Starter Guide and Headphone Recommendations

[roadlesstraveled]

Hey guys,

I just got the urge to start learning about different audio setups and to see what exists in the higher end spectrum. I have never even owned a dedicated sound card and have always used on board with a 2.1 speaker setup and my bose over the ear headphones.

Some topics I would like to learn about:

• analog vs. digital
• what sound card to go with
• what are good speakers to buy (for high end speakers you don't buy PC speakers, right?)
• receivers and amps (and when there needed)
• how much does equipment differ for different genres of music and for gaming?

Also, my bose headphones had the wires torn recently (incident at a friends house and I will not be paying for the new headphones) and as of now I don't have a backup. I'll be able to get $150 for a new pair and was wondering what you guys would recommend?

I will be using these headphones for gaming as well as listening to all types of music (mainly classic rock, hard rock, metal, and some hip hop). I would say 60-70% gaming and 30-40% music.

Links or just general advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dandragonrage]

Analog vs digital - Well, digital basically can carry an audio signal with less of a chance of picking up noise. And, in the case of a computer and particularly with onboard sound, the analog circuit may not be isolated from the rest of the computer very well and you could end up hearing noise like pops, excessive hiss or whining. If you don't hear those things, onboard analog is generally fine as long as you aren't getting low impedance headphones or expecting a ton of volume. Do NOT buy a sound card unless you have tried your equipment using onboard audio and you weren't satisfied with the onboard audio.

For high end speakers, you indeed don't get PC speakers. Nor do you get M-Audio or AudioEngine or those other cheap monitors that some people around use. What you get... well, give us a budget if you want speakers and we can recommend the appropriate setup for you. Keep in mind you don't just want "good speakers," but speakers that are good for your situation. Having speakers on a desk that you sit at is called "near field" listening and it already rules out a lot of speakers.

You use a receiver or an amplifier if your speakers aren't powered. This would be most non-PC speakers though there are non-PC powered speakers like the M-Audios and such. I use a receiver with Onyx Reference 1 speakers at my desk. I could just use an amplifier instead of a receiver because I don't need the source switching or video features of the receiver. But I was given the receiver so I use it. For a desk setup, you can get a small "T Amp" which are readily available on Ebay and other sites for cheap. The heart of the T Amp is a chip made by Tripath, so the design work is already done.

Different people listening to different genres of music tend to prefer a different sort of sound from their speakers. For example, some people like very bass heavy speakers. You'll have to listen to some speakers and figure out what you like.

Your headphones can be repaired. If you are getting new headphones, I would recommend Beyerdynamic DT770s. They are very bassy which is good for gaming and you probably like bass with the sort of music that you listed.

 

[roadlesstraveled]

Thanks for the reply.

I'm not currently in the market for new speakers because of where my desk is situated. I'd just like to learn more about them, the types, what's suited for different genres, seating scenarios, etc...

I do prefer some bass in my headphones but I haven't used many quality ones to know much about different types of tones (dark vs bright).

As far as repairing my bose headphones, I've attempted it with no luck. I stripped the wire down where it had torn and then I took the ones of the same color and twisted them together. After doing this a few times I never got a peep out of them. Is there a different way to repair them?

 

[dandragonrage]

There's probably a coating on the wire that makes it so they have to be soldered unless you want to try and scrape the crap off which is difficult to do without cutting the wires.

 

[roadlesstraveled]

Gotcha, I'll try soldering them tomorrow.

I've got a few more questions:

• What separates $100 headphones from $300 / $500 / $1000+ headphones?
• What are open headphones and closed headphones best suited for?
• When is it a good idea to purchase a headphone amp?
• What's the difference with headphones amps and power amps?
• What is the price vs performance ratio like in the audio world? (ie: when you pay a lot do you get much improvement in sound quality?)

 

[dandragonrage]

-More solidly built, hopefully more comfortable, generally have flatter (and thus better) frequency responses, and often times able to handle more power

-Open headphones are typically more bassy and just generally better (in my opinion) but do leak sound into the room, so people around you would be able to hear it. But it's much quieter than if you had speakers going.

-When you think you need more power or if you have low impedance headphones that are making your current amplifier (which could be on the motherboard) distort

-Power amps are for speakers and they are meant to drive a totally different sort of load

-Diminishing returns... figure out what's good enough for you and draw the line there.

 

[Empty_Quarter]

-Open headphones are typically more bassy and just generally better (in my opinion) but do leak sound into the room, so people around you would be able to hear it. But it's much quieter than if you had speakers going..

Closed headphones are bassier (sp?).

Open headphones do leak sound into the room, and do not isolate any ambient noise (i.e. you can hear everything around you). Closed headphones (while not noise cancelling) do provide very good isolation and blocks plenty of ambient noise, sound also doesnt leak out of headphones.

Sound quality wise, its different. Open headphones tend have a greater soundstage with clearer highs and upper mids. Closed headphones on the other hand have a much narrower soundstage but tends to have great bass and mid-bass.