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Post by Emig5m on Jul 23, 2019 22:07:39 GMT -5
So I hear what you where talking about with codecs and not being sure what's what. Sure enough the headphones and S10, both flagship products didn't default to the best codec (LDAC in my situation) and sure enough it makes a difference. When using LDAC listening to the WH-1000XM3 back to back with my DT 770 with the Modi3/Atom the Sony's definitely outperform the wired setup. Probably newer and more modern and refined hardware where the DT770 is an older product. The Sony's just have a little more of everything - more bass (I actually have to turn the bass down), more louder and clearer midrange, and strange enough, clearer top end. These are definitely a keeper.
The buds, not so much. First the power only lasts me 2hr 10mins which sucks when using them at work. Second, I experience the right bud going out momentarily from time to time (normally when manually switching a song or stop and starting playback). Thirdly, they only support SBC and AAC codecs which are nowhere near LDAC. I actually got them on sale for $129 from the normal $199 - this makes me want to keep them but that damned 2hr battery life.... For instance, I used the larger full sized ones for 10hrs and the battery was still at 90%! And that was using noise cancellation at full where the battery should drain the fastest! By the way, paying close attention turning on noise cancellation and switching it off and going back and forth I can tell that having noise cancellation on ever so slightly impairs the sound quality. The general population wont notice it but it sound like going from lossless to dropping down to maybe 160KB/s mp3 (highs start to sound compressed). So using LDAC with noise cancellation off should be as good as sound as the most discerning audiophile would ever need - it's the real deal - don't shun wireless bluetooth - it can be every bit as good as wire or in my case even outperform wired. I still have yet to hook up the Sony WH-1000XM3 to the Modi3/Atom in wired mode to see if they perform better from the amp (I was just looking for a 1/8th to 1/4 adapter and can't find one - I have a million 1/4 to 1/8 but not the other way around).
I have two weeks to return the buds.....I could live with the sound quality at work, but not the 2hr battery time. The full size headphones are kinda expensive to be working construction with plus they might be too warm for outdoor heat. Buy anyhow, the Sony WH-1000XM3 are the real deal as far as sound quality and overall performance, the WF-1000X wireless buds, not so much and leave a lot to be desired...
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Post by ForRealTho on Jul 25, 2019 9:50:31 GMT -5
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Post by Emig5m on Jul 27, 2019 11:10:31 GMT -5
Hence why I prefer wires if possible.
True that. Even after finding and selecting LDAC in the settings the default setting for LDAC is "Best Effort Adaptive Bitrate" which means it can go from 330kbps maybe up to the full 990 but you only know that you're using LDAC and not which bitrate at this point (when manually selecting each setting from 330, 660, and 990, the 330 really sounds compromised). I suspect I was running around the 660 setting most of the time since it sounded good and when manually selecting the 990 setting albeit you can only get to these manual settings after entering developers mode/options - even more deeply hidden - grrrrr..... the music would skip/cut out a lot at the full 990 setting but damned did it sound better than even the 660 setting. A review confirmed the headphones has a hard time maintaining a stable signal at 990kbps which sucks because it's soooooo close to being a perfect wireless headphone! Sooooooooo close.....but not quite all the way there yet! Don't get me wrong, they're VERY good, but that's the problem, they're so good they make you super greedy for the FULL potential!
I'm debating whether I want to take them back and save my money for the next generation which I would hope by then would run stable at the max quality setting by default, be able to be paired to more than one device at a time, and perhaps not be able to notice a sound quality difference between having noise cancellation on or off (noise cancellation on you can tell the bass gets a little less punchy and sounds a little compressed, again, it's still very good and light years better than wireless buds, but like I said above, it's so good that it makes you greedy for that last little bit of performance).
The main reason I might not take them back is because right now I have them hooked up to the Modi3/Atom and after toning down their overly hot bass/midbass (cut around 7dB from 60Hz to 630Hz and leave the mid and top end alone) they sound pretty freaking amazing....like when listening to my concert videos other then the camera's MIC compressing during the loudest passages it sounds just like it did when I was there in person! I like them better for gaming than the beyerdynamics...they just sound fuller and more alive. And although the DT770's have multiple reviews that state that they're one of the best closed back headphones that compare to open back for openess in midrange/soundstage I think these Sony's are even better in that regard.
One very odd thing that I noticed while using them in wired mode is that if they're powered off, they sound like complete crap... like $30 headphone crap! Don't know what's going on here why they still need to be powered on to sound correct when using them in wired mode but damned they sound so good I might just keep them to use them as my main headphones from now on... I really wish I could go back in time to when I got the DT770's I would of just got these Sony's instead then I could of had one pair of headphones for everything! Maybe I should keep them and sell the DT770's.... Hmmm.... I would say the tip-top end on the DT770s might be a 'tad clearer than the Sony's but the Sony's do midrange and lower better and the sub bass is comparable if not more on the Sony's. I think overall the Sony's are better when playing on equal grounds. Ironically I was listening to these Sony's at Best Buy right before I went to Guitar Center right across the street and thought that the Sony's stood out from the crowd (I tested the entire row on demo) but no demoing at Guitar Center I just assumed the wired DT770s would be better.
As far as the wireless buds.... yea they don't sound all that great and take a ton of EQing to sound tonally good and the barely over 2hr battery life really sucks. I like using them at work because I have to use hearing protection anyway and they block the noise of the machines better than standard foam ear plugs plus I get to listen to music at the same time which makes work much more enjoyable and less stressful but only being able to use them for a couple hours before having to recharge sucks. And yea wired sucks even more at work, always snagging the wire on something and pulling them out of me ear. The sale price that I got them for is making me also think about keeping them. Got one more week to return to Best Buy, I'm really on the fence at this point.
What to do, what to do. I really like having wireless buds for work (have been using them every day) and really enjoy listening to music on the full size Sony headphones (I actually fell asleep in bed twice while listening to them) but the downsides that keep them just from the edge of perfection, especially the full size WH-1000XM3's makes me want to return them. What a shame that using the full bandwidth of LDAC makes for an unstable connection and the fact even if it worked flawlessly it defaults back to the default setting upon every power on, so dumb. If I want a certain setting I expect the setting to stick! So the idea of spending all this money on tech that's ever so close to being perfected but not quite just there yet knowing maybe the very next gen or two will take it all the way there and have to spend the money all over again makes me want to return them. Why didn't they just use Wi-Fi and stream WAV losslessly instead of compressed Bluetooth? Surely Wi-Fi could easily stream lossless uncompressed WAV no?
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Post by ForRealTho on Aug 18, 2019 12:20:50 GMT -5
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Post by ForRealTho on Aug 21, 2019 20:37:30 GMT -5
lol it looks pretty dumb. My coworker was like wtf is that? Are those vacuum tubes?
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Post by ForRealTho on Sept 6, 2019 8:24:57 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2019 14:25:13 GMT -5
I only tried the full size ones as of now but so far I like them running off my S10 Wirelessly better than my Modi3/Atom/DT770 Pro 80 Ohm. Amazing how tech keeps advancing.... Left the phone in the bedroom and walked from room to room and didn't experience any problems. Goodbye snagging wires and wire constraints! The noise cancellation is great and added bonus and really helps hear fine detail in noisier environments. 30 continuous hours on a full charge. Been listening to music for an hour and the battery is still at full charge. Boy where my old Sennhieser HD-558s really shit headphones.....these are a huge upgrade over those! Audiophiles, don't let bluetooth scare you away anymore....the future is here! Probably keep the full size for home use and the in ear ones (if I like them) for work and out and about....
I was looking at wireless bluetooth headphones last year and came across those WH-1000X M3's. Based on the reviews the Sony ones stood out as the most well-rounded (best noise cancelling, very good sound quality, and decent price/value). I was perusing audio products on Crutchfield.com this weekend and found some sweeter, albeit much pricier, wireless headphone options. "Shure SE846-BT2" in-ear headphones (Bluetooth 5.0 and aptX HD wireless decoding. Can also swap out Bluetooth attachment with wired attachment). I read something about the AptX feature offering the best wireless sound quality. www.crutchfield.com/p_183S846BTK/Shure-SE846-BT2-Black.htmlAstell&Kern Kann (Bluetooth and AptX HD audio decoding, 2.5mm balanced inputs for compatible headphones) Portable high-resolution audio player. It's a bit bulky for a portable audio player, but that's because it also has a built-in amp for your wired headphones. www.crutchfield.com/p_838KANN/Astell-Kern-Kann-Astro-Silver.html |
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Post by ForRealTho on Sept 27, 2019 9:54:41 GMT -5
This is the CEO of EVGAs setup
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Post by ForRealTho on Sept 28, 2019 14:47:00 GMT -5
My first "real" headphones were the Sennheiser HD580s back in 2004 I think, first ones that need an amp. The headbands and cup degrade over time. Luckily you can take them apart by hand and replace everything. New headband, new cups, sound as good as brand new:   |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2019 8:11:43 GMT -5
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Post by Emig5m on Oct 14, 2019 19:33:16 GMT -5
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Post by ForRealTho on Oct 14, 2019 19:46:55 GMT -5
They probably sound like shit but hey maybe they are amazing. I'm actually glad that Beats and cat ear headphones are a thing. Many people have said they thought about getting Beats and decided to google "Good headphones" and ended up on places like Head-Fi and reddit and such and ended up with Senns/AKGs/etc |
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Post by Emig5m on Oct 14, 2019 20:37:07 GMT -5
Take away the stupid cat ears and they don't look too bad. Imagine if they where like rebranded high end $2000 Denons without the high end audiophile markup and blew everything away that you own out of the water? Would you wear them cat ears and all? I wanna see a screenshot of your most recent Amazon purchases...I bet you just scooped up a pair overnight delivery. I'll confess if you confess but you first...lol.  |
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Post by ForRealTho on Oct 14, 2019 20:44:11 GMT -5
Take away the stupid cat ears and they don't look too bad. Imagine if they where like rebranded high end $2000 Denons without the high end audiophile markup and blew everything away that you own out of the water? Would you wear them cat ears and all? I wanna see a screenshot of your most recent Amazon purchases...I bet you just scooped up a pair overnight delivery. I'll confess if you confess but you first...lol. If they sound good sure why not. |
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Post by Emig5m on Oct 14, 2019 20:47:29 GMT -5
Let us know how they are when you get them!  |
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Post by ForRealTho on Nov 3, 2019 12:46:23 GMT -5
The 15 years I've been into this hobby I have never heard electrostatic headphones, they are widely regarded as the best. Drop.com has the Koss electrostats on sale for $400 this weekend only. Its an amp/headphone combo I picked them up: drop.com/buy/89500 |
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Post by ForRealTho on Nov 5, 2019 18:06:32 GMT -5
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Post by ForRealTho on Nov 6, 2019 11:25:36 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2019 13:34:34 GMT -5
Interesting. Evidently, him knowing audiophile speak and the buzz words to get YT hits doesn't make him an ace electrical engineer or businessman. |
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Post by ForRealTho on Nov 21, 2019 9:23:55 GMT -5
I really need to stop.  |
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Post by ForRealTho on Nov 22, 2019 9:54:20 GMT -5
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Post by ForRealTho on Nov 22, 2019 9:58:39 GMT -5
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Post by ForRealTho on Dec 4, 2019 15:39:42 GMT -5
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Post by ForRealTho on Dec 9, 2019 17:43:09 GMT -5
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Post by ForRealTho on Jan 23, 2020 9:22:01 GMT -5
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Post by ForRealTho on Jan 23, 2020 9:27:14 GMT -5
That dude above is running a Topping D90 DAC which is $700
What I believe is either the Monoprice or Massdrop THX amp which is $400
and the Audeze LCD-X which is $1,699
And people call me a crazy headphone person, lol
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Post by ForRealTho on Jan 27, 2020 12:47:53 GMT -5
Debating getting the new Drop.com THX Panda headphones. Just for walking around the city on my lunch breaks. I haven't made up my mind yet. Kinda expensive at $400
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Post by Emig5m on Jan 31, 2020 1:02:01 GMT -5
Debating getting the new Drop.com THX Panda headphones. Just for walking around the city on my lunch breaks. I haven't made up my mind yet. Kinda expensive at $400 Just watched the Linus Tech Tips and ZReviews on them. Sounds interesting. |
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Post by ForRealTho on Jan 31, 2020 9:32:03 GMT -5
Just watched the Linus Tech Tips and ZReviews on them. Sounds interesting. Thing is I don't even need them. I have ear buds that work fine and sound great. I'll probably pass. Still they look cool. |
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Post by Emig5m on Mar 2, 2020 3:13:51 GMT -5
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