't a sure thing, I'll be picking up the phone soon to see what kind of trouble I can get into. Aeka 2.0 fucked around with this message at 04:42 on Oct 6, 2014 |
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Oct 6, 2014 02:36
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Have you seen my apex seals? I seem to have lost them.
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Looking for audio recommendations I previously had a logitech h550 foldable laptop headset but now its falling apart literally. So I'm in the market for a new set as I figure might as well go the whole hog, my requirements are: 1. portable I travel a fair amount and space is a premium. 2. Well one pretty much covers it I use the headset for gaming and sometimes web cam skyping, so fairly decent reception and sending is nice but I'll be honest I don't need the can hear foot steps a mile away feature as I never really use that.
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Oct 6, 2014 02:47
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Aeka 2.0 posted:My wife has decided that we need more room in the house, and by that she means build a separate wife/man cave on the property with two rooms. Divorce this woman right now, just so you can marry her again. quote:I ask this in here because I'd have to know what kind of sound proofing I can get away with. Would I use soundproof sheetrock or would I need to build a room in a room? I would try and separate the rooms with a hallway so they don't share a wall. There's only so much you can do, especially if you want decent subwoofers for movie watching. Low bass travels like you wouldn't believe. Soundproof sheetrock and ceiling panels mostly just combat echoing in the room, and the absorbing/blocking they do is mostly concentrated in the midrange and up. Basically, your quiet office-type room and home theater should not be put in adjacent rooms if they're meant to be used at the same time. E: Have a look at Ethan Winer's page http://realtraps.com/. He is a master of soundproofing, and his products are used in studios etc. quote:The other issue is wiring, would general contractors know about properly wiring a theater setup or do I need to go with a specialty service? Or some DIY? Also service runs, how would satellite and cable internet be routed between the house and separate property? Any decent contractor should be able to wire for home theater. Power is power and wire is wire. It's not harder to discreetly put in speaker wire than it is to discreetly wire up sockets. You'll probably want some kind of cable conduit installed. It'll make it so much easier to expand and/or reconfigure later. As for the satellite and internet connection, you basically either have to bury it or put in an elevated conduit to connect the two buildings. Which of the two options is best depends on the general layout of your property. A contractor will be able to help with this as well. quote:This is already exploding out of the scope of this thread as I write this, is all of this possible with the budget layed out? I know nothing about this, and this isn't a sure thing, I'll be picking up the phone soon to see what kind of trouble I can get into. With $100.000? Oh yeah, definitely. The most important thing to worry about is finding a decent contractor who's competent and won't massively overcharge you. You'll need to ask around among friends and family etc. KozmoNaut fucked around with this message at 08:27 on Oct 6, 2014 |
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Oct 6, 2014 08:24
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KozmoNaut posted:Any decent contractor should be able to wire for home theater. Power is power and wire is wire. It's not harder to discreetly put in speaker wire than it is to discreetly wire up sockets. You'll probably want some kind of cable conduit installed. It'll make it so much easier to expand and/or reconfigure later. As someone who has seen the work of electricians first hand on high end commercial jobs, I don't trust them to pull anything but romex. They manhandle cables (including HDMI and cat5) like you wouldn't loving believe. We're talking about "Oh, there's a kink in this cable. Well, let me just bash it out with this hammer." I am not joking. This is a thing that happened. Pull the cable yourself. It will take about an hour if the studs are exposed and save you money.
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Oct 6, 2014 14:50
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Around here there are hole in the wall shops that specialize in audio and do everything from auditoriums, bars, stages etc.. A place like this can run the wire, soundproof, right down to setting up the speakers. Call around and get recommendations.
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Oct 6, 2014 18:35
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wormil posted:Around here there are hole in the wall shops that specialize in audio and do everything from auditoriums, bars, stages etc.. A place like this can run the wire, soundproof, right down to setting up the speakers. Call around and get recommendations. Ask the companies for some references, too. There are really good boutique places and there are really lovely ones. Check that the company is an authorized distributor of at least one of the major AV receiver brands (Onkyo, Denon, Marantz). The ones that aren't generally don't know what they're doing and are going to sell you a system without a valid warranty.
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Oct 6, 2014 20:15
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I'll check that soundproofing article when I get home. Looks like this will happen once the house is paid off, and that will be in a couple of years or so, so I guess I jumped the gun with excitement and ran to the forums like a goony bastard. Currently the room with the theater is sharing a wall with her office. Its not a problem on weekends, but weeknights I definitely get some yelling back at me when I've got the dual 15" subs going. I can hear that poo poo outside. I set my kids and wife up with a movie and did some yardwork. I thought a storm was coming in until I realized it was my house. edit: she withheld some info, a family friend is a contractor, so this may work out pretty well, and from the advice above, I'll run my own wire. Is there a way to future proof wire installs? When the next HDMI spec comes out, how would I switch it out or make it easy to switch? Aeka 2.0 fucked around with this message at 21:01 on Oct 6, 2014 |
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Oct 6, 2014 20:57
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Aeka 2.0 posted:edit: she withheld some info, a family friend is a contractor, so this may work out pretty well, and from the advice above, I'll run my own wire. Is there a way to future proof wire installs? When the next HDMI spec comes out, how would I switch it out or make it easy to switch? This is why I recommend running cable conduit along or behind the baseboards. It's impossible to make a 100% future-proof installation, but you can make it as easy as possible for yourself to upgrade later on.
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Oct 6, 2014 22:06
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Everyone's favorite electronics engineer posted a "teardown" video of some white van speaker scam audio equipment the other day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3B_KKyntQE Everyone already knows that the gear is absolute junk, but it's interesting to see it from an engineer's perspective. BANME.sh fucked around with this message at 19:09 on Oct 8, 2014 |
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Oct 8, 2014 19:04
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edit: wrong thread!
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Oct 9, 2014 03:38
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So I am looking for a portable way to play my high quality audio files. I have an iPhone 6+, the onkyo app that lets you play FLAC, etc. and the apple camera connection kit. I think I need a DAC but I'm a little lost in trying to find the most portable/best version. Any help would be much appreciated.
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Oct 10, 2014 01:20
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rear end Catchcum posted:So I am looking for a portable way to play my high quality audio files. If you want to carry extra hardware, why not just go nuts and get a Fiio X3 (or X5) DAP? That camera kit nonsense is silly. You don't want that big fat adapter hanging off your phone with extra boxes rubber-banded to the back. eddiewalker fucked around with this message at 01:54 on Oct 10, 2014 |
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Oct 10, 2014 01:48
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Thanks for the info! The camera kit is not big or anything tho, unless I'm wrong? It's a lighting cable to USB adapter.
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Oct 10, 2014 02:23
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rear end Catchcum posted:Thanks for the info! Don't be a Head-fi'er 
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Oct 10, 2014 02:32
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Today I got this thing delivered, to bridge the gap between my Sony Gold headset and my Vita TV, which foolishly has no audio out other than bluetooth. The thing is, if I move from five feet away from the device to six feet away (i.e. my normal distance for playing games etc), the audio starts cutting out. Is it normal for bluetooth audio to have this much trouble with six feet of completely open space? Also, is a delay in the audio unavoidable with this kind of thing?
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Oct 10, 2014 11:10
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Samurai Sanders posted:Today I got this thing delivered, to bridge the gap between my Sony Gold headset and my Vita TV, which foolishly has no audio out other than bluetooth. The thing is, if I move from five feet away from the device to six feet away (i.e. my normal distance for playing games etc), the audio starts cutting out. Is it normal for bluetooth audio to have this much trouble with six feet of completely open space? It really depends on the antenna design of both devices and transmit power, but the basic answer is yes, a lot of bluetooth devices have really short ranges. Especially low power battery operated devices designed for use with a cellphone (that is, within like 2-3 feet). The orientation of the devices might make a big difference. Delay is unavoidable, there is added delay on both transmitting side and receiving side. Good devices will have less delay, but there will always be some. Below some threshold, you won't notice the delay, so the right devices can probably deliver a good experience. I don't know which. Is there an audio sync feature on your TV that can adjust the delay between audio and video? That won't help games feel more responsive, though.
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Oct 10, 2014 17:07
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Sounds stupid, but try taking apart the bluetooth receiver if it looks easy. It likely has a piece of metal inside to add weight but interferes with the signal. Two different bluetooth receivers I've owned have suffered from this problem, and removing the metal made a big difference. And no, before anyone says, it's not there for shielding purposes.
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Oct 10, 2014 17:20
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BANME.sh posted:Sounds stupid, but try taking apart the bluetooth receiver if it looks easy. It likely has a piece of metal inside to add weight but interferes with the signal. Two different bluetooth receivers I've owned have suffered from this problem, and removing the metal made a big difference. And no, before anyone says, it's not there for shielding purposes. Samurai Sanders fucked around with this message at 18:23 on Oct 10, 2014 |
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Oct 10, 2014 17:43
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