lol k. Trolling aside, even if you don't believe in burn in, how much is it going to kill you to not use your cans and play music at very high volume for a handful of days?Burn in does absolutely nothing but its probably a good thing to do with Focal headphones. Their manufacturing process seems a little strange, there's a decent number of them that have extremely short life spans that fail within in under 100 hours (ballparking figure here). The rest are fine.
grats on the purple hearts!My TR-X00 PH finally arrived, they are as amazing and even more than I had imagined
grats on the purple hearts!
try to take good care of the wood; I had some paint flaking issues on my set.
Was just a poor paint job. I returned them. But it left me with the impression that the finish is somewhat fragile.Oh?
Why did it start flaking you think?
Did you do something (dropped) to them or you mean I should add some layer of something after sometime?
Was just a poor paint job. I returned them. But it left me with the impression that the finish is somewhat fragile.
I don't know about "Apple style", but it sounds like you need to find something small that creates no pressure points.Are there any "audiophile" level Apple style earbuds that also look good and are durable? They're literally the only type that don't make my ears throb from pain. The most i'm willing to spend is like $100.
I feel the same way about sticking my MM to my E-MU Teak. Just can't get myself to do it.speaking of modmic i really really dont want to stick mine on my T1. I think i'm going to get some el cheapo single-sided headphone to slap my mm4.0 onto for discord chat purposes.
I've heard it said that the Xiaomi dongle is one of the very best sounding dongles available. It's also dirt cheap.So (unsurprisingly) the cheap ass 3.5mm to usb-c adapters I got from ebay don't sound really good.
Are there any good & cheap alternatives? I don't want to spend like $10-20 on just one adapter, I need at least 3 :(
Oh sweet! I'll check it out thanks :)I've heard it said that the Xiaomi dongle is one of the very best sounding dongles available. It's also dirt cheap.
You do not want to leap down the rabbit hole of cables making a large difference. I also doubt the Sony cable was made of anything but the most basic of copper wiring that you'll find in a $5 cable anyway.Do I need a "nice" 3.5mm cable? I lost the one that came with my Sony noise cancelling headphones, and I find myself struggling to not buy a Sony replacement. Problem is, they cost $50 here in Tokyo.
You do not want to leap down the rabbit hole of cables making a large difference. I also doubt the Sony cable was made of anything but the most basic of copper wiring that you'll find in a $5 cable anyway.
Buy cheap.
I posted this little summary of software EQ solutions in another headphone thread and I figured I'd post it here as well.
If anybody is looking to easily upgrade the sound quality of their headphones when listening on Windows, macOS, or *nix, take a look at utilizing system-wide EQ software.
On the paid, professional spectrum, there's Sonarworks Reference 4 and Sonarworks True-Fi. Sonarworks' philosophy is to make your headphones sound like a good pair of calibrated studio monitors. Skeptical? Well you should be with all the snake oil around in the audio industry. Check out their promo page on their EQ standard for more detailed engineering info. It's considered good and standard practice to calibrate one's speakers when working in a studio and it's about time this tech came to headphones. True-Fi installs itself on Windows and macOS as a system-wide EQ with profiles for a variety of headphones and also includes plenty of tools to tune the sound to your liking. Reference 4 shares all the same EQ profiles but is mainly geared for studio users, so it includes plug-ins that you install for a digital audio workstation. However, it also includes a system-wide EQ for Windows and macOS, albeit with fewer tuning features compared to True-Fi. (If you're a *nix user, you can probably find a way to host the Reference 4 plug-in in a VST host and route all your sound through that.)
On the free, open-source spectrum, there's the AutoEQ library of EQ presets. AutoEQ has a similar goal of making your headphones sound flat and "neutral", but it's relying on less reliable headphone data and calibration curve. You can use the settings from there in conjunction with a system-wide EQ program like Equalizer APO on Windows. On macOS all the free system-wide EQ solutions seem to be either convoluted, buggy, or broken, so you'll have to settle for a paid program like Audio Hijack to utilize advanced EQ plug-ins with the features needed to use the AutoEQ settings. I'm not a big *nix user, but I'm sure there's a good, free, system-wide, parametic EQ with the advanced features needed to utilize these settings. You could also program an external DSP, like miniDSP's HA-DSP, with the AutoEQ settings to take a portable EQ set-up with you on the road.
If your headphones are supported by any of the above solutions, you're bound to enjoy increased sound quality without breaking the bank.
Oh, and if you want to experiment with just about every single virtual surround system set-up out there and you're on Windows, check out HeSuVi in conjunction with Equalizer APO!
P.S. If you are interested in high-end gear and want to see some objective comparisons between equipment, check out Audio Science Review.
Thanks for reminding about HeSuVi, had to try that long time ago but forgot, gonna try it today!
I don't see why not.
I got the WH-1000XM3's yesterday, and boy are they a significant improvement over the MDR-1000Xs. The build quality is so much better, no longer do my headphones creak at every turn of the head. They are also way more comfortable, I wore them for like 10 hours straight (on a plane) and only at the end was I getting a little fatigue (not even anything major, just a tiny bit of discomfort that is probably due to my right ear being a bit too outward facing :D). The sound quality is amazing, the noise cancelling (which was already excellent) is just ever so slightly better.
They are miles ahead in just overall sound than the Bose QC35II's I was using. The Bose's AAC just sounds utterly shit compared to the sound the LDAC and the built-in upscaling the Sony's produces.
As far as BT ANC headphones in this price range go, there's just no competition anymore. Sony fixed pretty much every issue I had with 1000Xs in this third version. Great set.
I saw some people getting them from Amazon.com. On .co.uk it just says delivery in 1-2 months. I think over all the first shipment was relatively small.Do you know if the WH1000XM3 are available worldwide? Or did they release them so far only in Japan?
I'm in Japan atm and thought these could be cheaper than $350 here but they don't exist on any Japanese online store I've seen so far. Would be odd if a Japanese product is not available in Japan..
So I just found it on Amazon Japan. It's out on October 6th and is priced at 43k yen (which is almost $390), wtf. The X2 was sold for $285-290!I saw some people getting them from Amazon.com. On .co.uk it just says delivery in 1-2 months. I think over all the first shipment was relatively small.
That said I already got the XM2 earlier in the year on sale and I'm fairly happy with them (fortunately I have small ears I guess, lol) so I won't be upgrading.
I bought them on the airport in America and see them available all across The Netherlands. So yes, they are.Do you know if the WH1000XM3 are available worldwide? Or did they release them so far only in Japan?
I'm in Japan atm and thought these could be cheaper than $350 here but they don't exist on any Japanese online store I've seen so far. Would be odd if a Japanese product is not available in Japan..
Porta Pro Wireless maybe. Generally you have to pick 2 out of cheap, good, wireless.Looking for some good wireless headphones that I can use at the gym and for running. $40-80 price range, and I am from the land of Canada. Any suggestions?
I have some I bought but need to use them at work since I have a new Macbook and for whatever fucking reason, they don't allow normal headphones jacks. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I don't know about "Apple style", but it sounds like you need to find something small that creates no pressure points.
In that vein I recommend looking at the Hifiman RE400. It disappears in my ears.
I feel the same way about sticking my MM to my E-MU Teak. Just can't get myself to do it.
I've heard it said that the Xiaomi dongle is one of the very best sounding dongles available. It's also dirt cheap.
Congrats!wish they had a black/dark coloured version for the dongle.
and I finally ordered the Sony WH1000XM3 - hope it's a good upgrade over the MX1000
Koss Electrostatic headphones on massdrop for $499. That's half off the normal price.
https://massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-koss-esp-95x-electrostatic-system?mode=guest_open
I think the biggest change is that equivalent quality is now available for less (Massdrop editions of everything, 6xx and so on). I've been forever in the same quality class, but recently sold the X2s and went one level up to Beyerdynamic DT1990 Pros. They are lovely and noticeably better than the X2s, but diminishing returns are obviously kicking in. I actually don't see myself buying another traditional pair of headphones. Wireless with zero perceptible latency, high end virtual surround with proper headtracking and external reference point, noise cancelling, it's going to take something like that to make a real difference.Been out of the headphone game for a while. I own some hd650s and Fidelio x2s. Has anything came in that has shattered the audio world in the.sane price range of 300?