Headphone random conversation

[anort3]

Oh you don't need Monoprice stands. I got them because they were the cheapest of the 'good' stands that I could find. I think they were about $100 each.

They will work fine on a desk and yes I'd use isolation pads so they don't create resonance or rattle.

Break out a tape measure and see if the desk will fit.

Ideally you'd want the speakers equally distant from the walls with at least 6-8 inches ( 15-20cm ) of free air behind them.

 

[Charagma]

Briefly read about the speakers and the headphones.

I work with Music (Audio) all day and 90% of the time I aim to get the perfect audio sound. That is ultimately what I do for a living. Getting music to as near perfect as possible. With the help of special equipment, software and spectrum analyzers I still need the correct audio devices.

Something to take into consideration when buying Speakers or headsets is that they are speakers and not monitors (Different type of speaker). If you aim for the "perfect sound" then look at Studio Monitor Speakers (Desktop). They are extremely pricey since they are NOT SPEAKERS but MONITORS and designed to give clarity and play back the audio as the original artist intended it to be. When using Monitors all settings should be at flat and pre-amp settings should not exceed 50%. In general, they are not LOUD, but the quality and purity of sound is incomparable.

Headphones, check that the inner ear dome (Inside of the headphone) is far away enough to not rub against theear. Prolonged use with these rubbing results into painful ears (The round part from your cheek side toward your ear) Not sure what that Lobe is called. Would seriously suggest testing the headphones with your daughter first. Else she will not have much enjoyment with her new headphones. Place it on your head and move it around (Not pushing and pulling just slightly in all 4 directions. You will feel if it catches that little lobe. If it does, look for something else possibly with a thicker padding or a domed Speaker (Or Monitor, budget dependent). Domed inwards to give the ear more "head room"

Speakers, if what you are aiming for. Desktop you can get JBL Professional 308P MKii Monitors. Remember they sell per each, so you need to buy two. Floor standing, then maybe something like Klipsch R-28PF (a set).

Keep in mind this is High end Monitor speakers, so they come at a price. But if you want to do it properly this would be the way I go.

 

[anort3]

Studio Monitor Speakers

This is a marketing term used for a speaker with a neutral tuning. It's incredibly vague and there's nothing that holds someone using that for their speakers to any standard. Real studio speakers are generally not desired for audiophile use although many real audiophile speakers are mostly neutral. The JBL 306P II and 308P II are great speakers if you want powered monitors. You won't see them as the base for many audiophile systems though. Even when connected to a higher end DAC they'll have noise you won't get with a passive speaker/power amp setup.

The Klipsch R-28 is one of their entry level speakers and can be quite fatiguing. Not a bad choice for home theater but not something I'd use for a home stereo. I have RF-82 IIs in my home theater which are the older version of the RP-8000F. The Kef Q3 Meta he's looking at is a newer, updated version of the Q350s which I have in my bedroom. Fantastic speakers for the price.

I've owned 17 or 18 pair of headphones ( listed them somewhere in this thread I think ) ranging from $150 to $1500 over the last 13 years. Narrowed that down to a Focal Clear and a HiFiMan Arya Stealth now. Again with headphones studio monitors are generally not what you want for music. Although the Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro with the balanced pads is pretty good. I agree though, trying them first is best but it's generally impossible unless you're lucky enough to live near a hifi shop.

 

[Charagma]

"Again with headphones studio monitors are generally not what you want for music."

Agreed on what you said with regards to "Studio Monitor Speakers", unfortunately if I said studio Monitor, most would be wondering why I am speaking of a "Screen" when they are all speaking of Speakers. Glad you understand what was said.

A friend of mine set me up with a set of Homebuilt monitors. He used high end monitors as a base product and filtered them out with electronics. In addition, it is a split system where I can raise or lower my frequencies, bass obviously being low, midrange just below my "Screen" and HFT's about a meter above my head (Seated position). I also have a mechanical sub (Same guy built it) that assists in air vibration when I work with Air Organs, or a full orchestra set where some of your lower frequencies are felt and not heard. I do not use any form of audio adaption (Equalizers or enhancements but to use a spectrum analyzer to make frequencies wider, Narrower, Higher or lower. I do the occasional clip as well but in general run my sound banks as they are.

I am reading specifications of various Monitors but can only guess what they do (Apart from living through a solid rock monitor demonstration years ago, I have never really been in the market for something like that. I have been using my monitor setup for the past 7 to maybe 10 years and has done me well. No need to fix a wheel that isn't broken.

I must also apologies. I was under the impression this was for Vocal communication purposes and not music. When someone speaks you want clarity as intended from the other end. That is originally why I recommended it. I was more concentrating on the Vocal side of things as opposed to the Music side of things.

 

[anort3]

I must also apologies. I was under the impression this was for Vocal communication purposes and not music. When someone speaks you want clarity as intended from the other end. That is originally why I recommended it. I was more concentrating on the Vocal side of things as opposed to the Music side of things.

One person was buying a gaming headset for his daughter. He's not the OP of the thread though. Again with a 'gaming' headset most aren't tuned correctly for music even if they have capable drivers. Audeze makes some of the best headphones in the world with their higher end units and were one of the first American companies to use planar magnetic drivers. They make a gaming set called the Maxwell which I haven't used but from what I've read is one of the better models available and work well for music as well as gaming. I was just giving him an option to the Steelseries he has now. The Steelseries is pretty good too surprisingly coming from a company known for making overpriced mice and keyboards. I do like their mousepads.

 

[Charagma]

Just looked at the specs on the Audeze Maxwell. Great frequency range of 10Hz to 50KHz and a .01% THD is great. Actually, something even I would invest in if I had the funds. Good call on this one. If there was a "I second that" button I would click it there by your comment.

Edit: Must add looked at the price here in my country and I can buy an i9 12gen Computer for that price.

 

[anort3]

Edit: Must add looked at the price here in my country and I can buy an i9 12gen Computer for that price.

Lol. These are the good ones:

LCD-5 | Transparency, Resolution and Speed at only 420 grams.

For the past decade, Audeze’s LCD series has set the standard for planar magnetic headphone performance. Starting with the LCD-2 that ushered in a new era of planar technology in 2009, we then introduced the LCD-3 in 2011 and LCD-4 in 2015. With the LCD-5, everything has been improved – drivers...

www.audeze.com

You'd want to pair them with a similarly priced headphone amp and DAC. WAY out of my price range.

 

[Charagma]

Lol. These are the good ones:

LCD-5 | Transparency, Resolution and Speed at only 420 grams.

For the past decade, Audeze’s LCD series has set the standard for planar magnetic headphone performance. Starting with the LCD-2 that ushered in a new era of planar technology in 2009, we then introduced the LCD-3 in 2011 and LCD-4 in 2015. With the LCD-5, everything has been improved – drivers...

www.audeze.com

You'd want to pair them with a similarly priced headphone amp and DAC. WAY out of my price range.

Just did the exchange rate to my country. I can buy a car for that price, have change and buy me a new pc (Middle range or cheaper car and better PC) and go visit all my kids for a week or two at each of them, spoil them rotten during that time. Possibly still have change and with the new pc would be able to play new games. I would line GOG and steam pockets for months to come. LMAO

 

[Colif]

. If there was a "I second that" button I would click it there by your comment.

there actually is, it just doesn't open up to new people right away. It used to be abused by spammers so the ability was restricted.

Keep posting and it will come.

At one point I was considering

ADAM Audio - A7V Active Studio Monitor (Nearfield)

The A7V from the A Series is a contemporary 2-way monitor that represents the evolution of ADAM Audio’s award winning A7X.

www.adam-audio.com

But Anort twisted my arm (lol)

How the artist intended is a trap as you can't reproduce the exact conditions the music was created in, and even if you could, thats just for one recording.

But arguing about sound is what keeps audiophile forums alive, and this thread was (long ago) about gaming headsets... I just changed topic as I went along.

 

[anort3]

You can get a pretty good used car for that here in the US. Once you add a few more thousand for an amp and DAC worthy of driving them you can get a nice used car.

I'd pay $5000 for speakers. I almost did recently but I ended up getting much cheaper Kef Q350s and an SVS SB1000 sub instead. I was thinking about getting Focal Aria 926s but they were just too much speaker for my bedroom. You can find them for about $2000 each on sale. Both Kefs and the sub was only $1500.

 

[Charagma]

"How the artist intended is a trap as you can't reproduce the exact conditions the music was created in, and even if you could, thats just for one recording."

I see you and most of my clients drink at the same tea garden, so much so you probably speak to them on first name basis. LMAO

It is my job to get it as perfect as possible. I basically take a song (arrangement), break it back down to notes and then add instruments to it. Do whatever changes my client request and pretty much re-record the whole thing. Client dependent on number of voices (Instrumental), instruments etc.

I question my career choices on daily basis so yes not easy. My dad told me to become a doctor or something, so I became a something.

 

[Charagma]

You can get a pretty good used car for that here in the US. Once you add a few more thousand for an amp and DAC worthy of driving them you can get a nice used car.

I'd pay $5000 for speakers. I almost did recently but I ended up getting much cheaper Kef Q350s and an SVS SB1000 sub instead. I was thinking about getting Focal Aria 926s but they were just too much speaker for my bedroom. You can find them for about $2000 each on sale. Both Kefs and the sub was only $1500.

Way out of my price range. On a different topic I spoke about a newer Mini PC that I would consider to buy instead of upgrading my current. A new Mini PC with pretty much all the bells and whistles will set me back 1403USD. I need to win the lotto for that. Set of speakers, I know this guy that builds me some out of his old ones and he does the electronic side of things for me for a very good prize. LMAO

 

[anort3]

I'm sure a skilled person could build speakers that are very very good for much cheaper than you can buy something similar for. I don't know anyone that does it. I'm sure I could if I tried. Eventually. But after buying all the tools and materials and failing 4 or 5 times it's cheaper to just buy them. lol

 

[Charagma]

Spoke to my dealer this morning.....that might sound odd in some conversations......spoke to him about speakers and lack of space. He suggested to look at Resonance speakers sometimes called bone speakers. Basically, a mechanical speaker that uses whatever object it is on to amplify the audio. As per him the prices are good and for personal PC/gaming use it will be sufficient. Simply place one on each side of the table and your table will become the speaker.

Not sure how to share a link but here it is:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZozOkUHijDI

 

[Colif]

Tidal still needs to work on their MQA collection - it needs to be replaced faster

It is my job to get it as perfect as possible. I basically take a song (arrangement), break it back down to notes and then add instruments to it. Do whatever changes my client request and pretty much re-record the whole thing. Client dependent on number of voices (Instrumental), instruments etc.

Guess I am just a listener whereas they want you to recreate magic exactly how it was. With small adjustments.
Its improbable for an average listener to reproduce the studio, but its your job to do it for one song.
Buying a music system just to hear one song is not normal. That was where I was coming from.

 

[Charagma]

Two sides of the spectrum, I guess. Only reason why I have the equipment is because it is work related. because of all my year in the industry I can hear the finer things in music. (Not hooting my own horn here, but trying to explain)

Listening to music through Speaker irritates me. I can hear the enhancements, and, in my head, I just want to adjust it. Call me spoiled for being in the industry, possibly. Also, a curse since I will not eat inside a restaurant with music playing on an audio system (Irritating), but I will sit inside if there is a live street artist just busking away or putting on a live show with his or her equipment.

Very hard to explain actually. Think it might be a good exercise for you to go to a Proper Audio store or even a store where they sell instruments and musical equipment. Most of them (Here by me anyway) have demo stations and ask the guy to set up some monitors for you. Have a listen, you might be surprised, and I might make you a believer. Unfortunately, there is nothing I can play for you for you the hear the difference because of the speaker/monitor situation. Something that you will need to experience by yourself.


We are both privileged and cursed (Me more than you obviously), sitting on different sides of a coin.

 

[Colif]

The section on different tools for different tasks here echoes what you were saying. It depends why you are listening as to what you want to hear

Difference Between Home Stereo Speakers And Studio Monitors

Pop music is made to be played back on home stereo systems. Wouldn’t it make sense to use the same kind of hi-fi speakers for monitoring and mixing? Yet recording professionals prefer dedicated monitor speakers for studio work. Here’s why!

www.neumann.com

I may look at JBL speakers, a local store might have them... but it won't be any time soon as I not buying any speakers for a few months.