Headphones & Audio Devices

The Dauntless One

The Dauntless One

Lord Nagafen Raider
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I own a pair of Bose QC25 and I have to say they aren't bad. Sound quality is definitely acceptable, and the noise cancelling is amazing. An over the ear closed headphone is incomparable to really well done active noise cancelling headphone. They are my go-to headphones when I'm travelling.
 
Palum

Palum

what Suineg set it to
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I don't like any active units I've tried. There are plenty of passive headsets that are great. I pretty much turn on my iPod hooked into my M50s and fall asleep immediately on most fights.
 
darkmiasma

darkmiasma

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So I moved my PS4 out of my movie room and into my office - it used to be connected via HDMI into my receiver for the surround sound, but I was keeping my wife up if I was gaming late at night.

It's hooked up via HDMI into my Monitor, which outputs shitty sound, so I plugged my headset into the back of the monitor, and now the sound comes out there. This works, but I was looking at something like theAstro MixAmp Pro TR.

I'm looking to have it hooked up to the PS4, and have my headset/mic hooked up to that instead. Does anyone have any experience with this, or recommend something else?
 
Intrinsic

Intrinsic

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Despite my best efforts I've been unable to get the driver conflict resolved with the Fiio E10k so am considering just ordering a Magni/Modi 2 Uber and seeing if I have the same problem. Any thoughts on that combo? I've tried everything short of a full windows reinstall to fix the Fiio but it still claims it is a malfunctioning device.
 
Brahma

Brahma

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Intrinsic_sl said:
Despite my best efforts I've been unable to get the driver conflict resolved with the Fiio E10k so am considering just ordering a Magni/Modi 2 Uber and seeing if I have the same problem. Any thoughts on that combo? I've tried everything short of a full windows reinstall to fix the Fiio but it still claims it is a malfunctioning device.
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Combo is about as good as it gets really at that price. Less than 400 I assume for the stack? Ya. Why not?
 
The Dauntless One

The Dauntless One

Lord Nagafen Raider
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Intrinsic_sl said:
Despite my best efforts I've been unable to get the driver conflict resolved with the Fiio E10k so am considering just ordering a Magni/Modi 2 Uber and seeing if I have the same problem. Any thoughts on that combo? I've tried everything short of a full windows reinstall to fix the Fiio but it still claims it is a malfunctioning device.
Click to expand...
You can also consider thisJDS Labs - O2+ODAC Combo RevB
 
Cinge

Cinge

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How are the 558s on a large head? I have a big head, so headphones are iffy(a lot will break @ the joints on the side just from taking on and off over time) for me. I spent awhile finding a pair that didn't snap on me. Have used some steelseeirs Siveria v2 for last year or so, until today the left earphone just stopped working(Was strange, watched a dota 2 tourney, worked fine. Put them down, go each lunch come back and left has no sound).

Also do you have to have a Amp for them? I can't really afford that. They would either be plugging into new MB(realtek iirc) or sound blaster card(though I always seem to get bad static when I use the sound card).
 
Intrinsic

Intrinsic

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The Dauntless One_sl said:
You can also consider thisJDS Labs - O2+ODAC Combo RevB
Click to expand...
That looks pretty good, (un)fortunately I went ahead and picked up the Schiit stack. Should be here Tuesday. Also emailed Fiio just to see if they'd respond. Tried the E10 on my Surface and wife's MacBook and it was dead on both so the device is definitely defective. Sucks for sure, in all my years of buying computer stuff and gadgets don't think I've ever had the misfortune of getting a lemon. Was bound to happen one day.
 
Palum

Palum

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Cinge_sl said:
How are the 558s on a large head? I have a big head, so headphones are iffy(a lot will break @ the joints on the side just from taking on and off over time) for me. I spent awhile finding a pair that didn't snap on me. Have used some steelseeirs Siveria v2 for last year or so, until today the left earphone just stopped working(Was strange, watched a dota 2 tourney, worked fine. Put them down, go each lunch come back and left has no sound).

Also do you have to have a Amp for them? I can't really afford that. They would either be plugging into new MB(realtek iirc) or sound blaster card(though I always seem to get bad static when I use the sound card).
Click to expand...
I don' t know but the 598s are comfy. I usually run a 7 5/8 - 7 3/4 hat size so fairly large noggin.
 
Denamian

Denamian

Night Janitor
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Cinge_sl said:
How are the 558s on a large head? I have a big head, so headphones are iffy(a lot will break @ the joints on the side just from taking on and off over time) for me. I spent awhile finding a pair that didn't snap on me. Have used some steelseeirs Siveria v2 for last year or so, until today the left earphone just stopped working(Was strange, watched a dota 2 tourney, worked fine. Put them down, go each lunch come back and left has no sound).

Also do you have to have a Amp for them? I can't really afford that. They would either be plugging into new MB(realtek iirc) or sound blaster card(though I always seem to get bad static when I use the sound card).
Click to expand...
I've got a fairly big head (don't know my hat size), and my 558s are comfy as hell. No signs of stress damage after owning them for a bit over a year.

As far as an amp goes, it's not absolutely necessary. I had them plugged in to the onboard realtek until I bought a Xonar DGX and other than some static when plugged in to the front panel, they sounded fine. The DGX did make a noticeable difference though. I'm no audiophile and my hearing isn't that great, so ymmv.
 
Brahma

Brahma

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Cinge_sl said:
How are the 558s on a large head? I have a big head, so headphones are iffy(a lot will break @ the joints on the side just from taking on and off over time) for me. I spent awhile finding a pair that didn't snap on me. Have used some steelseeirs Siveria v2 for last year or so, until today the left earphone just stopped working(Was strange, watched a dota 2 tourney, worked fine. Put them down, go each lunch come back and left has no sound).

Also do you have to have a Amp for them? I can't really afford that. They would either be plugging into new MB(realtek iirc) or sound blaster card(though I always seem to get bad static when I use the sound card).
Click to expand...
The hinges on the 558's are great. Will not crack. You do not need an amp for the 558's. You won't get anything out of the amp other than volume.
 
Cinge

Cinge

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Thanks. Ordered a pair + a clip on mic.

Maybe these will be my first headphones that last longer then 1.5 years.

Edit:

Got them, pretty awesome. No problem on my huge head(had to extend to max). Minor discomfort around the ears, but probably just need to get used to different padding style.

Still can't use sound card, no matter what I plug into it I get bad static. Will have to look into a audio source that sits outside PC sometime later and use on-board for now.
 
Obsidian

Obsidian

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Perhaps 1 of you more familiar with audio can tell me if it's worth my time to buy an amp/dac whatever it's called. Have a pair of Beyerdynamic DT990 premium 250 ohm, currently just running off the onboard audio. From my basic research and googling, the audio solution on my motherboard is already pretty decent (MSI X99S SLI Krait Edition with Realtek ALC1150). The motherboard can drive up to 600 ohm with it's "dedicated headphone amp" according to MSI. The sound is pretty good, easily the best headphones I've personally listened to, loud enough, etc. Will getting an amp make it sound any better or will it just make it louder? Don't need louder, plenty loud enough as is.
 
The Dauntless One

The Dauntless One

Lord Nagafen Raider
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A DAC/amp like the FIIO or O2 will sound better, but if it sounds good to you now, no point getting one. If you're okay dropping $150-300 then go right ahead.
 
Brahma

Brahma

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Obsidian_sl said:
Perhaps 1 of you more familiar with audio can tell me if it's worth my time to buy an amp/dac whatever it's called. Have a pair of Beyerdynamic DT990 premium 250 ohm, currently just running off the onboard audio. From my basic research and googling, the audio solution on my motherboard is already pretty decent (MSI X99S SLI Krait Edition with Realtek ALC1150). The motherboard can drive up to 600 ohm with it's "dedicated headphone amp" according to MSI. The sound is pretty good, easily the best headphones I've personally listened to, loud enough, etc. Will getting an amp make it sound any better or will it just make it louder? Don't need louder, plenty loud enough as is.
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If you can drive 600 ohm headphones off that board, I would not bother.
 
M

Myst

Peasant
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I am in the process of renovating my basement and I am about to put up the dry walls. I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to Audio devices, and I was wondering if you guys can help direct me in the right direction.

I obviously need to pass the audio wiring through the frame before closing up the wall, but I can't seem to decide on a full audio system. Are there generic audio wiring I can pass through for the moment before having picked a system? Any good suggestions on a good audio setup/brands?
 
Intrinsic

Intrinsic

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I'd say from a very high level, yes, you can go ahead and drop your wires where you need. But you need to decide if you're going like 4.1, 6.1, etc... to know where and how many drops to make. And where you are going to mount or floor stand the speakers and surrounds. They can for the most part just run 16 / 14 gauge 2-wire to where you tell them. Then terminate with something other than exposed wire until you figure out if you need banana plugs or clips, or whatever to plug in to your speakers.

That's assuming you aren't doing a whole home audio thing or you need some type of remote volume control knob and other stuff in the house.

The other part of your question though will lead you to a rabbit hole that can consume your whole life. But will probably start off somewhere with "what is your budget" and "whatw will you be watching / listening to. There's another thread here somewhere about home stereo I'll find to bump.
 
Dandai

Dandai

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For the life of me I can't figure out how to get Skype to stop playing my system sounds to the other members of the call. I've tried about everything I can think of (disabling all other audio hardware except the one currently in use, turning listen on/off, etc). After a couple hours of googling and trying other people's proposed solutions I'm no further along than when I started.

Have any of you guys had this problem before? Perhaps it's driver related?

Edit: I guess I should provide examples. When I'm playing dota and have an open skype call, they can hear my hero sounds, music, etc (and other games if i'm playing something like XCOM while waiting in the queue). Also any movies (VLC) or browser sounds (youtube) will be heard by the party on the other end of the skype call. It's not a situation where the mic is so hot that it's picking up the sound from my headphones. When I mute the mic on skype it stops playing the sounds (it just occurred to me that I haven't tested muting the mic on the headset).
 
M

Myst

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Intrinsic_sl said:
I'd say from a very high level, yes, you can go ahead and drop your wires where you need. But you need to decide if you're going like 4.1, 6.1, etc... to know where and how many drops to make. And where you are going to mount or floor stand the speakers and surrounds. They can for the most part just run 16 / 14 gauge 2-wire to where you tell them. Then terminate with something other than exposed wire until you figure out if you need banana plugs or clips, or whatever to plug in to your speakers.

That's assuming you aren't doing a whole home audio thing or you need some type of remote volume control knob and other stuff in the house.

The other part of your question though will lead you to a rabbit hole that can consume your whole life. But will probably start off somewhere with "what is your budget" and "whatw will you be watching / listening to. There's another thread here somewhere about home stereo I'll find to bump.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I will be buying a roll of 16 Gauge 100FT speaker wire and have them pass them around. I am thinking of going 5.1. My budget is around 1000$ and I will be mostly playing games/watching shows. Not a lot of music listening.

Why should I pass two wires to one spot? I thought each speaker needed 1 wire (already split in two)? I bought a face platehttp://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00K...A3MI752HIJW5ED, would I still need banana plugs?
 
S

skrala

Silver Knight of the Realm
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Dandai_sl said:
For the life of me I can't figure out how to get Skype to stop playing my system sounds to the other members of the call. I've tried about everything I can think of (disabling all other audio hardware except the one currently in use, turning listen on/off, etc). After a couple hours of googling and trying other people's proposed solutions I'm no further along than when I started.

Have any of you guys had this problem before? Perhaps it's driver related?

Edit: I guess I should provide examples. When I'm playing dota and have an open skype call, they can hear my hero sounds, music, etc (and other games if i'm playing something like XCOM while waiting in the queue). Also any movies (VLC) or browser sounds (youtube) will be heard by the party on the other end of the skype call. It's not a situation where the mic is so hot that it's picking up the sound from my headphones. When I mute the mic on skype it stops playing the sounds (it just occurred to me that I haven't tested muting the mic on the headset).
Click to expand...
Try switching the jack you're plugged into. I had the same issue a while ago, finally figured out if I was plugged into the front jack on my PC everyone would hear my system sounds. Plugged into the rear jack it worked as expected. I never really troubleshot further because my headset cable was plenty long enough to leave it plugged into the back.
 
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