EPTand boy is that disappointing. 200$? My 45$ portapros can output more accurate sound than beats solo.
Headphone enthusiast thread! - Page 136
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Twistacles
Canada1327 Posts
and boy is that disappointing. 200$? My 45$ portapros can output more accurate sound than beats solo. | ||
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Zren89
United States131 Posts
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/HeiIM.jpg) I love these headphones, simple, sleek, comfortable, and great sound quality for the price of $45 usd AND they came with a quarter inch adapter, plush cary-bag, and optional leather or foam ear cups. Not too bad imo. | ||
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Djzapz
Canada10681 Posts
On January 12 2012 23:35 reapsen wrote: Anyone owns the HD558 and can recommend them? Or has anyone had the HD 500 before and migrated to another model? Please let me know  I don't own HD558's but I can recommend them based on my experience with the HD555's. I didn't enjoy music nearly as much before I tried those years ago. On January 13 2012 02:33 Zren89 wrote: + Show Spoiler + I love these headphones, simple, sleek, comfortable, and great sound quality for the price of $45 usd AND they came with a quarter inch adapter, plush cary-bag, and optional leather or foam ear cups. Not too bad imo. I have some cheap "headrush" headphones at home, which I used as backup a while ago. They have the same overall design with cheapo pivots above the ears. I don't know if these have the same issue, but mine were annoying and eventually broke in such a way that one earcup wouldn't "adjust" to my head - so 1 side would be flat against my head and the other wouldn't be. Needless to say that's unacceptable. Also, the inside of the headband felt like carboard... I'm pretty sure it was. Regardless, I have absolutely no idea if yours present the same issues at all, but I know I'm done with plastic pivot things. | ||
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Cutebone
United States62 Posts
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seiferoth10
3362 Posts
On January 13 2012 05:36 KiDYoMi wrote: Are lossless audio formats the cat's meow? I'm not exactly sure what you're asking with this cat pun, but I'll assume you're asking if lossless is worth it. A lot of it depends on how the audio was recorded. If it was a shit recording, the bitrate basically doesn't matter as it will sound like shit no matter what is the bitrate. If the recording is a good recording, you have very high end equipment, and you have a well trained ear, you'll be able to tell the difference between lossless and 320kbps. I personally still can't tell the difference. Here's a fun site concerning audio bitrate: http://mp3ornot.com/ I can BARELY tell the difference between the 128 and 320 on that site, but keep in mind that the clips were hand picked because they already sound damn similar at those two bitrates. | ||
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darksub
Argentina302 Posts
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Rainling
United States456 Posts
Edit: I don't want to spend much money if possible, ideally less than $30. I don't know much about amps, but I've looked at the FiiO E6 for around $25- would that be a good purchase for my situation? | ||
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firehand101
Australia3152 Posts
+ Show Spoiler + On November 13 2010 09:30 raidon wrote: Sennheiser HD 555 ftw. Perhaps i'm modding it eventually to a HD 595 one. ![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/EUJs6.jpg) \ i have one similar to this and it works great! thanks for all of your advice guys i love this pair! | ||
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Djzapz
Canada10681 Posts
Seems like maybe I would wear down the tubes quickly. =( | ||
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Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
On January 13 2012 20:00 Rainling wrote: I recently bought the Sony mdr-v6s, and I'm considering a headphone amp because I hear static noise on my (homemade) computer when I plug them in. Does anyone know whether this would this reduce the static and/or improve the sound quality of those headphones significantly? Edit: I don't want to spend much money if possible, ideally less than $30. I don't know much about amps, but I've looked at the FiiO E6 for around $25- would that be a good purchase for my situation? Depends on what's causing the static, but if the input still has static and you amplify that, you'll still have static. An amp may do nothing but make the static louder. If you're using the front panel connection, that usually picks up more spurious noises than the back panel. Try the other one if you only tried one of the ports. What you really want to reduce noise is an outboard DAC+amp. Unfortunately these are obviously more expensive since they have additional functionality. Out of cheap ones, the Creative X-Fi Go at about $35 is one of the better ones. You can use it on native Windows UAC1 drivers and don't have to install any Creative drivers/bloatware crap if you don't want. On January 14 2012 03:23 Djzapz wrote: So I've been reconsidering the Little Dot MKiii. I don't know if anyone is familiar with tube amps - I was well aware that tubes have a finite life, but since I listen to music a lot and would use the AMP on my computer, it means I would spend several hours a day pushing sound through it, sometimes for 6+ hours at a time with music, movies, skype, game sounds... I listen to music while I write papers all day and such... Seems like maybe I would wear down the tubes quickly. =( Vacuum tube life should really depend on the type and implementation; sometimes the fragility may be overstated. It would be better to just ask owners of the specific amp. Back in the day when computers were the size of rooms and built using (lots of) vacuum tubes, people had to swap them out all the time and it was really annoying, but that's quite clearly a different application. And the failure rate of one out of hundreds of devices if obviously a lot higher than just a single one. | ||
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lightrise
United States1355 Posts
They block out all sound and feel super comfy. The sound quality is just amazing. I would recommend anyone these headphones if your not looking for a pair to wear around everywhere and to take out. I just love these so far. Thanks for the great suggestions :D | ||
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Rainling
United States456 Posts
On January 14 2012 05:12 Myrmidon wrote: Depends on what's causing the static, but if the input still has static and you amplify that, you'll still have static. An amp may do nothing but make the static louder. If you're using the front panel connection, that usually picks up more spurious noises than the back panel. Try the other one if you only tried one of the ports. What you really want to reduce noise is an outboard DAC+amp. Unfortunately these are obviously more expensive since they have additional functionality. Out of cheap ones, the Creative X-Fi Go at about $35 is one of the better ones. You can use it on native Windows UAC1 drivers and don't have to install any Creative drivers/bloatware crap if you don't want. Thanks for the feedback. None of my computer's back panel connections work with headphone audio unfortunately. The reviews for the X-Fi seem to be pretty positive, so I'd definitely consider getting it. I just have an integrated processor on my intel cpu, and the static isn't too loud, just irritating when I don't have music or games playing. I think the static is mostly caused by my usb mouse and keyboard, because when I unplug those the static is reduced significantly. From what I've read, this product serves as a sound card on a usb drive with some equalizer features. Is that accurate? I don't know much about amplifiers and I don't really understand the term digital to analog converter and the distinction between an amplifier and an external sound card like the X-Fi Go. | ||
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Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
An external sound card shows up as a different audio interface to your computer. This means that if you use it, you're bypassing whatever noisy onboard audio you have now. The sound card takes in audio information from the computer (which is digitally represented in bits of course) and converts that to analog (an electrical voltage level) and then amplifies that signal. It's an interface + DAC + amp all in one. The onboard audio does the same thing, just maybe not as well, or may be prone to more problems. Also most sound cards like the X-Fi Go have a microphone input a well. The hope is that an external sound card is better isolated from stray electromagnetic interference from all sorts of noisy computer components and I/O, so its output will not have noticeable static. There's still some dependence on the quality of the power it gets from the USB port, but that's often not as big an issue. There are sound cards with more features, higher fidelity, and so on, but they tend to cost more. Creative has their own audio drivers + bloatware, which may give you things like EQ features and various sound processing effects that some people like and others hate. You can use those, or you can use the native Windows USB audio device drivers. | ||
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seiferoth10
3362 Posts
On January 15 2012 18:15 lightrise wrote: I got my Beyerdynamic Dt770's today and my god do I love these headphones. They are amazing. I didn't realize right away that i would need a 1/4 to 3.5m adapter to use them but other than that they are just sick. They block out all sound and feel super comfy. The sound quality is just amazing. I would recommend anyone these headphones if your not looking for a pair to wear around everywhere and to take out. I just love these so far. Thanks for the great suggestions :D Uhh.. unless the ones you bought weren't retail... the native plug is 3.5mm. It comes with a screw on adapter to make it 6.3mm (1/4"), and it looks pretty deceiving when it's on, you wouldn't think that it was just an adapter. | ||
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haduken
Australia8267 Posts
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=19169 | ||
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seiferoth10
3362 Posts
On January 15 2012 20:38 haduken wrote: Would this be a nice addition for my shure SRH840? + Show Spoiler + http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3DAibUBK50&feature=player_embedded http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=19169 Short answer: sure. Long answer: I wouldn't. Those cans are hardly resolving enough. They do benefit from amplification (well, everything does to be honest), but not as much as you would think. If I were you I'd save up more money/flip those Shures for better cans. | ||
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Rainling
United States456 Posts
On January 15 2012 19:11 Myrmidon wrote: In this context, an amplifier is a device that takes in an analog stereo input and outputs the same thing, just maybe scaled (amplified). If the input is noisy, the output will be noisy as well. A headphone amplifier is an amplifier with the correct electrical performance characteristics to be hooked up to headphones and not fall flat on its face doing its job. All these devices tend to have integrated headphone amplifiers. An external sound card shows up as a different audio interface to your computer. This means that if you use it, you're bypassing whatever noisy onboard audio you have now. The sound card takes in audio information from the computer (which is digitally represented in bits of course) and converts that to analog (an electrical voltage level) and then amplifies that signal. It's an interface + DAC + amp all in one. The onboard audio does the same thing, just maybe not as well, or may be prone to more problems. Also most sound cards like the X-Fi Go have a microphone input a well. The hope is that an external sound card is better isolated from stray electromagnetic interference from all sorts of noisy computer components and I/O, so its output will not have noticeable static. There's still some dependence on the quality of the power it gets from the USB port, but that's often not as big an issue. There are sound cards with more features, higher fidelity, and so on, but they tend to cost more. Creative has their own audio drivers + bloatware, which may give you things like EQ features and various sound processing effects that some people like and others hate. You can use those, or you can use the native Windows USB audio device drivers. OK, that helps a lot. That sounds like what I need to fix this issue. However, I don't think it's worth $35 dollars to just get rid of static noise. Do you know whether it would it improve the sound quality on a core i5 (my desktop) or an intel celeron processor (my laptop) significantly? Thanks for the help. | ||
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Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
On January 16 2012 05:45 Rainling wrote: OK, that helps a lot. That sounds like what I need to fix this issue. However, I think it's worth $35 dollars to just get rid of static noise. Do you know whether it would it improve the sound quality on a core i5 (my desktop) or an intel celeron processor (my laptop) significantly? Thanks for the help. Sound quality should be independent of the CPU (as much as subsystems in a computer can be independent). It depends on the quality of the integrated audio chips handling the audio on your desktop and your laptop, and the conditions under which those chips are operating--typically the performance listed on the spec sheet will not be achieved in such a hostile environment. Aside from static sounds, the sound quality probably should be better, but not necessarily so. If you want, there are cheaper products that do the same thing, but those might sound worse. There are certainly better alternatives if you spend more than $35, but I really really wouldn't bother unless you have decent headphones or speakers since those make a lot more difference. | ||
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Rainling
United States456 Posts
On January 16 2012 05:54 Myrmidon wrote: Sound quality should be independent of the CPU (as much as subsystems in a computer can be independent). It depends on the quality of the integrated audio chips handling the audio on your desktop and your laptop, and the conditions under which those chips are operating--typically the performance listed on the spec sheet will not be achieved in such a hostile environment. Aside from static sounds, the sound quality probably should be better, but not necessarily so. If you want, there are cheaper products that do the same thing, but those might sound worse. There are certainly better alternatives if you spend more than $35, but I really really wouldn't bother unless you have decent headphones or speakers since those make a lot more difference. I might just buy it on Amazon and return it if it wasn't helpful enough to justify the $35 cost then. I meant to say "I don't think it's worth $35 dollars to get rid of static noise" in my post. I've listened to my brother's record player with my mdr-v6's, and the audio quality seems noticeably better than desktop audio, so I think my desktop's audio quality could definitely improve from its current state. Thanks! | ||
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haduken
Australia8267 Posts
On January 15 2012 21:43 seiferoth10 wrote: Short answer: sure. Long answer: I wouldn't. Those cans are hardly resolving enough. They do benefit from amplification (well, everything does to be honest), but not as much as you would think. If I were you I'd save up more money/flip those Shures for better cans. FML those were $199 cans... I'm just a casual and i don't want to spend any more than that. | ||
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