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Audiophile GAF

Cutty Flam

Cutty Flam

Banned
tsumake said:
Switch doesn’t have bluetooth. You need an adapter.

www.gamespot.com

How To Use Bluetooth Headphones With Your Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch doesn't support Bluetooth headphones natively, but there are a number of headsets and adapters that can help you listen to your Switch wirelessly.
www.gamespot.com www.gamespot.com
Click to expand...
Thank you. I have an adapter, one by Skull & Co or something. Now I just need to find a quality pair of headphones. I have looked into the PS4’s Sony Gold Headphones as well as PS5 Sony 3D Pulse Headphones as options, and was really close to purchasing but then read that they’re cheaply made and have issues?

It would be cool to have bluetooth so I can play the Resident Evil games on the screen for consoles other than the Switch but even a wired pair of quality headphones would be excellent. That would probably mean no latency issues as well if there is a wire involved I would guess
 
T

tsumake

Member
Cutty Flam said:
Thank you. I have an adapter, one by Skull & Co or something. Now I just need to find a quality pair of headphones. I have looked into the PS4’s Sony Gold Headphones as well as PS5 Sony 3D Pulse Headphones as options, and was really close to purchasing but then read that they’re cheaply made and have issues?

It would be cool to have bluetooth so I can play the Resident Evil games on the screen for consoles other than the Switch but even a wired pair of quality headphones would be excellent. That would probably mean no latency issues as well if there is a wire involved I would guess
Click to expand...

What’s your budget?
 
T

tsumake

Member
Cutty Flam said:
Ideally like $80-120 and not much further but as I’m looking more into this, it seems like the pros are dishing out $300 plus for the best headphones
Click to expand...

Oh, you can go much higher. Be grateful you’re not on head fi ;)

For an open back headphone, the consensus is the Philips SHP9500:

Philips Audio Philips SHP9500 HiFi Precision Stereo Over-Ear Headphones (Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ENMK1DW/?tag=neogaf0e-20

For closed back in that price range, I’d defer to other ones on this thread. For an IEM, I heard the Sennheiser IE100 is good:

Sennheiser IE 100 Pro Clear Universal In Ear Monitor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TCKRRMD/?tag=neogaf0e-20

You can get the wireless version for $150.

These are my recommendations. For audio quality, I usually stay away from wireless sets.
 
T

tsumake

Member
I need some recommendations for a closed back headphone. I currently use a DT770 Pro and would like to upgrade from that. Preferably it should be a high impedance headphone (>250 ohm) so that I can pair it with my Hifiman EF2A (has an output impedance of 30 ohm) but it’s not an essential requirement. I was thinking of the DT1770 but I’ve heard mixed things about it. I like the bass response of the 770 but I’m open to other sound signatures. My price range is $500 or less. I’m looking for something that sounds great and can drown out NYC, without noise cancellation. Thanks.

EDIT: I’m also looking for a balanced input.
 
Last edited:
Maiden Voyage

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
I think John is right on these points, however I do think at some point in the next decade cd quality and (potentially) will become the default for your average consumer. Bluetooth is a big barrier, so hopefully we can see some advancements on the limitations therein.
 
T

tsumake

Member
Maiden Voyage said:
I think John is right on these points, however I do think at some point in the next decade cd quality and (potentially) will become the default for your average consumer. Bluetooth is a big barrier, so hopefully we can see some advancements on the limitations therein.
Click to expand...


Eventually they’ll overcome that barrier. CD quality is still perfectly fine, according to Nyquist. Just look at CD transports.
 
Maiden Voyage

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
tsumake said:
Eventually they’ll overcome that barrier. CD quality is still perfectly fine, according to Nyquist. Just look at CD transports.
Click to expand...
It takes a whole hell of a lot of attention on my part to discern the difference between HiRes & cd quality. Lossy to lossless I can tell with about 70% accuracy according to those test sites. I have to be actively listening in a quiet environment though.

I’ve been exclusively listening to HR at my desk and CD quality on my main system (due to the limitations on Apple TV). I feel like the more I listen at these high qualities, the more apparent it will become that AAC/OGG lossy files have auditory shortcomings. Sort of how CGI looks revolutionary at the time but is quite laughable after new tech comes out. I’ll have to test the theory out after enough time to see if that accuracy goes up.
 
T

tsumake

Member
Maiden Voyage said:
It takes a whole hell of a lot of attention on my part to discern the difference between HiRes & cd quality. Lossy to lossless I can tell with about 70% accuracy according to those test sites. I have to be actively listening in a quiet environment though.

I’ve been exclusively listening to HR at my desk and CD quality on my main system (due to the limitations on Apple TV). I feel like the more I listen at these high qualities, the more apparent it will become that AAC/OGG lossy files have auditory shortcomings. Sort of how CGI looks revolutionary at the time but is quite laughable after new tech comes out. I’ll have to test the theory out after enough time to see if that accuracy goes up.
Click to expand...

It all comes down the the recording and mastering. I’m sure on a highly resolving system you can hear a difference on an HR track, IF it’s well produced.

Conversely, on a great system 44.1/16 songs should sound phenomenal. Considering today’s average user bandwidth, lossless CD quality music streaming should be tenable for most consumers.
 
Last edited:
Maiden Voyage

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
tsumake said:
It all comes down the the recording and mastering. I’m sure on a highly resolving system you can hear a difference on an HR track, IF it’s well produced.

Conversely, on a great system 44.1/16 songs should sound phenomenal. Considering today’s average user bandwidth, lossless CD quality music streaming should be tenable for most consumers.
Click to expand...
Mastering & recording is critical no doubt. The high quality recording tech is certainly more accessible. My biggest hope out of all this is for the overall sound production of music to kick it up a notch. If Billie Eislish and her bro can create those songs so high quality in their bedroom, then there is no excuse in my eyes.
 
T

tsumake

Member
Maiden Voyage said:
Mastering & recording is critical no doubt. The high quality recording tech is certainly more accessible. My biggest hope out of all this is for the overall sound production of music to kick it up a notch. If Billie Eislish and her bro can create those songs so high quality in their bedroom, then there is no excuse in my eyes.
Click to expand...

You think she made it in her bedroom? Aren’t her parents record execs?
 
E

edzyy

Neo Member
edzyy said:
Marantz NR1604
Philharmonic AA monitors
Crown XLS for power.

Also now have dual Martin Logan Dynamo 700's
W3ksxqV.jpg
Click to expand...

Switched it up a bit.

Triad LR-H bookshelves
Crown XLS 2502
Celestion 3 center(now standing upright)
Dual Martin Logan Dynamo 700's

LkZ2flD.jpg
 
T8SC

T8SC

Member
Any news on 2021/22 Denon/Marantz/Yamaha AV receivers?

It seems the 2.1 debacle has been resolved and all "Sound United" receivers produced after May 2021 have the new chipset (and apparently a poorer DAC). Any news on when the next models will be released since these are now a year old?
 
ItsGreat

ItsGreat

Member
T8SC said:
Any news on 2021/22 Denon/Marantz/Yamaha AV receivers?

It seems the 2.1 debacle has been resolved and all "Sound United" receivers produced after May 2021 have the new chipset (and apparently a poorer DAC). Any news on when the next models will be released since these are now a year old?
Click to expand...

What was the 2.1 debacle?

I love 2.1.
 
hollams

hollams

Gold Member
I'm still amazed by my new PSA TV3612 subwoofers, they make listening to music an experience. I added a Monolith power amp for my front 3 speakers and that has made a huge difference as well. I'm hearing things I've never heard before and the clarity and separation of the music is astounding. When listening to the Lords of Summer by Metallica it's like the drums are right in front of me and I can hear where each drum is located.
 
T8SC

T8SC

Member
Con-Z-epT said:
First HDMI 2.1 receivers reportedly have faulty HDMI 2.1 chip - FlatpanelsHD

Should be resolved with the newer chipsets.
Click to expand...

The only problem is, you don't know if you have the newer chipset until you buy it & put the serial into Denon's website for whether you need the external HDMI box or not for the XBOX X/Nvidia GPU. However given the stock levels across the globe and most places don't have them sat on shelves, I reckon if you buy one, chances are it's a post-May build.
 
Con_Z_ǝdʇ

Con_Z_ǝdʇ

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
T8SC said:
The only problem is, you don't know if you have the newer chipset until you buy it & put the serial into Denon's website for whether you need the external HDMI box or not for the XBOX X/Nvidia GPU. However given the stock levels across the globe and most places don't have them sat on shelves, I reckon if you buy one, chances are it's a post-May build.
Click to expand...
So this could basically happened to all the receivers across all manufacturers? Not good.
 
T8SC

T8SC

Member
Con-Z-epT said:
So this could basically happened to all the receivers across all manufacturers? Not good.
Click to expand...

Yep, I know it affects Denon & Marantz (Sound United) along with Yamaha. However these are all 2020 receivers, which is why I want to know if there's a 2021/22 version inbound.

Pioneer & Onkyo have new receivers due and have the new chipsets; Onkyo NR5100, 6100, 7100 as well as the RZ50. Pioneer have the LX105. Also, these are reportedly including DIRAC calibration.

I think Arcam have some new receivers inbound too.
 
Con_Z_ǝdʇ

Con_Z_ǝdʇ

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
T8SC said:
Yep, I know it affects Denon & Marantz (Sound United) along with Yamaha. However these are all 2020 receivers, which is why I want to know if there's a 2021/22 version inbound.

Pioneer & Onkyo have new receivers due and have the new chipsets; Onkyo NR5100, 6100, 7100 as well as the RZ50. Pioneer have the LX105. Also, these are reportedly including DIRAC calibration.

I think Arcam have some new receivers inbound too.
Click to expand...
Interesting.

I'm on the look for one of the new Yamaha receivers to exchange my 10 year old system.
I will be very cautious with this now and gather further information.
 
T8SC

T8SC

Member
Here's a question I asked myself earlier today whilst buying some more bits for my latest theatre upgrade.

8k. We know its coming, Samsung have a few panels out already as do a few other manufacturers. However, considering Samsung (and others) have stopped 4k BD player production, they most likely won't start this back up. Reading some articles online, it seems to be that 8k will not have a physical disc format at all.

So, this has come about due to the majority of the public preferring the convenience of digital vs physical media and not caring about the improved quality physical copies deliver.

When I say convenience, it's essentially because people can't be bothered getting off their sofa to put a disc in a machine thats 10ft away.

So this brings me to 8k and the Internet.

There are some countries who simply do not have a very good Internet infrastructure, even those with fibre, sometimes its less than 50mbps and contended.

Given the size of 8k files, I wonder how long it will take to buffer a movie enough so that it plays through the 2hrs or so without stopping to rebuffer vs how long it would've taken the person to put a disc in & press play.

Has the general clueless public fucked things up by wanting convenience but this now being hampered by file sizes & Internet speeds ... essentially meaning that the convenience is lost and the quality is less?

Opinions anyone?

(I prefer physical media, give me that higher bitrate)
 
T

tsumake

Member
T8SC said:
Here's a question I asked myself earlier today whilst buying some more bits for my latest theatre upgrade.

8k. We know its coming, Samsung have a few panels out already as do a few other manufacturers. However, considering Samsung (and others) have stopped 4k BD player production, they most likely won't start this back up. Reading some articles online, it seems to be that 8k will not have a physical disc format at all.

So, this has come about due to the majority of the public preferring the convenience of digital vs physical media and not caring about the improved quality physical copies deliver.

When I say convenience, it's essentially because people can't be bothered getting off their sofa to put a disc in a machine thats 10ft away.

So this brings me to 8k and the Internet.

There are some countries who simply do not have a very good Internet infrastructure, even those with fibre, sometimes its less than 50mbps and contended.

Given the size of 8k files, I wonder how long it will take to buffer a movie enough so that it plays through the 2hrs or so without stopping to rebuffer vs how long it would've taken the person to put a disc in & press play.

Has the general clueless public fucked things up by wanting convenience but this now being hampered by file sizes & Internet speeds ... essentially meaning that the convenience is lost and the quality is less?

Opinions anyone?

(I prefer physical media, give me that higher bitrate)
Click to expand...

Well, NHK, the broadcast company that developed the HD standard, planned its successor to be 8K as the next broadcast standard. This was at least ten years ago. As far as broadcast standards go, I saw 4k as a weird intermediate. OTA was planned to be 8K but with the prevalence of streaming I don’t know exactly where that stands now. Recording 8K is not the problem - ingesting, editing and making 8K deliverables is the issue.

IMHO, there still isn’t enough 4K streaming content. So, 8K….

Well, they’re now trying to push 8K to the masses now. You’re starting to see prosumer DSLRs with 8K recording capabilities. 8K TVs will become more common, but the question is whether there will be much 8K content.

Considering you have movies that are still being mastered in 2K, it will probably take content providers a good while to catch up to TV resolutions.

Sorry for the rambling: In general I think a lot of people find 1080p “good enough,” and 4K is a nice plus. As far as the quality of video content, if bandwidth becomes an issue again we may find ourselves going back to physical media, which would be interesting.
 
T8SC

T8SC

Member
tsumake said:
Well, NHK, the broadcast company that developed the HD standard, planned its successor to be 8K as the next broadcast standard. This was at least ten years ago. As far as broadcast standards go, I saw 4k as a weird intermediate. OTA was planned to be 8K but with the prevalence of streaming I don’t know exactly where that stands now. Recording 8K is not the problem - ingesting, editing and making 8K deliverables is the issue.

IMHO, there still isn’t enough 4K streaming content. So, 8K….

Well, they’re now trying to push 8K to the masses now. You’re starting to see prosumer DSLRs with 8K recording capabilities. 8K TVs will become more common, but the question is whether there will be much 8K content.

Considering you have movies that are still being mastered in 2K, it will probably take content providers a good while to catch up to TV resolutions.

Sorry for the rambling: In general I think a lot of people find 1080p “good enough,” and 4K is a nice plus. As far as the quality of video content, if bandwidth becomes an issue again we may find ourselves going back to physical media, which would be interesting.
Click to expand...

Yeah I didn't touch to much on the creation of the content but you're right on that front there's not a great deal outside of sports. A lot of the 2k masters are due to the CGI being rendered in 2k (or less) and this is something that can't be changed (I may be wrong there). I think there may be more chance of seeing old movies recorded on "film" with no CGI remastered in 8k before modern digital movies with CGI in every scene.

I think we need to hold on the physical media. Granted the general public do not care for quality and most don't know the difference between HD & UHD nevermind bitrates & different HDR standards etc ... and these are the masses who drive the production (or lack of) of such media.
 
T

tsumake

Member
T8SC said:
Yeah I didn't touch to much on the creation of the content but you're right on that front there's not a great deal outside of sports. A lot of the 2k masters are due to the CGI being rendered in 2k (or less) and this is something that can't be changed (I may be wrong there). I think there may be more chance of seeing old movies recorded on "film" with no CGI remastered in 8k before modern digital movies with CGI in every scene.

I think we need to hold on the physical media. Granted the general public do not care for quality and most don't know the difference between HD & UHD nevermind bitrates & different HDR standards etc ... and these are the masses who drive the production (or lack of) of such media.
Click to expand...

I’m right there with you on physical media. I told myself I would get a 4K tv when Criterion starts releasing 4K blu rays. They never did, until about a week ago. Now I have a reason to get one.

As far as 4K/8K content, hell, I think videogames and porn will do more to drive that than anything else.
 
T8SC

T8SC

Member
tsumake said:
I’m right there with you on physical media. I told myself I would get a 4K tv when Criterion starts releasing 4K blu rays. They never did, until about a week ago. Now I have a reason to get one.

As far as 4K/8K content, hell, I think videogames and porn will do more to drive that than anything else.
Click to expand...

Porn helped VHS afterall.

Game developers cant make current resolution games in an acceptable timeframe, so I'll be surprised if they push textures that far, we'll be waiting a whole generation for one game.

I just hope the current generation wake up and stop renting/leasing things and actually buy something for once; like physical media.
 
T

tsumake

Member
T8SC said:
Porn helped VHS afterall.

Game developers cant make current resolution games in an acceptable timeframe, so I'll be surprised if they push textures that far, we'll be waiting a whole generation for one game.

I just hope the current generation wake up and stop renting/leasing things and actually buy something for once; like physical media.
Click to expand...

Well, what’s the quote? “You will own nothing, and be happy.”
 
T

tsumake

Member
Update on the HD6XX:

After a few months of moderate use, I think they’re finally broke in. I tried listening to some music without Autoeq and they sounded quite nice, save the annoying bump at 3khz. I bumped that down a fews on the equalizer in Foobar and bumped up the 5khz and how it isn’t so annoying at the upper range.

I also found out that WASAPI shared suffers from the same resampling crap as the other audio drivers. Stick to just WASAPI if you want bit perfect.

I deleted Equalizer APO and Peace. I use Foobar for all my listening needs. The AutoEQ really dampened the sound. I thought that was preferable because of the upper mid range but all you really have to do is a tame it a bit with an equalizer.

Also, burn in is real. These headphones sound noticeably better now.
 
Maiden Voyage

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
Rise Records is having a flash 24 hour sale. 20% of all vinyl except pre-orders. There's a few Hot Water Music albums on there. I already picked up 2 on the last go round. Planning on getting the 3rd.

riserecords.com

Vinyl LP

Shop official vinyl from your favorite Rise Records artists.
riserecords.com riserecords.com
 
T

TheHighFlyingBirds

Member
ForAcademicPurposes said:
Maiden Voyage Maiden Voyage Help me out here bro.

I'm looking for alternatives to the Mojo/Poly.

A portable dac/streamer that you can take on the go.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...
For standard portable dacs (no streamer) check out ifi, they do the hip dac which is portable amongst others. Also, if you use your phone for streaming, you could get the go blu, which is a very small portable usb and bluetooth dac/amp. The bluetooth function allows you to use your standard wired headphones as wireless headphones, especially handy where your phone doesn't have a headphone jack.
 
ForAcademicPurposes

ForAcademicPurposes

Member
Maiden Voyage said:
Nothing that will beat that quality tbh. But if the price is a limiting factor, I would probably check out either FiiO's lineup of DAPs or one from Astell & Kern. I'm not much of a portable+High-quality listener though.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I realize that I'm getting into DAP territory here but I was hoping there would be something else out there. Alas. Thanks for taking the time to answer the question.
TheHighFlyingBirds said:
For standard portable dacs (no streamer) check out ifi, they do the hip dac which is portable amongst others. Also, if you use your phone for streaming, you could get the go blu, which is a very small portable usb and bluetooth dac/amp. The bluetooth function allows you to use your standard wired headphones as wireless headphones, especially handy where your phone doesn't have a headphone jack.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip. I'll look into it and see if it's right for me.
 
T8SC

T8SC

Member
Here's one to ponder.

I had a discussion with a friend recently, he asked why I use Amazon Music Unlimited instead of Spotify, which he uses.

I said to him, how much do you pay, he replied £9.99.

I then asked, you have Amazon Prime yes? He replied, yeah why?

I then said, so you pay £2 more than me for Spotify, have no HD audio and a similar catalogue of titles.

To which I was met with "Yeah but Spotify is better".

How? I asked. Amazon is cheaper and has better quality audio.

To which I got back something like "Because it's Spotify, everyone uses it, its just better".

d8p19a4-8b9b6558-6432-4897-95e6-f34272fde990.jpg



So can someone here please tell me why a person would choose Spotify over something like Amazon Music Unlimited?

I think Apple Music also does HD Audio, not sure of the price though. Others like Tidal do too but they aren't as well known here to the "mainstream".
 
DGrayson

DGrayson

Mod Team and Bat Team
Staff Member
I cant pay for something that doesnt have true lossless audio.

I use Tidal. Quboz also looks interesting but I am happy with Tidal. Maybe not all the features of Spotify like some public playlists but its worth it for lossless.
 
rofif

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
Spukc said:
Airpods max.

its the same shit i had with the pro’s all over again..


fuck everything else.. these will be my main cans.

nothing is as easy to use as this.
Apple did it again.
Click to expand...
I am like that with Sony pulse 3d currently. Easy to use, sounds great and works with pc.
for a phone I jest have and random buds. Just for commute podcast
 
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