EPTHeadphone enthusiast thread! - Page 30
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RoosterSamurai
Japan2108 Posts
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endy
Switzerland8970 Posts
On December 21 2010 13:42 Myrmidon wrote: @endy: If you don't have an external amp doing the volume control (attenuation), setting volume to -0dB, max volume in Windows, etc. means you're going to get max volume out of your system. That would be bad. Fyodor is doing that because he has an external amp, and doing all that would be the way to get the cleanest signal to that amp. Don't do that if you're outputting directly to headphones. By the way, WASAPI is new to Windows Vista. About Grado...(1) I'm not trying to bash on Grado and (2) I wasn't implying that you're going to get crap out of $60. However, my understanding is that Grado headphones are not intended to be as accurate as possible. Instead, they're supposed to sound good. But I'm not familiar with Grado's whole lineup--maybe I'm wrong about the SR60i or maybe wrong about Grado in general. If you're interested, here are some headphone measurement graphs that illustrate what I'm talking about with Grado's lineup: + Show Spoiler [graphs, technical stuff] + The below graphs from this Japanese site show audio measurements with two different Grado headphones. In both tests, a test signal consisting of 100 Hz, 1000 Hz, and 10000 Hz sine waves put together was used. The graphs show the frequencies recorded during the test, which is primarily looking at the phenomenon known as intermodulation distortion. There are many other types of measurements you can do. Some people question whether these measurements can really describe the sound of the headphones at all, but that's a topic for another day. If the headphones were perfectly accurate, then the measurements would only show signal being present at 100 Hz, 1000 Hz, and 10000 Hz. What frequencies go in should come out. If the headphones are nonlinear (not accurate),then you would expect frequencies being recorded at sums and differences of 100 Hz, 1000 Hz, and 10000 Hz. i.e. frequencies other than what was input into the headphones ![[image loading]](http://www.geocities.jp/ryumatsuba/sr-60_ds.gif) Headphone 1 ![[image loading]](http://www.geocities.jp/ryumatsuba/sr-325i_ds.gif) Headphone 2 ![[image loading]](http://www.geocities.jp/ryumatsuba/dt880_ds.gif) Headphone 3 The first headphone did better than the second, right? And the third is the best. + Show Spoiler + Actually, the first graph was of the Grado SR60 ($60), while the second graph was of the Grado SR325i ($300)! The third graph was for the Beyerdynamic DT880 ($220). Many people find the Grado SR325i more to their liking than the DT880. Thank you, very clear and useful answer. It's time to think about which model to get for Christmas 2011. As well as getting a better input than my shitty realtek chip obviously. | ||
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BakedAlaska
United Kingdom14 Posts
+ Show Spoiler + ![[image loading]](http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/9961/img2006f.jpg) | ||
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Fyodor
Canada971 Posts
On December 23 2010 04:21 BakedAlaska wrote: Just got myself some Head Direct HifiMan RE0 in ear headphones. I'm using them while i'm on the computer and with my iPhone and they're fantastic. + Show Spoiler + glorious earphones. One of the few I can't part with. Love the tonal balance on these, so natural sounding. Soundstage is a bit intimate but it's an IEM, can't expect much in that department. | ||
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GnaR
United States73 Posts
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ChThoniC
United States536 Posts
On December 23 2010 00:25 RoosterSamurai wrote: What would be your guys' recommendation for a surround sound headset? My plantronics gamecon 777 lost it's microphone capability, and I need to look into getting a new surround sound headset for under $100 Surround sound is bad and so are headsets. Get something with a good soundstage and a boom mic or whatever. Audio-Technica ATH-A500 or something like that. | ||
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Kyhol
Canada2575 Posts
Quality is a big factor. | ||
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Joementum
787 Posts
On December 23 2010 07:08 GnaR wrote: Got some Monster Turbines from my brother as an early Christmas gift, they're awesome! I can't really keep up with you guys in this thread, but going from 10 dollar ear buds to these Turbines has blown my mind. I now understand why you guys are so stoked on this thread! I haven't opened mine up from Amazon yet, but I can't wait to use them. I've been using the shit headphones my iPod came with for so long. | ||
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Fyodor
Canada971 Posts
On December 23 2010 07:28 Joementum wrote: I haven't opened mine up from Amazon yet, but I can't wait to use them. I've been using the shit headphones my iPod came with for so long. quite the upgrade. get ready to be floored lol. | ||
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drew-chan
Malaysia1517 Posts
On December 23 2010 07:24 Khol wrote: I have about 100-130$ to spend on a headset. I want to get something with a USB plugin. I want good sound quality and a MIC. I'll search through this thread and try and find something, but in the meantime could someone recommend something for me to buy? Quality is a big factor. You could probably get an ATH-AD700, very comfortable for long sessions of gaming, and then get a seperate mic for it. The sound quality is pretty good, with a large soundstage. In your price range I would prefer the MS-1, but I wouldn't want to use that pair for gaming. | ||
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semantics
10040 Posts
On December 23 2010 07:24 Khol wrote: I have about 100-130$ to spend on a headset. I want to get something with a USB plugin. I want good sound quality and a MIC. I'll search through this thread and try and find something, but in the meantime could someone recommend something for me to buy? Quality is a big factor. Corsair HS1 | ||
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decafchicken
United States20168 Posts
On December 23 2010 07:24 Khol wrote: I have about 100-130$ to spend on a headset. I want to get something with a USB plugin. I want good sound quality and a MIC. I'll search through this thread and try and find something, but in the meantime could someone recommend something for me to buy? Quality is a big factor. I recently read how terrible usb is for audio quality so you might want to avoid that | ||
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semantics
10040 Posts
On December 23 2010 12:57 decafchicken wrote: I recently read how terrible usb is for audio quality so you might want to avoid that How so? in terms of quality it's only limited by the controller and software used to run it. It's no worse then any computer sound card only limited by the parts used to make it. The only diff is that usb headset you don't need to go out and buy a soundcard or an external you just buy a headset. USB 2.0 had limitations partially dealing with delay which should be solved with usb 3.0 assuming that it ever gets popular enough before intel trys to push a universal jack to everyone. | ||
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Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
But also in practice with USB headsets, there's not enough space for components to put a high-end internal sound card, so the implementation there is usually fairly cheap and rudimentary. Granted, a rudimentary implementation need not necessarily be poor. However, the biggest issue with USB headsets is not inherent to the technology or what's possible in theory. It's just that people buying them either (1) is willing to pay extra for the convenience of the attached mic and USB interface and/or (2) doesn't know any better, so they tend to have a bad sound quality-to-price ratio if you compare them with many headphones. | ||
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semantics
10040 Posts
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RoosterSamurai
Japan2108 Posts
On December 23 2010 07:21 ChThoniC wrote: Surround sound is bad and so are headsets. Get something with a good soundstage and a boom mic or whatever. Audio-Technica ATH-A500 or something like that. I don't want headphones, I specifically want a headset so I can talk and listen at the same time. Pretty convenient stuff, you know? | ||
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Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
I'm kind of curious about how you hear static on expensive analog headphones and not on cheap ones, unless you're talking about earphones or some specific models. For reference, what headphones are you talking about specifically? Most full-sized analog headphones tend to have higher impedance and lower sensitivity than cheaper stuff, which would make any static less loud. For some reason, most expensive earphones (IEMs) tend to have higher sensitivity than cheaper stuff, making static louder. There are many exceptions though--the RE0 mentioned a few posts back would be such an example. For most higher-end earphones, it'd be a good idea to use an impedance adapter and/or an external amp anyhow. All those sets with 12-16 ohms, 120+ dB SPL / 1 mW, etc. are ridiculous. | ||
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semantics
10040 Posts
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kinetic_skink
Australia125 Posts
My favorite would have to be the MS-1's though I use the SR440's whe people are around so I don't annoy them. | ||
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Gandalf
Pakistan1905 Posts
(Just to clarify, by a usb dac/amp I mean something that plugs into a usb slot on my computer and then acts both as an external soundcard and as an amplifier. My headphones will then plug into this unit.) | ||
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