Good portable USB audio, decent earbud help

veritas7

Gawd
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Nov 7, 2007
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Hi, I'm looking for a good set of earbuds ~60-70 USD that have some bass, or at least some bass without the lack theof. I'm also looking for a portable audio solution for my laptop, as the onboard audio is terrible (so much noise) and the Turtle Beach AAMicro USB I bought still has some noise/issues. My budget for the USB audio is ~100 USD, I can be a more lenient if someone has personal experience/anecdotes. I'd like them so I can stroll around campus and use them in the library.

My current Shure SCL2s have literally no bass, and I've been using a Fiio E5 amp, but the nuisance of that with my iPod/phone is annoying (and also... dun dun, adds a little, but still noticeable, noise).

I wish I didn't have this curse of having really good ears and noticing every little thing :\ ignorance is bliss!
 
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IEMs and canalphones are notorious for picking up any smallest amount of noise. You really need to spend quite a bit of money to get something truly quiet with most IEMs. One 'fix' that can help is to put a resistor inline with the headphones. For example this article outlines one way to do it (though his reason for doing it is different). You can also get premade ones like this.

As far as recommendations I don't really like earbud or IEM headphones much, but I have heard excellent things about Yuin's earbud offerings. Both the PK2 and OK3 (near your pricerange) are supposed to be excellent for the price, with good bass and good overall sound, though the PK2 are low impedance and quite sensitive so may have the hiss issue (which the adapter should take care of).

What's your budget for the amp/DAC?
 
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Well, with this new information, that's kind of a bummer. keenan, does amp/DAC in this context mean my USB audio in this case? If so, I had it specified at ~$100 USD in my original post, but now I guess it's changed.

I'll put a budget on everything then ~$400-500 USD. Right now as you can see I'm keen/fine with my desktop (an X-Fi Titanium, and a good set of old Boston 2.1s, sig is gaming computer not work) but as I'm going to be moving around alot, I'd like my audio better for on the go.

Thanks for the great help so far. Also, if you know of maybe a set of headphones that would stand the abuse for library use (I'll still stick with IEM/earbuds for traveling, as I know with the weather and constant use between classes would take too much of a toll on headphones) I'm all for getting a pair as well.
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EDIT: Also, apart from the budget, I'm looking to get maybe 2-3 of those adapters. What ohms should I get to maybe be more "flexible" with my future audio equipment (maybe like a 30, 68, and 120 ohm)?
 
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Well, with this new information, that's kind of a bummer. keenan, does amp/DAC in this context mean my USB audio in this case? If so, I had it specified at ~$100 USD in my original post, but now I guess it's changed.

I'll put a budget on everything then ~$400-500 USD. Right now as you can see I'm keen/fine with my desktop (an X-Fi Titanium, and a good set of old Boston 2.1s, sig is gaming computer not work) but as I'm going to be moving around alot, I'd like my audio better for on the go.

Thanks for the great help so far. Also, if you know of maybe a set of headphones that would stand the abuse for library use (I'll still stick with IEM/earbuds for traveling, as I know with the weather and constant use between classes would take too much of a toll on headphones) I'm all for getting a pair as well.

yeah, a USB soundcard/device can be equivocal to an amp/DAC

the issue you'll run into with buds, IEMs, and ECHs (something in-between the other two), is that they're going to be generally low impedance and hiss on most amps (as keenan has pointed out), putting a resistor in-line can usually solve this issue

it isn't really a matter of throwing money at it either, as most amplifiers designed for headphones aren't usually designed with a 4, 8, or 16 ohm load in mind (usually minimum of 32 ohms is spec, 25-30 ohm AT's and Denon's usually play nice enough if its a solid amp), so without a resistor or amplifier designed for the load you're driving, you're very likely to experience hiss, so as keenan said, get an adapter

the only downside I'd probably have to keenan's yuin suggestion, is that while I've heard equally good things, I've heard some users complain of fit problems with earbuds (earbuds are the style like what an iPod comes with out of the box), this varies person to person, and iirc Yuin includes some little foam things that wrap around their buds to try and make them somewhat more universal, whether or not that helps I have no idea (basically if you've had issues with earbuds fitting in the past, I'd probably look more for ECHs/IEMs because you can get a lot of different tips for them to make them fit, if you've had no issues with earbuds, go for it)

my personal suggestion is more towards IEMs/ECHs, Denon makes a very nice pair of ECHs (the C751's), and UE may still have the SuperFi 3 going for $300 off (bringing it down to $99), would be worth checking out

however, the C751's are also low impedance (16 ohms) and will hiss on most sources (I say this with experience, they hiss plugged into anything but my DAP, this includes a very fancy headphone amplifier, very expensive studio gear, and a few A/V receivers, its simply a matter of impedance (and I'm too lazy to get an adapter because the hiss doesn't bug me and I don't use them at home))

as far as some fancy pants USB device, not really sure how to direct you there (I don't do much compact mobile stuff), although you might have some better luck with a LOD/amp for your iPod and connecting to that, over using your laptop (in terms of size of a device)

::edit
response to your edit:
IEC standard spec is 120 ohm on the output of a headphone amplifier (realize this is output impedance, not load impedance), so a 120 ohm load would be the ideal mate, however, thats adding A LOT of resistance in your case, which may have some negative downside (it shouldn't heat up or make a volume control worthless, but it may affect the output abilities of the drivers), so I'd probably just aim to get the impedance to >32 ohms and be done with it, as that'll still be just as workable with an IEC spec'd output, and most nonstandard devices as well (the rub is, if a device doesn't meet IEC spec, more often than not, it has trouble with higher impedance loads, not lower impedance, and theres quite a few devices that fit into this category)
 
Great info obobski!

Yeah, looks like I'll nab a few different ohm adapters for personal use - I found that my Shure SCL2s are 16 ohm, looks like that's probably the issue that I've found fine with some other crappy earbuds.

Looking for USB DAC and other IEM/earbud suggestions, up to $400 for both.

I'll eventually ask for (but research first, as this forum is ripe with tons of) headphone advice, when I save up some more money this upcoming semester. Curse my keen senses and my quest for quality!
 
Great info obobski!

Yeah, looks like I'll nab a few different ohm adapters for personal use - I found that my Shure SCL2s are 16 ohm, looks like that's probably the issue that I've found fine with some other crappy earbuds.

Looking for USB DAC and other IEM/earbud suggestions, up to $400 for both.

I'll eventually ask for (but research first, as this forum is ripe with tons of) headphone advice, when I save up some more money this upcoming semester. Curse my keen senses and my quest for quality!

if its a low hiss that permeates basically all audio regardless of input, yeah, thats probably the impedance mismatch at fault (I'm using the term "mismatch" VERY loosely in this context)

http://www.ultimateears.com/_ultimateears/store/products/superfi3studio.php these are still marked down, might be worth a look
 
I'm still wondering if anyone has any decent USB solutions. I've found a few earbuds/headphones that I'm considering from following a few head-fi threads, however, I've been pressed to find good USB audio reviews. Maybe I'm google-inept lately.
 
I'm still wondering if anyone has any decent USB solutions. I've found a few earbuds/headphones that I'm considering from following a few head-fi threads, however, I've been pressed to find good USB audio reviews. Maybe I'm google-inept lately.

Are you looking for just a straight line out or something with an integrated headamp?
 
Are you looking for just a straight line out or something with an integrated headamp?

Most likely something with a headamp. I don't want to overly complicate myself for semi-decent audio on the road. :)
 
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