So I've been looking into DACs for a while now since getting my V-Modas a wee while back. With Christmas coming up my parental units have very kindly decided that they would like to purchase one for me. Not even knowing what a DAC is they've asked me to choose one.
My personal requisites are something portable, that works with android, and won't break the bank.
So first off I started looking at the Fiio e18, since I'd heard a few good things about Fiio in general and the e18 was designed to be used with mobiles. Turns out that's been discontinued just recently and can't be had in the UK for less than a 50% markup on the original price. So scratch that one.
Next up and seemingly an even better purchase would be the Audioquest Dragonfly Red. Reviews online pretty much unanimously put it at top of class in it's price range. It doesn't have it's own battery, but seems that the power draw is so low that it barely matters. V-Modas aren't high impedance either so I'm not worried there. Turns out that there was a fire in a warehouse somewhere that has made the things gold dust.
I cannae catch a break!
Does it need to be portable? What price range and features do you need?
Definite on the portable I'm afraid, which seems to limit my options.
Price range I'm looking sub £200, but probably some wriggle room if something awesome is just outside of it.
Features-wise, other than being Android compatible (OTG USB cable styley) there's not much I particularly want other than the "best" sound possible. I listen to an absolute shit ton of extreme metal, so clarity in a crowded mix would be paramount. The V-Modas already pack a ton of bass, so I don't need any particular boost there. A battery might be nice, though that totally depends on the power draw of the DAC.
The Dragonfly Red literally seems to be a usb thumbdrive with a 3.5mm out on it, which can run off of native Android or a PC. It honestly seems like the perfect DAC for me, just nowhere in the UK has it at the moment.
When I was shopping for a new DAC back in October I was wondering why the Dragonfly Red was out of stock everywhere. I thought it was just really popular but I would have never considered a factory fire to be the cause.
With the Red being unavailable what about the Black version? As I say, that I checked Amazon and a third party seller has 3 left in stock.
@Campy I edited my post, but I'll say it here just in case, but two third party sellers on Amazon have the Red in stock. It's Amazon USA but one seller on Amazon UK may have stock too.
Thanks @Cormac I might have forgot to add that I'm in the UK. There is a seller on the UK Amazon, but again it's a 70% markup on what they should be selling at. Supply and demand and all, but I'm not up for paying that kind of premium to get it right now.
There are actually a couple of new sellers just through google, so I'mma have a look at them.
Edit: So I phoned up a few places, one of the conversations pretty much sums up the current situation.
Shop Guy: "Hello blahdeblahshop, how can I help you?"
Me: "Hi, I'm phoning up to check whether you have an item in stock"
Shop Guy: "I think I know what you're going to say..."
Me: "That's not a good sign, go on then"
Shop Guy: "Audioquest Dragonfly Red... And no, sorry"
Seems like they've been getting inundated with calls about it for the last 6 weeks or so. Everywhere seems to have been told by Audioquest that deliveries will be happening "soon", but it's been that way a little while now...
I initially missed the £ and edited my post before I replied. I got nailed by price gouging on a motherboard a month or so ago, but at least the seller now stuck with 15 motherboards they'll have to sell at a loss now that Amazon has stock again.
I'm not sure what the UK prices are, but the Meridian Explorer² and Apogee Groove are worth a look too.
Descendant XSkyrim is my god now.Outpost 31Registered Userregular
edited December 2016
Do any of you guys have any recommendations for good Bluetooth earbuds? I'm looking at the Jaybird Freedoms right now.
Edit: I picked up a pair or Jaybird Freedoms. They are great so far, although I've only listened to a few songs by The Body. They have a great app that allow you to control the EQ and choose from settings uploaded by the community.
Nice set of earbuds for $160 CAN.
Descendant X on
Garry: I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time I'd rather not spend the rest of the winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!
Quick question: I bought a receiver to use with my ancient Genesis physics corp speakers, and they're spring clips with tiny holes. I bought 14 gauge wire because it was recommended for sound quality, but I literally had to bend back 40% of the copper strands and could only fit in the rest. Am I only in danger if those wires contact anything else, should I go buy banana clips now and redo the wiring or if everything works as is, should I bother?
On the receiver side of things, all the wiring fit, but I ended up leaving too much exposed, so there are still several millimeters of copper sitting open.
Do any of you guys have any recommendations for good Bluetooth earbuds? I'm looking at the Jaybird Freedoms right now.
Edit: I picked up a pair or Jaybird Freedoms. They are great so far, although I've only listened to a few songs by The Body. They have a great app that allow you to control the EQ and choose from settings uploaded by the community.
Nice set of earbuds for $160 CAN.
Tell me how they end up working out. I switched to an iPhone and want to wear ear buds at work and was looking for some bluetooth ones. Only problem I have is I'm a supervisor and I have to be able to pause at a moments notice when someone comes into my office with a question. Would prefer something that hooks over the ear as well which those seem to do depending on the model?
0
webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
Quick question: I bought a receiver to use with my ancient Genesis physics corp speakers, and they're spring clips with tiny holes. I bought 14 gauge wire because it was recommended for sound quality, but I literally had to bend back 40% of the copper strands and could only fit in the rest. Am I only in danger if those wires contact anything else, should I go buy banana clips now and redo the wiring or if everything works as is, should I bother?
On the receiver side of things, all the wiring fit, but I ended up leaving too much exposed, so there are still several millimeters of copper sitting open.
Buy the correct wire that fits the smaller hole. You can also trim down the wire you peeled back flush with the insulation and you'll more than likely be just fine. On the receiver side trim back the copper so the insulation can sit flush with the connector.
Do any of you guys have any recommendations for good Bluetooth earbuds? I'm looking at the Jaybird Freedoms right now.
Edit: I picked up a pair or Jaybird Freedoms. They are great so far, although I've only listened to a few songs by The Body. They have a great app that allow you to control the EQ and choose from settings uploaded by the community.
Nice set of earbuds for $160 CAN.
Tell me how they end up working out. I switched to an iPhone and want to wear ear buds at work and was looking for some bluetooth ones. Only problem I have is I'm a supervisor and I have to be able to pause at a moments notice when someone comes into my office with a question. Would prefer something that hooks over the ear as well which those seem to do depending on the model?
They're pretty good, to be honest. They do indeed hook over the ear, and it's easy to hit pause at a moment's notice. They do take a bit of finagling to fit properly, but once you've got that sorted you're good to go.
Garry: I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time I'd rather not spend the rest of the winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!
Is this thread also for AV receivers, or is that the TV thread - or a different one yet? If it's the first option, I was wondering if anyone here had any experience with the Sony STR-DN1070, so I could pick their brains.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
0
webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
Picked up some Sony MDR-7506 headphones from work. They were cleaning house from an old project and these were up for grabs. They sound pretty good! Especially for free.
I have the new schitt stack, magni 2 uber/modi 2 uber (sounds absolutely delightful with my oppo-pm3s) and interestingly enough, either the toslink from monoprice cant drive 24/192, just gives me a hiss. That or the onboard soundcard for MSI is the one dropping the ball, but it isnt a cheap mobo and optical cables are known for being finicky when it comes to that rating. Minor issue since I can just run it with USB, was more about having a port free than anything else.
On another note, for you home theater enthusiast in the thread, where do you prefer to go for your reviews re: pre-amps/amps/speakers etc? I have a solid system that wont be replaced anytime soon (denon 4311ci in pre-amp with B&K 200.7 amp doing all the heavy lifting) but realised while I have a ton of great places to read about headphones and dacs etc dont really have anything for traditional home theater.
This is a bit of an intersectional question: this weekend I read the Eurogamer review of Sony's Platinum headphones for PS4. So far, I've used a set of Sennheiser headphones hooked up to an AV receiver for most of my PS4 gaming - they're good, but they're stereo only. My questions are as follows:
1) How good is 7.1 and 3D sound on headphones?
2) Anyone has any first-hand experience with the Platinum headphones?
Thirith on
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
0
Casually HardcoreOnce an Asshole. Trying to be better.Registered Userregular
For question 1, "3D headphones" are not good. However, 3D processing in software fed to quality headphones can be great for gaming and decent for music and movies.
I think that the internet has been for years on the path to creating what is essentially an electronic Necronomicon: A collection of blasphemous unrealities so perverse that to even glimpse at its contents, if but for a moment, is to irrevocably forfeit a portion of your sanity.
Xbox - PearlBlueS0ul, Steam
If you ever need to talk to someone, feel free to message me. Yes, that includes you.
+2
Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
I guess this is probably the right place to ask?
I'm looking at buying a wireless headset soon. Sound quality is not especially important, they're for my PC and therefore comfort is king above all else.
I've narrowed it down to either the Astro A50, the Steelseries Siberia 800, or the Logitech G933. Any opinions on the 3?
I'm looking at buying a wireless headset soon. Sound quality is not especially important, they're for my PC and therefore comfort is king above all else.
I've narrowed it down to either the Astro A50, the Steelseries Siberia 800, or the Logitech G933. Any opinions on the 3?
Goddamn it Dhalphir, why are you right before me?
I've got much the same question--I noticed that my criteria for a gaming headset was very much limiting my choices, so I gave up on wanting bluetooth since I already had a adequate console headset. I wanted to ask if anyone had any experience with the Corsair Gaming H2100 headphones, or the Corsair Vengeance 2100 (the same model with slightly different branding). They seem to have been the last "non-ridiculous-looking" gaming headsets Corsair put out in that price range before going full "proleague glowing green LEDs" and were generally well-recommended in the past. Recommendations for similar models would also be welcome.
I wasn't wedded to the idea of wireless at all, until I realize the primary reason I didn't use my Creative Fatality headset from years past was because I hated unpacking it and unplugging it in (also the wiring on the Mic went bad at some point).
Synthesis on
0
Descendant XSkyrim is my god now.Outpost 31Registered Userregular
This is a bit of an intersectional question: this weekend I read the Eurogamer review of Sony's Platinum headphones for PS4. So far, I've used a set of Sennheiser headphones hooked up to an AV receiver for most of my PS4 gaming - they're good, but they're stereo only. My questions are as follows:
1) How good is 7.1 and 3D sound on headphones?
2) Anyone has any first-hand experience with the Platinum headphones?
Fair warning, I'm not an audiophile by any stretch of the term. I'd like to point out though that the PS Gold headphones are quite nice on their own and are fantastic when paired with PSVR. For instance, RE7 regularly has areas where you can hear things being dragged on the floor above you, and it actually sounds like the noise is coming from above rather than just being there in the mix. I'm not sure if this is an actual function of the headphones or some sort of brain trick, but it's pretty neat.
That being said, I don't have any experience with the Platinum headphones and the preceding paragraph only holds true for my experiences with the Gold headphones plugged in to the PSVR headphone jack. Subjectivity is king, unfortunately, and YMMV.
Garry: I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time I'd rather not spend the rest of the winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!
I picked up a set of the Steelseries Arctis 5 this last week. It has been so, so very long since I had a good headset (or PC speakers). It was beautiful.
I'm not sure if this is an actual function of the headphones or some sort of brain trick, but it's pretty neat.
I guess that's it for me - the reviews I've read of the Platinum headphones are all tremendously excited about how 'spatial' the results sound, whereas audiophiles generally just find synonyms of 'trash' and 'shit' to describe 7.1 headphones. Are the former simply wrong? Are the latter dogmatic snobs? Or is the truth more complicated?
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
0
Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
"5.1/7.1" headphones are often cheaply made with ~half a dozen shitty little drivers in each earcup, which don't actually do a very good job of creating a surround sound experience at all, because the drivers are all too close to your ear to be individually discernable. Whereas using a quality well-built pair of stereo headphones with just one big premium driver in each earcup means you get MUCH better quality sound, and the software environmental sound modelling available these days even on motherboard built-in soundchips gives a much better result due to magic with timing and volume of sounds that make everything sound MUCH more spacious and directional than the supposed "surround sound" headphones.
Playing a game like Battlefield 3 with my (stereo) Denons on my head, the surround effects were extremely lifelike. For example I could rely on the sound to accurately tell me where people were when they were running around offscreen behind me 50 metres away.
I have another headphone-related question: I'm not particularly happy with the Bluetooth speaker I've got in the kitchen; especially when I'm roasting stuff in the pan, I have to turn it up pretty high, and at that point the sound is simply not very good.
I'm thinking that Bluetooth headphones might be a better option. I don't need anything amazing (I'd mainly listen to MP3s and podcasts), just something solid under US$100, if that's reasonable. Any suggestions?
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
Because my ATH-AD700s have been busted for a while, I've been using my ATH-M50s almost exclusively.
Thing is, the ATH-M50s aren't exactly the most comfortable for prolonged use--and I'm wearing headphones like, 14 hours a day or more. My ears were getting torn up, like sores and stuff torn up.
This led me to exploring options for pad replacement, which led to me ordering a pair of Shure SRH840 pads that apparently work well on the M50s.
Comfort level is completely different--for my ear size, they turned from supra-aural to circumaural headphones. These are significantly bigger, softer, and deeper pads. They fit a little loose, but nothing that's going to come off under regular usage.
Sound shifted a tiny bit, I noticed a bit less impact on the bass and a bit of more treble, I tweaked with my equalizer but only because of my preferences, not because they sounded bad. The sound leaks a bit more now than it did, no surprise there, but it's not too bad.
And my ears aren't going to wither and fall off if I keep wearing them now, which is a big plus.
Does anyone have any advice on connecting wireless headsets to PCs? A little while ago I needed my hands free while on the phone and purchased a Delton 10x wireless headset to do that. It worked fine for that purpose. However, while I have it just sitting around now, I'm trying to see if I can somehow use it for voice chat while gaming. I can get it to pair up fine, and be detected as having audio input and output, but no sound is actually going through it in either direction. I've tried fiddling around with the bluetooth settings a bit, and it eventually just resulted in the settings app (I'm on Windows 8.1) softlocking while I had it connected.
This is probably as good a spot as any...I'm looking to setup a surround sound system at home. I bought an old 60s credenza cabinet and want to turn it into a media center. We usually stream music from spotify and watch tv via a chrome cast, but I'm also going to hook my record player to it. I'm mostly just looking for a nice 5.1 receiver with bluetooth/wireless functionality and a decent number of HDMI / USB hookups right?
It's been a while since I've looked into stereos/receivers so I'm a bit lost as to where its at these days.
i'll throw in a general recommendation for Onkyo. I've had mine for at least 10 years, and it's still kicking and doing almost everything I need it to do (which is why I don't have a specific newer model to recommend!)....the only thing I wish it did was pull HDMI audio out, but the unit is old enough that it does HDMI pass-through only.
Anyway, unless something has drastically changed with the company's quality, I don't think you can go wrong if you find something from them within your budget.
I'd like to get music in my house again... it's been missing. But with a 16 mo baby that terrorizes the house, I need to try and do it without cables/wires if possible. Is there any good sounding wireless solutions I can use until I can get her to stop pulling every wire/cable she finds?
edit: After a bit of reading, wirecutter recommends Sonos as their pick. Does anyone have any hands on with this?
Posts
Does it need to be portable? What price range and features do you need?
Price range I'm looking sub £200, but probably some wriggle room if something awesome is just outside of it.
Features-wise, other than being Android compatible (OTG USB cable styley) there's not much I particularly want other than the "best" sound possible. I listen to an absolute shit ton of extreme metal, so clarity in a crowded mix would be paramount. The V-Modas already pack a ton of bass, so I don't need any particular boost there. A battery might be nice, though that totally depends on the power draw of the DAC.
The Dragonfly Red literally seems to be a usb thumbdrive with a 3.5mm out on it, which can run off of native Android or a PC. It honestly seems like the perfect DAC for me, just nowhere in the UK has it at the moment.
http://steamcommunity.com/id/pablocampy
Ooooh, that is purty! A little over my budget, but definitely one to consider. Thanks!
http://steamcommunity.com/id/pablocampy
With the Red being unavailable what about the Black version? As I say, that I checked Amazon and a third party seller has 3 left in stock.
Edit: Three of the Red in stock
http://steamcommunity.com/id/pablocampy
There are actually a couple of new sellers just through google, so I'mma have a look at them.
Edit: So I phoned up a few places, one of the conversations pretty much sums up the current situation.
Shop Guy: "Hello blahdeblahshop, how can I help you?"
Me: "Hi, I'm phoning up to check whether you have an item in stock"
Shop Guy: "I think I know what you're going to say..."
Me: "That's not a good sign, go on then"
Shop Guy: "Audioquest Dragonfly Red... And no, sorry"
Seems like they've been getting inundated with calls about it for the last 6 weeks or so. Everywhere seems to have been told by Audioquest that deliveries will be happening "soon", but it's been that way a little while now...
http://steamcommunity.com/id/pablocampy
I'm not sure what the UK prices are, but the Meridian Explorer² and Apogee Groove are worth a look too.
Edit: I picked up a pair or Jaybird Freedoms. They are great so far, although I've only listened to a few songs by The Body. They have a great app that allow you to control the EQ and choose from settings uploaded by the community.
Nice set of earbuds for $160 CAN.
On the receiver side of things, all the wiring fit, but I ended up leaving too much exposed, so there are still several millimeters of copper sitting open.
Tell me how they end up working out. I switched to an iPhone and want to wear ear buds at work and was looking for some bluetooth ones. Only problem I have is I'm a supervisor and I have to be able to pause at a moments notice when someone comes into my office with a question. Would prefer something that hooks over the ear as well which those seem to do depending on the model?
Buy the correct wire that fits the smaller hole. You can also trim down the wire you peeled back flush with the insulation and you'll more than likely be just fine. On the receiver side trim back the copper so the insulation can sit flush with the connector.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
They're pretty good, to be honest. They do indeed hook over the ear, and it's easy to hit pause at a moment's notice. They do take a bit of finagling to fit properly, but once you've got that sorted you're good to go.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
On another note, for you home theater enthusiast in the thread, where do you prefer to go for your reviews re: pre-amps/amps/speakers etc? I have a solid system that wont be replaced anytime soon (denon 4311ci in pre-amp with B&K 200.7 amp doing all the heavy lifting) but realised while I have a ton of great places to read about headphones and dacs etc dont really have anything for traditional home theater.
1) How good is 7.1 and 3D sound on headphones?
2) Anyone has any first-hand experience with the Platinum headphones?
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
2) Sorry, I don't.
If you ever need to talk to someone, feel free to message me. Yes, that includes you.
I'm looking at buying a wireless headset soon. Sound quality is not especially important, they're for my PC and therefore comfort is king above all else.
I've narrowed it down to either the Astro A50, the Steelseries Siberia 800, or the Logitech G933. Any opinions on the 3?
Goddamn it Dhalphir, why are you right before me?
I've got much the same question--I noticed that my criteria for a gaming headset was very much limiting my choices, so I gave up on wanting bluetooth since I already had a adequate console headset. I wanted to ask if anyone had any experience with the Corsair Gaming H2100 headphones, or the Corsair Vengeance 2100 (the same model with slightly different branding). They seem to have been the last "non-ridiculous-looking" gaming headsets Corsair put out in that price range before going full "proleague glowing green LEDs" and were generally well-recommended in the past. Recommendations for similar models would also be welcome.
I wasn't wedded to the idea of wireless at all, until I realize the primary reason I didn't use my Creative Fatality headset from years past was because I hated unpacking it and unplugging it in (also the wiring on the Mic went bad at some point).
Fair warning, I'm not an audiophile by any stretch of the term. I'd like to point out though that the PS Gold headphones are quite nice on their own and are fantastic when paired with PSVR. For instance, RE7 regularly has areas where you can hear things being dragged on the floor above you, and it actually sounds like the noise is coming from above rather than just being there in the mix. I'm not sure if this is an actual function of the headphones or some sort of brain trick, but it's pretty neat.
That being said, I don't have any experience with the Platinum headphones and the preceding paragraph only holds true for my experiences with the Gold headphones plugged in to the PSVR headphone jack. Subjectivity is king, unfortunately, and YMMV.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
Playing a game like Battlefield 3 with my (stereo) Denons on my head, the surround effects were extremely lifelike. For example I could rely on the sound to accurately tell me where people were when they were running around offscreen behind me 50 metres away.
I have another headphone-related question: I'm not particularly happy with the Bluetooth speaker I've got in the kitchen; especially when I'm roasting stuff in the pan, I have to turn it up pretty high, and at that point the sound is simply not very good.
I'm thinking that Bluetooth headphones might be a better option. I don't need anything amazing (I'd mainly listen to MP3s and podcasts), just something solid under US$100, if that's reasonable. Any suggestions?
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
Thing is, the ATH-M50s aren't exactly the most comfortable for prolonged use--and I'm wearing headphones like, 14 hours a day or more. My ears were getting torn up, like sores and stuff torn up.
This led me to exploring options for pad replacement, which led to me ordering a pair of Shure SRH840 pads that apparently work well on the M50s.
Comfort level is completely different--for my ear size, they turned from supra-aural to circumaural headphones. These are significantly bigger, softer, and deeper pads. They fit a little loose, but nothing that's going to come off under regular usage.
Sound shifted a tiny bit, I noticed a bit less impact on the bass and a bit of more treble, I tweaked with my equalizer but only because of my preferences, not because they sounded bad. The sound leaks a bit more now than it did, no surprise there, but it's not too bad.
And my ears aren't going to wither and fall off if I keep wearing them now, which is a big plus.
It's been a while since I've looked into stereos/receivers so I'm a bit lost as to where its at these days.
Anyway, unless something has drastically changed with the company's quality, I don't think you can go wrong if you find something from them within your budget.
The Wirecutter's current recommendation is the Denon AVR-S720W http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-receiver/
MonoPrice AMP
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
Monoprice has a great return policy, so it's certainly worth trying for 30 days and sending it back if you don't like it.
edit: After a bit of reading, wirecutter recommends Sonos as their pick. Does anyone have any hands on with this?
But it's good