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Just had these come though in the post!
Audio-Technica ATH-M50XBL
Audio-Technica ATH-M50XBL
what headphones do you own thread - i own dt150's :)
- Thread starter garyfl
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Caporegime
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You planning on modding them?
You now need to give your wallet to someone for safe keeping because once you get your first pair of decent headphones, there is no knowing where it will end
I got them and a Xonar DGX and the difference with pretty much everything is amazing. Positional audio in games, sound quality is much improved too.
But now I am considering a DAC for my XB1.
Nah, I am happy as I am.
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You now need to give your wallet to someone for safe keeping because once you get your first pair of decent headphones, there is no knowing where it will end
Seriously...this 'hobby' is a black hole for your wallet. Once you're happy with what you have, get out.
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But how do you know that you wouldn't be happier with something else
This was exactly what led me to my last purchase. I wasn't satisfied with my Soloist so ended up getting this...
You'll get pure stereo sound so the positioning will be as good as the game you're playing utilises stereo positional sound. Most modern games are really good and I don't miss any aspect of my old Xonar cards since moving from them to a DAC hybrid amp. In fact I enjoy gaming, music and movies more now than ever before.
Personally I dislike Dolby Headphone mode as to me everything feels too artificial and echo filled.
Sample them all and choose what your ears are telling you feel the best.
Personally I dislike Dolby Headphone mode as to me everything feels too artificial and echo filled.
Sample them all and choose what your ears are telling you feel the best.
While it's true that you'll get pure stereo from a DAC, it's also possible to get positional audio from Dolby Headphone if you feed the dac via optical SPDIF from a sound card.
Modern games such as Battlefield 4 do have their own headphone drivers which take the place of the sound card's DSP and add in the positional audio cues within the game.
In effect the game creates a binaural stream and you get to hear in surround sound through simple stereo.
However, this is currently done on a game by game basis as there is no standard and not all games can offer this. Skyrim is a good example as it has no headphone driver and playing in stereo sounds flat and lifeless. If you crank the channels up to 8 and select Dolby Headphone, the world of Skyrim really comes to life. I think it must be card dependent because on my STX, Dolby Headphone doesn't sound anything like mrk describes it.
Modern games such as Battlefield 4 do have their own headphone drivers which take the place of the sound card's DSP and add in the positional audio cues within the game.
In effect the game creates a binaural stream and you get to hear in surround sound through simple stereo.
However, this is currently done on a game by game basis as there is no standard and not all games can offer this. Skyrim is a good example as it has no headphone driver and playing in stereo sounds flat and lifeless. If you crank the channels up to 8 and select Dolby Headphone, the world of Skyrim really comes to life. I think it must be card dependent because on my STX, Dolby Headphone doesn't sound anything like mrk describes it.
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That Taurus is a thing of beauty, both aesthetically and technically but so far outside my budget as to be a lottery dream - shame I don't do it
It sounds even better than it looks, it'll probably be my end game amp (well for SS at least).
Just switched from ODAC + NJC Audio Monitor II + HD650 to STX II + K702. Found myself using them 100% for games and never music.
Also saved myself a few £££ in the process. I'll probably add an Amp down the line, although from my understanding the STX II uses the same amp as the O2 Amp. Admittedly I'd probably get a slightly better sound from having the O2 with custom gain settings.
Also saved myself a few £££ in the process. I'll probably add an Amp down the line, although from my understanding the STX II uses the same amp as the O2 Amp. Admittedly I'd probably get a slightly better sound from having the O2 with custom gain settings.
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From what I can figure out, the STX II uses the TPA 6120 buffer (a failry popular chip used in the likes of the FiiO E9). The O2 uses the NJM4556's: http://nwavguy.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/o2-design-process.html
10 Ohm output impedance is still rather high...
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With the K702 I don't think you would see much improvement. The damping factor is still reasonable (anything under 2 and I would be concerned for dynamic drivers). The 10 ohm output impedance is more of an issue if you want to try and use balanced armature IEM's.