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The Audio Board's Frequently Asked Questions, Pre-answered!

cool resource.  thanks man!

 

Some small changes caught my eye:

 

Under connectors, the 3.5mm/ 1/8th connector is not the same as an RCA connector.  RCA connectors are the kind commonly used for component/composite A/V connections (the old yellow-red-white connectors).  They're also used for consumer S/PDIF over coax which is a digital connection and could be confusing.  (On that note, you might consider adding a section about TOSLINK/optical, but I'm not sure how many people use it)

 

the 1/4" section looks pretty good, but for the sake of any musicians in the audience, I would add that these are often called TRS connectors.

 

and the xiph.org links are 404 for me.

 

 

Thanks again for compiling this.  I think it will be a helpful sticky.

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Nothing on ceramic cable risers? I hear they can really bring out details in 900hz range...  :P

 

Could we have this up (or stickied) with responses for improvements/alterations/suggestions and then stickied permanently without them when it's 100%?

 

Thanks h246.  ;)

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Audio Beyerdynamic DT990pro headphones - Audioengine D1 DAC/AMP - Swan D1080-IV speakers

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Nothing on ceramic cable risers? I hear they can really bring out details in 900hz range...  :P

 

Shh!!!  We can't have that in the sticky! :angry:

 

They can't know our secrets  :ph34r:

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Cables are important for audio. Gotta have proper shielding to avoid interference. I think i read somewhere that certain rca cables and headphone cables make a difference. A bit pricier too.

Thats as far as i read lol. Ill check it out tomorrow

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The cables kind of matter, but it's more of a selecting the right gauge for the right length.

As long as the cables are either short enough or thick enough to not change the overall impedance of the load too much your fine.

http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm

 

 

 

 

and I would like to test a power conditioner on an AC input amp. I think it might get rid of some of the noise on my tube amp.

I have a feeling a DC amp with regulated powersupply won't change much with a conditioner.

Will work for electronic components and parts


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Shh!!!  We can't have that in the sticky! :angry:

 

They can't know our secrets  :ph34r:

 

 

'Rice paper wraps for all kind of audio interlink plugs. Analogue interlinks balanced or unbalanced and digital interlinks like coax and Toslink do benefit much from the Wraps. You need one Wrap per digital interlink! Great results when applied on plugs, for example: CD players, DAC 's and pre-amplifiers. And Audiophile iPod interlinks for head-fi. Price of one wrap € 35,00.'

post-2523-0-61861000-1369214635.jpg

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Audio Beyerdynamic DT990pro headphones - Audioengine D1 DAC/AMP - Swan D1080-IV speakers

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The cables kind of matter, but it's more of a selecting the right gauge for the right length.

As long as the cables are either short enough or thick enough to not change the overall impedance of the load too much your fine.

http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm

 

 

 

 

and I would like to test a power conditioner on an AC input amp. I think it might get rid of some of the noise on my tube amp.

I have a feeling a DC amp with regulated powersupply won't change much with a conditioner.

 

Right, Inductance, Resistance, and Capacitance and nothing else.  In other words, they need the most basic speaker cord they can find with good connectors.

 

 

I'll work in:

 

http://www.theaudiocritic.com/back_issues/The_Audio_Critic_26_r.pdf (page 5) somehow

 

 

cool resource.  thanks man!

 

Some small changes caught my eye:

 

Under connectors, the 3.5mm/ 1/8th connector is not the same as an RCA connector.  RCA connectors are the kind commonly used for component/composite A/V connections (the old yellow-red-white connectors).  They're also used for consumer S/PDIF over coax which is a digital connection and could be confusing.  (On that note, you might consider adding a section about TOSLINK/optical, but I'm not sure how many people use it)

 

the 1/4" section looks pretty good, but for the sake of any musicians in the audience, I would add that these are often called TRS connectors.

 

and the xiph.org links are 404 for me.

 

 

Thanks again for compiling this.  I think it will be a helpful sticky.

 

noted.  links were also fixed. your welcome.

"Pardon my French but this is just about the most ignorant blanket statement I've ever read. And though this is the internet, I'm not even exaggerating."

 

 

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'Rice paper wraps for all kind of audio interlink plugs. Analogue interlinks balanced or unbalanced and digital interlinks like coax and Toslink do benefit much from the Wraps. You need one Wrap per digital interlink! Great results when applied on plugs, for example: CD players, DAC 's and pre-amplifiers. And Audiophile iPod interlinks for head-fi. Price of one wrap € 35,00.'

 

I still raise you my HIS iClear with 6 capacitors on a pci-e x1 board that sucks power off the bus for no particular reason other than to "reduce bus noise"

 

14-999-012-04.jpg

"Pardon my French but this is just about the most ignorant blanket statement I've ever read. And though this is the internet, I'm not even exaggerating."

 

 

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I still raise you my HIS iClear with 6 capacitors on a pci-e x1 board that sucks power off the bus for no particular reason other than to "reduce bus noise"

 

 

 

Hearing the difference now isn't the reason to encode to FLAC. FLAC uses lossless compression, while MP3 is 'lossy'. What this means is that for each year the MP3 sits on your hard drive, it will lose roughly 12kbps, assuming you have SATA - it's about 15kbps on IDE, but only 7kbps on SCSI, due to rotational velocidensity. You don't want to know how much worse it is on CD-ROM or other optical media.
 
I started collecting MP3s in about 2001, and if I try to play any of the tracks I downloaded back then, even the stuff I grabbed at 320kbps, they just sound like crap. The bass is terrible, the midrange...well don't get me started. Some of those albums have degraded down to 32 or even 16kbps. FLAC rips from the same period still sound great, even if they weren't stored correctly, in a cool, dry place. Seriously, stick to FLAC, you may not be able to hear the difference now, but in a year or two, you'll be glad you did.

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Audio Beyerdynamic DT990pro headphones - Audioengine D1 DAC/AMP - Swan D1080-IV speakers

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Hearing the difference now isn't the reason to encode to FLAC. FLAC uses lossless compression, while MP3 is 'lossy'. What this means is that for each year the MP3 sits on your hard drive, it will lose roughly 12kbps, assuming you have SATA - it's about 15kbps on IDE, but only 7kbps on SCSI, due to rotational velocidensity. You don't want to know how much worse it is on CD-ROM or other optical media.
 
I started collecting MP3s in about 2001, and if I try to play any of the tracks I downloaded back then, even the stuff I grabbed at 320kbps, they just sound like crap. The bass is terrible, the midrange...well don't get me started. Some of those albums have degraded down to 32 or even 16kbps. FLAC rips from the same period still sound great, even if they weren't stored correctly, in a cool, dry place. Seriously, stick to FLAC, you may not be able to hear the difference now, but in a year or two, you'll be glad you did.

 

 

An oldy but a goody

"Pardon my French but this is just about the most ignorant blanket statement I've ever read. And though this is the internet, I'm not even exaggerating."

 

 

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So can Xonar DGX make my 2.0 headphones into virtual surround headphones?

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So can Xonar DGX make my 2.0 headphones into virtual surround headphones?

Yup

"Pardon my French but this is just about the most ignorant blanket statement I've ever read. And though this is the internet, I'm not even exaggerating."

 

 

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Thank you for the sticky, windspeed!

"Pardon my French but this is just about the most ignorant blanket statement I've ever read. And though this is the internet, I'm not even exaggerating."

 

 

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Analogue cables are actually more important than you might think, even for entry-level audiophile equipment.(If Beats can be called that) I swapped the default mini-jack to mini-jack cable for some Beats headphones(Pro, Studio, Mixr) to an AudioQuest Evergreen cable and the difference was highly noticeable on my phone (SGS2) with 320kb/s .ogg files (Spotify Premium).

 

Please go ahead and try it yourself, if you know of a store who has similar products.

 

.. and before someone asks, no, I do not own a Beats product myself.

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Analogue cables are actually more important than you might think, even for entry-level audiophile equipment.(If Beats can be called that) I swapped the default mini-jack to mini-jack cable for some Beats headphones(Pro, Studio, Mixr) to an AudioQuest Evergreen cable and the difference was highly noticeable on my phone (SGS2) with 320kb/s .ogg files (Spotify Premium).

 

Please go ahead and try it yourself, if you know of a store who has similar products.

 

.. and before someone asks, no, I do not own a Beats product myself.

 

Can this "highly noticable" difference pass an ABX test if you didn't know which setup your were listening to?

"Pardon my French but this is just about the most ignorant blanket statement I've ever read. And though this is the internet, I'm not even exaggerating."

 

 

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Can this "highly noticable" difference pass an ABX test if you didn't know which setup your were listening to?

I believe so, yes, but when I tested it, it wasn't an ABX test. Please go ahead and try it yourself, if you have the opportunity. I might even re-test it myself, just to make sure (I did this a couple of months ago)

The most noticeable thing was that the bass was a lot tighter when I switched cable, it didn't "bloat" so much of the mids as Beats usually tend to do. The sound was more "well-defined" 

 

Another example of this is when I put "Sugru" (http://sugru.com/) on my cheapo IEM's mini-jack (to strengthen it, it didn't have any wires exposed yet) and I noticed a significant difference in sound (I don't quite remember how they used to sound, but I believe the bass was boosted as well as the treble became a bit harsh when I put Sugru on it)

 

I didn't think cables would make such a huge difference, so I urge people to try swapping cables (NOT BUYING! Just trying)

My local hifi store allows me to test equipment before I buy it.

 

An opposite example of this is the fact that I bought some new, thick, biwire, 1,8m, Audioquest cables for my HiFi equipment, expecting there to be a huge difference from my old needle-thin wires, 20m, but there wasn't. (I Attached pictures of my HiFi cables)

 

 

So I've experienced that analogue cables do make a difference, up to a certain point, I wouldn't spend a 1000$ on cables.

Also, I simply don't know how much digital cables matter, I need some more experience with that, but as of now, I wouldn't bother spending more than necessary on digital cables.  

 

 

 

 

Edit: I do think there was a difference when I switched my HiFi cables, I just didn't notice it too much. Most likely because my amp is too noisy in the first place (it's 30 years old) or because of my speakers. I'll find out soon anyhow, I'll be trying out some new equipment, so I'll update this if I discover something.

 

Also, cheapo 10m mini-jack to mini-jack cables are horrible. They prove that protection for the wires is very important, especially over longer distances, even when the cable isn't damaged.

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I'm at school atm, so I couldn't read the whole article, but I will do an ABX test since you doubt me. I'll get some of my friends to try it as well. Will report back then :)

Also, I wasn't expecting a difference, and the article says that "when you're expecting a difference, there will be a difference"

Edit: (Talking about Beats cable-swap)

Some of my friends and I will do an ABX test next thursday :)

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I'm at school atm, so I couldn't read the whole article, but I will do an ABX test since you doubt me. I'll get some of my friends to try it as well. Will report back then :)

 

Also, I wasn't expecting a difference, and the article says that "when you're expecting a difference, there will be a difference"

 

 

Edit: (Talking about Beats cable-swap)

 

Yes, it is called the placebo effect. There are no real-world differences.

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Audio Beyerdynamic DT990pro headphones - Audioengine D1 DAC/AMP - Swan D1080-IV speakers

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EDITS:

 

I added a new Q and A and added a stat for the handy output impedance list.  Direct your comments and issues to this thread as always.

"Pardon my French but this is just about the most ignorant blanket statement I've ever read. And though this is the internet, I'm not even exaggerating."

 

 

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just curious about the tidbit that says MP3 files stored over time will suffer quality "degrading", I did some research and a few audio files reported this to be a myth that was on Wikipedia.

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just curious about the tidbit that says MP3 files stored over time will suffer quality "degrading", I did some research and a few audio files reported this to be a myth that was on Wikipedia.

 

YHBT, good sir.  Lyons and I were reposting some random /g/ humor.  Obviously, digital files do not "degrade" unless they become corrupted due to the storage medium.  However, this one got a lot of people convinced back in the day.

"Pardon my French but this is just about the most ignorant blanket statement I've ever read. And though this is the internet, I'm not even exaggerating."

 

 

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Was i stupid  when i bought Xonar DGX for my 32Ohm stereo headphones just for the virtual surround? Should i just get this headset http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Connector-Channel-Vibration-RHTS-8206/dp/B007ZS9T1Q ? Its 5.1 and comes with virtual 7.1 with vibration :D .  But on the other hand, I was thinking about buying good high impedance headphones anyway in the future. But all that matters now is that Music must sound good and gaming experience must be as good as possible. I dont kind of like the idea of having a gaming headphones and music headphones separately.

 

So Sound card vs Cheap-o surround headset

 

I need quick answer, if i have to return the Xonar. 

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