Headphones & Audio Devices

Hekotat

Hekotat

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Aight boys, what's the best way to output sound to an AMP/DAC whatever without an Optical output? I'm running a ITX build and the mobo does not have an Optical out so I'm trying to figure out what to buy for a nice set of Bookshelf speakers and an AMP/DAC.

I assume USB is the best output method but I'm getting confused looking at all the options on Schitt's website. Can anyone provide some direction?
 
Denamian

Denamian

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I've got a Schiit Hel and it uses USB as well. It's basically the Modi/Magni consolidated into one device. I've only used it for headphones though so I don't know if it would be as good running normal speakers.
 
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Hekotat

Hekotat

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Denamian said:
I've got a Schiit Hel and it uses USB as well. It's basically the Modi/Magni consolidated into one device. I've only used it for headphones though so I don't know if it would be as good running normal speakers.
Click to expand...

I've got a hel as well, just found a limited number of amps/dacs with USB inputs.

However, I think I may have just scored a Lyr and Bifrost for 400.
 
Hateyou

Hateyou

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So my buddy bought the new Apple over the ear headphones. He’s got hearing loss so bad in one ear he’s nearly deaf and has constant tinnitus. Anyways he bought them and already owns Bose qc35s. He listened and was like meh, I’ll probably send these back. Then he finds out Apple has an audio gram you can do on your phone with any Apple/Beats headphones/buds. He does it and it matches perfectly with the audio gram he did with his doctor as he’s looking into hearing aids.

Once that’s done you can make your headphones adjust to match your audio gram. He was almost in tears about how good it sounded afterwards. Hasn’t heard music like it’s supposed to sound for 20+ years and he’s a big music guy, like me.

Anyways I’m sure there’s the usual Apple hate here, but I thought that was pretty awesome and wish it would work with all headphones and not just Apple cause I’m not spending that much on those.

Anyone here with bad hearing loss and some Apple or Beats headphones or buds may want to check it out, it hasn’t really been advertised that I’ve seen.
 
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Denamian

Denamian

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Hateyou said:
So my buddy bought the new Apple over the ear headphones. He’s got hearing loss so bad in one ear he’s nearly deaf and has constant tinnitus. Anyways he bought them and already owns Bose qc35s. He listened and was like meh, I’ll probably send these back. Then he finds out Apple has an audio gram you can do on your phone with any Apple/Beats headphones/buds. He does it and it matches perfectly with the audio gram he did with his doctor as he’s looking into hearing aids.

Once that’s done you can make your headphones adjust to match your audio gram. He was almost in tears about how good it sounded afterwards. Hasn’t heard music like it’s supposed to sound for 20+ years and he’s a big music guy, like me.

Anyways I’m sure there’s the usual Apple hate here, but I thought that was pretty awesome and wish it would work with all headphones and not just Apple cause I’m not spending that much on those.

Anyone here with bad hearing loss and some Apple or Beats headphones or buds may want to check it out, it hasn’t really been advertised that I’ve seen.
Click to expand...

It's nice to finally start seeing the benefits of smarter audio devices make their way to consumers. Stuff like this and Android's live transcribe can make life easier for people with hearing problems.
 
Hateyou

Hateyou

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Denamian said:
It's nice to finally start seeing the benefits of smarter audio devices make their way to consumers. Stuff like this and Android's live transcribe can make life easier for people with hearing problems.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I hope Apple gets into the hearing aid world honestly. My friend that’s checking hearing aids out...the best kind aren’t covered by insurance. Insurances force you to go to certain doctors, force you to get certain kinds. He’s basically either going to have to get shitty ones he doesn’t want/need, or pay out the ass for what he really needs. It’s a scam/racket like most US healthcare shit and Apple has the technology and presence to break it up and force others to compete and get on board helping people, not just making money off insurance BS.
 
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Mist

Mist

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Why is it so hard to find a cable that's mini-toslink on both ends? Am I missing something? Trying to pass audio out from one dac with optical out on may laptop to another dac with optical in on my PC to avoid the ground loop from using analog audio.
 
Brahma

Brahma

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Mist said:
Why is it so hard to find a cable that's mini-toslink on both ends? Am I missing something? Trying to pass audio out from one dac with optical out on may laptop to another dac with optical in on my PC to avoid the ground loop from using analog audio.
Click to expand...
NM you said mini to mini. You might have to use adapters.
 
Mist

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Well I haven't actually bought the laptop DAC yet. The laptop DAC just needs optical out, headphone out and mic in. I wonder what the simplest USB DAC I can get that does those 3 is.

I was going to buy a Soundblasterx G5 for the work laptop, but I could probably go with something even simpler, but I do like the Soundblaster Command software and it's ability to clean up the audio on the mic input.
 
Brahma

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Mist said:
Well I haven't actually bought the laptop DAC yet. The laptop DAC just needs optical out, headphone out and mic in. I wonder what the simplest USB DAC I can get that does those 3 is.

I was going to buy a Soundblasterx G5 for the work laptop, but I could probably go with something even simpler, but I do like the Soundblaster Command software and it's ability to clean up the audio on the mic input.
Click to expand...

Then go with that. Or at the least try it out.
 
Hateyou

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Mist said:
No, mini-toslink on both sides. So just the 3.5 MM optical connector on both ends.
Click to expand...
Man I just threw a couple of these away when cleaning the basement last week and asked myself wtf do I even have these for? Probably hadn’t used them in 10+ years, no idea why I had them.
 
Hateyou

Hateyou

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I tried on my friends Apple over the ear headphonesThe construction on them is great. The ear cups are magnetic so can pop replacements in and out easily. They’re really comfortable and light, especially for having a metal housing. I love the mesh headband and ear cups, they breath so much better than my QC35s.

With all that said I would not pay for just that, the sound was indistinguishable for me to my QC35s and they’re like half the price. If they were the same price I’d go with the Apple headphones but that’ll never happen. He said the same thing until the audio gram setting for his hearing loss though. After that...best headphones he’s ever heard.

I did hate the case and the power off design. There is no power button so if you don’t put them in the case they just stay on for two hours before shutting off, that’s such a stupid design. They should make that a user setting in the app. I use my QC35s on conference calls off and on all day and I would hate to have to take it in and out of the case constantly so my battery doesn’t drain all day.
 
slippery

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Any recommendations for sound bars? What should I look for in one? I'm not really looking for the best, just something decent that's better than my TCL 5 series built in speakers
 
Denamian

Denamian

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Anyone have any recommendations for good wireless headphones for watching TV? Preferably not bluetooth and no USB transmitters as I'm going to plug it directly in to the TV. I was looking at grabbing an Arctis Pro wireless, but the fuckers are being sold for inflated prices if they're in stock at all.
 
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