Help build a FAQ for the Computer Audio Forum

magnetik

magnetik

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I was pondering creating a FAQ for the Computer Audio forum after realizing I was just
reading the same questions over and over again. I would like to use this thread to get
some input on questions you see all the time.

If you have anything to add to the FAQ please post here and I will give credit in the final FAQ.
This will be an ongoing project .. so it might take a while to complete.

I will also make it a sticky for all of our new members to read before they post redundant
questions.

I think a FAQ is long overdue.

I am looking for questions like...

Onboard vs. Aftermarket Soundcards
X-Fi, Audigy2, questions (how to wire mic input, what are the differences in versions, etc)
Closed vs. Open Cans
Best headphones in certain price ranges
Microphone recommendations
Does (headphone) need an amp?
Opinions on wireless headphones and speakers.
Best soundcard for gaming, music, movies, etc?
What's the best lossless audio format?
 
Well, I'll tackle headphones for certain price ranges right away. Based on my experience, and the general knowledge of Head-Fi, I submit to you:

<$20 Koss KSC75, Sennheiser HD201

<$50 Koss portaPro, Sennheiser PX100

<$100
-portable: AKG K81 DJ
-full sized: AKG k240 Studio, Grado/Alessandro MS1, Audio Technica A500

<$200
-closed: Beyerdynamic DT770, Audio Technica Ax00
-open: Sennheiser HD580, Grado SR225, AKG k501.

I'm not going above 200 because I have no experience with headphones in that area besides a couple quick listens with the AKG k1000and k701, someone with more knowledge can tackle that price range.
 
Skudmunky,

I think you meant to mention Audio-technica's A-series (closed), not AD-series (open-air). ADx00 is definitely not closed. Speaking of that, I did see the open AD700 recommended for gaming on head-fi, due to its soundstage. Audiocubes carries it for $150.

AD700s closed cousin, the A700, is said to sound really similar to the famous A900, and can be had for about $120 FROM THE US DEALERS, which means you get the full warranty. It's the only A-series can that's officially exported to the US by audio-technica, AFAIK.
 
Ahriman4891 said:
Skudmunky,

I think you meant to mention Audio-technica's A-series (closed), not AD-series (open-air). ADx00 is definitely not closed. Speaking of that, I did see the open AD700 recommended for gaming on head-fi, due to its soundstage. Audiocubes carries it for $150.

AD700s closed cousin, the A700, is said to sound really similar to the famous A900, and can be had for about $120 FROM THE US DEALERS, which means you get the full warranty. It's the only A-series can that's officially exported to the US by audio-technica, AFAIK.
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Oops, yeah, thanks for catching that.

another usefull thing could be a list of websites to purchase headphones from. Besides the obvious, like ttvj.com, headroom.com, and audiocubes.com, know of any other good ones?
 
Even though the old FAQ is now stickied, there are still a bunch of questions/information that could be added to it. I'd like to see the issue of driving headphones addressed, as it seems to be constantly brought up and most people seem to think low impedence = easily driven from a portable/sound card. From what I understand, it is mainly sensitivity that determines how easily one can drive a headphone. Also, if we look at Ohm's Law, we can see that low impedence headphones need more current (and high impedence headphones more voltage) and therefore harder to drive. Admittedly, I'm not an expert on this, and if someone could elaborate or go into details, that would be great.

Here are some links to some good information:
Quick Guide to Headphones (HeadWize):
http://www.headwize.com/articles/hguide_art.htm
Understanding Headphone Power Requirements:
http://www.rane.com/note100.html *Note: Article refers to the Rane HC 6 headphone amp, but its just to illustrate the relationships between the figures.
 
strid3r said:
Even though the old FAQ is now stickied, there are still a bunch of questions/information that could be added to it. I'd like to see the issue of driving headphones addressed, as it seems to be constantly brought up and most people seem to think low impedence = easily driven from a portable/sound card. From what I understand, it is mainly sensitivity that determines how easily one can drive a headphone. Also, if we look at Ohm's Law, we can see that low impedence headphones need more current (and high impedence headphones more voltage) and therefore harder to drive. Admittedly, I'm not an expert on this, and if someone could elaborate or go into details, that would be great.

Here are some links to some good information:
Quick Guide to Headphones (HeadWize):
http://www.headwize.com/articles/hguide_art.htm
Understanding Headphone Power Requirements:
http://www.rane.com/note100.html *Note: Article refers to the Rane HC 6 headphone amp, but its just to illustrate the relationships between the figures.
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OMG...
Are you actually suggesting that educating people about headphones may be a better solution the offering blanket recommendations based on some arcane price structure?
 
Cover topics about ripping CDs to HDD? EAC+LAME+FB2k (Or FLAC for lossless)
How about typical set ups of running a receiver and home theater speakers instead of multimedia speakers?
 
Mister X said:
OMG...
Are you actually suggesting that educating people about headphones may be a better solution the offering blanket recommendations based on some arcane price structure?
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Frightening, eh?

Smitty2k1 said:
Cover topics about ripping CDs to HDD? EAC+LAME+FB2k (Or FLAC for lossless)
How about typical set ups of running a receiver and home theater speakers instead of multimedia speakers?
Click to expand...

A lot of those questions are answered in the older FAQ which is stickied at the top of the forum now:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=844140
 
strid3r said:
Frightening, eh?
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Absolutely not. ;)

Give a man a fish he will eat for a day... teach the man to catch fish and he can eat whenever he wants.
 
magnetik said:
Logitech vs Klipsch
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I would recommend against trying to tackle such "religious" issues in a FAQ. The purpose of a FAQ is not to set into stone your or even the majority opinion on things that, in the end, are fairly subjective
 
I think what you said about what could be on the FAQ in your OP was great. To add an addendum to that might i suggest a guide for buying cans if you are mostly into music, or games, or lean more heavily towards on of them but still enjoy the other - the possibilities in a tiered structure from bottom to top in terms of quality EG onboard ALC 850-882 or a onboard CMI solution with no amplification VS. a stand alone amp with both onboard VS. seperate PCI sound card. For some EAX 3-4-5 doesn't matter even in games, and all they want is really good volume and clarity and you can get that with onboard and a CMOY amp VS someone who needs only moderate to low volume but does care about EAX 5 with an X-FI but needs cans that are efficient enough to be driven with the SC alone.
 
FAQ would be a great idea. I read so many "what should I buy" threads, but I still ended up posting my own because they did almost nothing to help me. (Note: I bounced between here and head-fi)
 
Vertigo Acid said:
I would recommend against trying to tackle such "religious" issues in a FAQ. The purpose of a FAQ is not to set into stone your or even the majority opinion on things that, in the end, are fairly subjective
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your right.. I was hasty in trying to think of the questions I see all the time.
 
magnetik said:
your right.. I was hasty in trying to think of the questions I see all the time.
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I think it could still be useful if we listed some of the specs and features of the more common speaker sets. It will at least give the reader something to work off of and hopefully encourage them to either check out the product themselves and/or do more research on it.
 
strid3r said:
I think it could still be useful if we listed some of the specs and features of the more common speaker sets. It will at least give the reader something to work off of and hopefully encourage them to either check out the product themselves and/or do more research on it.
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This should be common practice anyway. Most people don't read the FAQ to begin with, let alone having to put the effort into continually updating information they should be able to find from a 'most popular' product sort from any number of etailers like BB. People are so damn lazy these days. Funny thing is to see the effort put into some threads to find information that could have been located with a simple Google.

I think it's lose/lose. If you don't offer a 'Buy This' list (because it's subjective and needs are different), then you'll continue to see "should I get A or B' posts. If you do offer a 'Buy This' list, you'll see subjective posts why others think something's better.

A better awareness of forum search (and search in general) would probably resolve these things more easily. If anything, a good 'Links' sticky would be helpful... no need to reinvent the wheel for every topic. I thought there were links from the old faq, what happended to them?
 
agent420 said:
I think it's lose/lose. If you don't offer a 'Buy This' list (because it's subjective and needs are different), then you'll continue to see "should I get A or B' posts. If you do offer a 'Buy This' list, you'll see subjective posts why others think something's better.
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It's fairly easy to do with something like, Hard Drives or Power Supplies, but audio equipment has much more human element ;)

A breakdown of good choices at given price points could be useful to narrow things down for people, especially with linked reviews so people could go from there. Not that I think they will, FAQs can help but not eliminate "what to buy? x vs y" threads.
 
The biggest question I see asked is the "best" gaming cans for a certain price range.
As usually comes up, people recommend the senn HD595, beyer DT770pro, AT A900 for the 150$-200$ range.

Then that leads into the question of closed vs. open. Open cans leak out sound, and let sound it. They also let your ears breath more, and can offer a more airy sound. Closed headphones isolate you from your surroundings, and may get hot after a while. Things that should be noted are the ear pad types. Fake leather, velour, foam, etc. They all feel different. Some people find the fake leather to get hot over time, and sticky.

Something that I won't address here, but I frequenly see asked, is what is the "best" headphone in a certain price range. The common price ranges are:
Sub 100$, 100$, 100$ and above. You then have to tell them that it "depends" on what they want.

Then you get people who want the best "gaming headset" (mic attached).

Then of course, you get people wanting the best computer speakers.

And lastly, the other common one I see is "which sound card for gaming", and they usually ask if they should go cheap with the Audigy 2 zs, or get an X-fi.

I think a FAQ addressing some of these questions would really be good.
Good luck.
 
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