|
I recently picked up some barely-used Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2 headphones as an upgrade to some 1st gen M50xBT's I've had for 3 1/2 years now. There doesn't appear to be anything objectively wrong with the new ones, but I'm having the fuckiest issue where my left earlobe is pressing/rubbing up against the inside foam of the earcup. This is despite their design being 100% identical to my old headphones in every way that matters. The earpads on my old headphones seem to be a tiny bit more plush (possibly on account of them being OEM HP-EP replacement pads), but when I tried swapping them out, it made no difference. It's not due to the higher clamping force of the newer headphones either because I can still feel my earlobe pushed up against the inside even when I hold the earcups slightly away from my face. At this point, I'm stumped. These new headphones come with a ton of quality of life improvements over the old ones (USB-C, dual connection, better volume control precision, built-in EQ, low latency mode), but none of that matters if I can't wear them comfortably. I'm leaning towards going back to my old headphones at this point and reselling the new ones. The most compelling feature, low latency, causes too many dropouts to be usable without being annoying anyway. I hope this is a one-off issue because my old headphones aren't going to last forever, and by the time I'll be needing to replace them, M50xBT2s are likely all that are going to be available in decent condition anymore. Zorilla fucked around with this message at 05:59 on Jul 27, 2023 |
#
¿
Jul 27, 2023 05:13
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 16, 2024 06:18 |
|
|
Dr. Fishopolis posted:there are a TON of aftermarket pads for the m50s as the stock ones famously suck rear end. honestly just grab whatever looks good on amazon. brainwavz and dekoni are both good brands. I went through that whole song and dance when getting the first set of headphones back in 2020. As it turned out, the previous owner sold them at the perfect time because the earpads and headband started deteriorating right after I got them. The first replacements I tried were BRAINWAVZ velour earpads, but they did that thing that so many headphones do that I hate and put stitching around the inner rim to give it form. This creates a pressure point that rubs against my skin, causes irritation, and is really bad for long term comfort. I also discovered how sensitive the M50 series' sound profile is to earpad sizing and isolation because these pads completely destroyed the bass response. The second set was a pair of generic velour pads matching the size of the stock ones. I absolutely loved the comfort velour pads gave my DT 770s and these were also very comfortable, but just like the BRAINWAVZ, they ruined bass response and provided zero isolation. The third set were some knockoffs resembling the stock ones. They lacked a foam liner and the headphones had very noticeable internal reflection (that "listening through a straw" effect) as a result. It vanished once I cut out the foam liners from the failed OEM pads and stuck them inside. Once I did that, these sounded nice and provided good comfort, but the vinyl was made of pure, horrible Chinesium and turned hard and cracked after a month. After that, I caved and got the OEM replacements and was trouble-free ever since. At this point, I'm just about willing to tolerate how these M50xBT2's fit. While these sound almost identical to my old M50xBT's, the tighter fit does seem to have restored a small amount of midbass that they lacked and wearer comfort is about the same after the first few minutes anyway. Zorilla fucked around with this message at 23:03 on Jul 27, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Jul 27, 2023 22:36
|
|
|
BeastOfExmoor posted:I randomly found a pair of DT 770 Pro 80ohm in a electronics recycling drop-off at work. They work find, but smell like the previous owners cologne so I'm thinking of replacing the ear pads. Amazon has a bunch, but is there anything special I should be looking for? The DT 770s are by far the most comfortable headphones I've ever owned and the stock velour earpads are a bit part of the reason why. I would try throwing them in the laundry before condemning them entirely. They can survive a few washes before the adhesives start to break down. If you do have to replace them, I would just get another set of stock ones. They're a bit steep at $35, but I think they also come with the foam discs, which can also disintegrate over time.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 29, 2023 02:13
|
|
|
youd for i posted:Are there any decent Bluetooth/wireless in ear options for under $100? I’ve been using a cheap pair of QCY for a long time but the cord that connects the headphones to one another is completely frayed at this point. I got lucky and found a set of Sony Linkbuds S for $50 on eBay a month ago when I needed something to watch cat videos while waiting for food. These are their midrange IEMs and they're somehow better than the previous flagship WF-1000XM3 I tried 18 months ago in just about every way. Most notably, they actually stay in my ear and I don't look like a douche while wearing them. They aren't going to win any audiophile awards, but they still sound better than the over-ear WH-1000XM3s in my opinion (not that this is a particularly high bar). If I have one complaint about the Linkbuds S, it's that they very subtly drop out or stutter once every 5 minutes or so when connected to either of my desktop PCs, usually when there is sufficient WiFi network activity. I also have problems using low latency AAC with my ATH-M50xBT2s on the same computers, so I would sooner blame the WiFi adapters in them, not the headphones. My iPhone and MacBook Pro seem to perform fine. I also see the WF-1000XM4 selling for around $70-100 in various states of completion (I would at least make sure they come with all the original eartips if you can't get one complete in box). Zorilla fucked around with this message at 05:39 on Aug 3, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Aug 3, 2023 05:29
|
|
|
Homeless Friend posted:Wireless/bt on a comp can be a pain in the rear end, the solution ive taken to is using the usb expansion card i had in there for ages and having small usb cord extensions to physically seperate and raise up the dongles a bit to reduce the interference/provide clearer LOS. One per port. Having it go off pci power stops weird dongle boot problems i had with the maxwell. Probably partly motherboard/windows bullshit+ having like a billion usb connections taking up bandwith/power. Prioritize stable connection is already on. I disabled DSEE pretty early on because it seemed like a current iteration of that SB Audigy meme (I can't find it now. You know which one I'm talking about--the one with the bar graph) I thought dual connections was for connecting to two devices at once, unless you mean that using that feature has the side effect of dropping the codec quality to both devices and potentially improving reliability. I'm already doing that with my phone as my second device. I've thought about experimenting with that turned off to see what happens. None of this is a huge deal. If I actually used my Linkbuds S with my PCs extensively or this bothered me more than it did, I'd probably try experimenting with a remote desk-mounted antenna instead of the rubber ducks the adapters came with. The way my desk is set up now, the MacBook Pro I have is a big 16" slab of aluminum that sits in the direct path between my headphones and the PC's wireless antennas, so it couldn't hurt to mess with that. Both affected computers use ITX motherboards with semi-integrated Intel WiFi/BT cards and not USB dongles, if that matters. Zorilla fucked around with this message at 20:13 on Aug 3, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Aug 3, 2023 20:09
|
|
|
A couple weeks ago, I got it in my head that I wanted to start using my DT 770s over Bluetooth with my TV instead of the ATH-M50xBTs I've been relying on. On the recommendation of everybody's favorite internet hi-fi salesman, DankPods, I picked up a used Fiio BTR5. It lasted less than 48 hours before it bricked itself--and apparently, I'm far from the only one. While looking for information on how to recover this device, I discovered that a large portion of the people experiencing the same problem were fiddling with the EQ settings beforehand, which matches up with my experience entirely. Unfortunately, none of the methods posted on various forums for forcing a reset or entering DFU mode so I could re-flash firmware worked. My unit appears to be completely dead, apart from drawing about 3 watts from the wall when plugged into a USB charger. I suspect the seller knew something was up because I received a full refund within 10 minutes of me opening a return request. I then tried a refurb EarStudio ES100 MK2. This one seems to work exactly as advertised, but good lord, the latency. It has to be double or triple what I'm used to from Bluetooth devices. Everything up to this point has been around 150-200ms. The ES100 seems to have around 500-600ms of lag during games, which is totally unacceptable. The app has a buffer length setting, but that doesn't seem to have any effect at all. Latency and connection reliability are exactly the same whether the slider is set to 1 or 10 regardless of the codec being used. Even during media playback (which is supposed to compensate for lag automatically) it can't seem to cope, and there is still a small but noticeable amount of lag remaining when watching videos. At this point, I don't know what the correct move is. I could try another BTR5, but what are the chances the next one has the exact same problem?
|
|
#
¿
Aug 23, 2023 05:44
|
|
|
Mederlock posted:Try the Qudelix 5K. It's really well regarded for what it is. That was a third option. I was originally put off by its comparatively higher price and lack of market share as well as not knowing if it, too, had abnormally high latency, but if there are no other options available, I may have to try it.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 23, 2023 16:05
|
|
|
Mederlock posted:The Q5K has access to the aptX low latency codec, which should drop latency to the 40 ish ms range. I was looking at this earlier and saw that it had aptX Adaptive, not LL (which apparently is the newer standard which effectively accomplishes the same thing). The BTR5 had aptX LL support, but I couldn't get it to work with either of my desktop PCs, so I have my doubts about being able to use aptX Adaptive.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 23, 2023 18:20
|
|
|
Mederlock posted:What are you using for bluetooth out on your PC's? My desktop uses an Intel 3168 and my HTPC has an Intel 8260 adapter. When I tried to look up codec information on Google, the #1 result was Intel just going:  Everything else is just the usual assortment of support bots and "me too" replies on various forums any time someone had a question similar to mine. Edit: This suggests anything beyond standard aptX is not supported in Windows 10. Zorilla fucked around with this message at 23:00 on Aug 23, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Aug 23, 2023 22:55
|
|
|
njsykora posted:Unless there's been a big shift in over ear ANC recently, you want whatever the most recent Sony's are. The WH-1000XM5s. I have potentially bad advice incoming. Feel free to trash it: If you're like me and the prospect of dropping $400 on a set of headphones that, outside of having really impressive ANC, sound no better than my old $25 Koss UR20s from back in the day, my solution has been a used set of $50 Sony Linkbuds S for when I'm on the go and the Audio-Technica M50xBT ($100 used) for home/office use since I don't need ANC in those situations and find them reasonably comfortable. The Linkbuds S have exceeded most of my expectations, especially the ANC performance. They're more focused on eliminating lower frequency rumble and fan noise rather than quieting the entire spectrum, but they seem to be really good at this particular task. As far as sound quality, my only basis for comparison with Sony's flagship products is the WH-1000XM3 over-ear headphones, and I think the Linkbuds S actually sound much better due their flatter response curve. I doubt the sound quality of the WH-1000XM4 or XM5 has changed much, especially when considering the RTINGS.com reviews have very similar things to say about all of them. I only use the Linkbuds S in short bursts as opposed to all day, so if you have problems with comfort when wearing IEMs for long periods of time like I do, this may not work for you. And as with all IEMs, their overall performance is heavily dependent on fit. The Audio-Technica M50xBT/BT2 are in a completely different league of sound quality from any of the consumer grade stuff on the market I'm aware of, but because they lack ANC, they are dramatically cheaper. Their response curve is far from flat, so they won't get the audiophile mark of approval, but they do sound subjectively nice to me. Rob mentioned having big ears that have difficulty fitting smaller earcups, so that could be an issue with these. My left earlobe sticks out ever so slightly more than the right and has problems with pressing up against the inside of many over-ear headphones, but especially the M50x series. I don't think Sony's headphones are any better in that regard, so it may come down to trying each model out in person until you can find one that fits. The Bose 700 and QC 45 may also be worth checking out since they are reported to have great ANC performance can be found used for $170-200. I can't personally vouch for them, though, because I have yet to listen to either model myself. Zorilla fucked around with this message at 06:58 on Aug 25, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Aug 25, 2023 06:23
|
|
|
The Perfect Element posted:Sony xm4s are a no brainer Tbh. They sound great, the anc is second to none, they're very comfortable, and they're super reliable from a connectivity perspective. They're well within your budget, as well. The sliders and yokes in the XM3 and XM4s also develop creaks and squeaks over time that are very irritating to deal with while wearing them (I've owned three and they all had this problem). They also have widespread issues with the slider trim pieces breaking and coming apart. It's a bad sign when roughly one in three WH-1000XM3s on eBay have headbands that are taped or ziptied together. Their ANC is excellent, but I don't know if it's worth dealing with a headphone that seems to be designed to break (and be nearly impossible to fix when it does). I also think they sound kind of bad, but maybe I have weird ears, I dunno.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 25, 2023 07:04
|
|
|
Dogen posted:The old go to was the Bose QC, are those still good? Or AirPods Max if you use an iPhone and want to spend more money. I'll let this thread know in a day. I found some used QC 35 IIs for cheap and their expected arrival got pushed up from Wednesday to Monday. To get a sense for what I can expect, I stopped by Best Buy a couple days ago and test fitted the Bose QC 45 and 700 they had on display. I found the QC 45's earcups to be a bit narrow along the horizontal axis, so I basically had to rest the front edge of the pad on my earlobe. The earpads on the 700 were slightly roomier and more plush and I had no trouble fitting my whole ear in them. This contradicts the RTINGS.com reviews, which found the QC 45 to be the more comfortable of the two.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 27, 2023 21:56
|
|
|
Zorilla posted:I'll let this thread know in a day. I found some used QC 35 IIs for cheap and their expected arrival got pushed up from Wednesday to Monday. These came in and---surprise, surprise--their sound quality is right in between the WH-1000XM3 and the ATH-M50xBT. They are a bit boomy in the midbass region and the treble isn't as detailed as my nicer headphones, but the Sonys were much worse in those areas, even after EQing. I may have a flight coming up in the next month, and if I could only bring one set of headphones with me on the trip, I would be perfectly comfortable listening to these for a week instead of my Audio-Technicas. My whole ear fits inside the earcups, so that's one more concern checked off the list. The inside linings have an unusually steep rake that gives it much more clearance in the rear than the front, which makes this the only over-ear headphone I own where the tip of my left earlobe doesn't touch the lining (even the huge earcups on my DT 770s and HD 58x barely graze my ear in some situations). Build quality seems decent. The trim pieces have extremely tight tolerances to where you can barely even see the seams between them. There are lots of exposed screw heads, so I feel like repairs should be a lot more doable than with the Sony WH-1000X series. Most importantly, there are very few creaks while wearing them. I recently griped about the amount of latency in a portable Bluetooth receiver I tried out (the EarStudio ES100). The QC 35 IIs are nowhere near as bad and are right in line with all my other Bluetooth headphones. RTINGS.com has these at 239ms and I believe that number. I probably don't need to say anything about the active noise cancelling. It works. It works well. It seems to work as well, if not slightly better, than the WH-1000XM3s, which were also quite impressive. I haven't put it through the wringer yet, but it brings down fan noise, and seems to do so without coloring the remaining noise as much as the XM3s do. Zorilla fucked around with this message at 00:34 on Aug 29, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Aug 28, 2023 23:09
|
|
|
loudog999 posted:My Bose AE2s are finally falling apart and I’m looking to replace them. I only use them at night with my iPad to watch movies, music videos on YouTube, and game some on my steam deck/switch. I want something wired so I don’t have to deal with pairing or charging, and comfortable enough to wear for a couple hours before bed. My budget is around $150, preferably less. I’ve been looking at the sennheiser HD 599 and 569, which are $139 and $99 on Amazon right now. Would you guys recommend either of those for my case or are there better options out there? If your main opposition to wireless headphones is having to constantly charge them, know that most full-size headphones have battery life in the range of 20-40 hours. I can go over a month without having to recharge my ATH-M50xBTs, even though I use them every night for 2-3 hours. Newer models with USB-C can fully charge in 2-3 hours. This means that if you ever end up in a low battery situation, putting them on the charger for 15 minutes will get you several more hours of use. I'll honor your criteria and only list wired recommendations, though. Open back headphones have their place, but because they roll off quite a bit in the bass region, they can sound pretty gutless for games and movies. Since that is your primary use case, you may want to stick with closed backs. Plus, many open back models will need amplification to get the most out of them (the HD 600 and 660 come to mind). Not all of them, though. I have the HD 58x and, surprisingly, despite being 150 ohms, those work really well when plugged directly into a phone or PC and produce sub-bass frequencies as well as it does through a USB DAC. Those frequencies are still really recessed compared to closed backs, but it was all there. Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pros are $120-130 new and do a lot of things well. They have a relatively flat response curve, have good soundstage that rivals open backs, are comfortable, well built, and are easy to repair. Get the 80 or 32 ohm version since you'll be using it without an amp. My only real gripe is that the cable is permanently attached, and its a long boy (9 feet, I think), which could be an annoyance if you plan to use this with a tablet or portable game system. There are also the Audio-Technica M50x and M40x if you want something with a detachable cable that is also durable and can also fold up and be thrown into a bag. The headband upholstery and earpads fall apart after two years like clockwork, so you may want to set aside some money to address that when it happens. The earpads can also be a bit shallow, so there is a chance your ears could be pressed up against the insides. You can get larger aftermarket earpads to adddress this, but they usually alter the sound characteristics in a way that I find unacceptable. Zorilla fucked around with this message at 05:12 on Aug 31, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Aug 31, 2023 04:54
|
|
|
Dr. Fishopolis posted:?????????? I was basing it off the target curve RTINGS.com uses, fair enough. Based on the part of my post you've chosen to quote, are you disputing the idea that open backs have bass rolloff? Everything I've observed shows that they do and that could be an issue when used for movies or games. Here is a raw graph if that's any better: https://www.rtings.com/headphones/1-5/graph#440/7917/891 You could swap the examples used for any other combination of open and closed back headphones and it's the same story. What am I missing?
|
|
#
¿
Aug 31, 2023 06:33
|
|
|
njsykora posted:Also very few open backs these days need an amp unless you're buying absolute top end studio gear. I realize impedance isn't everything, but even with DT 770s, I've run across quite a few outputs that couldn't drive them properly (usually PC motherboards). Those are 80 ohm. With Sennheiser in particular releasing models with 150 or even 300 ohms of impedance, it would be a concern of mine. I'm sure they would work without an amp/DAC in a pinch, but I wouldn't recommend it. Dr. Fishopolis posted:Your two open back examples are the Sennheiser 58X and the HD600, which are very nearly the exact same headphone. Both roll off in the subbass. That does not mean that all open back headphones behave the same way. I don't know why you're basing your entire experience of open back headphones off one model, but try your experiment again with some models from Focal, Hifiman, or especially Audeze or ZMF. Example: Ananda vs HD58x: https://www.rtings.com/headphones/1-5/graph#891/7917/670 Look at the old Fidelio X2HR for something cheaper. Ok, let's broaden our search a little: Audeze LCD-1 Philips Fidelio X2HR Focel Elear HiFiMan HE400se HiFiMan Sundara Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro AKG K701 Out of all of the ones discussed, the HiFiMan Ananda were the only ones I saw that didn't have significant roll-off (although RTINGS.com's measurements between the left and right channels were way off one another and still showed a small amount of roll-off in the right channel. I don't know what was going on there). I can't comment on ZMF because loudog999's budget is < $150 and some of their headphones are worth more than my car. I'm sure it's possible to tune an open back headphone to have good, linear bass response. It just doesn't seem to be that common. And to say that lack of bass has "gently caress all to do with being open back" seems a bit hyperbolic when the primary reason closed backs have an advantage in this area is because they produce a seal around the listener's ears and therefore have to move less air to accomplish the same goal. In practical use, a little bit of sub-bass loss isn't going to be a big deal and may not even be noticeable for most music listening, but my original recommendation to use closed backs for movies and gaming still stands. I greatly prefer my ATH-M50xBTs or DT 770s to my HD 58x for this purpose. Zorilla fucked around with this message at 17:56 on Aug 31, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Aug 31, 2023 17:32
|
|
|
Zorilla posted:Moderate praise for the Bose QC 35 II Welp, these ended up having issues with the audio cutting out periodically for about 0.5 seconds on just about every device I connected them to, and in two different locations. On at least three different occasions, it was bad enough that they would disconnect on me and immediately reconnect after. My problems persisted even when following the commonly suggested workaround of limiting myself to a single device connection. I have no idea if this comes down to a general problem with this model or a defect specifically with mine. Either way, they had to go back to the seller. In the mean time, I managed to find some QC 45s for cheap because they were mislabeled as QC 35 I in the listing. Sadly, these seem to be a noticeable downgrade from past models in many respects. While the QC 35 IIs were fairly neutral (except for 2-3 dB of excessive bass I had to EQ out), these ones seem to have received the Beats treatment. Even with the built-in EQ active, it still sounds incredibly V-shaped, even compared to my M50xBTs, which already have a "fun" tuning. More importantly, I no longer feel like I could bring these on a trip as my only pair of headphones like I could with the QC 35 IIs. Unlike the QC 35, you can't disable the ANC; your choices are fully on or "Aware Mode" (their ambient sound setting). I strongly suspect Bose is attempting to mask the presence of a noisy DAC. In a quiet setting, I am picking up something that sounds like it could either be really soft crosstalk in the left channel, or maybe it's just noise introduced from the ANC process. I'm also hearing a soft clicking noise whenever I start or stop audio playback, which is pretty unbecoming of a headphone that retails for $330. Even the physical build quality seems to have been "streamlined" (i.e. cheapened) slightly. The buttons have less tactile feedback, the "L" and "R" indicators on the earcup liners are screened on instead of woven into the fabric, the partial suede headband surface is now vinyl all the way around, and the outer earcups appear to be made of plastic instead of stamped metal and have screened on logos instead of raised ones with a grooved, reflective finish. I knew most of this going in just based on the product photos alone, so no big deal there. Comfort is completely unchanged, if you're curious. The earpads on the QC 45s no longer have the pleats/ruffles where they meet the earcup, but are otherwise identical and fit as well as they always have. Assuming my connectivity issues were just a one-off experience, I would give a nudge toward the QC 35/QC 35 II over the QC 45 if you're trying to decide between the two. The lack of EQ is a bummer, but it's only 3-band anyway and no amount of fiddling will even get the QC 45s to where the QC 35s were by default. Zorilla fucked around with this message at 00:16 on Sep 16, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Sep 14, 2023 22:15
|
|
|
Natural 20 posted:behind-the-neck IEM chat Just last night, I was browsing possible combinations of IEMs with removable cables and behind-the-neck Bluetooth adapters for such IEMs. I'm wondering if a cheap IEM like the 7Hz Salnotes Zero paired with something like these wouldn't be the worst idea in the world: https://www.ebay.com/itm/394812315071 I can't vouch for this setup as I've never tried it, but it does seem to match your use case and fall well within budget. Again, this could be a really stupid, stupid idea. Others, feel free to chime in.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 25, 2023 17:13
|
|
|
wolrah posted:Definitely agreed on standard charging versus proprietary nonsense. Proprietary charging should never exist except where standards simply will not do what needs to be done. I suspect a magnetic charger was used on the wireless adapter I linked to due to concerns that a USB connector would corrode when exposed to sweat or humidity. I think I still prefer that solution to a cheap silicone port cover that eventually breaks off or won't stay on.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 26, 2023 00:16
|
|
|
shrike82 posted:TWS are more prone to connection issues since both buds have to be connected wirelessly but you get the benefit of having the buds charge when you're not using them since they're in the case. I'd often forget to charge my neckband earbuds. That's actually one of the gripes I have about TWS. There is no way to store them without also charging them. Constantly topping off lithium cells isn't exactly good for them, and ones small enough to fit into earbuds don't have a great shelf life to begin with (doubly so if they're from Sony). I'd at least like a way to limit charge to 80% temporarily or to cancel charging when they're in the case. Zorilla fucked around with this message at 06:06 on Sep 26, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Sep 26, 2023 06:03
|
|
|
Cheston posted:Can anyone recommend noise-cancelling headphones for around $300-$400? Preferably with a large/wide headband (and maybe larger cans) so they don't slip off if I'm leaning way back / dozing off at my desk. Did the clamping force just diminish over time? I've had QC 35s and 45s and they've always been pretty snug for me, even when laying down. Then again, I have a big head and the headphones were all pretty low mileage. You can get replacement earpads for cheap and even headband upholstery that velcros into place if you're primarily interested in restoring your current set. I still think the QC 35 ii's are the best choice at almost any price point (even beating out the QC 45s, which are arguably a downgrade). I personally think they sound slightly better and are better built than anything from the Sony 1000X product line. Still, at $300-400, most people are going to bring up the Sony WH-1000XM5 and maybe the Sennheiser Momentum 4. They both have pretty thin, spindly headbands (which should still be comfortable), but even the best ANC headphone is going to prioritize noise cancelling performance and comfort over durability and sound fidelity, and I'm not aware of any with chonky, studio headphone-like build quality that aren't also heavy and likely to cause more of the problems you're trying to avoid.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 8, 2023 21:38
|
|
|
Just a heads up that the Soundcore Q45 are on sale brand new for $100 for the next day and a half (and apparently $80 for refurbished models through Amazon, but I have no idea if those come with the hardcase and cables). I've never personally tried these out so I don't know how well they perform, but they might be worth looking at for someone shopping for mid-tier ANC headphones who want something better built than the plastic fantastic that Sony offers at that price point.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 10, 2023 20:27
|
|
|
I just picked up some Philips Fidelio X2HR headphones and, uh, let's just say I can see why used/open box examples are on such steep discount. In addition to being extremely bright, they have a strange coloration in the upper-mids/low highs that can't be EQ'ed out and makes them irritating to listen to for more than a minute. Despite being a heavily V-shaped headphone, they also have slightly less sub-bass extension than the HD 58X I tried out earlier, but I kind of expected that based on reviews that brought this up. They do look as gorgeous as they are in photos, but that doesn't translate to comfort. The elastic headband doesn't agree with me very much and feels like most of the clamping force is concentrated on the top of my head rather than on my ears. It constantly feels like it is being pulled up and puts more pressure on the tops of the earpads than the bottom. The earpads themselves are made out of the same, scratchy velour as a lot of Sennheiser models. At least they have tons of clearance and my ears don't touch the inside liner like some models do. The X2HR comes with a cable with braided insulation, a trend in consumer electronics that really needs to die. They collect dust and dirt, get frayed, and can't be cleaned easily. And, as I'm learning, when used in a headphone application, they produce a ton of microphonics any time they brush up against anything. The only good thing about it is it comes in a typical length (3m) and connects to the headphones using a standard 3.5mm jack, so it can easily be replaced with a better one. Zorilla fucked around with this message at 23:35 on Oct 18, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Oct 18, 2023 22:26
|
|
|
Several weeks ago, I sold my beloved Beyerdynamic DT 770 80 ohms I bought in 2007 because they mostly just sat in their box for the longest time and I have been regretting it ever since. I finally bit the bullet and got a replacement set, and I think I see what people mean about the spike at 8 kHz these have. I wish I had the old pair to compare side by side, but I swear those ones were quite a bit warmer and smoother. Without any EQ, I could listen to them all day without any fatigue. The new ones need a dip in the high end to get the same result. It's either that or I've been rolling off the highs on all my other headphones and I've gotten used to that kind of sound. Thankfully, nothing else about their sound profile seems to have changed. Edit: After listening to these for a few hours, I can confidently say that the difference is not my imagination. These are downright harsh. The usual message board advice is to let them break in, but a) break-in isn't real, b) I purchased my last set brand new and never observed any of this, and c) the new ones were "open box" and likely have quite a few hours of play time on them already. Zorilla fucked around with this message at 06:22 on Oct 21, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Oct 20, 2023 22:44
|
|
|
I personally can't wear IEMs for more than a few minutes or my ears start aching or itching, and I've tried several (Comply tips don't help either). I have TWS buds for when I'm out of the house and need to listen to something in a pinch, but for home use, over-ears are just plain unfussy and don't require constant adjustment to ensure a good seal or avoid irritation like IEMs do for me.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 22, 2023 19:04
|
|
|
AEMINAL posted:Any advice for a basshead looking to jack the bass up with my AKG 371's? I'm using peace/eqAPO and have a harman curve thing set for the pair. Which frequency range is ideal to crank up? Should i use the bass booster effects thing instead? These headphones are known for being finnicky with sealing properly. Are you sure you're getting the intended amount of bass in the first place?
|
|
#
¿
Oct 24, 2023 20:02
|
|
|
I just got a pair of Truthear x Crinacle Zero: Red IEMs in the mail today. I'm almost wondering if I got a cheaper model in the wrong package because these sound absolutely nothing the way reviews (or Crinacle himself) describe. They're supposed to have a mild bass boost and neutral highs. What got instead was a conservative amount of bass and a MASSIVE spike at 4 kHz that make them sound harsh and screechy like something you'd hear out of earbuds from the checkout aisle of TJ Maxx. The harshness still comes through a little, even if I apply -10 dB to the affected frequency range. Maybe I have really strange ear canals that produce tons of gain in that band (but only with IEMs and not over-ears). I can't imagine that anything that supposedly had a lot of thought put into how they sound would come out sounding like this. They provide plenty of eartips, but switching between the ones that fit have no effect on the sound at all. I'm not even sure what the different opening sizes are supposed to do because the smaller and larger diameter variants sound completely identical to one another. These seem to confirm my status as a non-IEM-wearer because I have the exact same issues with comfort that I do with every other model. I have to jam them in more than I would like to get a good seal and my ear canals start to itch and ache after 30-45 minutes. I was hoping to use these in combination with a 0.78mm Bluetooth adapter to replace my M50xBT2s for my wireless needs since those have become too uncomfortable to wear anymore. Looks like I'll have to keep using my Bose QC 35s whenever I'm not at my desk.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 17, 2023 01:52
|
|
|
I've tried all seven pairs of tips and they all sound indistinguishable from one another, even the memory foam ones (I have discovered the small size silicone tips will also seal if I jam them in hard enough, so that makes all of them). I don't see what is critically different about Spinfit tips. Aside from their ability to articulate slightly off-axis (which I doubt is the problem here), they appear to be constructed just like the ones I already have. This 4 kHz spike is probably the most consistent property of these IEMs as I play around with their fit. I know I'm getting a good seal because sub-bass is present, though I find I have to add 2-3 dB of boost at 125 Hz and below to get bass to the same level as any of my closed backs (except for Bose because, well, Bose). I have noticed that the outer housing on these IEMs stick out in my ear quite a bit compared to various product photos/B-roll footage showing them in use. Unfortunately, I don't think the ear tips are the determining factor here because even if I remove the ear tips entirely, I still can't insert the IEMs much deeper. The nozzle length and diameter both seem to be a problem. I also have a set of Sony Linkbuds S. They have a similar hump in the 3-6 kHz range for me that doesn't show up in RTINGS.com's graph that I have to EQ out, but this disparity is far less pronounced than with the Truthears.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 17, 2023 23:55
|
|
|
Feedbacker posted:I’ve got an old ATH M50s for a closed back with ample bass, but I’m interested in trying an open back because I love the PS5’s positional audio and I’d like to have something that really lets that shine. Is the bass on the 560S really that anemic? I was also taking a look at the Beyer TYGR 300R, Beyer’s site says it’s basically a DT 990 Pro signature with some tweaks, so more V-shaped than the 560S. Anyone have experience with the 300R? I had a set of HD 58X for about a month. Those had pretty good sub-bass extension compared to most open backs, even off an ordinary headphone jack. It still needed 2-3 dB of boost, but it was all there. I'm not familiar with headphone jack outputs on game controllers, but I'm not sure I would trust using one with hi-fi headphones. Most Sennheiser headphones (with a few exceptions I can't think of right now) are going to be more mid-forward than other brands, so that description of the 300R relative to the 560S checks out. I personally didn't enjoy my Sennheisers for gaming all that much because I preferred something with a little more punch. I'm not one who notices soundstage that much unless it's particularly bad, but the Beyerdynamic DT 770s (and possibly other models) are supposed to have almost-open-back levels of performance in this area. Again, I own a set and I still couldn't tell you either way. Feedbacker posted:The Dualsense's headphone audio sounded really bad to me when I tried to use it during FFXVI with a my ATH M50xs. Just seemed really compressed. Compressed as in media codec or compressed as in dynamic range? Zorilla fucked around with this message at 21:46 on Nov 21, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Nov 21, 2023 21:22
|
|
|
The Perfect Element posted:I have not but people on reddit have . Sounds like it's difficult to resolve, and your track record (at least I think it's yours) of having terrible luck with Sony xm headphones continues. There was a whole Louis Rossmann video about WF-1000XM4 batteries, but those were the in-ears. I could go on about build quality issues on the XM series of over-ears and how they're aggressively anti-repair and engineered to break, but that is a topic for another day and doesn't concern the battery. On the plus side, the battery appears to use a JST connector instead of being soldered on and glued shut inside a compartment like some headphones.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 22, 2023 20:57
|
|
|
Appoda posted:Anyways, I'm mostly just asking if it's a case of "sometimes headphones just sound like that" or if I should RMA and try to get a set that doesn't have a 'wobble.' I actually just got a pair of Q45s as well. I had been eyeing them the last time they went on sale a few months ago, but my interest in them was renewed after messing with a relative's Soundcore Life Q10s a couple weeks ago and being surprised that they didn't sound like total garbage. Now that I have the Q45s, I think the Q10s might actually sound better (though both are exceedingly V-shaped). While they do have an EQ, that can only do so much. Then there's the ANC, which is almost useless. Long story short: I spent $80 instead of $150 and I still feel ripped off, so they're going back. Oh, well. I don't experience the sound instability to the degree that you have, but I do notice that there is a very pronounced "wah" effect centered around 800 Hz when taking the headphones off during playback. There seems to be something about the earcup design that produces a ton of gain in that band in a way that I haven't witnessed with other over-ears. I can only imagine how much of a difference this makes in the perceived sound profile between different wearers. If you're having issues with getting a good seal around the bottom, I can definitely see this phenomenon happening to you. Try rapidly adjusting the EQ on the 800 Hz band and see if that replicates some of what you're experiencing. To answer your question more broadly: I have owned many, many different sets of over-ears and the sound profile is generally pretty stable on all of them no matter how I wear them or move my head/jaw. On models with big, roomy earcups (like the DT 770), I can hear a minor difference if I intentionally shift their position extremely forward or backward relative to my ears, but never as a result of simply moving around. I do have a set of Sony Linkbuds S in which I can detect a very subtle "warble" in the sound profile when I adjust their fit while ANC is on, but I've just dismissed that as an artifact of the ANC trying to keep up with rapidly changing conditions as I move the IEMs around and not an issue with fit. Edit: I have noticed a slight "wah" effect on the Q45 when moving my head around, but only when ANC is on. Ironically, the "wah" effect I talked about earlier when taking them off is less pronounced with ANC on. If the problem you're experiencing present all the time, or just when ANC is active? Zorilla fucked around with this message at 06:47 on Nov 30, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Nov 30, 2023 06:23
|
|
|
HD 280s were my first introduction to hi-fi headphones back in 2007. I had recommended them to my dad who had recently purchased a 5th gen iPod and wanted something better than pack-in earbuds to use them with while doing boomer dad things like using a riding mower. Much like someone who had only known TN monitors seeing an IPS monitor for the first time, nothing really stood out to me at first, but after a few hours of listening, it was clear I couldn't go back to my Koss UR-20s. I suspect the reason most people don't go for HD 280s are the ridiculous looking headband and abnormally high clamping force. The coiled cable and thin vinyl material on the padding probably don't help either. I liked them well enough, but even I felt the need to keep looking elsewhere when upgrading my own set and eventually arrived at DT 770s as my main headphones for many, many years. Zorilla fucked around with this message at 00:56 on Dec 1, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Dec 1, 2023 00:52
|
|
|
TenementFunster posted:im late here but you need the XM5 buds. the XM4s have a pretty serious battery issue that results in one side dying prematurely. I had a pair of XM4s for about 18 months before they started acting up, and within a week or two, the right channel simply wouldn't hold a charge. thankfully, sony is owning up to it and gave me a full refund for my original purchase price, even though they are out of warranty. the XM5s do not seem to have the issue, which seems to be the reason Sony hustled the XM5s to market. I would also give the Linkbuds S a look if he's on a budget. They're really cheap on the used market and I paid $50 for mine. My theory is Sony accidentally created an IEM almost as good (if not as good) as the XM4 and made the oddball decision to market it as a premium version of their donut-shaped Linkbuds despite having very little in common with their design rather than risk taking sales away from their flagship product. I don't know how the Linkbuds S stack up against the WF-1000XM4s and XM5s, but I can confidently say they are better than the XM3s in every way. I even think they sound way better than Sony's over-ear offerings, which I find to have muddy bass and "stuffy" sounding highs no matter how you EQ them. I'm also a fan of whatever the housing is coated in on these. I dropped one earbud four feet onto rough concrete and it didn't even leave a mark anywhere on it. Can't do that with piano black. If I have to take points off, it's for the Transparency Mode, which is a bit thin and hissy. The ANC also requires a really tight seal to work to its full potential and that might not be comfortable for some wearers. Zorilla fucked around with this message at 21:12 on Dec 17, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Dec 17, 2023 21:07
|
|
|
HolHorsejob posted:I've had a set of Bose qc35 headphones for like 7 years now and I'm thinking of replacing them. I can get a refurb set of qc45 for $189 or the new QC for $250, which would you go for? Or what would be a decent competing brand? If they're not broken or worn out, I would keep the QC 35s if I were you. The QC 45s are a downgrade in nearly every way. For whatever reason, current gen Bose stuff all has this extreme, V-shaped tinnitus tune that can't be evened out by their built-in 3-band EQ (or a more advanced external EQ for that matter). I also think we hit the limit on what on-ear ANC headphones can do a long time ago because I have yet to try a newer model that outperforms QC 35s. Even the Sony WH-1000XM5s are effectively worse at this because their adaptive control keeps backing off the strength at inappropriate times. The QC 45s add "Aware Mode" (their form of audio passthrough mode), but take away the ability to turn off ANC, so you're stuck listening to their noise floor in quiet environments (which seems to be slightly higher than they are on the QC 35s). As for repairability, you're hosed whoever you go with. The batteries are glued shut on the Bose, so it's a good thing they've been super reliable in my experience. Pretty much every consumer headphone is engineered with absolute contempt for the owner and whoever is tasked with repairing them. Things that could have easily been a Molex/JST connector are soldered on using the thinnest gauge enamel wire possible, and quite often, components are glued into place when screws or clips would have done just fine. I would avoid the Sony WH-1000XM3/4 and AKG K371 both for widespread headband failures (the K371s don't have ANC, but they're worth bringing up for this particular topic). On Sony's side, I don't know how you go through four generations of headphone with the same exact problem and not have it be intentional. I think the Bose QuietComfort series win by default on build quality simply because they have slightly less planned obsolescence built into their design than other models. They at least had the foresight to use a metal piece around the stress point that causes so many breaks on Sonys. Zorilla fucked around with this message at 01:21 on Dec 28, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Dec 27, 2023 23:03
|
|
|
Frozen Peach posted:Why don't the DT770s have a replacable cable like the ATH-m50x? Why are the ATH-m50x so much less comfortable? Why do the Bluetooth model of ATH-m50x have such lovely bugs, such as preventing listening to the headphones while they're charging? I suspect Beyerdynamic wants to push home users towards the much more expensive DT 700 PRO X rather than add common sense updates to their legacy models and risk upsetting their professional customer base (ignoring all the minor changes to hardware and sound signature they've made to the DT 770s over the years). The M50x are a weird one for me. I bought a used set of M50xBTs in 2020. They were perfectly comfortable when I got them. I replaced the earpads once and they were still comfortable. Eventually, I found a set of M50xBT2s, but those squished my left ear despite having the exact same earcup dimensions and pads as headphones they were supposed to replace. When it came time to replace the pads on my original M50xBTs a second time, those suddenly started doing the same thing. It's a shame the M50x line of headphones don't react well to aftermarket pads. I have yet to find a set that don't ruin their sound profile. These headphones really seem to depend on the drivers being right up in your ear.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 28, 2023 22:03
|
|
|
TenementFunster posted:do the over the ear XM4s have the same battery problem as that generation of earbuds? my gf loves her XM3 headphones and i wanna pick up something for airplanes since the buds just don’t have the same noise canceling power as an over the ear. I think the problem with that generation concerned the charge circuit primarily. At least one person in this thread had theirs melt during use. Then the replacements they received were picky about what sources they would accept a charge from. I can attest that the WH-1000XM3s I owned briefly put out a worrying amount of heat when I charged them. The same issues with creaky plastics and slider trim pieces that snap off continue from the XM3 to the XM4, but if you've had good luck in the past with this, this may not be much of a concern. Oddly enough, the best ANC I've ever experienced by far were the Bose QC Earbuds II, but they were an example of what happens when you put all your points into ANC and neglect everything else. Their sound and battery life are mediocre and the ANC had a really nigh noise floor. This wouldn't be a huge deal, but just like the rest of Bose's current lineup, you can't turn ANC off. They also had audible crosstalk whenever a Bluetooth connection was active, which is not something I'd expect to have to deal with on any electronics made after 2005 (for those of you who remember how awful integrated motherboard audio was back then). My current set of TWS in-ears are Sony Linkbuds S. Same generation as the XM4s, but may or may not be exempt from the battery issues those have. They're also lighter and have a more neutral sound profile out of the box (according to RTINGS.com). Their ANC performance isn't as good as the class leading on-ears, but since they are IEMs, their passive isolation is much better, so the aggregate performance works out to be about the same. Long term comfort is an issue for me, so I also have a set of Bose QC 35 IIs for when I have the space to bring those with me. Zorilla fucked around with this message at 02:44 on Dec 31, 2023 |
|
#
¿
Dec 30, 2023 23:09
|
|
|
Aren't analog-to-Bluetooth transmitters a viable option? I know my brother has one for vinyl (an Avantree Oasis BTTC-500). A brief look shows that quality and pricing is all over the place for this type of hardware, so I can't make a recommendation for a specific model. The one I just mentioned is reasonably priced and doesn't appear to be pure Chinesium like a lot of the others though.
Zorilla fucked around with this message at 05:31 on Jan 17, 2024 |
|
#
¿
Jan 17, 2024 05:23
|
|
|
You probably want something with cloth or velour earpads then. Sennheiser and Beyerdynamic have these on most of their lineup. Personally, I've found the velour on the DT 770s to be a major step up from anything Sennheiser offers-- theirs feel thin and scratchy on my skin. The DT 770s also isolate better than you'd think anything with cloth earpads would be able to do (though I still wouldn't use them to play drums or anything). I don't know what your specific microphone needs are, but they might be addressed by either a desk mic or an Antlion Audio ModMic. Zorilla fucked around with this message at 03:17 on Jan 18, 2024 |
|
#
¿
Jan 18, 2024 03:10
|
|
|
qirex posted:My 7506es from 1997 finally died, the foam around the driver crumbled during an earpad change. Is there something similar that folds down as small with OK isolation? These are like my second-backup pair for strictly beater use so I'm not in a rush. I'll probably just order another set but if there's an alternative with a removable cord that would be ideal. The Audio-Technica M40x and M50x have removable cords if that is important. Sennheiser HD 280s are another popular foldable studio headphone that are often cross-shopped against the MDR-7506, but they have a semi-permanent coiled cable. If portability and isolation are important, you may also consider one of the Chinese IEMs discussed here since they offer excellent sound quality for the money if your ears can tolerate wearing them for long periods of time (unlike mine). Zorilla fucked around with this message at 04:09 on Jan 20, 2024 |
|
#
¿
Jan 20, 2024 04:05
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 16, 2024 06:18 |
|
|
eddiewalker posted:If you’re happy with a 7506, a 280pro will probably feel like a head-vise. According to RTINGS.com, they have almost exactly double the clamping force of the MDR-7506. The tradeoff is that the HD 280s have larger and deeper earcups. It's been about 17 years since I last tried on a pair, but I don't remember having clearance issues the same way I do with the 7506 or M50x. I was on the fence about mentioning the AKG K361/K371 because of their widespread issues with the headband snapping and relatively higher price. Didn't seem like the best choice for rough duty, but they are yet another headphone in this particular segment. Dr. Fishopolis posted:I like the 7506 sub bass whomp but the upper midrange is very honky and the akg fixes that. I just sold a set of 7506s after trying them for about three weeks and I found that the sub-bass was surprisingly prominent, yet controlled for headphones that felt like they were just squished on top of my ears. The treble makes my DT 770s feel modest by comparison though. They needed a pretty aggressive downward slope in EQ from about 2 kHz onward to be enjoyable for recreational listening.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 20, 2024 21:03
|
|