AhrnCityPahnder
Yinz-o-riffic
Is it because your penis is so gargantuan?
Or do you have a full size tube rig?
If so, pics? (on the latter. Definite pass on the former. )
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Headphone Draft And Why? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter rockaction
- Start date
Or do you have a full size tube rig?
If so, pics? (on the latter. Definite pass on the former. )
Ilov80s
Footballguy
Ilov80s
Footballguy
It's worth another run, music sounds pretty amazing in a good pair of headphones.
Ditkaless Wonders
Footballguy
Thinking of sorting out my music mess this winter, C.D.'s albums, tapes, files. Maybe save everything over to one format and then clear things out a bit. I bet my wife would appreciate it if as I do that I use headphones. You may be right.
Ilov80s
Footballguy
I am sure she will. I know my wife does. Also, you should check out Spotify.
Eephus
Footballguy
My headphones are all pretty low impedance to match low power output from phones, tablets and laptops. I'm curious if I'd hear noticeable improvement from a separate amp and DAC.
If I were to go down that route, I'd probably stick to a DAC/amp that could be driven off of a USB or Lightning port. Finding free power outlets is a bigger problem for me than low fidelity.
ShamrockPride
Footballguy
I haven't seen anyone say this one yet, and it is an open ear phone, so it limits your use somewhat, but I just got the AKG K712's back in the winter. Best cans I've ever used.
Really large earcups, and with the open ear'dness of them, there's plenty of breathability and ventilation. Can use them for hours at a time. The headrest is pretty unique for cans, where you don't actually adjust it, but they have a soft leather band across the top that finds a natural comfortable balance across your head. Fits and feels perfect. Monitor headphones so flat response (which I prefer).
Really large earcups, and with the open ear'dness of them, there's plenty of breathability and ventilation. Can use them for hours at a time. The headrest is pretty unique for cans, where you don't actually adjust it, but they have a soft leather band across the top that finds a natural comfortable balance across your head. Fits and feels perfect. Monitor headphones so flat response (which I prefer).
Eephus
Footballguy
I have too many headphones so can keep drafting for a while 
My best pair of over ears are first gen Sennheiser Momentums that I bought when they were being cleared out after Sennheiser updated the line with a newer model. The new version has larger earpieces, which was supposedly an issue for people with freakishly large ears. I guess my ears aren't big because I never had problems with getting a good seal with the first gen models.
They're an excellent all-rounder with a very balanced and true sound signature. They're light and comfortable and can easily be driven by a cellphone. They have a closed back so isolation is good but won't have the massive soundstage that Grado owners rave about.
My best pair of over ears are first gen Sennheiser Momentums that I bought when they were being cleared out after Sennheiser updated the line with a newer model. The new version has larger earpieces, which was supposedly an issue for people with freakishly large ears. I guess my ears aren't big because I never had problems with getting a good seal with the first gen models.
They're an excellent all-rounder with a very balanced and true sound signature. They're light and comfortable and can easily be driven by a cellphone. They have a closed back so isolation is good but won't have the massive soundstage that Grado owners rave about.
AhrnCityPahnder
Yinz-o-riffic
You'd certainly need some latest gen hardware and cables to pull that off. This Bravo I have draws 24v/2.5A which USB 2 and USB3 doesn't come close to handling, and may be just above the ceiling (on paper, anyway) of what USB3.1 purports to allow.Eephus said:
USB-C/Thunderbolt cables can easily transfer this much power, but finding a power source that's not directly connected to an outlet that will give you this much power may be challenging. Some quick GoogleFu failed me as to how much juice a newer MBP can deliver when it's acting as a source for charging.
Eephus
Footballguy
I agree that a USB port won't provide enough power to drive a tube amp. I was considering smaller non-tube DAC/amps that would pair with low impedance IEMs. There are a few models out there from FiiO, AudioQuest and Hifimediy. The reviews are kind of mixed but many compare them with larger AC powered amps. I don't know if buying and lugging another gizmo around would be worth a nominal improvement in fidelity.
Chaos Commish
Footballguy
I don't know how to address this without a big tl;dr. Look up NwAvGuy. He blew up the audiophile world a few years ago then vanished after reporting he had death threats. He was banned from head-fi for exposing the owners pimping the advertisers and the high end priced advertised products being crap. It was awesome and funny and educational. A massive and irrefutable beat down of paying for super high end gear. The guy was a genius audio engineer and demonstrated scientifically the utter BS in the high end audiophile world. His $100 design crushed $1500 dacs but then those DACs barely outperformed $40 Behringer interfaces. He did this with mics and measurements and graphs and dozens of 10k word essays tearing down the advertisers. Anyway, it got me hooked on diy audio and so I built his designs with help in the diyaudio forums where I've spent more time than here over the past ten years (but it's close and I'm here now more than there).
JDS Labs had his original designs (which he gave up open source). And now claim to have improved them.
Eephus
Footballguy
Chaos Commish
Footballguy
Right, Enough to probably make buying a complete product a better choice if you're a novice soldering. When this started I was a novice, and had to buy the gear and practice on simple crossover networks and such before doing something a little harder. Now you can buy the gear from his open source work pretty cheap. What cost me a couple hundred (including the iron and practice boards) and hours of practice can now be bought for $99.
Eephus
Footballguy
Chaos Commish
Footballguy
So you can build speakers with full range drivers (no crossover). That's where I started. And I can absolutely recommend these. XRK, the builder in that post, is also a genius and was my mentor back in the day.I'd rate my soldering skills as somewhere between incompetent and self-harming
Nick Vermeil
Footballguy
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Gawain
Footballguy
$900 for no BT/WiFi and no ANC? I better be able to hear tomorrow's lotto numbers on them.
Klimtology
Footballguy
Incredible detail and sound qualty!
Great company as well! I've got a pair of floor standing B&W's and have been very happy with them
HTH
AhrnCityPahnder
Yinz-o-riffic
Gotcha. I certainly wouldn't take this thing with me as part of my daily routine. I leave it on my desk and use it when I'm here only.
Koya
Footballguy
Love me some Sennheiser, though would like to try some Graff.
Got the 595's yeesh, ten years ago? Still kicking though literally duct taped together.
When they went made the on-ear momentum 2s foldable, I got a non folding pair for like a 75 or so dollars. Hadn't been a fan of on ear, but really liked this for a lowish price point (5-7 years ago at least, were 200)
Recently, I needed some decent but not break the bank BT headphones, and it seems Sennheiser is updating the Urbanite XL Over Ear Bluetooth - 300 dollar headphones that aren't perfect, but really good, could be (probably still are?) had new for 150 and I got an open box deal for just over 90 bucks. Rediculously good for that price.
Got the 595's yeesh, ten years ago? Still kicking though literally duct taped together.
When they went made the on-ear momentum 2s foldable, I got a non folding pair for like a 75 or so dollars. Hadn't been a fan of on ear, but really liked this for a lowish price point (5-7 years ago at least, were 200)
Recently, I needed some decent but not break the bank BT headphones, and it seems Sennheiser is updating the Urbanite XL Over Ear Bluetooth - 300 dollar headphones that aren't perfect, but really good, could be (probably still are?) had new for 150 and I got an open box deal for just over 90 bucks. Rediculously good for that price.
DocHolliday
Footballguy
A little out of place with the big ballers but.....
Thanks to Euphus's post in the classic rock thread, I have some cheap ear buds coming the in mail. I ordered 3 different brands hoping that one sounds good. They were all between $10-20 each so I don't expect fantastic. Comfort and good is all I need when I travel. I rarely use earbuds at home. I have a pair of Monster ear buds that sound pretty good but hurt my ears. I bought them at an airport when my earbuds broke and hate them.
Thanks to Euphus's post in the classic rock thread, I have some cheap ear buds coming the in mail. I ordered 3 different brands hoping that one sounds good. They were all between $10-20 each so I don't expect fantastic. Comfort and good is all I need when I travel. I rarely use earbuds at home. I have a pair of Monster ear buds that sound pretty good but hurt my ears. I bought them at an airport when my earbuds broke and hate them.
Eephus
Footballguy
rockaction
Footballguy
Somebody school me on DACs and tube amps if you're running things through your computer. I'd love to hear about it. The guy who started the thread is apparently just a novice.
Eephus
Footballguy
This is a pretty decent overview (from the NwAvGuy site Chaos Commish posted earlier).Somebody school me on DACs and tube amps if you're running things through your computer. I'd love to hear about it. The guy who started the thread is apparently just a novice.
Chaos Commish
Footballguy
Briefly a DAC is a digital to analog converter. It takes your device or pc's digital signal and converts it to the anolog signal needed by most drivers (speakers or cans). The amp can be for speakers or cans also, and it takes the improved signal and amplifies it. So input outputs run from the device to the dac to the amp to the speaker or phones. There's varying qualities of each piece in the line. But speakers/phones is clearly most important. There's arguments over which is most important between dacs and amps. I think if your device drives your drivers adequately (eeph's question earlier today w/ a comment about impedance) then that may be all you need. The improvements are a bit exaggerated as shown by the NwAvGuy. My sennies love the $99 headphone amp I linked to getting a signal from the pc through something called ODAC. $250 for everything (when it needed to be diy-ed, but same for completed units now) and my ears are not good enough to tell the difference with $900 cans and 2 grand in DACs and Amps. No difference. Not because mine is great. Because the supposedly great stuff is audio bs. Who cares if there's a ton more signal beyond human hearing.Somebody school me on DACs and tube amps if you're running things through your computer. I'd love to hear about it. The guy who started the thread is apparently just a novice.
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rockaction
Footballguy
Thanks, guys.
sports_fan
Footballguy
Airpods get a lot of hate, but they're pretty everything I've ever wanted in a headphone. Earbuds are the only type of headphone style that's comfortable to me. I use them with entirely non-apple products (Fire tablet, android phone, lenovo laptop)
Eephus
Footballguy
Unless you have high impedance cans or a very low output source, a separate amp probably isn't required. It certainly won't hurt but I don't know if my old, abused ears would be able to detect subtle differences.
I do 99% of my current listening using Spotify. Its "high quality" setting is supposedly a 320kbps bit rate which is technically lossy to begin with. I used to convert MP3s down to a lower bitrate than that when I wanted to cram as much different music as possible on my various iPod. I noticed differences at very low bitrates but once I got above v4 (160kbps) bitrates, it sounded pretty good. YMMV.
I do 99% of my current listening using Spotify. Its "high quality" setting is supposedly a 320kbps bit rate which is technically lossy to begin with. I used to convert MP3s down to a lower bitrate than that when I wanted to cram as much different music as possible on my various iPod. I noticed differences at very low bitrates but once I got above v4 (160kbps) bitrates, it sounded pretty good. YMMV.
Eephus
Footballguy
Apple's designers did a commendable job to make universal earpieces that fit a wide variety of ear shapes and sizes. They're totally alright but I can never find a good enough seal for strong bass response.
Eephus
Footballguy
I answered a PM about ear tips so I might as well post it here
Seal is crucial for IEMs. Most everybody has two ears and even those can be different. I'm not a big fan of foam tips but a lot of people swear by them. I think they lack isolation and tend to pick up ear goo over time. Flange tips are another type that supposedly work really well for some ears but don't fit mine.
My favorite tips are Spinfits. I only have two pair because they're expensive for four tiny pieces of silicon. I save them for my best IEMs. I've accumulated hundreds of assorted tips over the years, most of which are mediocre. Part of fun for me is matching tips with my various cheapo dog walking, subway riding buds to find tips that bring out their best.
This is a good article about the subject. There's really no way to tell what's going to work for your ears, tiny variations in tip materials, shape, insertion depth and bore diameter can have a big impact on seal and sound.
Seal is crucial for IEMs. Most everybody has two ears and even those can be different. I'm not a big fan of foam tips but a lot of people swear by them. I think they lack isolation and tend to pick up ear goo over time. Flange tips are another type that supposedly work really well for some ears but don't fit mine.
My favorite tips are Spinfits. I only have two pair because they're expensive for four tiny pieces of silicon. I save them for my best IEMs. I've accumulated hundreds of assorted tips over the years, most of which are mediocre. Part of fun for me is matching tips with my various cheapo dog walking, subway riding buds to find tips that bring out their best.
This is a good article about the subject. There's really no way to tell what's going to work for your ears, tiny variations in tip materials, shape, insertion depth and bore diameter can have a big impact on seal and sound.
DocHolliday
Footballguy
@Eephus
memt x5
rock zircon
swing ie800
It's going to be fun and interesting to test them out. Since these are so little money, I can order and try others later too. I'm open to suggestions.
Eephus
Footballguy
The Zircons have a fun sound signature with a lot of bass. I'm on my second pair
I also have the Swings. Their design is a blatant ripoff of Sennheiser IE800 but the green cable intentionally gives it away. The come with a pair of extreme wide bore tips that will help any other IEM that are shy on bass.
I actually ordered the Memt phones once but the Amazon seller cancelled the sale. When he got them back in stock, they were priced way higher. Microdriver IEMs are great for bedtime listening. They're so tiny that they won't mess up your ears if you fall asleep with them in.
Chaos Commish
Footballguy
the problem with my night time headphones is that they're close backed and they get hot. So I'm willing to try one of these microdriver iems that are great for bed time. Say I'm happy to drop $30 bucks and want to use Amazon even if I could wait longer and save a few bucks. What ya got?The Zircons have a fun sound signature with a lot of bass. I'm on my second pair
I also have the Swings. Their design is a blatant ripoff of Sennheiser IE800 but the green cable intentionally gives it away. The come with a pair of extreme wide bore tips that will help any other IEM that are shy on bass.
I actually ordered the Memt phones once but the Amazon seller cancelled the sale. When he got them back in stock, they were priced way higher. Microdriver IEMs are great for bedtime listening. They're so tiny that they won't mess up your ears if you fall asleep with them in.
rockaction
Footballguy
Eephus
Footballguy
The Memt X5s that DocHolliday ordered are $21 on Amazon with Prime shipping. They're tiny
The only microdriver phones I've owned were a pair of KZ HDS3 that I ended up giving to my son. The sound was unremarkable but they were very comfortable.
rockaction
Footballguy
Anyone think a USB DAC will be worth it if I'm running bluetooth cans? If so how about an amp? How would they interact with an amp? I have to admit, I'd be familiar with this stuff if I were using my normal Grados, but I invested 300 or so in some Momentum OEBT bluetoothers from Sennheiser and don't want to upgrade to other cans as these sound good. Any suggestions or tips?
Chaos Commish
Footballguy
rockaction
Footballguy
It's actually reading as an HD1 M2 AEBT according to my computer, but it's over ear. It's the Momentum 2 series, if that helps. They replaced my on-ears with over ears. It was a hundred dollar upgrade, which was nice.
Sputnikv8
Footballguy
This is great news as I would like to trade mine in! Do u have a link on their site or where the first step is? Thanks for the update, I was just going by what I read. https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/4zz4xk/bose_qc35_trade_in_program/
https://community.bose.com/t5/Headphones-Archive/Upgrade/td-p/73259
Maybe I’ll just go to the Bose store 30miles away.
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Eephus
Footballguy
I'm an idiot when it comes to electricity so take this with a grain of salt but I believe Bluetooth is a very low power digital signal. Bluetooth headphones contain circuitry to convert and amplify the signal for playback. I don't believe there's any way to amplify the signal at the source or bypass the internal amplifier within the receiving device.
There are gizmos that are sold as Bluetooth Amp/DACs but I think these are actually wireless receivers with an aux output to connect wired headphones.
Nick Vermeil
Footballguy
I didn’t check any site. I just walked into the Rehoboth Beach store like I’ve done before. My wife tells me the guy said something about it being a “credit” instead of a trade in but he took my old pair. Seems like a trade in to me! He checked the serial number and gave me the $135 on a two year old pair.
Koya
Footballguy
I know peeps love bose, but I can't stand them. To me, the goal of audio equipment is to give the most realistic feedback possible, a true representation of the source. If the source sucks, isn't great quality, whatever, then speakers should reflect that.
Bose entire premise seems to be to make the music "sound better" which to me, runs counter to the intended purpose. But that's just my taste
Bose entire premise seems to be to make the music "sound better" which to me, runs counter to the intended purpose. But that's just my taste
Chaos Commish
Footballguy
Koya
Footballguy
It doesn't look to change nor distort the source and the analog nature of the tubes, imo, delivers a more realistic "round" sound as compared with solid state.Nothing warms up the sound more than a tube amp you seem to like?
Its just my personal preference. Obviously people love Bose (I happen to think the brand is over priced and I have a doffeeent philosophy toward audio - neither is right nor wrong)
Chaos Commish
Footballguy
Okay n/p Koya. I think if you spend a few hours with our friend NwAvGuy you'll understand why I roll my eyes a little at what you're saying. I'm way past arguing though. Rock on.
baymen
Footballguy
Based on your post, ordered these and came in today. By far the best IEM headphones I have had. Thanks for this.
boots11234
Footballguy
Vmoda m-100. Great looking, built like a tank, fantastic sound, plug-in on each ear and great case.
