• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Audiophile GAF

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
Any audiophiles lurking?
What is/are your setup/s?

My Current PC setup:
Mobo: Asus Z97-E ATX LGA1150
DAC: Schiit Modi
Headphone amp/pre-amp: Schiit Magni
Headphones: DT 1990 Pro, Sennheiser Momentum 2.0, ATH-M50x
Speakers: MAudio Av40s
5PXlPDM.png


My Current Primary Listening Setup:
Rec/Amp: Marantz NR1200
Vinyl: AT LP120
Speakers: Kef R500 towers
Sub: Klipsch SW450

My Mobile Setup:
DAC/Amp: Fiio E10k
IEMs: KZ ZS10 Pro

What are you hoping to upgrade in the future?
I'm traveling about 50% for work so I would love to get something more desirable in place for a DAP & headphone combo. Any recs appreciated.

Any good recs on songs/album to test your gear?
I typically use Pink Floyd as a cursory test for my gear.
 
Last edited:

sol_bad

Member
Back in Oz I have some older Paradigm Monitor 9 V6 floor standing speakers for the front, CC-290 for the centre and ADP-390 for the rears. Paradigm Ultracube 10 for the subwoofer. Than I have an Onkyo TX-SR805 to plug everything in to.

These are not my images, when I get back home I'll take my own photos. I'd like to upgrade my speakers though, that would be nice.

Monitor 9 speakers
UBuTbvE.jpg


CC-290 centre
jk06uxh.jpg


ADP-390's
qX9trI9.jpg


Ultracube 10
HKYgsEF.jpg


Onkyo TX-SR805
lRTcEnm.jpg
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
I’m no real audiophile but I did go down that rabbit hole for a while and I do care about audio quality.

I have less-than-stellar sources, my music is played mainly from my laptops and I have an iPod Touch that’s no more useful for portable use ‘cause the battery won’t hold a charge anymore so I use it in my car. I’d be interested in a new DAP but most of them are so expensive.

As for the rest of my rig:
- DAC: Topping D30
- Amp: Schiit Magni 3
- Headphones: Sennheiser HD600 and Massdrop x Fostex TH-X00 Ebony
- Portable headphones: Sennheiser IE80 and JVC HA-S400
 
I like good sound at a reasonable price.
I use an amp for driving headphones and speakers.
The amp is Scythe SDAR-2100 and it outputs 2x10 W on speaker outputs.
The speakers I use are also Sctyhe's, Scythe Kro Kraft revision B, 2x10 W.
I mostly use heahphones, which are PreSonus HD7.
 

T8SC

Member
Onkyo TX-NR626 AV Receiver
Dali Zensor 5 floorstanders
Dali Zensor Vokal centre
Dali Zensor 1 surround
Dali E12F subwoofer
Marantz CD6005
Sony BDP-S5100
QED Silver Anniversary XT speaker cable
QED & Chord interconnects (HDMI & Phono)


The AV receiver is due an upgrade when I get around to buying an OLED 4k TV.
 
Last edited:

Diddy X

Member
Not really an audiophile eventhough I appreciate good sound quality, just got these ATH-m50x this morning and wow the sound is superb, I got a Beats by Dre PRO 7 years ago for 400$ and sound quality was great but still not as good as these I think, they lasted until some weeks ago tho so good investement nonetheless, these m50x for 120€... a bargain, very satisfied.
 
Last edited:

Jon Canon

Member
Cool thread:)

main room setup is simple these days:
Amp: DIY FIRSTWATT F6 (love it)
Pre/streamer/dac/room correction: minidsp shd
Speakers: klipsch heresy
Sub: svs sb-2000

Pretty content with this tight set up. No bass ports on anything + roomcorrection gives great bass control in my cellar-like room.

next project might be a 300b tubeamp build:)
 
Last edited:

Mohonky

Member
Cool thread:)

main room setup is simple these days:
Amp: DIY FIRSTWATT F6 (love it)
Pre/streamer/dac/room correction: minidsp shd
Speakers: klipsch heresy
Sub: svs sb-2000

Pretty content with this tight set up. No bass ports on anything + roomcorrection gives great bass control in my cellar-like room.

next project might be a 300b tubeamp build:)


I'm not big on Bass ported speakers, I don't like the overhang they produce. None of my setup uses ports but they do use Passive Radiators
 

888

Member
I’m medium grade on the audiophile. Mostly because of budget.

Home Theater:

Onkyo TX NR 646
Klipsch Reference Premier RP8000F speakers
Klipsch Reference Premier 504C Center
Klipsch 12 inch Sub with Bash 500w Amp
Micca Rears and Ceiling speakers for surround and Atmos.

PC:
Razer Levithan and Logi G933 Snow both being run with Sound Blaster X G6 DAC.
 
Last edited:
For music I have:

Yamaha AS501 amp
Onkyo c-7030 cd player
Rega Planar 1 (2016) with AT-VM95E cartridge
Raspberry PI with hifiberry dac+pro and touchscreen running picoreplayer
Synology DS118 running logitech media server
Q acoustic Q3050 speakers
BK XXLS400 sub

Additional kit includes PS4 and PS3, Yamaha RXV381, LG 55B7, pair of Q3020 for rears (when i get round to fixing them to the wall), a Q3090C and a diy selector switch to switch my floorstanders between the two amps; this is going to be modified to work automatically by replacing the switch with relays.

Will be upgrading the receiver in next year or so as it doesn't have atmos or pass through dolby vision (hoping ps5 will have both of these).
 

EverydayBeast

thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
I hate having to get more than the default, around a year ago I had a sound bar, do you think 3D audio will get casuals to take audio more seriously?
 

Anki

Banned
I just recently build my first budget 5.0 system.
Av receiver is Pioneer vsx-424 and speakers are Pioneer s-rs55tb, its a set of two floor standing speakers, two rear and central one.
I am not sure if i need to get a subwoofer, at the moment i am satisfied with sound.
 
I just recently build my first budget 5.0 system.
Av receiver is Pioneer vsx-424 and speakers are Pioneer s-rs55tb, its a set of two floor standing speakers, two rear and central one.
I am not sure if i need to get a subwoofer, at the moment i am satisfied with sound.
I thought I didnt need a sub after getting my floorstanders, but the upgrade itch came and I got one (BK XXLS 400), wow huge difference for both music and films.
 
I just need weed. One of my favourite ways to decompress is smoking a joint and listening to music.

No idea what kind of speakers I got. Probably fairly low quality speakers. They got good bass and that's good enough for me.

Whenever I get new headphones/speakers/or upgrade my car stereo I always play this track first.
 

Anki

Banned
I thought I didnt need a sub after getting my floorstanders, but the upgrade itch came and I got one (BK XXLS 400), wow huge difference for both music and films.

Thanks for that, I was looking now for something up to 200euros and I found this yamaha subwoofer (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XRB1JZS/?tag=neogaf0e-20) , but I am a little bit worried that if I buy it and it doesn't sound better its a waste of money. Not sure what to do.
 

nkarafo

Member
Is this the right thread to ask for some advice about the shitty Windows 10 OS and how it breaks the Sound Blaster Z with it's latest updates?
 

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
I’m no real audiophile but I did go down that rabbit hole for a while and I do care about audio quality.

I have less-than-stellar sources, my music is played mainly from my laptops and I have an iPod Touch that’s no more useful for portable use ‘cause the battery won’t hold a charge anymore so I use it in my car. I’d be interested in a new DAP but most of them are so expensive.

As for the rest of my rig:
- DAC: Topping D30
- Amp: Schiit Magni 3
- Headphones: Sennheiser HD600 and Massdrop x Fostex TH-X00 Ebony
- Portable headphones: Sennheiser IE80 and JVC HA-S400

The DAC and amp should help out on the quality side, regardless of source. Unless of course you're plating like 128kbsp files.

I'm also somewhat interested in a DAP for when I travel for work. The cost for me too is a limiting factor. Besides, I doubt I would get much for critical listing in the hellhole that is airports and planes.
I did randomly find an old iPod mini in a camera bag but the audio quality out is worse than my phone + E10k. It does at least help me save battery on my phone.


Shiit Magni and Modi 1st gen + HD650.

Am I missing something out there or I'm good for the next 50 years?

It all depends on how happy you are with the sound quality. I got my DT 1990 Pros and doubt I will upgrade my desktop headphones in the next 10 years. IEMs, noise-cancelling, something else mobile, probably.

Not really an audiophile eventhough I appreciate good sound quality, just got these ATH-m50x this morning and wow the sound is superb, I got a Beats by Dre PRO 7 years ago for 400$ and sound quality was great but still not as good as these I think, they lasted until some weeks ago tho so good investement nonetheless, these m50x for 120€... a bargain, very satisfied.

ATH-M50x is starting down the rabbit hole. They have been a gateway drug for many, including myself. Next thing would be a dac & amp combo on the cheap.

Cool thread:)

main room setup is simple these days:
Amp: DIY FIRSTWATT F6 (love it)
Pre/streamer/dac/room correction: minidsp shd
Speakers: klipsch heresy
Sub: svs sb-2000

Pretty content with this tight set up. No bass ports on anything + roomcorrection gives great bass control in my cellar-like room.

next project might be a 300b tubeamp build:)

Awesome set-up! I would love to dip my toe into the waters of room correction. I'm fortunate that the rooms already sound pretty good, but one still never knows until they actually try.

Is there a specific tutorial on the tube build you're looking at? I would love to see a video or photo walkthrough if you move forward with it.

For music I have:

Yamaha AS501 amp
Onkyo c-7030 cd player
Rega Planar 1 (2016) with AT-VM95E cartridge
Raspberry PI with hifiberry dac+pro and touchscreen running picoreplayer
Synology DS118 running logitech media server
Q acoustic Q3050 speakers
BK XXLS400 sub

Additional kit includes PS4 and PS3, Yamaha RXV381, LG 55B7, pair of Q3020 for rears (when i get round to fixing them to the wall), a Q3090C and a diy selector switch to switch my floorstanders between the two amps; this is going to be modified to work automatically by replacing the switch with relays.

Will be upgrading the receiver in next year or so as it doesn't have atmos or pass through dolby vision (hoping ps5 will have both of these).

Nice set-up! I've thought about getting a HiFiBerry. My new amp comes with streaming and flac playback though, so not sure it would do me any good at this point unless I need to route through a different dac.

Is this the right thread to ask for some advice about the shitty Windows 10 OS and how it breaks the Sound Blaster Z with it's latest updates?

Why not? Unfortunately, I'm of no help. I'm more curious on why go through a soundcard vs external dac & amp?
 
Thanks for that, I was looking now for something up to 200euros and I found this yamaha subwoofer (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XRB1JZS/?tag=neogaf0e-20) , but I am a little bit worried that if I buy it and it doesn't sound better its a waste of money. Not sure what to do.
Looking at your speaker specs, they appear to go pretty low. But a sub will take pressure of your receiver allowing more power to be fed to your speakers.

If you were to get a sub I would recommend BK electronics, they sell direct from their website so keeps prices down and they are well respected in AV circles. The cheapest is the gemini mk2 which is a 10inch sub with 150w amp, the next would be the xls-200, but this is a bit more.

They also sell grade B subs on ebay under seller id colosussxb (BK are currently on holiday so no listings), which are cheaper but still provide 2 year warranty. These will knock spots of the yamaha and allow for both low (LFE signal from AVR) and high level (use speaker outputs from stereo amp) connections.
 

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
I just need weed. One of my favourite ways to decompress is smoking a joint and listening to music.

No idea what kind of speakers I got. Probably fairly low quality speakers. They got good bass and that's good enough for me.

Whenever I get new headphones/speakers/or upgrade my car stereo I always play this track first.


Weed + music is indeed delightful. That combo is partly why I got so into sound quality. I think the first real mind blown moment for me was listening to the band Crosses on a pair of ATH M50x. I started hearing entire instrument sections on songs I had not been able to notice previously.
Then I became obsessed with soundstage and imaging.... It's a rabbit hole.
 

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
I hate having to get more than the default, around a year ago I had a sound bar, do you think 3D audio will get casuals to take audio more seriously?

I've never tried it myself.
I think what makes the biggest impact the low entry cost. You can spend very little to get yourself 80% there.
I believe Amazon getting into the cd quality & hi-res streaming game also pushes the mainstream. I suspect Spotify will at some point embrace a higher tier, which could be a tipping point.

Well it's a great card and i knew what it offers before i got it.

i don't know much about amps and dacs. But i do want to get an external card like the Sound Blaster Omni.

I'm the inverse--I know more about dacs and amps than I do soundcards. I believe it's the same thing, just separate form factors. The external dac & amp removes the requirement to power from PC.
 

shoegaze

Member
Vast technical improvement in DAC and amps these days, but nothing you’d actually hear. Headphones are still top 5. Save your money and enjoy forever!

Hah, from time to time I still get the itch to explore, but always nice to hear this. Ultimately the only thing that is lacking a little bit is that deep, rumbly sub-bass, but Amazon customer service scratches it without me paying a dime.

Weed + music is indeed delightful. That combo is partly why I got so into sound quality. I think the first real mind blown moment for me was listening to the band Crosses on a pair of ATH M50x. I started hearing entire instrument sections on songs I had not been able to notice previously.
Then I became obsessed with soundstage and imaging.... It's a rabbit hole.

And how about shrooms + music? Where YOU become the music.
 
I've wanted high quality audio and I'm a bass head, have been ever since school. I built up a system around 2005/2006 which I still have today and still sounds fantastic at all decibels, all 140+ of them. Nearly 15 years on now and I am yet to feel the upgrade itch. Some years down the line when I sold my car, I took the sub and amp out of that and threw it into the home system too. My place is a mess right now so old pictures it is.

(Front) Monitor Audio S10 speakers and (Rear) Monitor Audio S8 speakers
2x Musical Fidelity X-150 amplifiers, 1x AudioLab 8000A amplifier, 1x Kicker Zx1000 amplifier
2x REL Q401e Subwoofers, 1x Solobaric L7 15" subwoofer (in custom made 1" thick box with adjustable port)
Musical Fidelity X-ray V3 CD player.

2CC62F8.jpg

w3HUugt.jpg

DKXpGKb.jpg
 
Maiden Voyage Maiden Voyage yeah it works well, although 1 rca output was playing up again so just resoldered it, but think I have just fried something :( either my pi or my dac. Oh well, gonna have to find out what I've fried and get a replacement (hopefully its the dac as the output has failed a few times).
 

Filth

Member
Being mainly a video game forum can anyone give some tips on headphones for pc gaming / music listening. I currently am running a magni and modi 2.0 amp / dac. For headphones i started with philips shp9500. I then upgraded to a massdrop of hifiman he-4xx. Which turned out great after tweaking them. I since have bought sennheiser hd700 which are ok but i find the hifiman sound better. I dont have any stores around me to go listen to see what i like. Should i upgrade the amp dac? or just the headphones?
 

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
Being mainly a video game forum can anyone give some tips on headphones for pc gaming / music listening. I currently am running a magni and modi 2.0 amp / dac. For headphones i started with philips shp9500. I then upgraded to a massdrop of hifiman he-4xx. Which turned out great after tweaking them. I since have bought sennheiser hd700 which are ok but i find the hifiman sound better. I dont have any stores around me to go listen to see what i like. Should i upgrade the amp dac? or just the headphones?

I've not had a pair of Hifimans nor planar headphones so I don't have a great baseline reference. What's your budget?
 

EverydayBeast

thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
I've never tried it myself.
I think what makes the biggest impact the low entry cost. You can spend very little to get yourself 80% there.
I believe Amazon getting into the cd quality & hi-res streaming game also pushes the mainstream. I suspect Spotify will at some point embrace a higher tier, which could be a tipping point.



I'm the inverse--I know more about dacs and amps than I do soundcards. I believe it's the same thing, just separate form factors. The external dac & amp removes the requirement to power from PC.
I want 3D audio to be convincing and catch fire with the casuals, I don't know why consoles don't take audio seriously.
 

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
Filth Filth Amp and DAC upgrade is unlikely with a $500 pair of headphones.

To help match the signature, the Reddit headphone community might be able to give good direction since I have no experience with planar.
I did a quick search there and saw great feedback on the AKG K712 Pro, AKG K7XX, or Hifiman Sundara. I also read a few folks saying they are supper happy with the he-4xx and don't feel the need to upgrade.
 

rykomatsu

Member
Living Room:
Swan Diva 6.1 speakers
Marantz SR-6013
QNAP TVS-951 running Plex
I'll pull the PS3 out when I listen to SACDs

Office / PC:
Swan Diva 2.1 speakers
Monoprice Pure Tube Stereo Amp (RMA'd twice, backup is Emotiva A-100)
FiiO E17 DAC

Travel:
iPod Touch 1G (Wolfson audio chip)
FiiO E17 DAC
AKG K701 headphones
Ultimate Ears UE900 IEMs (backups are Ultimate Ears triple.fi 10s and super.fi 5)
 

Filth

Member
Filth Filth Amp and DAC upgrade is unlikely with a $500 pair of headphones.

To help match the signature, the Reddit headphone community might be able to give good direction since I have no experience with planar.
I did a quick search there and saw great feedback on the AKG K712 Pro, AKG K7XX, or Hifiman Sundara. I also read a few folks saying they are supper happy with the he-4xx and don't feel the need to upgrade.
Thanks for the feedback
 
S

SLoWMoTIoN

Unconfirmed Member
I have a 4k Sony receiver 2.1 set up. Got rid of my towers and I am running a svs sub and 2 bookshelves (infinity). I don't care what anybody says, this generation of consoles has terrible audio compared to last gen.
I hate having to get more than the default, around a year ago I had a sound bar, do you think 3D audio will get casuals to take audio more seriously?
3D audio sounds like a dumb meme so far. Sorta like virtual surround (headphones)
 

kingbean

Member
I'm not a real audiophile by any means but I've got a nice set up that I enjoy.

Desk
Headphones: AKG K7xx
DAC/Amp: FX-Audio DAC-6

5.1
Speakers: Sony Core bookshelves and center
Sub: Polk PSW10
Receiver: Sony STRDH790 (was free from a friend after my Onkyo died, and the onkyo was a cheap replacement for my Yamaha when I went 4k HDR)
 
Last edited:
I don't care what anybody says, this generation of consoles has terrible audio compared to last gen

I can't speak for consoles but God damn I was sorely disappointed by the sound on my new PC motherboard.
My 10 year old Gigabyte motherboard sounded excellent; it had impressively good depth, imaging, clarity and detail for onboard sound, so good in fact that I didn't bother to fit in my Audigy Soundblaster card and it drastically reduced the amount of CDs I played on my dedicated CD player, which I spent £1000 on.

This new Ryzen board is a shocker though, not only paling in comparison across the entire range but it also has a horrendously overwhelming amount of boost in the 60hz-300hz region and completely falls off below 40hz-45hz. Feels bad going into the year 2020 and having to look around for a new sound card, they should have been rendered useless years ago..
 

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
I can't speak for consoles but God damn I was sorely disappointed by the sound on my new PC motherboard.
My 10 year old Gigabyte motherboard sounded excellent; it had impressively good depth, imaging, clarity and detail for onboard sound, so good in fact that I didn't bother to fit in my Audigy Soundblaster card and it drastically reduced the amount of CDs I played on my dedicated CD player, which I spent £1000 on.

This new Ryzen board is a shocker though, not only paling in comparison across the entire range but it also has a horrendously overwhelming amount of boost in the 60hz-300hz region and completely falls off below 40hz-45hz. Feels bad going into the year 2020 and having to look around for a new sound card, they should have been rendered useless years ago..

Get an external DAC & amp. You can keep them as you upgrade your mobo/pc.
 

rykomatsu

Member
I can't speak for consoles but God damn I was sorely disappointed by the sound on my new PC motherboard.
My 10 year old Gigabyte motherboard sounded excellent; it had impressively good depth, imaging, clarity and detail for onboard sound, so good in fact that I didn't bother to fit in my Audigy Soundblaster card and it drastically reduced the amount of CDs I played on my dedicated CD player, which I spent £1000 on.

This new Ryzen board is a shocker though, not only paling in comparison across the entire range but it also has a horrendously overwhelming amount of boost in the 60hz-300hz region and completely falls off below 40hz-45hz. Feels bad going into the year 2020 and having to look around for a new sound card, they should have been rendered useless years ago..

If it's a Realtek chip that's running the audio, have you tried tinkering with Realtek HD Audio Manager? Should be able to use that as an equalizer and bring down the 60-300hz range and bump up the low range.
 
If it's a Realtek chip that's running the audio, have you tried tinkering with Realtek HD Audio Manager? Should be able to use that as an equalizer and bring down the 60-300hz range and bump up the low range.

Tried that already and It doesn't do shit I'm afraid, Equalizer APO doesn't work either. I can just about solve the problem with music in Foobar2000 because I have 3 graphic equalizers reducing that range as much as possible, but that still leaves Youtube et al left with the issue.

I've googled around and I don't see anyone else complaining about this problem with this motherboard, so either this particular unit has some weird issue or maybe it's just because my sound system doesn't have a single small woofer and can be sensitive to bass. I've not had to deal with this with any other piece of hardware in all the years I've owned the system though.
 
Last edited:

THE:MILKMAN

Member
My main system is:

Rega Brio amp
Rega DAC
Art Stiletto speakers
Marantz CD5005 used as transport

For PC I use:

AVI ADM9 active monitors

Living room:

Rotel RA-1062 amp
System Audio Mantra floor stander's

Been looking into getting some nice headphones for the first time. Tried my nephews Sony 1000MX3's which where impressive.
 
I have run the same audio setup for 4 years...

Violectric V-800
Violectric V-850
Violectric PPA V-600

Senn HD-800

SOTA Nova V turntable with SME 309 tone arm and microbenz gold dot cart

It gets the job done as I am in a place that I really cannot use speakers at the moment.
 
Top Bottom