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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.
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# ? Apr 29, 2024 03:18 |
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# ? Apr 29, 2024 20:57 |
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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 |
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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.
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# ? Apr 29, 2024 04:27 |
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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 |
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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.
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# ? Apr 29, 2024 07:05 |
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# ? Apr 29, 2024 20:57 |
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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.
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# ? Apr 29, 2024 16:25 |