I honestly don't really have any plans. Spent a lot of money on various things last year and need to build up my savings again. I'm also pretty happy with all my gear. The next thing I would want would be a nice Atmos setup, but I won't have the cash for something like that for at least a few years.
Yeah same here. Currently don't really have the money to do something about my set-up. And to be honest, I'm at a point where I still really enjoy my set-up on a daily basis and there's not really a need to do anything yet.
By reilo Go To PostI haven't had any issues with my 1000XM3 battery life, especially when you can get a good charge in about 5mins with those.
Yeah they have really impressive battery life as well. The big problem was Sony refusing to update the firmware for over a year, to disable the touch controls. Couldnt use them outside in cold and windy weather at all...
Thank Allah they finally get us the option now.
By Kibner Go To PostI honestly don't really have any plans. Spent a lot of money on various things last year and need to build up my savings again. I'm also pretty happy with all my gear. The next thing I would want would be a nice Atmos setup, but I won't have the cash for something like that for at least a few years.
I'm still considering adding two more speakers for the full ATMOS experience.
Still regretting not running wire in the walls during the remodel in anticipation of a future upgrade …
I'm not sure it's even possible right now though. At least if I want dual rears. I could pretty easily add two more fronts for high and low fronts.
Yeah Hans Beekhuyzen makes interesting videos in general. That is if you don't mind him also praising some crazy expensive cables and netfilters every now and then.
John Darko audio is pretty sweet as well.
John Darko audio is pretty sweet as well.
JDS Labs Atom still fantastic btw. Still have the NX4 if anybody needs a portable DAC/AMP and wants to buy it off me
By HonestVapes Go To PostJDS Labs Atom still fantastic btw. Still have the NX4 if anybody needs a portable DAC/AMP and wants to buy it off meGlad it's working out for you!
Vapes, I wish we were in the same region cuz I would have bought that NX4 from you for when I travel. Sadly, The shipping costs would be way too much.
By Kibner Go To PostVapes, I wish we were in the same region cuz I would have bought that NX4 from you for when I travel. Sadly, The shipping costs would be way too much.I know, fam. Not even sure how much it'd cost to post. To EU it's usually around £15, might look into it to sending to the US.
You ever swapped the ear pads on any of your headphones, Kib? I’ve heard that the stock pads for the K712 are the best available in terms of sound, but I kinda want to try out some leather pads.
By HonestVapes Go To PostYou ever swapped the ear pads on any of your headphones, Kib? I’ve heard that the stock pads for the K712 are the best available in terms of sound, but I kinda want to try out some leather pads.My AudioQuest Nighthawk Carbons came with two different pads: one leather and the other velour or cloth or something. The leather seals better and, more importantly, doesn't cause the side of my head to break out in itchy bumps. However, it does cause my hears to feel hotter and my head to sweat during warm weather.
The earpads on the Grado's I've had are super easy to switch out, though I have only tried the three different ear pads that Grado makes. They change how the headphones sit on your head, including how far the drivers are from your ears, and may add extra material between the drivers and your ears so they do change the sound a little.
By LFMartins86 Go To PostGot my Jabra's 75T Elite today. This things are very comfortable and sound very good.Good shit.
After a few days with 75T Elite I couldn't be happier with my purchase.
They sound really damn good, they are so comfortable to wear that I have no problems wearing them almost all the time at work, worked out with them and even though I sweat quite a lot (did 55km in 72 minutes on a stationary bike yesterday), they kept in place all the time and weren't wet after I ended.
Battery life is excellent, I usually wear them for 4h in the morning, put them in the case for 45 minutes during lunch and end up with still 30 to 40% left after work.
They sound really damn good, they are so comfortable to wear that I have no problems wearing them almost all the time at work, worked out with them and even though I sweat quite a lot (did 55km in 72 minutes on a stationary bike yesterday), they kept in place all the time and weren't wet after I ended.
Battery life is excellent, I usually wear them for 4h in the morning, put them in the case for 45 minutes during lunch and end up with still 30 to 40% left after work.
By LFMartins86 Go To PostGot my Jabra's 75T Elite today. This things are very comfortable and sound very good.
i've been doing a lot of reading on the best android wireless earbuds recently, and they keep coming up. Was hoping for a sale, but the price seems almost completely stuck here.
By Wahabipapangus Go To Posti've been doing a lot of reading on the best android wireless earbuds recently, and they keep coming up. Was hoping for a sale, but the price seems almost completely stuck here.
Yeah they came out around october I believe, so they're fairly new. So wouldn't bet on a huge sales price yet.
So Kib showed me places that do canvas art that prevents reverb and such. Now I need to find something that's audibly transparent so I can make art to go over my wall speakers. It's not that the speakers look bad, it's that they match the wall so well it just looks like a bunch of dead space.
This isn't as easy to find.
This isn't as easy to find.
Rumor is that the WH-1000XM4 will have Bluetooth 5 and speak-to-chat. Both would be very welcome additions.
My gf had some extra foam speaker wedges which she gave me to use to angle up my desktop speakers and it has made a legit (though small) difference in how the speakers sound. I have my speakers angled now so that the tweeters are angled towards my ear height, since I read that is supposed to be ideal for most speakers. It has resulted in treble sounds to be a bit less muted, which makes sense.
Yeah for monitor use and having speakers really close to you it defintely helps. You basically adjust the sweet spot more to your ears. It's a cheap and nice upgrade for existing gear.
One complaint for the JDS Labs Atom. The volume dial pulls off now and again and needs to be pushed back on. Mild annoyance.
Finally got around to trying out some new pads on my K712s. Stock pads are a really breathable velour memory foam pad and I've swapped to what is apparently lambskin leather pads with memory foam. I say apparently, I don't think they're real leather, they don't smell like leather or feel like real leather. They feel like PU leather. I'm fine with it though since they were pretty cheap at 25 quid.
They feel nicer on my ears than stock, surprising given how comfy the stock pads are to begin with. The padding is that bit thicker, so the drivers are a little further away from my ears. The stock pads had started to sink and conform to my big head, so they were touching the back of ear slightly. Only downside to the comfort of the stock pads. The new pads no longer touch my ear, but I need to keep them centered around my ears otherwise the sound is really off.
Sound-wise, they definitely block out more background noise. Big plus for me, can no longer hear my girlfriend's laptop roaring away in the background. Other than that the only thing I've noticed is bass sounds more pronounced, which is a plus for the time of music I mainly listen to.
Overall, pretty happy with them.
They feel nicer on my ears than stock, surprising given how comfy the stock pads are to begin with. The padding is that bit thicker, so the drivers are a little further away from my ears. The stock pads had started to sink and conform to my big head, so they were touching the back of ear slightly. Only downside to the comfort of the stock pads. The new pads no longer touch my ear, but I need to keep them centered around my ears otherwise the sound is really off.
Sound-wise, they definitely block out more background noise. Big plus for me, can no longer hear my girlfriend's laptop roaring away in the background. Other than that the only thing I've noticed is bass sounds more pronounced, which is a plus for the time of music I mainly listen to.
Overall, pretty happy with them.
I hear ya. My nighthawks came with both leather and foam velour earpads. The velour ones were apparently causing head irritation so I had to stop wearing them. It may have been an allergy or something seasonal. I'll have to try them again in the future because I definitely liked them a bit better.
I decided to do an A/B test comparing Spotify and YouTube and objectively speaking, I feel YouTube music has better dynamics. Pretty weaksauce for a paid subscription service like Spotify.
Swapped out my ATH-M50X ear pads that were worn out and crusty for a pair of Dekoni sheepskin leather, and phew, quite an upgrade.
By reilo Go To PostAlso, what does everyone use as their go-to songs to test before/after an upgrade?Main one for me is Ronald Jenkees' Disorganized Fun:
I also listen to my favorite Jewel songs and also songs from the Eastman Wind Ensembles' Live from Osaka album.
E: they are all songs that I know the ins and outs of from listening to so damn much and also expose various strengths and weaknesses of the audio chain. Disorganized Fun tests the bass depth and response for my rock/pop music, Jewel for vocals and sparse acoustic instrumentation with close mics, and Eastman because it is live classical music and the better my gear, the easier it is to hear the subtle things (like mistakes and various percussion and wind sounds).
By reilo Go To PostAlso, what does everyone use as their go-to songs to test before/after an upgrade?Most of her covers.
& some delicate arrangements.
I’ve been doing it wrong for while. I switched drivers from ASIO to Wasapi. Now, the static buzz that I used to hear every 15 seconds is completely gone from the system that I use in my bedroom. For the longest time I thought that my tube amp was the perpetrator.
By Veckrot Go To PostI’ve been doing it wrong for while. I switched drivers from ASIO to Wasapi. Now, the static buzz that I used to hear every 15 seconds is completely gone from the system that I use in my bedroom. For the longest time I thought that my tube amp was the perpetrator.Glad you figured it out! I always have trouble with ASIO drivers. Audio companies can't seem to write drivers for shit. Which is what got us into this whole mess with the Windows audio sub-system, anyway.
Yeah, glad it's sorted. There was a time when Windows sound drivers sucked big time. Current iterations are robust but if you don’t want irritating system noises then Wasapi mode bypasses them.
I’ve changed Chrome on PC to the one designated for smart TV’s. Casting videos and music from iOS and Android is seamless now. Theoretically, you should be able to cast YouTube from your phone to Google Chrome on your PC but this feature was removed years ago.
So, I was just found out about a piece of software called Equalizer APO that you can use to load/apply EQ curves on a per-device basis to your headphones (or whatever other device). It also has a power on/off button to see how the filter changes your sound in real-time.
What makes this software really nice, and why I'm posting about it in this thread, is that there is a software project called AutoEQ that uses public information about thousands of headphones to generate EQ settings you can import into Equalizer APO. If you search the "results" section of the project for your headphones (my Nighthawks are found here), you can just copy+paste the contents of the GraphicEQ.txt file to Equalizer APO for an adjustment that should get your headphones closer to a neutral/flat curve.
Or, you can download that project repository and run it yourself to generate your own custom curve. The AutoEQ program still uses that public information about all those headphones to generate the necessary curves. So, you pick what you want your final EQ curve to look like, and the software will generate the proper file to import into Equalizer APO to make it happen. It even supports options to make one pair of headphones to sound as similar as possible to a different one (as far as EQ settings go, anyway).
It's all free and open source, too!
e: if someone wants a better explanation, please let me know what part I did not explain well and I will try again
What makes this software really nice, and why I'm posting about it in this thread, is that there is a software project called AutoEQ that uses public information about thousands of headphones to generate EQ settings you can import into Equalizer APO. If you search the "results" section of the project for your headphones (my Nighthawks are found here), you can just copy+paste the contents of the GraphicEQ.txt file to Equalizer APO for an adjustment that should get your headphones closer to a neutral/flat curve.
Or, you can download that project repository and run it yourself to generate your own custom curve. The AutoEQ program still uses that public information about all those headphones to generate the necessary curves. So, you pick what you want your final EQ curve to look like, and the software will generate the proper file to import into Equalizer APO to make it happen. It even supports options to make one pair of headphones to sound as similar as possible to a different one (as far as EQ settings go, anyway).
It's all free and open source, too!
e: if someone wants a better explanation, please let me know what part I did not explain well and I will try again
Thanks for the heads up, gonna look into this soon. Still really happy with the sound of my headphones (still using the leather pads on them too), but there's nothing to lose by trying it out.
My pleasure! I listened to a full album with the filters enabled and then went back and spot checked some songs while flipping the filters on and off. Not sure I can go back to them off, tbh.
I suppose I could have posted this in the home theater thread????
So the Apple TV sucks as a music player. Any ideas? Right now convenience is king. Has lots of apps I use and easily streams music on my iMac.
The Apple TV doesn’t have an EQ though. It’s not like it has a hard time with movies. Movies sound amazing. Just music. I have several DVD’s of concerts. The Porcupine tree in DTS sounds fucking amazing. It’s super frustrating I can’t get music to sound like that through any apps on the Apple TV.
First glances in the Internet lead me to believe I’m not alone in my grievance
Edit: I guess it could be the receiver??? The best way for me to put it is, music has less punch. Plenty of bass in movies though. If the Apple TV had an EQ for Tbis ....
So the Apple TV sucks as a music player. Any ideas? Right now convenience is king. Has lots of apps I use and easily streams music on my iMac.
The Apple TV doesn’t have an EQ though. It’s not like it has a hard time with movies. Movies sound amazing. Just music. I have several DVD’s of concerts. The Porcupine tree in DTS sounds fucking amazing. It’s super frustrating I can’t get music to sound like that through any apps on the Apple TV.
First glances in the Internet lead me to believe I’m not alone in my grievance
Edit: I guess it could be the receiver??? The best way for me to put it is, music has less punch. Plenty of bass in movies though. If the Apple TV had an EQ for Tbis ....
Convenience is king? Chromecast Audio would do it, if you can find one (out of production). It has optical out and no need to plug into a display.
A normal Chromecast may also work. Your receiver or tv may also already have a streaming music app or casting capability or something built in.
What are you trying to play your music from? Just iTunes?
E: less punch, you say? Is the music playing out of just the front speakers instead of surround? Could be an issue with codecs not matching to between the source material, Apple TV, and your receiver.
A normal Chromecast may also work. Your receiver or tv may also already have a streaming music app or casting capability or something built in.
What are you trying to play your music from? Just iTunes?
E: less punch, you say? Is the music playing out of just the front speakers instead of surround? Could be an issue with codecs not matching to between the source material, Apple TV, and your receiver.
Reading about it more and it may be an issue with the receiver alone. You may need to put it in "music" mode for it to play standalone music files correctly.
By Kibner Go To PostReading about it more and it may be an issue with the receiver alone. You may need to put it in "music" mode for it to play standalone music files correctly.
There’s a music setting in Apple TV that's auto selected, something about loud volumes, anyway it’s supposed to be bad and I turned it off and things are indeed better.
To be fair the DTS recording on DVD of porcupine tree is phenomenal, so it was always going to be a difficult comparison lol
I need to look into my receiver functions more though. I do swap to multi channel stereo, a music function, but that’s not it
Yeah I can’t crank it right now, but that one setting on the Apple TV was a huge difference for this set up.
“Reduce loud sounds”
“Reduce loud sounds”
What kind of receiver and speakers do you have Fender?
Apart from that, Apple TV is primarily designed to stream video content, that's the intended purpose. It's basically the same as buying a blu-ray player and then saying your CD's don't sound so great trough it. If you're really looking for the best audio experience I'd opt for a dedicated music streamer instead. I have a Bluesound Node 2i for that purpose. That's a pretty basic streamer that ticks all the right boxes for me. A bit under that price you'll find the Sonos Port. But you can also go beyond that and look at stuff like the NAD C658 or Naim ND5 XS2.
Most of these systems have multi-room abilities allowing you to place stand alone speakers troughout the house and control all of them trough the same app. When I move to a bigger apartment I will be slowly adding some more Bluesound speakers to rooms where I want sound. I can also let them play the same music at the same time. Which is ideal when you have an L-shaped downstairs for example. I've had so many people trough the door with that kind of lay-out. Then we usually set up a proper stereo/surround system in the livingroom around the TV. And in the corner of the L you'll usually find the kitchen so we put one small stand alone speaker there so you have the same sound trough that whole space.
In the end it's all a matter of preference and how much you're willing to spend. But I'd definitely recommend at least trying a dedicated audio streamer to see if you hear the difference. Most audio stores will have good return policies simply because it's a very personal matter and room acoustics come into play as well.
Apart from that, Apple TV is primarily designed to stream video content, that's the intended purpose. It's basically the same as buying a blu-ray player and then saying your CD's don't sound so great trough it. If you're really looking for the best audio experience I'd opt for a dedicated music streamer instead. I have a Bluesound Node 2i for that purpose. That's a pretty basic streamer that ticks all the right boxes for me. A bit under that price you'll find the Sonos Port. But you can also go beyond that and look at stuff like the NAD C658 or Naim ND5 XS2.
Most of these systems have multi-room abilities allowing you to place stand alone speakers troughout the house and control all of them trough the same app. When I move to a bigger apartment I will be slowly adding some more Bluesound speakers to rooms where I want sound. I can also let them play the same music at the same time. Which is ideal when you have an L-shaped downstairs for example. I've had so many people trough the door with that kind of lay-out. Then we usually set up a proper stereo/surround system in the livingroom around the TV. And in the corner of the L you'll usually find the kitchen so we put one small stand alone speaker there so you have the same sound trough that whole space.
In the end it's all a matter of preference and how much you're willing to spend. But I'd definitely recommend at least trying a dedicated audio streamer to see if you hear the difference. Most audio stores will have good return policies simply because it's a very personal matter and room acoustics come into play as well.
By Linius Go To PostWhat kind of receiver and speakers do you have Fender?
Apart from that, Apple TV is primarily designed to stream video content, that's the intended purpose. It's basically the same as buying a blu-ray player and then saying your CD's don't sound so great trough it. If you're really looking for the best audio experience I'd opt for a dedicated music streamer instead. I have a Bluesound Node 2i for that purpose. That's a pretty basic streamer that ticks all the right boxes for me. A bit under that price you'll find the Sonos Port. But you can also go beyond that and look at stuff like the NAD C658 or Naim ND5 XS2.
Most of these systems have multi-room abilities allowing you to place stand alone speakers troughout the house and control all of them trough the same app. When I move to a bigger apartment I will be slowly adding some more Bluesound speakers to rooms where I want sound. I can also let them play the same music at the same time. Which is ideal when you have an L-shaped downstairs for example. I've had so many people trough the door with that kind of lay-out. Then we usually set up a proper stereo/surround system in the livingroom around the TV. And in the corner of the L you'll usually find the kitchen so we put one small stand alone speaker there so you have the same sound trough that whole space.
In the end it's all a matter of preference and how much you're willing to spend. But I'd definitely recommend at least trying a dedicated audio streamer to see if you hear the difference. Most audio stores will have good return policies simply because it's a very personal matter and room acoustics come into play as well.
Denon AVR-3400H
(5) Klipsh R-5800-W II
(1) 12” Klipsh standalone sub I did not purchase
I removed the Audessy room corrections, but then it becomes a cumbersome process of manually setting the reciever EQ. I tried other settings to no effect. There is the ability to increase the sub level only and I think that may solve some of this, but I have to figure out how to map the function to my universal remote. Kids lose remotes and my wife will complain nothing makes sense if I don’t simplify this. Lol
So I feel like the “I bought a movie experience” is two fold. I’ve heard optimized 5.1 systems aren’t your best music producing systems.
All that being said, the Apple TV setting change did help. Music is punchier now tbat I turned that setting off. It just doesn’t feel like the receiver set up NOR the Apple TV are really geared for music.
Do these individual streaming devices come with internal digital EQ’s?
Edit: thinking about this more, having a dedicated music input would also solve some of the simplicity issue. The receiver remembers setting per input
So after playing around with about every sound function i could, Ive concluded that I just don’t like the way the receiver extrapolates a 2.1 source into 5.1 set up for almost every setting when playing music. The Apple TV setting I turned off helped. Honestly though, I only ended up really liking the “Dolby Surround” setting under the music setting or just straight “stereo“ under the music setting. When you do stereo, it drops the center and 2 surrounds though, which kinda sucks I suppose. The multi channel stereo function exists on music as well as movie and game settings. It sounds awful on all settings. I just haven’t had a chance to really play around with this and committed some time today. If I go direct it turns into 2ch and removes the audessy room corrections and such. My attempts at adjusting were not better than the auto set up lol
So really, it wasn’t a fair comparison. The Porcupine Tree DVD is mastered differently. It comes with DTS for the receiver to work with. The system is calibrated as such and to top off, I assumed multi channel stereo wasn't trash cause it just makes intuitive sense for playing music. When I played the porcupine tree DVD I played under the Dolby surround setting under movie.
I should probably look into more live recorded shows lol
So really, it wasn’t a fair comparison. The Porcupine Tree DVD is mastered differently. It comes with DTS for the receiver to work with. The system is calibrated as such and to top off, I assumed multi channel stereo wasn't trash cause it just makes intuitive sense for playing music. When I played the porcupine tree DVD I played under the Dolby surround setting under movie.
I should probably look into more live recorded shows lol