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Audiophile GAF

teezzy

teezzy

Banned
Hooked up my surrounds. Did some fancy tucking away of the wires along the fireplace and behind the couch... should work as a quick solution

I YPAO'd it up. Enjoying the 5 channel stereo for now. Will probably do a 4k UHD tonight. Some blockbuster, not sure which.
 
ThatPolishGuy

ThatPolishGuy

Member
xCf8xg5.jpg

I plan to buy a second set of legs for my desk, and throw out the cabinet under the desk- and put PS5 there. When I put the Yammies together so nothing will happen with magnetic field etc but it's not hdd so it shouldn't matter but better be safe than sorry.

All drivers remagnetized. New voice coil. The cardboard thingie sticks out a big under the plastic ring but I will redo this myself when I put it together. I already checked and did the other side just fine with a finger.
XijEYH5.jpg
YTA7uKU.jpg
yZN5PtF.jpg

I have to clean up things a bit 👌. The guy was lazier than I thought with cleaning but I can do this myself. He resend my shipping holder thingie, so I can put woofer there while cleaning the back. He resealed the working woofer.

The repaired woofer moves freely now, no scratching whatsoever.

BTW







Apple Music on PS5 just to not make it entirely off topic.
 
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teezzy

teezzy

Banned
Been toying with the levels and settings on my avr

Wanted to make my surrounds more prominent and less subtle, also set all my speakers to "small" to send all the bass to my sub... but these Polk Monitor 10s got these big ass passive woofers.... maybe I shouldn't have...

Idk I trust my own ears more than this YPAO thing. 🤔
 
L

lostinblue

Banned
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ThatPolishGuy

ThatPolishGuy

Member
Maiden Voyage said:
It's tempting to get into CDs but since Apple Music started lossless streaming my desire has plummeted.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about CDs too but I already had a DAC and got into Apple Music lossless and Tidal so I would rather just invest in better DAC or vinyl tbh. So no desire here too to get into CDs, really.
 
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ThatPolishGuy

ThatPolishGuy

Member
teezzy said:
Idk I trust my own ears more than this YPAO thing. 🤔
Click to expand...
I wondered about YPAO thingie when I first read about it when Yammie dropped new audio products. R-N2000A ampli and NS-2000A speakers - so it's not that good, huh?

New Yammie audio products:
PuP9i61.jpg
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lLkYsZK.jpg

1ULoxX0.jpg

OUNMGfP.jpg

ERrB8lG.jpg


Their audio division is on fire lately 🔥:
R5NNgJE.jpg

MxjfNL2.jpg

New intagrated amps, power amps with VU meters (sic!), new premium tt, new fat loudspeakers - NS-5000 series.

They are going in to HiEnd HiFi segment with a bang. I'm curious how NS-5000 would fair compared to my NS-670s tbh - maybe I will have the pleasure of hearing those on some Audio Video Show in Warsaw at some point. Would love to.

I definitely dig the 70s and 80s call back with NS-5000s, didn't thought that someone would have the balls to make a fat loudspeakers like this in the era of chimney like speakers.

The other brand that did that lately besides Yamaha, was JBL with their JBL L100 Classic 🔥:
c13bX6C.jpg

pfHw964.jpg
 
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L

lostinblue

Banned
Maiden Voyage said:
It's tempting to get into CDs but since Apple Music started lossless streaming my desire has plummeted.
Click to expand...
I still have CD's and like to have CD's. Audio quality beats vinyl and the mastering is often better than the ones meant for streaming, if that makes any sense. I've seen it, CD being fine, spotify being borked even in High Quality. Sadly, lots of bad masters on CD as well (specially late 90's early 2000's), better mixes are already happening on CD (a clear shift started happening 2013 onward, coinciding with Daft Punks last album) but when CD becomes premium they'll start putting the better masters they started putting out on vinyl years ago but sometimes not on CD, onto CD (these are the mixes that assume you have proper audio equipment and are paying more than usual to get access to the content) but price will go up too.

My guess is that some albums on Spotify that sound like shit are either (in some cases) pre-remastering/"pre-re-release with better master" or meant for shit bluetooth speakers, streaming services should have a curation for the best masters, but they don't. I can't remember what I tried to listen 3 weeks ago, know exactly how it sounds and had to switch to CD because it sounded like shit.

EDIT: I think it was Muse, perhaps.

EDIT2: It was Muse - Knights of Sidonia. The electronic background parts were super drowned out on Spotify.
 
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ThatPolishGuy

ThatPolishGuy

Member
Korranator said:
Speaker stands and suggested audio setups for rooms with hardwood floors?
Click to expand...
Dunno but I've mostly go with this if speaker is a studio monitor and not big, 16cm to 20cm woofer, then it can play really well on stands.

Big loudspeakers 25cm and 30cm just play better directly on the floor - maybe with some speaker spikes or rubber/cork feet/pad.

But hardwood may indeed resonate- dunno if my experience will be useful here.

I have speakers and their enclosure is made with plywood and since it's a much stiffer material than particle board or mdf it has special ribs and reinforcments and stuff inside to stop the thing from resonating...

uGRjx6M.jpg
08BNjYe.jpg
Mzrs8lK.jpg

wlhubav.jpg


So I suspect mayybe stands will be better or some spikes or rubber legs. But you will have to try out this yourself, I'm afraid.

My Yamaha speakers are categorised as studio monitors despite their size (which I always categorised as floor speakers) and I may try some stands in the future, to see how they behave. But I even didn't put the damn thing together- I still have the enclosure to renovate with my carpenter.
 
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ThatPolishGuy

ThatPolishGuy

Member


Found this in my older vids



I'm always amazed by this kick bass on Cö Shu Nie



My very first record I bought along with Polish band Rysy and their The Traveler album. Oh, since I brought up these band check it out:



The female vocalist has another Polish band called The Dumplings



 
Chittagong

Chittagong

Gold Member
H4c6NgZ.jpg


Doing a small Saturday duel between the Hifiman HE1000 and Sennheiser HD820 for the first time. At first listen they are more similar than I imagined having listened them both in different countries.

But upon more listening, HE1000 remains my favourite. The richer bass and the wider soundstage is a signature I like. Some songs do, however, benefit of the sharper precision of the HD820, so it is not clear cut. But certainly if I had to pick one forever, it would be HE1000.

Kit used

Cambridge Audio azur 851N streamer
(AES/EBU)
Schiit Yggdrasil original
(XLR)
Schiit Ragnarok 2

Goin to bring my EMU Teaks in next week to compare.
 
ThatPolishGuy

ThatPolishGuy

Member
Chittagong said:
H4c6NgZ.jpg


Doing a small Saturday duel between the Hifiman HE1000 and Sennheiser HD820 for the first time. At first listen they are more similar than I imagined having listened them both in different countries.

But upon more listening, HE1000 remains my favourite. The richer bass and the wider soundstage is a signature I like. Some songs do, however, benefit of the sharper precision of the HD820, so it is not clear cut. But certainly if I had to pick one forever, it would be HE1000.

Kit used

Cambridge Audio azur 851N streamer
(AES/EBU)
Schiit Yggdrasil original
(XLR)
Schiit Ragnarok 2

Goin to bring my EMU Teaks in next week to compare.
Click to expand...
Woah, that's some hiend headphones I could never afford. Did you try some hier end Ultrasone headphones? Just curious.

How do you rate Schitt equipment? I'm mainly interested in their DACs. But Yggdrasil is definitely out of my price range...
 
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Reallink

Reallink

Member
teezzy said:
Been toying with the levels and settings on my avr

Wanted to make my surrounds more prominent and less subtle, also set all my speakers to "small" to send all the bass to my sub... but these Polk Monitor 10s got these big ass passive woofers.... maybe I shouldn't have...

Idk I trust my own ears more than this YPAO thing. 🤔
Click to expand...

Yeah those are typically the right things to do. You generally want to set everything to small when a sub is present. The subjective volume of surrounds will vary with content and quality of the mixes, but a lot of people do wind up increasing them. Audyssey builds a surround boost into their curves of equal loudness/fletcher-munson feature (Audyssey Dynamic EQ) because we supposedly perceive sounds to our sides and back as being lower at volumes below reference levels.
 
Maiden Voyage

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
Chittagong said:
H4c6NgZ.jpg


Doing a small Saturday duel between the Hifiman HE1000 and Sennheiser HD820 for the first time. At first listen they are more similar than I imagined having listened them both in different countries.

But upon more listening, HE1000 remains my favourite. The richer bass and the wider soundstage is a signature I like. Some songs do, however, benefit of the sharper precision of the HD820, so it is not clear cut. But certainly if I had to pick one forever, it would be HE1000.

Kit used

Cambridge Audio azur 851N streamer
(AES/EBU)
Schiit Yggdrasil original
(XLR)
Schiit Ragnarok 2

Goin to bring my EMU Teaks in next week to compare.
Click to expand...
That set-up is gorgeous!
 
teezzy

teezzy

Banned
Half tempted to upgrade my surrounds

Been drooling over some Polk options

Not gonna pull the trigger on anything soon I don't think

It's fun to daydream though. I knew I was opening up a rabbit hole when I bought this new receiver and television
 
L

lostinblue

Banned
By "affordable kick-ass headphones" I was expecting a different pricepoint than 150 dolar/euro and up (the AKG 712 are 200 dollar/euros)

I'm sure they sound awesome, but... They're not exactly affordable considering that Phillips SHP 9500 cost just 100 euros usually and that Sennheiser HD599 often appear in the 95 euro range too. Those are affordable.

If anyone wants to go lower AKG 240 mkii, portapro/ksc75 and Audio Technica M20x are cheap and kick-ass for the price. The portapro/ksc75 can get away with no dedicated amp, the others forget about it.

And then there's the unknown inside known brands, audio technica has some hidden models that are entry level with top specs under 100 euros for instance, that were never reviewed by anyone anywhere, and probably sound nearly as good as top range stuff for instance. (you give away stuff like detachable headphone cable though)
 
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Maiden Voyage

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
lostinblue said:
By "affordable kick-ass headphones" I was expecting a different pricepoint than 150 dolar/euro and up (the AKG 712 are 200 dollar/euros)

I'm sure they sound awesome, but... They're not exactly affordable considering that Phillips SHP 9500 cost just 100 euros usually and that Sennheiser HD599 often appear in the 95 euro range too. Those are affordable.

If anyone wants to go lower AKG 240 mkii, portapro/ksc75 and Audio Technica M20x are cheap and kick-ass for the price.

And then there's the unknown inside known brands, audio technica has some hidden models that are entry level with top specs under 100 euros for instance, that were never reviewed by anyone anywhere, and probably sound nearly as good as top range stuff for instance. (you give away stuff like detachable headphone cable though)
Click to expand...
Yeah, 'affordable' means different things to everyone. To me, affordable is anything in the sub-$500 range for headphones.
 
L

lostinblue

Banned
Maiden Voyage said:
Yeah, 'affordable' means different things to everyone. To me, affordable is anything in the sub-$500 range for headphones.
Click to expand...
True. But the SHP 9500 are amazing for the price. IMO, it's just that, for the price those are not that amazing if they can tie or lose against cheaper, equally well manufactured headphones.

Of course sound profile is in the eye of the beholder, so they probably have a signature that the author really loves, but that kinda still defeats the title of the video for me.
 
Con-Z-epT

Con-Z-epT

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
lostinblue said:
By "affordable kick-ass headphones" I was expecting a different pricepoint than 150 dolar/euro and up (the AKG 712 are 200 dollar/euros)

I'm sure they sound awesome, but... They're not exactly affordable considering that Phillips SHP 9500 cost just 100 euros usually and that Sennheiser HD599 often appear in the 95 euro range too. Those are affordable.
Click to expand...
The K712 was sold for about 500€ when they where released and I bought them for about 399€. Given that the spiritual successors, the K812, went for 1800€ at release I think the price is more than fair.

But as Maiden Voyage Maiden Voyage said it's subjective.
 
Maiden Voyage

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
lostinblue said:
True. But the SHP 9500 are amazing for the price. IMO, it's just that, for the price those are not that amazing if they can tie or lose against cheaper, equally well manufactured headphones.

Of course sound profile is in the eye of the beholder, so they probably have a signature that the author really loves, but that kinda still defeats the title of the video for me.
Click to expand...
The whole thing is entirely subjective. I think that's why the prevalence of graphs is so common in reviews (to help make it less subjective). I think they absolutely have merit, but I will still take a listening sessions over a review any day.

I haven't listened to enough headphones to know if there is a reviewer by themselves that I would trust 100% of the time. I would always recommend to hear the cans first before you put the money down (if not possible, make sure the return policy is accommodating).

I haven't heard the SPH 500. I probably wouldn't buy them either, as aesthetically, they are not my style. My favorite headphone I have heard are the DT 1990 Pros, but a good portion of that is the look, comfort, and build quality. I don't know if these punch above, below, or are solid at the price point. The build quality alone is worth the higher price for me. My ATH-M50s were probably my most disappointing buy, despite the near constant praise I saw online at the time. The biggest issue was the build quality. They've been unusable for me after 2 years, as the headband pseudo leather disintegrates. It looks like absolute garbage. The sound quality compared to the Sennheiser Momentum 2 On-Ear was also about the same. I paid $50 for the Senns and $130 for the M50s. RTings also rates the M50s above the M50s.

This is why I always trust my ears over reviews. Graphs only tell me so much.

Anyway, since buying our house, I rarely use headphones at home. I don't travel much with headphones besides my AirPods. If I go on a flight, nowadays my choice is the AirPod Max, due to the ANC. The sets of cans I have now are mostly collecting dust unfortunately.
 
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L

lostinblue

Banned
Maiden Voyage said:
The whole thing is entirely subjective. I think that's why the prevalence of graphs is so common in reviews (to help make it less subjective). I think they absolutely have merit, but I will still take a listening sessions over a review any day.

I haven't listened to enough headphones to know if there is a reviewer by themselves that I would trust 100% of the time. I would always recommend to hear the cans first before you put the money down (if not possible, make sure the return policy is accommodating).
Click to expand...
Yes, last year rtings reviewed the absolute worst "supposedly decent" headphones I ever had, the Samsom SR850 and gave it flying marks.

The community always raved about them, but I kind of assumed if they reviewed them they would actually be mediocre. Apparently not.

They were soulness and muddy in the mid-end not defined at all, the bass was horrible for open headphones (and I always buy open headphones with non-emphasised bass, so I know) but worst of all the highs were sibbilant and I could hear the "S's" going "SSSS's" it actually hurt my years. Did the break-in, verified they were original (bought from amazon with amazon as the seller, but the inlay gave me as much as a manufacture date of May 2021, I think) and then basically kicked them out of my house.

Reviewise they apparently review well, but still the worst I ever had even against 10 euro Sony closed back headphones.
Maiden Voyage said:
I haven't heard the SPH 500. I probably wouldn't buy them either, as aesthetically, they are not my style. My favorite headphone I have heard are the DT 1990 Pros, but a good portion of that is the look, comfort, and build quality. I don't know if these punch above, below, or are solid at the price point. The build quality alone is worth the higher price for me. My ATH-M50s were probably my most disappointing buy, despite the near constant praise I saw online at the time. The biggest issue was the build quality. They've been unusable for me after 2 years, as the headband pseudo leather disintegrates. It looks like absolute garbage. The sound quality compared to the Sennheiser Momentum 2 On-Ear was also about the same. I paid $50 for the Senns and $130 for the M50s. RTings also rates the M50s above the M50s.
Click to expand...
DT1990s are quite nice, not sure how they compare first hand, but from what I've used them I've enjoyed them.

I also never "loved" Audio Technica headphones, M50s included (bought used then sold them), for completely different reasons from the aforementioned Samson SR850 fiasco.

They are well defined in all ranges, if anything they're too clean and unengaging. I actually think they are probably quite good for mastering something, but when listening... They're just boring for me. And I don't love the closed back soundstage (but can live with it/not take it into account).

I have a glimmer of hope for non Mx0s models, the A and AD ones, but never followed through with a purchase, the ATH-AVC500 model with 53mm driver interests me particularly because it costs under 80 euros and there's not one review with a graph. They're also open-back.
Maiden Voyage said:
Anyway, since buying our house, I rarely use headphones at home. I don't travel much with headphones besides my AirPods. If I go on a flight, nowadays my choice is the AirPod Max, due to the ANC. The sets of cans I have now are mostly collecting dust unfortunately.
Click to expand...
I use them for working, but as good as headphones are, I always prefer speakers. It's down to the possible soundstage IMO.

I've grown to like headphones way better than I once did in the last few years, some genres and albums I actually enjoy listening them on headphones over speakers now. But it's a pick your best weapon to tackle a situation kind of deal.
 
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Con-Z-epT

Con-Z-epT

Live from NeoGAF, it's Friday Night!
Thaedolus

Thaedolus

Gold Member
Maiden Voyage said:
Thaedolus Thaedolus what headphones do you have?
Click to expand...
4GmIvRY.png

I really enjoy the bass response especially

-AirPods Pro for working out/cycling/yard work/sweaty stuff. Need replaced, left one is blown
-Sennheiser HD600s for the good time listening like last night
-Sennheiser HD598, one open and one closed pair that are both getting old. Use the opens just on my drum kit almost exclusively, which has probably contributed to tinnitus
-Bose Quiet Comfort 35 Series IIs for wireless/noise canceled listening on planes and such. Also paired to my Steam Deck so it’s not a hassle if I’m an insomniac and don’t want to wake the wife playing in bed

I’ve also got a pretty nice 5.1 system, it’s old too so it doesn’t have Atmos or anything but the speakers and receiver are pretty decent and it sounds nice.
 
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