Yet another headphone thread

Yeah I saw their hilariously dramatic and overblown announcement video for those things.

It's cute when they price things like that into a range where the only people who can afford to buy a set are people who don't actually care that much about audio. They sell to people with tons of money who buy them just to say they have "the most expensive X" where X is every individual thing they own.

It's like, grats Sennheiser, you made a thing. I don't care about it in the slightest because lol you can probably get mostly identical sound signature from a headphone/dac/amp setup that costs 1/50th of the price, but grats anyway I guess?

They're beautiful... but even if I was a millionaire I'd still be side-eyeing Sennheiser thinking "Uh... really? No."

Yeah, I'm sure those things are worth it in terms of all the PR it gets the company, but at a certain point, the price/quality ratio probably goes into decimal points.

That said, audiophiles have proven time and time again that they love to pay ridiculous amounts of money for nonsense, so you can't blame Sennheiser on catering to them. (If they made a bunch of silly claims like that the Carrara marble added "warmth" to your records, it would probably increase their sales.)

kuddles wrote:

(If they made a bunch of silly claims like that the Carrara marble added "warmth" to your records, it would probably increase their sales.)

I would clap and laugh and oh it would be the best.

It's genius, actually. You can't say it's bogus until you try it. No other headphone you've tried has Carrara marble

It's more the gold leaf platting between the marble that produces the warm notes.

So this might be more sound card than headphone but this seemed like a good place.

I bought an Asus Xonar DGX after reading an article where it was recommended. I had always thought onboard solutions were perfectly fine for everything I do with my PC and I'm hardly an audiophile, but I figured the barrier to entry was low enough that it was worth a shot. Now, I haven't had a discrete sound card since the SB16 and I've heard many different things about modern onboard vs discrete options and wanted to see (hear) for myself.

Because of course I did, I set both devices up simultaneously and played various files -- including FLAC-encoded -- through both options and nope, no perceptible difference. I'm almost always on headphones (Monoprice 8323's) and, while they're hardly audiophile "cans," they do sound good -- particularly for the price. Nevertheless after tweaks and tests I came away thinking either my headphones or my ears weren't good enough to tell the difference between my onboard (Realtek 892) and the discrete card.

Now, the main reason I was even interested in audio in the first place was because I've been playing SOMA, which (like all of Frictional's games) is more about mood-setting and atmosphere than gameplay or story and the audio production impressed me, non-guru that I am. I went back to playing it last night in my dark room with the headphones and started messing around with the sound card settings again, which is when I enabled "Dolby Headphone," which when I was testing with music just made everything sound muddled.

But wow, what a difference in-game. The science of how creatures can be made to sound like they're just behind me using only stereo headphones I'll never know, but suddenly the world sprung to life. This is what I was hoping for with my $35 investment. Where before I had to turn to make the footsteps of stalking monsters isolate in one ear in order to track where they were going I can now tell positionally almost immediately. Big recommendations for Dolby Headphone to anyone who isn't using it or something similar.

Only little problem is there's a barely perceptible whistle, much like wind blowing through a canyon when there's nothing playing (probably when they are as well but it's very quiet). This is likely interference from everything else in the case, correct? It's worth noting that it happens on every jack (including FP) but ONLY happens when I set it to "headphones" in the control panel (it goes away if I set it to "2-speaker" using the same jack), making me think the "headphone amp" is to blame. Anything that can be done about it?

I'd also like to hear anyone's opinion on whether the "virtual surround" in Realtek is as good as Dolby Headphone.

Amazon has these Sennheisers on sale for 150 and 165.

How do their gaming headsets rate compared to their other models? My 555 are getting long in the tooth and I'm wondering if these would be a good upgrade or just a lateral move.

Badferret wrote:

Amazon has these Sennheisers on sale for 150 and 165.

How do their gaming headsets rate compared to their other models? My 555 are getting long in the tooth and I'm wondering if these would be a good upgrade or just a lateral move.

From what I've read, probably a lateral move with a nice mic. Maybe a slight bump, but not a lot.

If I didn't have some 558's with a modmic, I'd be all over the recent price drop on those. They say the mic is pretty good at noise cancellation, and the mute function by flipping up the mic would be very nice compared to my current setup.

MannishBoy wrote:
Badferret wrote:

Amazon has these Sennheisers on sale for 150 and 165.

How do their gaming headsets rate compared to their other models? My 555 are getting long in the tooth and I'm wondering if these would be a good upgrade or just a lateral move.

From what I've read, probably a lateral move with a nice mic. Maybe a slight bump, but not a lot.

If I didn't have some 558's with a modmic, I'd be all over the recent price drop on those. They say the mic is pretty good at noise cancellation, and the mute function by flipping up the mic would be very nice compared to my current setup.

Alright, same question, this time the 598s are for sale for 95. Specifically, these are the Special Editions, which apparently means these are black. The price would pass the wife test, but again, I'm wondering how much of an improvement it would be over the 555s?

Edit: I went ahead and pulled the trigger. My 555s are a little rough, so even if these aren't a big step up, odds are my 555s will crap out in the next year, so might as go ahead and get a replacement on the cheap.

Second edit:

The 598s came in on Monday and while they don't sound worlds better than my old 555s, they do seem like a slight improvement and they are maybe even more comfortable. The wife might also be getting me a FiiO E10K DAC for Christmas, so we will see if that improves things even more.

I really like my 598's, so comfy, can wear them forever. I bought mine a couple years ago for $150 and that was a great price, so $95 is amazing

I may have done something goofy. I walked out of a store today with a pair of wireless beats studios.

Now, first of all I got them on a opened box (which I've verified I have until mid January to bring back if needed). Everything was there and my sister in law gave me a gift card she got from buying a phone and didn't want anything there other than the phone case she bought. I walked out at 145 out of pocket.

I just accepted a new position where I will be doing a decent amount of traveling, so the noise cancelling and wireless is a big plus. I've only given them 30 minutes or so of listening, but initially I am pretty impressed with them. Is it worth 379? No, I don't think I'd spend that much on any pair. For the price of my Skullcandy Aviators, I don't have the wire noise and I get noise cancelling, which will be a boon in the office.

Yeah my work gave me a pair of Beats Studios (I didn't know Beats made wireless Studios, I thought only the on-ear Solos were wireless). The sound quality of the latest version is pretty okay. Not $350 okay... more like $80 okay.

Pros: The smooth vinyl of the earcups feels nice and cool on my head, even after having worn them for a while. Also, they look kinda high tech, and the noise cancellation works pretty well.

Cons: They're just barely circumaural and the fit is tight so comfort is acceptable but not fantastic--they definitely favor people with teeny tiny ears. Also, if they're turned on, even if you're not listening to anything, noise cancellation is active and the battery will burn down. And they don't work unless turned on. So the choice is between music with active noise cancellation, silence with active noise cancellation, or nothing. And using them with the charge cable plugged in seems impractical. To turn them off you either need to press the tiny button under one earcup or unplug the audio jack from the headphones. What I do is just unplug the audio wire whenever I'm not using them, otherwise they have a habit of draining down to nothing just sitting on my desk as I work, and then I get no music until the next day when the batteries are charged up again.

Personally, if I were going for noise cancellation I'd get a Bose set. And if I were going for quality audio I'd get any number of other brands (Audio Technica makes an excellent $125 circumaural set with boosted bass for DJs, which is kind of the market Beats is targeting). The Beats headphones have definitely won popular favor though. The design is becoming iconic. Beats marketing is top notch.

Don't forget to clean your headphones from time to time.

We just bought a small TV for our bedroom. Does anyone have any suggestion on some wireless headphone for watching TV?

WizKid wrote:

We just bought a small TV for our bedroom. Does anyone have any suggestion on some wireless headphone for watching TV?

I bought a red pair of these about a year and a half ago for $105, and feel like I got a steal. They'll get replaced with the same model, different color, when they eventually bite the big one.

Heh:

$50K headphones and they have to obliterate the experience with that music?

MannishBoy wrote:

Heh:

To me they would probably only sounds slightly better than my cheap $10 pair.

I'm sure they sound great.

But... there is no headphone on earth that sounds $50,000 great.

A huge part of the reason those headphones are $50K is because they're made with precious metals and stuff, and those parts don't even work better than common materials. Often worse. I mean sure, if you find yourself in a Brewster's Millions type situation they'd make a great gift for your administrative assistant, but I can't see any reason for even the most discerning listener to spend more than $500 on a set of cans. Maybe $1K if they're some fancy handmade job.

FWIW, I just bought these for my daughter, and they're amazing. Best sounding cans ive had. I hate on ear, but they are really comfy and much more isolating than i would have imagined.

http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-Urb...

Been using built it Realtek motherboard sound with Sennheiser HD558's.

Thoughts on the $56 deal for the Fiio E07K USB DAC/Amp on Amazon?

I do have an unused Asus Xonar DX, but I don't think it has the headphone amp like some of the other models IIRC.

Grrr. Still don't like the icons on the redesign

MannishBoy wrote:

Been using built it Realtek motherboard sound with Sennheiser HD558's.

Thoughts on the $56 deal for the Fiio E07K USB DAC/Amp on Amazon?

I do have an unused Asus Xonar DX, but I don't think it has the headphone amp like some of the other models IIRC.

I have the E7 and HD 598's. It's been a while since I did a comparison between them and onboard or out of my Corsair speakers. But I don't remember hearing a night and day difference, any upgrades in sound were pretty subtle.

That E07K is probably better than my aged E7, so it's very possible the DAC is better than your onboard sound. However, neither of our cans really need amping. So any benefits will most likely come from the DAC and if you hear any feedback or noise that's coming from the onboard sound, that would be removed by using an external DAC/amp.

The HD598's aren't super bassy, but they can rumble a bit when required, I've heard it coming from both the Fiio and my Sony receiver, so it is possible that a dedicated amp can help them hit a bit better.

Also, everything is subjective and YYMV :joy:

MannishBoy wrote:

Grrr. Still don't like the icons on the redesign :)

Schiit audio has one of those now, I noticed. Might be worth checking out.

The Xonar DGX has a headphone amp if you're just looking at that. I don't know how such things usually work since it's my first experience with such a thing, but there are only 3 settings.

Most important for me is the inclusion of Dolby Headphone for gaming, but that's just my priority.

stupidhaiku wrote:

The Xonar DGX has a headphone amp if you're just looking at that. I don't know how such things usually work since it's my first experience with such a thing, but there are only 3 settings.

Most important for me is the inclusion of Dolby Headphone for gaming, but that's just my priority.

I know, but I have the DX.

Probably dumb question: With the E07K, will Windows still control the volume? So my keyboard controls will work?

I assume it's like external speakers that have volume. You set that, then Windows controls still work to that set volume.

Sony MDR 7506's for everything forever, my bias is so acute I can't wrap my head around the possibility of anything else. They've been like $100 since forever and I could want for nothing else. If I still had a pair, and my apartment was burning down, I would probably consider grabbing them on my way out.

My last pair literally fell apart after a decade of use and I have yet to replace them.

MannishBoy wrote:

Probably dumb question: With the E07K, will Windows still control the volume? So my keyboard controls will work?

I assume it's like external speakers that have volume. You set that, then Windows controls still work to that set volume.

Nearly all USB DAC/amps have volume control on the device. The computer doesn't control volume because it's sending an unmodified digital stream.

So in short, no generally you can't.