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What are you listening through? speaker systems & headphones

Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 5:23 am
by LostHighway
I don't want this to turn into "mine's bigger than yours" nonsense but I am genuinely curious as to what reproducers people are using.
For my part I have:

Emotiva Airmotiv 4s powered desktop speakers for my PC
Green Mountain Audio Continuum 1.5i in my main system (currently out of commission with a fried woofer on one channel)

Sennheiser HD-518 headphones (technically my wife's but I do use them occasionally)

I have to pull the dead woofer and send it off to Meniscus Audio in Michigan in the hopes that they can rebuild it. If not the closest available replacement driver requires modification of both the cabinet cut out and the x-over. Should that prove to be the case I'll probably just buy something like the KEF LS50s to get by for the time being. I expect to move within the next two years so I'll hold off on a major speaker purchase until I know what my new room looks like.

I prefer speakers to headphones given the option but sometimes headphones are necessity. I sometimes entertain the idea of getting a better set of headphones for myself and I'd probably be looking at the Philips X2/Beyer DT880/Sennheiser HD598 or HD600 territory. Given my preference for speakers over headphones spending over $300 on headphones just doesn't seem worth it.

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 6:51 am
by NeilBlanchard
My headphone are AKG K501's. I also have some Celestion 3 speakers from ages ago. My stereo speakers are Radio Shack LX-55. And TV sound is also Radio Shack Lineaum tweetered models.

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 7:13 am
by boost
Beyerdynamic DT880 250 ohms with a Soundblaster E5.
LostHighway wrote:I prefer speakers to headphones given the option but sometimes headphones are necessity. I sometimes entertain the idea of getting a better set of headphones for myself and I'd probably be looking at the Philips X2/Beyer DT880/Sennheiser HD598 or HD600 territory. Given my preference for speakers over headphones spending over $300 on headphones just doesn't seem worth it.
The Philips X2 can be driven without an amp, the DT880/HD598 benefit from an amp, the HD600 needs an amp, otherwise they're not loud enough. The DT880 are great for gaming, the positional information is just spot on. Also, I took them of more than once to check if the ambient sounds in the background were actually from the game (they were, but I couldn't tell). I'm thinking about the Philips X2 because the Beyerdynamic don't have enough bass for me. I use the EQ in the Soundblaster E5 to get more bass out of them.

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 7:38 am
by LostHighway
boost wrote:Beyerdynamic DT880 250 ohms with a Soundblaster E5.
LostHighway wrote:I prefer speakers to headphones given the option but sometimes headphones are necessity. I sometimes entertain the idea of getting a better set of headphones for myself and I'd probably be looking at the Philips X2/Beyer DT880/Sennheiser HD598 or HD600 territory. Given my preference for speakers over headphones spending over $300 on headphones just doesn't seem worth it.
The Philips X2 can be driven without an amp, the DT880/HD598 benefit from an amp, the HD600 needs an amp, otherwise they're not loud enough. The DT880 are great for gaming, the positional information is just spot on. Also, I took them of more than once to check if the ambient sounds in the background were actually from the game (they were, but I couldn't tell). I'm thinking about the Philips X2 because the Beyerdynamic don't have enough bass for me. I use the EQ in the Soundblaster E5 to get more bass out of them.
Thanks for your comments! I've never heard the Philips X2, I know it only by reputation. I haven't heard any of the Beyers for several years and I've never heard the 250 ohm version, just the 32 and the 600. I do have very fond memories of the sound of the 600 and I suspect the 250 is very, very close in sound. Most of the Sennheisers sound a little duller than life to me but they are easy to listen to.

If you have an extra $200 floating around Amazon (linked through SPCR, of course) has the X2 at that price today.

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 8:25 am
by Quinnbeast
Desktop setup - Dali Zensor 1 speakers, Audioengine N22 Amp, AKG K550 headphones.
Main System - Dali Zensor 3 speakers, Marantz MCR603 (streaming system) with uncompressed FLAC as a primary source (USB & Plex server).

I originally had the Zensor 1 speakers attached to the little Marantz box in my main room, but they just didn't have the capacity to fill the room they were in. Fortunately, they were just small enough in physical size (and required amplification) that the little A/B class Audioengine amp is perfectly adequate at driving them as a desktop speaker (semi-shielded) at low to moderate levels.

The Zensor 3 speakers were a better fit and sound for the main room; they're a fairly beefy standmount speaker (7" drivers), yet reasonably sensitive and remain a good match for the integrated amp on the Marantz 603. This has been great as an all-in-one solution; it handles CD, DAB, FLAC & MP3 streaming & internet radio with ease. The only downside is, if I find myself looking for floorstanding speakers in the future, I'll be wanting to change the amp along with it. Realistically, I'd either be looking at a Naim-style unit, or heading off into a slightly more custom/DIY approach.

For now though, I'm trying not to be too envious of Mike's recently posted speaker project. I've got a nice 6.5 x 4.5m room here that would house those quite nicely. :mrgreen:

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 8:48 am
by MikeC
Aside from my full-blown Orion - JRiver system, I also have a system dedicated almost entirely to video on a TV room (converted bedroom, 11x12'):

* 59" Samsung plasma (energy hog keeps room warm in winter),
* Anthem MXR500 receiver, NUC running Kodi (formerly XBMC),
* Telus ADSL box (hardly used, but having the TV subscription only costs $20/mo more than ADSL + phone for the convenience of occasionally tuning in to some TV event/show)
* 2 small DIY tower 2-way transmission line speakers +
* single high quality 7" Focal kevlar driver on 14"x24" flat open baffle for center speaker.

TL spkrs were built years ago, with a 7" polyglass Focal + 1" aluminum dome Seas (w/ small waveguide), xover at ~2kHz, 24 dB/oct, passive. Line is short, a single fold in 40" tall 10x12" cross-section tower stuffed with teased lambs wool, so bass is only good to maybe 40 Hz, but its a very shallow rolloff & very natural as long as it's not cranked. Always loved the mids/high in these speakers. In the context of audio for movies/TV, that simple center channel open baffle thing -- with a rising bandwidth of maybe 100~7000Hz -- totally makes the system. I made & put it in a few months after I built the Orions, becoming fascinated with open baffle, and it really transformed the intelligibility of dialog w/o hurting musicality. It sits just below the wall mounted TV, on a low equipment stand, angled up slightly on felt feet.

Also use an ancient pair of Grado SR60s sometimes -- amazing sounding, still. Very true transducers. Modified by removing the back baffle & replacing with acoustically near-transparent thin foam, and hole-in-center front foam pads.

And Shure SE215 earphones for my phone, which sound very good, tho I don't like the fussy way they have to be inserted w/ wire over ear.

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 10:44 am
by quest_for_silence
Fostex PM 0.2 for PC, Technics SB-501 main system.

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 4:07 pm
by derekva
Digital front-end:
- Raspberry Pi (running Raspian Weezy / SqueezeLite) with HiFiBerry DAC
- Sony DVP-S7700

Analog front-end:
- Denon DL-103R
- Audiomods DIY Series V
- Nottingham Analogue Interspace

Preamplifier:
- Denon PRA-1000
- AD797 LOMC phono stage

Amplifier(s):
- Dynaco Stereo 35
- Fisher 660A
- DGSE-1 SEP (EL84)

Speakers:
- Klipsch Heresy X (Heresy III drivers in Heresy I cabinet with ALK crossovers)
- NHT 1259 DIY sealed subwoofer with 200W Class-D plate amp

Other:
- Nakamichi LX-3 cassette deck
- Harman/Kardon TU-920 AM/FM tuner

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 7:39 pm
by washu
Kid's System:
- 47" LG LED
- Energy PS 5.1 system
- Yamaha RX-A820
- Shitty Kenwood sub (kids don't care)

Dining:
- Energy Take Classic, zone 2 from kid's RX-A820

Adult's System:
- 60" Samsung LED
- Cerwin Vega CLS-10 Fronts, CLS-6 Rears, CLS-6C Center
- Yamaha RX-A1030
- Sub, what sub? See Vegas :-)

Headphones:
- Everyday me: Sennheiser HD 380 Pro
- Everyday wife: Sony MD-something
- Critical listening: Grado SR-225

Both systems have their own HTPC using MPC-HC or Netflix for video and Foobar2000 for audio. Direct HDMI to the Yamahas. No other sources other than occasional OTA viewing or game consoles used only for games.

Despite their reputation as party speakers, the CLS are not the 70's Vegas that are only good for making loud noises. They are quite refined and sound very good. I've had lots of comments on how good they sound from friends with far more expensive setups. I'm looking to get a pair of CLS-215 if I can find them or XLS-215s if I can get them cheap enough to get them past the wife.

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2015 3:23 am
by LostHighway
MikeC wrote:Aside from my full-blown Orion - JRiver system, I also have a system dedicated almost entirely to video on a TV room (converted bedroom, 11x12'):

* 59" Samsung plasma (energy hog keeps room warm in winter)
Energy hog or not I'm jealous of the plasma. A good television wasn't even on my radar when the Pioneer Kuros Elite sets were in production. I sort of woke up to the virtues of plasma when the flag (and from what I understand a fair chuck of the engineering design staff) passed from Pioneer to Panasonic but I equivocated until they were gone. When the baton passed to the 8500 series Samsungs I again continued to waffle right through their close out period. I guess my best hope now is that the price of OLED drops dramatically.
derekva wrote:Digital front-end:
- Raspberry Pi (running Raspian Weezy / SqueezeLite) with HiFiBerry DAC
- Sony DVP-S7700

Analog front-end:
- Denon DL-103R
- Audiomods DIY Series V
- Nottingham Analogue Interspace

Preamplifier:
- Denon PRA-1000
- AD797 LOMC phono stage

Amplifier(s):
- Dynaco Stereo 35
- Fisher 660A
- DGSE-1 SEP (EL84)

Speakers:
- Klipsch Heresy X (Heresy III drivers in Heresy I cabinet with ALK crossovers)
- NHT 1259 DIY sealed subwoofer with 200W Class-D plate amp

Other:
- Nakamichi LX-3 cassette deck
- Harman/Kardon TU-920 AM/FM tuner
Nottingham! Tubes! Klipsch! I owned a pair of Hersey Is long ago and actually met Paul Klipsch once. Klipsch speakers aren't the exactly the last word in neutrality but they are great fun. I still occasionally consider a used pair of Cornwalls or Fortes.
washu wrote:Despite their reputation as party speakers, the CLS are not the 70's Vegas that are only good for making loud noises. They are quite refined and sound very good. I've had lots of comments on how good they sound from friends with far more expensive setups. I'm looking to get a pair of CLS-215 if I can find them or XLS-215s if I can get them cheap enough to get them past the wife.
I haven't heard the newer CVs but I have heard positive things about them.

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2015 7:46 am
by HammerSandwich
I also have a set of 250-ohm DT-880s.
  • As noted above, sensitivity is low. They sound fine on the Clip, just not loud. 32-ohm version might be better here.
  • 880s also have a hellacious peak around 9KHz. I notice it mainly on cymbals in jazz, when it drives me crazy. If you listen to much classical, be warned. Parametric EQ helps.
  • 880s are supremely comfortable, though not light.
If shopping the $200+ range today, I'd definitely have HD600, HD650, $400 Oppo & $400 Hifiman on my list.

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2015 8:04 am
by HammerSandwich
LostHighway, I'm glad you asked about what's being used. Going through the old, idle gear is definitely a back-burner project...

Portable
Sansa Clip+ with TDK BA100 IEMs & Comply tips

So much music for the size & money! If I could've had this for $100 during high school in the 80s... The isolation's really nice when doing chores, too.

Desktop
Some plastic, PC-speaker Boston Acoustics 3-way

They make noise & sound better than they should. And it doesn't matter.

Living Room
Foobar2000 -> optical -> Benchmark DAC1 -> ATI AT602 -> Dunlavy SC-IVs

For better sound here, the 1st priority should be measurements & acoustic treatment. Upgrading hardware's definitely in the diminishing returns stage, even with speakers from 1994. They do have the Vifa drivers, FWIW. Best product I've ever owned.

This year, I bought a pair of JBL Loft 30s for $30. New. Shipped! Figured they could be a disposable set for testing amps or whatever. That said, they're remarkable above 120Hz or so. No, they ain't SC-IVs, but they give a lot more than 50% of the sound at 2% of the size & price. How on earth can Harman deliver these for $15/speaker?

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2015 1:01 pm
by LostHighway
HammerSandwich wrote:LostHighway, I'm glad you asked about what's being used. Going through the old, idle gear is definitely a back-burner project...
Living Room
Foobar2000 -> optical -> Benchmark DAC1 -> ATI AT602 -> Dunlavy SC-IVs

For better sound here, the 1st priority should be measurements & acoustic treatment. Upgrading hardware's definitely in the diminishing returns stage, even with speakers from 1994. They do have the Vifa drivers, FWIW. Best product I've ever owned.

This year, I bought a pair of JBL Loft 30s for $30. New. Shipped! Figured they could be a disposable set for testing amps or whatever. That said, they're remarkable above 120Hz or so. No, they ain't SC-IVs, but they give a lot more than 50% of the sound at 2% of the size & price. How on earth can Harman deliver these for $15/speaker?
Thanks!
John Dunlavy's sale of the company and his death in 2007 were major losses for the audio world. I really liked his speakers especially the IV/IVa and the V (the III had disappointing bass limitations, especially given the size of the enclosure) but they did need a big room to sound their best.

Since almost everyone seems to be posting their full system rather than just reproducers I'll fill in the rest of mine:

Roksan Xerxes 10 turntable with a few of the updates from the 20 and the Roksan Reference Speed Control
Roksan Artemiz arm (the coated version) with Dynavector DV 10x5 cartridge

Ayre CX-7e CD player
modified Kenwood KT-9900 tuner (some caps and op amps replaced and freshly aligned a few years ago)

Ayre K-3x preamp
Audio Research 100.2 amp

Most of my system (tuner excepted) dates from the late '90s/early 2000s and reflects what I liked and could afford at that time

Projects on the horizon:
Repair or replace Green Mountain speakers referenced at the beginning of this thread
Build new computer that will also act as a temporary server (dedicated NUC server further down the line). I'll probably use J River software at least initially, can't afford Roon right now.
Buy DAC (looking at Schiit Modi 2 Uber and Bifrost, iFi Micro iDAC2 or Micro iDSD or Chord Mojo). Some of those are more aimed at the portables world but my needs are really more fixed location.

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2015 2:33 pm
by RoyJohnson
LostHighway

The woofer for your Continuum 1.5 speakers is now available again!
I recommend you order it directly from Madisound.
Audax #PR240Z0 (two-forty Zee Zero).

A few tips:
You may have to 'tug' your old woofer free of the cabinet, grabbing hold of its frame with a pair of flatnose pliers into one of its screwholes, since the woofer has been in place for so long.

It's best to lay your cabinet on its back for this procedure. The woofer's wires, when de-soldered, will slip right off the terminals. Take note of which one is +/- of course. These wires are fairly stiff and will throw hot solder in your face if you don't hold onto them with pliers. There is enough wire length to remove the old woofer and turn it face-down into its hole, to then de-solder it.

Check your other woofer's screws for tightness.

If you were to use any other woofer, you would be greatly disappointed with the resulting sound, and the value of your speakers would be reduced to scrap, unfortunately.

Thank you for being an Owner!
Let me know if you have any questions or difficulties.

Best regards,
Roy Johnson
Designer
Green Mountain Audio

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2015 10:36 pm
by Adam35
I received these regular earphones with the Laptop I bought recently, however, I want something better. Found Philips Headphones at Xmen. What are other good brands for headphones?

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2015 4:08 pm
by HammerSandwich
RoyJohnson wrote:LostHighway

The woofer for your Continuum 1.5 speakers is now available again!
<snip>
Let me know if you have any questions or difficulties.
That is some seriously impressive customer support! Kudos, Roy.

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2015 4:10 pm
by HammerSandwich
Adam35 wrote:What are other good brands for headphones?
Start here: www.innerfidelity.com/content/innerfidelitys-wall-fame

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2015 4:49 pm
by LostHighway
RoyJohnson wrote:LostHighway

The woofer for your Continuum 1.5 speakers is now available again!
I recommend you order it directly from Madisound.
Audax #PR240Z0 (two-forty Zee Zero).

A few tips:
You may have to 'tug' your old woofer free of the cabinet, grabbing hold of its frame with a pair of flatnose pliers into one of its screwholes, since the woofer has been in place for so long.

It's best to lay your cabinet on its back for this procedure. The woofer's wires, when de-soldered, will slip right off the terminals. Take note of which one is +/- of course. These wires are fairly stiff and will throw hot solder in your face if you don't hold onto them with pliers. There is enough wire length to remove the old woofer and turn it face-down into its hole, to then de-solder it.

Check your other woofer's screws for tightness.

If you were to use any other woofer, you would be greatly disappointed with the resulting sound, and the value of your speakers would be reduced to scrap, unfortunately.

Thank you for being an Owner!
Let me know if you have any questions or difficulties.

Best regards,
Roy Johnson
Designer
Green Mountain Audio
Thanks Roy, that is great news!

For those of you unfamiliar with Green Mountain Audio (it isn't exactly a gigantic company) this is not atypical of their customer service plus Roy's speaker designs are absolutely top notch. Although there were some earlier GMA speakers the Europa (an affordable, "bookshelf" size, two-way) was the speaker that really brought the company wider recognition. I haven't heard all the GMA speakers but I can certainly vouch for the excellence of the Europa, the Callisto, the Continuum 1.5i (obviously) and the Continuum 3. I have not heard the Rio or the Calyso but I've heard nothing but good things about them. For the record the woofer failure on my speaker was through no fault of GMA. I used a contact "enhancer" which apparently migrated. The amp seems to have survived but the protection didn't kick in soon enough to spare the driver.

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2015 5:10 pm
by LostHighway
HammerSandwich wrote:
Adam35 wrote:What are other good brands for headphones?
Start here: www.innerfidelity.com/content/innerfidelitys-wall-fame
There is a great deal of personal preference in play so without knowing your budget ( and assuming headphones rather than in-ear phones) my personal short list for brands would include Stax, Grado, Beyerdynamic, Sennheiser, Auto Technica and probably AKG but I haven't heard the Audeze, HiFiMan, Mr Speaker or Oppo phones. Beats, IMO, are mostly awful, don't believe the hype.

This is another good source http://www.head-fi.org/ but it does represent a bunch of individual voices, some of them are extremely knowledgeable and some not so much (don't go by post count alone as IME it doesn't reliably correlate to credibility)

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2015 9:04 pm
by MikeC
RoyJohnson wrote:LostHighway

The woofer for your Continuum 1.5 speakers is now available again!...

Roy Johnson
Designer
Green Mountain Audio
Interesting you found LH's post here so fast! This section didn't exist at SPCR a week or so ago.

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2015 1:31 am
by boost
Why It Took So Long For Linux To Properly Handle 2.1 Speaker Systems.
Don't know if pertinent, but an interesting read on channel mapping and crossfeed in ALSA. I found it Phoronix.

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2015 1:40 am
by LostHighway
MikeC wrote:
RoyJohnson wrote:LostHighway

The woofer for your Continuum 1.5 speakers is now available again!...

Roy Johnson
Designer
Green Mountain Audio
Interesting you found LH's post here so fast! This section didn't exist at SPCR a week or so ago.
It is interesting (and gratifying) but I can assure you I'm not shilling for GMA. I ran two or three quick Google searches this AM and found my post with regard to the speakers at the top of the second page on one of those. If you will recall we had PM exchanges about my system and the dead woofer back in mid-October. "Sometimes a cigar is just cigar."

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2015 3:46 am
by nagi
Hi there!

I am aware that some builders will look at my setup and screm out in terror. I am sorry for their possible hair loss in advance. ;)

This is my setup. A bit of hodgepodge, but it served me well so far:
Inputs:
PC with optical audio out in Dolby Live 5.1 format from a Creative USB sound card

Subwoofer
Sony SACS9.CEL (~100-120W)
The only problem I have with it is that I can hear a very faint hum from it when it is on. I was thinking of returning it, but have unfortunately ran out of time to do so. Oh well. I do have to point out that it is perhaps 2 meters from me, so waaay closer than what would be best. But I have no more space.

Amp:
Yamaha rx-v379
I had to put some resonation separators (handkerchiefs for now, looking for big rubber feet) under the feet to get rid of an ugly hum from it.

Speakers: Center & satellites
My speakers are a mess right now: my center and surrounds are remnants of my Creative Megaworks 550 THX: Cute little 7.5cm satellites rated for a somewhat surprisingly high 70W. But they have decent sound (although lack bass) and more than enough power. I had to throw out the Megaworks sub/amp, because it started a very pronounced hum, and because I wanted to have an optical path to the amp. (As on higher volume settings, I could hear electrical noise, even with the USB sound card.)

Speakers: Fronts
My fronts are examples of emergency fixes that become semi-permanent: I have the creative speakers in series with old sony boxes. The problem with the boxes is that their tweeters are out of commission, so practically they only provide the bass, creating a frankenstein speaker pair. The amp takes care of equalizing the volumes due to the differences in resistance.

Headphones:
Sennheiser MM-550-X
While it is good enough for wired use, it was one of the main reasons I stopped buying Sennheiser. Do yourself a favour and don't buy it for its bluetooth or noise cancelling capabilities, as it is a nightmare. But I hardly ever use it.


I am "planning" on replacing at least the center and fronts with Wharfedale 220s, as in some instances the lack of any decent bass from the center is very apparent.

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2015 12:01 pm
by walle
Nice initiative :)

Here's my setup.

Speakers
Chario Syntar 200

Power Amp
Rotel RB-1080

Pre Amp
Rotel RC-1070

CD
Rotel RCD-991

Turntable
Just recently bought this English turntable from Rega....REGA RP1

Cables
Supra Ply 3;4 & Supra Sword-ISL

For PC speakers Edifier e10BT Exlaim.

I don't use headphones.


I'm very happy with this system I've had it for years, the speakers are Italian, warm sounding albeit perhaps not the most accurate ones, but that doesn't matter too much because they are very easy on the ears and great fun listening to. In any case, I don't have the space for "proper" floor speakers.

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 3:20 pm
by RoyJohnson
LostHighway wrote:
MikeC wrote:
RoyJohnson wrote:LostHighway

The woofer for your Continuum 1.5 speakers is now available again!...

Roy Johnson
Designer
Green Mountain Audio
Interesting you found LH's post here so fast! This section didn't exist at SPCR a week or so ago.
It is interesting (and gratifying) but I can assure you I'm not shilling for GMA. I ran two or three quick Google searches this AM and found my post with regard to the speakers at the top of the second page on one of those. If you will recall we had PM exchanges about my system and the dead woofer back in mid-October. "Sometimes a cigar is just cigar."
Hi guys. I found LH's post because I had just run a search for recently-posted "Green Mountain Audio" webpages on Google, as I do from time to time.

I thought LH and I had spoken about his bad woofer. The woofer very recently went back into production, which I know he and I did not discuss. Thought to tell him while I had his post in front of me. And yes, we do try this hard for our clients. Makes life better for them and us.

Happy holidays!
Roy Johnson

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2016 2:16 pm
by Silent but deadly
I'm using and Asus Xonar DG and a pair of Audio Technica AD700's at the moment but they're getting a little long in the tooth and have developed a few issues, not least of which being sibilance in the left driver. So I intend to get a pair of AKG K702's soon... and perhaps a stack of Schiit to go with them. I depends whether I find that they need more oomph.

If anyone else owns a pair of K701's or K702's, I'd be interested to hear opinions on whether they really need an amp.

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 7:00 pm
by tdot
For me, the simplified version, is:

RME HDSPe MADI FX via AES to a Dangerous Source, to a Tannoy TS10 sub into a pair of Dynaudio BM5a MK2

As for headphones, I have a pair of Audio Technica M50x - I've gone through lots of headphones and these are one of my absolute favorites.

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2016 7:10 am
by MikeC
tdot wrote:For me, the simplified version, is:

RME HDSPe MADI FX via AES to a Dangerous Source, to a Tannoy TS10 sub into a pair of Dynaudio BM5a MK2

As for headphones, I have a pair of Audio Technica M50x - I've gone through lots of headphones and these are one of my absolute favorites.
That's all studio-type gear, yeah? Do you run a home recording studio or...?

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2016 2:51 am
by Wibla
Speakers
Tannoy Sensys DC1
Pioneer something-or-other plastic rear speakers (15+ years old probably?)

Sub
SVS SB12Plus

Amp
Pioneer VSX-1015

Source
Realteak codec (optical out)

Image

Re: What are you listening through? speaker systems & headph

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 9:38 am
by Alexandrus
boost wrote:Beyerdynamic DT880 250 ohms with a Soundblaster E5.
LostHighway wrote:I prefer speakers to headphones given the option but sometimes headphones are necessity. I sometimes entertain the idea of getting a better set of headphones for myself and I'd probably be looking at the Philips X2/Beyer DT880/Sennheiser HD598 or HD600 territory. Given my preference for speakers over headphones spending over $300 on headphones just doesn't seem worth it.
The Philips X2 can be driven without an amp, the DT880/HD598 benefit from an amp, the HD600 needs an amp, otherwise they're not loud enough. The DT880 are great for gaming, the positional information is just spot on. Also, I took them of more than once to check if the ambient sounds in the background were actually from the game (they were, but I couldn't tell). I'm thinking about the Philips X2 because the Beyerdynamic don't have enough bass for me. I use the EQ in the Soundblaster E5 to get more bass out of them.
Sounds like you don't have an idea what a headphone amp actually does. It's not about volume, but about the power put into the headphones, hence better representation of all frequencies.
Having had all the headphones mentioned above, I can tell you that ALL of them are loud enough, or even too loud, out of the SBZ sound card or even the onboard codec.
The headphone amp does add details to the sound, and yes, even volume, depending on the amp, but NONE of the headphones I had needed more volume unless I wanted to go deaf.
Also, X2 is slightly better than DT880 for positional audio in games, and above them, AKG K702 or K712 (had both, could not decide which I like more).