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Help > Confused with audio setup / configuration

Gilkauss
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If you can give me a website that you're going to shop at I can look at the prices and see what's good. 

I couldn't find a decent shop that lists all their products at least on our area.

 

I ended up buying ATH SJ-11 as it is cheap and readily available. So far it has good sound quality and decent noise reduction. I needed a decent headset asap as I will be going out on a practice tonight for a tournament this coming Saturday.

 

I also found out that it is my speaker having problems as I can still experience the sudden crackle noise but is not more frequent now. And not to mention the sudden drop on volume which fixes itself after a few seconds.

Which is better, get a good quality headset/in-ear with just using onboard audio cards, or get a high quality sound card and just use an average to low rated headset/in-ear?

What I'm trying to understand is if there is a big difference or will it cause some bottleneck, like if I use a good quality headset but my sound card is crappy then would I not get the best out of my good quality headset?

 

My current setup is I'm plugin my in-ear phones via an Altec Lansing speaker system which is plugged in directly on an onboard sound card. And I'm experiencing some cracking noise when I move my head or the wiring moves.

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a better pair of headphones with onboard audio is MOST likely the better solution. although that being said IF u have some sort of faulty onboard audio then a sound card would be advised

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Personally, I'm not able to tell the difference between a high quality onboard audio card or even a high quality headphones/in ear. Think it may just be me, or I'm the opposite of an audiophile.... As long as I hear my music, I'm fine.

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Which is better, get a good quality headset/in-ear with just using onboard audio cards, or get a high quality sound card and just use an average to low rated headset/in-ear?

What I'm trying to understand is if there is a big difference or will it cause some bottleneck, like if I use a good quality headset but my sound card is crappy then would I not get the best out of my good quality headset?

 

My current setup is I'm plugin my in-ear phones via an Altec Lansing speaker system which is plugged in directly on an onboard sound card. And I'm experiencing some cracking noise when I move my head or the wiring moves.

The crackling noise indicates that the connection between your IEM and Speakers is loose. You might want to look into that or get them repaired.

Good IEM/ Speaker will perform better on onboard audio than using Cheap IEM/ Speakers with a good audio card.

A bad sound card will adversely affect the sound quality of your Good Headset/ IEM/ Speakers.

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I'd say pick up some better headphones, preferably not 'Gaming' branded. Keep an eye out for low Impedance phones as they will make it or break it for you if you're going to continue using on board audio. Don't buy anything with an impedance of over 32 ohms; anything over 32 ohms will likely cause amplification problems at higher volumes. Feel free to ask any questions

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a better pair of headphones with onboard audio is MOST likely the better solution. although that being said IF u have some sort of faulty onboard audio then a sound card would be advised

Well that makes sense.  Thanks!

 

Personally, I'm not able to tell the difference between a high quality onboard audio card or even a high quality headphones/in ear. Think it may just be me, or I'm the opposite of an audiophile.... As long as I hear my music, I'm fine.

I think we're the same. But I have to get proper opinion as my current audio setup needs fixing. And I would prefer to get a new pair rather than fix it so before I spend some money I would like to be smart and have some research and get some opinions first.

 

The crackling noise indicates that the connection between your IEM and Speakers is loose. You might want to look into that or get them repaired.

Good IEM/ Speaker will perform better on onboard audio than using Cheap IEM/ Speakers with a good audio card.

A bad sound card will adversely affect the sound quality of your Good Headset/ IEM/ Speakers.

Yes that makes sense now. My audio setup is at least 5 years old already so I think fixing it will just cost me more.

 

I'd say pick up some better headphones, preferably not 'Gaming' branded. Keep an eye out for low Impedance phones as they will make it or break it for you if you're going to continue using on board audio. Don't buy anything with an impedance of over 32 ohms; anything over 32 ohms will likely cause amplification problems at higher volumes. Feel free to ask any questions

Thank you for the detailed specification. I'm planning to build a new rig so I would like to get some advice if getting high quality sound card is worth it (if you have some suggestions on what brand or type please do give some). I usually need the audio for gaming whereas I need where the footsteps are coming, then some occasional music tripping.

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Don't buy anything with an impedance of over 32 ohms; anything over 32 ohms will likely cause amplification problems at higher volumes. Feel free to ask any questions

 

Nonsense. Plenty of higher-ohm'd headphones are sensitive enough to be driven fine off even portable players.

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Thank you for the detailed specification. I'm planning to build a new rig so I would like to get some advice if getting high quality sound card is worth it (if you have some suggestions on what brand or type please do give some). I usually need the audio for gaming whereas I need where the footsteps are coming, then some occasional music tripping.

I believe for like 200 bucks you could get the Schiit amp/DAC combo that Linus reviewed a while ago. Excellent units from what I've heard.

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I'd say pick up some better headphones, preferably not 'Gaming' branded. Keep an eye out for low Impedance phones as they will make it or break it for you if you're going to continue using on board audio. Don't buy anything with an impedance of over 32 ohms; anything over 32 ohms will likely cause amplification problems at higher volumes. Feel free to ask any questions

 

Onboard can power much more than 32 ohms. And impedance is only half the factor. Most onboards can even power 250 ohm Beyerdynamics. 

 

 

I believe for like 200 bucks you could get the Schiit amp/DAC combo that Linus reviewed a while ago. Excellent units from what I've heard.

 

Stay away from Schiit. It's terrible compared to an o2 and you can get one right now on Massdrop for $99 and that's a steal. It ends tomorrow though. 

 

Which is better, get a good quality headset/in-ear with just using onboard audio cards, or get a high quality sound card and just use an average to low rated headset/in-ear?

What I'm trying to understand is if there is a big difference or will it cause some bottleneck, like if I use a good quality headset but my sound card is crappy then would I not get the best out of my good quality headset?

 

My current setup is I'm plugin my in-ear phones via an Altec Lansing speaker system which is plugged in directly on an onboard sound card. And I'm experiencing some cracking noise when I move my head or the wiring moves.

 

I think the first thing to do is plug your headphones directly into the motherboard and see if the cracking noise is still happening then try it with a different pair. I suspect it is something wrong with your headphones since it is only when your head moves. 

If you let me know your budget, location, and preferences (open or closed, fun or analytical) I can recommend some nice headphones for you. 

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Onboard can power much more than 32 ohms. And impedance is only half the factor. Most onboards can even power 250 ohm Beyerdynamics. 

 

 

 

Stay away from Schiit. It's terrible compared to an o2 and you can get one right now on Massdrop for $99 and that's a steal. It ends tomorrow though. 

 

From my experience with my on board, anything more than that has given me garbage audio and that was with a 64 ohm pair of headphones. I'm aware there are better options, that was one that had popped into my mind at the time for that price point.

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I don't know if this is right or not, but I like to think the audio device/source = raw cooking materials, and the headphone/speakers = chef. Audio DAC chips nowadays are already quite good and cheap now, in other words, onboard audio use chips that are already good. But in the hand of a bad chef, the end product (analog audio we hear) WILL go bad. Using good DAC with bad headphone = good materials in the hand of bad chef. Tastes a little better, but still far from what could have. 

 

When you do have a good chef, then you're free to choose whether to use the basic materials (that are already good), or upgrade to better/premium materials to maximize the end products. Good chef + already good materials = good foods. Good chef + premium materials = bliss....:)

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From my experience with my on board, anything more than that has given me garbage audio and that was with a 64 ohm pair of headphones. I'm aware there are better options, that was one that had popped into my mind at the time for that price point.

Then the headphones themselves were bad not the board couldn't power them. 

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Onboard can power much more than 32 ohms. And impedance is only half the factor. Most onboards can even power 250 ohm Beyerdynamics. 

 

 

 

Stay away from Schiit. It's terrible compared to an o2 and you can get one right now on Massdrop for $99 and that's a steal. It ends tomorrow though. 

 

 

I think the first thing to do is plug your headphones directly into the motherboard and see if the cracking noise is still happening then try it with a different pair. I suspect it is something wrong with your headphones since it is only when your head moves. 

If you let me know your budget, location, and preferences (open or closed, fun or analytical) I can recommend some nice headphones for you. 

I'm from Davao City Philippines, so access to much more premium headphones is pretty hard and expensive. For the budget I would say $100-$150. Im not an audiophile so I dont know much about preferences. I had some crappy headsets before like the Roccat Kulo but I could not bear to wear it for more than 15 minutes, it hurts my ears and it's not breathable so I end up wiping my sweat all over the ear cups. Probably the material or the physique of my ears. I have small ears though.

 

I don't know if this is right or not, but I like to think the audio device/source = raw cooking materials, and the headphone/speakers = chef. Audio DAC chips nowadays are already quite good and cheap now, in other words, onboard audio use chips that are already good. But in the hand of a bad chef, the end product (analog audio we hear) WILL go bad. Using good DAC with bad headphone = good materials in the hand of bad chef. Tastes a little better, but still far from what could have. 

 

When you do have a good chef, then you're free to choose whether to use the basic materials (that are already good), or upgrade to better/premium materials to maximize the end products. Good chef + already good materials = good foods. Good chef + premium materials = bliss.... :)

Well that's a great way to sum it all up. Thanks!

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I'm from Davao City Philippines, so access to much more premium headphones is pretty hard and expensive. For the budget I would say $100-$150. Im not an audiophile so I dont know much about preferences. I had some crappy headsets before like the Roccat Kulo but I could not bear to wear it for more than 15 minutes, it hurts my ears and it's not breathable so I end up wiping my sweat all over the ear cups. Probably the material or the physique of my ears. I have small ears though.

 

If you can give me a website that you're going to shop at I can look at the prices and see what's good. 

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If you can give me a website that you're going to shop at I can look at the prices and see what's good. 

I couldn't find a decent shop that lists all their products at least on our area.

 

I ended up buying ATH SJ-11 as it is cheap and readily available. So far it has good sound quality and decent noise reduction. I needed a decent headset asap as I will be going out on a practice tonight for a tournament this coming Saturday.

 

I also found out that it is my speaker having problems as I can still experience the sudden crackle noise but is not more frequent now. And not to mention the sudden drop on volume which fixes itself after a few seconds.

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