Hekotat
FoH nuclear response team
- 12,241
- 11,886
My man, I'm in no way an Audiophile but you need to experience a good set of headphones with a DAC and an EQ setup properly, it is quite good.
- 2
- 1
Headphones & Audio Devices
- Thread starter Fadaar
- Start date
-
Guest, did you like the last podcast notification?? Well here's the second one, and for the third podcast! Yep. This Thursday 8-8-24 at 7pm Central
Go here to check out his podcast thread for info on topics and links!Go into the FoH discord and find the Happy Time Fun Hour channel and give it a listen!
My man, I'm in no way an Audiophile but you need to experience a good set of headphones with a DAC and an EQ setup properly, it is quite good.
- 2,253
- 4,399
I game with a pair of Klipsch R-51PM 'bookshelf' speakers hooked up to my PC via a fiber optic wire. If my wife is sleeping I'll put on my PS5 headphones that connect via a USB dongle. Never really cared for earphones and all the recent 'headwork' makes it uncomfortable. I just see them reviewed a lot (techpowerup and the like) and figured they must be awesome for the cost or overpriced cult garbage like iphone/pad/anything.
Denamian
Night Janitor
- 7,450
- 19,662
Like
Hekotat
I am no audiophile, but having a good DAC and headphone setup is both a good value and dead easy. I've used a Schiit Hel with Sennheiser HD 599s for years now and it cost me around $300, maybe a bit less. It's certainly not top of the line, but it sounds great to me. Added bonus is no fucking around with speaker placement, running wires to them and all that. Plus the sound insulation in my building isn't great, so I'm not pissing off my neighbors.- 1
Hekotat
FoH nuclear response team
- 12,241
- 11,886
I wouldn't spend more than a few hundred bucks on a setup but i always wonder what a really expensive amp and headset sound like.
- 1
Burns
Avatar of War Slayer
- 7,431
- 14,646
I assume it's probably like going from no amp to an external amp, in that: ignorance is bliss.
I did a decent bit of reading on DACs when I was buying my headphones and I am still not sure what value they provide. I can set up an EQ on my computer and run DTS/Dolby Headphones (ASUS even has it's own ROG audio program I rarely mess with). I rarely take my volume over 30% and that can hurt my ears if I click the various videos from shitty websites that don't have video controls.
- 16,726
- 7,745
Probably similar, but not as beneficial, to using integrated graphics vs a dedicated GPU.
Do you know what hardware DAC your motherboard has? Or is it being done in software? What's the frequency response of the output? Do you trust the driver implementation of a manufacturer that likely treats this part as an afterthought?
Do you know what hardware DAC your motherboard has? Or is it being done in software? What's the frequency response of the output? Do you trust the driver implementation of a manufacturer that likely treats this part as an afterthought?
Hekotat
FoH nuclear response team
- 12,241
- 11,886
You need to setup eq apo. I had crazy bad headaches and sound sensitivity the past decade to the point I just stopped listening to music. I setup headphones with an eq setup that matches my headphones and I was able to enjoy music again. It made such a huge difference I've gone out of my way to help others experience the same thing.
I posted the link somewhere in this thread but some guy took the time to bench almost every set of headphones on the planet and get proper frequency setups for you to use. I'll post it here later and I highly recommend you try it.
Burns
Avatar of War Slayer
- 7,431
- 14,646
I'll give a shot. DTS is supposedly set up for individual headphone models, when you tell it which ones you have, but I'm not really sure I noticed much difference when I turned DTS on. I also downloaded the Dolby program when I got the headphones, but DTS and Sonic Studios was included with the mobo, so didn't want to just buy Dolby if it's basically the same thing. I imagine I would need to disable DTS and Sonic Studios if I want to try Equalizer APO?
Hekotat
FoH nuclear response team
- 12,241
- 11,886
here is the link for all the EQ settings, make sure to read the instructions on the first page or you will end up using settings not meant to be used. GitHub - jaakkopasanen/AutoEq: Automatic headphone equalization from frequency responses
EDIT: I not sure but I don't think so, I would assume it would work regardless but I'm not sure.
If you have issues hit me up, I'll help if needed.
- 1
- 16,726
- 7,745
For shits and giggles, I decided to plug my Sennheiser 650's directly into the back of my computer. I was under the impression that you needed an amp for high impedance headphones, but the motherboard is having no issues driving them.
Sucks that I don't have(nor plan to buy) the audio equipment to measure whether an amp and/or dac are truly worth it. I'm willing to believe an amp and dac sound better in ways my aging ears can't perceive.
Sucks that I don't have(nor plan to buy) the audio equipment to measure whether an amp and/or dac are truly worth it. I'm willing to believe an amp and dac sound better in ways my aging ears can't perceive.
- 1
Chanur
Shit Posting Professional
- 28,415
- 45,137
I switched to an amp/dac a while back and thought it was definitely worth it. I say this as someone that thought the mother board was fine for the headphones before the change.
Last edited:
- 1
Burns
Avatar of War Slayer
- 7,431
- 14,646
Hokay, followed the instructions but have a few questions?
First, does it matter if I use the setting from Auriculares Argentina instead of the older one from the main dude oratory1990?
Second, I just paste the following into command prompt for the Philips Fidelio X2HR, and then it's done?
Code:
python -m autoeq --input-file="measurements/Auriculares Argentina/data/over-ear/Philips Fidelio X2HR.csv" --output-dir="my_results" --target="targets/Philips Fidelio X2HR.csv" --convolution-eq --parametric-eq --ten-band-eq --fs=44100,48000Third, what am I supposed to do with the output file?
Last edited:
Hekotat
FoH nuclear response team
- 12,241
- 11,886
Use the one from Oratory.
I ended up putting them in by hand in EQAPO or whatever. I couldn't get it to work by loading it in like that. You can test by toggling the EQ off/on to see if it makes a difference. If you're using EQ APO and it's not changing anything you will need to restart after you set your audio device in the configurator.
Burns
Avatar of War Slayer
- 7,431
- 14,646
So you also installed EqualizerAPO and a UI for it (like Peace), then loaded the setting from AutoEQ into it? Otherwise I dont see anything that says "EQAPO" anywhere.
Hekotat
FoH nuclear response team
- 12,241
- 11,886
Yes that is what I did, but you can use those EQ settings for anything you use as your EQ software doesn't have to be EQAPO.
- 1
Burns
Avatar of War Slayer
- 7,431
- 14,646
Ok, that seemed to work. It looks like a good light weight minimalistic EQ that I can customize further if I want.
The idea of the command line setting up an EQ and not even having a UI interface program running sounded good, but a little too advanced for what I want to invest in learning how it all works. Plus it downloaded the whole 5gb database off github.
It sounds fine on the music I have tried so far and I'll probably leave it as is, since it seems rather difficult to have 1 setting sound best when listening to a wide variety of stuff.
- 1
Hekotat
FoH nuclear response team
- 12,241
- 11,886
Brahma
Obi-Bro Kenobi-X
- 12,503
- 45,510
300 bucks for bookshelf's now? Maybe 100 for an amp? Both these items I have owned. Absolutely awesome entry level for swapping to external DAC and cans.
You mentioned sleeping wife. Closed back Hifiman's.
Amazon product ASIN B0BXP2TKP3
I will not buy Schiit any longer. Three times I have had issues with their products. Two time cost me. I was always a FiiO fan.
Amazon product ASIN B0BXP2TKP3
Last edited:
- 2