Entropy.

752 is fine enough, the creative aurvana live! SE (Not v2), and the akg k361 for $105 will be a decent bit better

You can get nice headphones that are wireless, a handful of "audiophile" ones. I have very little regard for most reviewers (espeically gaming youtubers), I've found most can't be trusted much. Take for example the razer blackshark v2. Gushed about by practically all gaming reviewers. It's just a regular gaming headset. There are some better options out there, but those have been distinguished by more knowledgeable reviewers. The gaming reviewers might go through a lot of (mostly medicore) product, but it doesn't inherently change anything, unless they manage to find a rare gem... and can actually distinguish a decent FR and good sound over.

Most of them also don't know what good audio sounds like (imo), or have very low expectations, shrug. From my experience most gaming headphones are remarkably similar, with a few options that are somewhat better than the others.

Total marketing gimmicks. Unless proven otherwise (power figures, anybody?), assume it's going to be mediocre. It'll depend on listening volume and your exact computer, it definitely has the potential to. hd600 isn't extremely hard to drive, but most devices will still struggle to drive it if you're not a quiet listener. However, you're really only going to be concerned about volume rather than quality for the amplifier, at least for the most part. Not a bad plan, however, a dac/amp that you'd be looking at wouldn't really change the sound, by much if at all (provided that your onboard isn't screwed up). Just clean it up and amplify it. There are other options out there that are available. The drop x sennheiser Hd6xx isn't far off from the sound of the hd600 while possessing a significantly lower price, and the Sennheiser hd560 is also an excellent option (especially for sound work), and although it sounds somewhat different than its 600 series brethren, It's easy to drive, and good in its own right.

Virtual 7.1 audio... integrated into games with no simple stereo mode? Don't think that exists.

Honestly very few people need that many bits (especially since so much modern music is quite compressed). For me, as well as everybody I know, it's damn hard if not impossible to tell the difference inbetween 16bit ~44.1khz and higher standards, at least without specalized tracks. 100% Dunno where they got that from, maybe they got pulled up into oversampling, or to dsd/pcm formats. Most people can't tell the difference anyways haha, especially with the run-of-the-mill chip dacs and amps implemented in budget products.

How come you need that?

As has been said before, "Best" is subjective. However, there are a few options that many people recommend. Schiit magni+modi. Very solid stack, good performance, high-value. It's more or less been the industry standard for entry-level stacks for a few years now. SMSL Sh-6 and Su-6. A bit of a different, slightly more modern/ fancier stack. Performance and sound will be similar, but you'll get a different aesthetic design and more features out of the dac. Ifi zendac: A nice, integrated solution with an excellent knob. Amp performance isn't on par with the others in terms of power but it probably won't be an issue for you. It has unique features such as the truebass button, it's balanced design, ect.

If it's somewhat near your budget, I'd recommend the akg nc700 m2. Possibly the only wireless ANC headphone out there currently that can hold a candle to good wired options out there. It'll sound better than practically anything you can purchase fromthe likes of Sony or Bose.

Headphones: Hifiman Ananda Amp/dac: Ifi zendac Speaker amp: Topping Pa5 Speakers: JBL studio 530

An update on Schiit products for those that are inclined. Most of the below news was provided by the founder of Schiit, Jason Stoddard. Recap: -Modi has increased in price. The Schiit Modi (Now dubbed the Modi 3E) has increased in price from $99 USD, to $129 USD. With this change comes a switch in DAC chip, from AKM (who unfortunately suffered a factory fire a while back), to ESS. The specific chip being used here is the ES9018, and measures slightly better than the outgoing modi 3+. On a separate note, the lifespan of the Multibit Modi was extended due to the AKM factory fire. Seeing that Schiit has switched suppliers, expect EOL for the Modi multibit in the first half of 2022. -Silver Schiit products have increased in price. Due to now utilizing a new clear-anodization process, manufacturing silver variants of Schiit products has become more costly. This has resulted in the following price increases: $10 for small-size units (mani, loki mini (the Magni and Modi are excluded)), $20 for "medi-small" sized units, (Lokius), $30 for medium-sized units, (Asgard, Bifrost, Jotunheim), $50 for "medi-large" sized units, (Freya, Aegir, Vidar), and $100 for large-sized units (Ragnorak). Pricing for the black variants have not changed in price. Note: Jason Stoddard (founder of Schiit) claims that these price increases are not going to become monthly affairs, and that this is a rare, and much-needed price adjustment. -New Schiit coming in hot. Jason has stated that 2021 was a bit of a train wreck, due to supply shortages and component price increases. Many products were pushed back, but this year, he has high hopes. The Tyr, Schiit's monoblockable, soon-to-be TOTL poweramp is slated to launch this year, and has already entered production. A photo of it can be seen on the Loki max product page. The Folkvangr, a 10-tube... Yes, 10. tube. Headphone amp, additionally, has also gone into production. This will likely be Schiit's TOTL headphone amp, with sources claiming that the pricing will be around 10x the vali, or around $1500 USD. To top off the upcoming lineup, we have the Schiit URD: a CD transport that has entered beta production and was shown in a recent Livestream. It is said to have Schiit's unison USB output, optimized for their DACs. Finally, Jason has recently said (Feb 3) that Schiit may be launching some additional, yet-to-be-disclosed products in the near future. And I quote: "1. We still have new products coming, some shockingly good and affordable, some maybe just shocking (or industry-redefining?) 2. The first of the shockingly good stuff is coming soon. 3. The first of the affordable stuff is coming soon. 4. We continue to improve things, and we are seriously working on reducing prices wherever we can." Sources: https://www.hear.audio/2021/03/22/jason-stoddard-of-schiit-audio-drops-the-list-of-2021-products-going-into-production/ https://www.head-fi.org/threads/schiit-happened-the-story-of-the-worlds-most-improbable-start-up.701900/page-5871#post-16797999 Note as a precaution: Yes, I posted this a little while ago on reddit, this isn't stolen- I'm just trying to spread the information a bit.

I'm a similar case to you and shear. Oftentimes I just listen late into the night with apple earpods, pretty close to sleep and with no distractions in my room. Even with a suuper unresolving setup, I often find myself picking up cues that I don't hear in my headphone or speaker setups.

It's really going to come down to what you try to use with the motherboard. Most gaming and "consumer" (think wired sony wh-1000xm4's and the like) headphones should be fine- albeit most of them aren't really recommended.

Since everything in this hobby is so subjective and dependant on so many variables, it's really hard to determine your opinion regarding a certain speaker without, well, hearing them for yourself. If at all possible, see if there are any speaker retailers in your area, perhaps take a listen to a few speakers in your area that are within your budget. If you need to make a decision based purely on reviews and the such, try compiling a short list of general thoughts that each reviewer has, and sort out the general themes that appear. With any luck, those themes will be applicable in many different situations, to many different people.

My pick would go to the he-x4s or the hifiman he400se'. Nice pair of headphones.

Deva pro came out for $30 extra pretty recently. Improved dac module (and it's r2r for some reason..), smaller form factor, headphone can be used with single/double 3.5mm cables, the deva now has the stealth magnets, ect. No power specs on the bt module now, though, would assume it's lower.

I would recommend the edifier 1280t, or the presonus eris 3.5 rather than those. Even though they lack a sub, they'll just sound better in general.

Well first and formost, do you have any sort of budget? Even if you're not quite sure, just list a budget you're comfortable with and we can go from there (please include currency, as well). You should be able to make something work in your setup. If you can, it'd be helpful to know how far away you'd be from the speakers while listening in most cases, and possibly how much space you could put between the speaker and the back wall.

The fabled GoldenOne.... Thank you for the impressions! I've been a viewer for a while, now

Huh, guess they were a little off the mark

That indeed is the more logical route to take, and I've been drafting a guide over the past few days. I was experimenting with a bit of a different format as is clear here, but it seems like this might go in the dumpster. Oh well. As I've been working on the guide in parelell with the posting of this thread, it shouldn't be long until I have something out for edits.

Not specifically. I'm aware of all these details, and I'm working on a way to vet the data, so to speak. I'm pretty well aquitted with the situation of headphones in the most popular budget sectors, currently this is just for more support testimonials from the community to help support- or in rare cases- contest common themes that I find from reviewers, what I hear, and my trusted sources. I only plan to have a few, highly-regarded options for each certain budget sector that'd be relevant in the context of a guide like mine if one is to be released from me. Nobody's going to be listening to my advice on summit-fi cans, obviously. I'm not exactly trying to be crinacle 2.0 with thousands of items on a tier list. As for the latter part, of course, that's part of the process. Thankfully (at least for now), I'm just working on a basic guide that won't be nearly comprehensive. I have a comprehesive beginer/intermediate guide coming up, but I lack the knowledge (imo), the time, and the patience to complete that one, so It's on the backburner for now. If I ever decide to complete that one... It'd probably be 50+ pages of a google doc, so I'm not particularly excited to start earnestly working on it. I've already built out most of the framework for it though... it's like 15 pages already. That was my original intent, and I've done it on a smaller scale with individuals that I'm more familiar with, primarily on Discord. The problem with what you're suggesting from my framepoint is how it would be excecuted- with a reach as small as mine, I have serious doubts that I would be able to get more than a few scattered responses, so I decided to try a more free-for-all format, just going "Do what you want, how you want it." Though, I suppose it hasn't really faired much better... the thread's already practically dead. Always other forums, I suppose. I can further gather opinions as time goes on, and I can revise the descriptions in te guide if need be.

Condense dozens of reviews/opinions- if possible- into simple recommendations that include a general shared conesensus/description of a product. Rinse and repeat with different products at different pricepoints, put multiple items, at least some at different prices, into a list of sorts.

brilliant, yes. Sounds like a great tool tool. As an fyi and future reference this thread isn't about personal recommendations for myself or somebody else. Rather I want to hear as many opinions as possible on any gear you might want to comment on; and reference opinions with reviews, blogs, ect. to find common themes and opinions for certain peices of audo gear, preferably to record and share later on. It is a bit of a fool's errand haha. Thank you for the detailed descriptions on the gear you covered.

Of course, sound perception is completely subjective. What I'm trying to glean currently relates to a general shared consensus among many diverse individuals- or basically what remains true regardless of who's perspective you're... hearing... through. At the root of this, that's what I'm trying to do, that's the point of this thread.