h264

I do. Ask me anything. Tesla T1 and LCD-2 here. Long story short, headphones that expensive are only worth it to reply to silly posts like this.

Oh boy I love me some conspiracy theories

try the latest driver from realtek audio's website, not your motherboard manufacturer. I had the same issue with my Ethernet port.

It's all good

howzit?

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/nfl-bans-players-from-wearing-beats-by-dre-headphones-during-interviews-171611924.html The NFL has struck a new deal with Bose and will no longer allow players to wear the incredibly popular headphones during interviews. Fines will be issued if this rule is breached.

really? everyone was always so disappointed with the HD700. And by everyone I mean everyone at Head-Fi.

I think the reason Audeze reccomends 1W is simply for less efficient designs like OTL tube amps. In that case distortion and noise can become an issue at higher volumes. Keep in mind most audiophiles are pretty deaf too. I know one with a giant speaker system ... and hearing aids. If your headphones get loud enough, you're not missing much to begin with. Which is always my response as such.

twitter is just a giant shoutbox so everything becomes a controversy in 140 characters or less when everyone talks in snippets at once. Adam Baldwin created the hastag, but 4chan/banned reddit users started the outrage on twitter. They just didn't plan it on an IRC chat channel. Being mad doesn't take that much coordination. I'm really quite confused, most of all, that nobody noticed just how terrible and useless all the "news" on these sites was up until now. Am I really the only one? I can't be. I stopped reading them years ago.

Couldn't be too much worse than my phone's 10ohm output impedance.

I just tested the only good pair of 32 Ohm headphones I own, my ATH-M50s, they peak at 92db on my note 3. The Beyers have less sensitivity so they are probably around 85-89 db. Both measurements would fall under the "too loud" category. My Beyer DT990 250 Ohm hits 74db btw, and I find that loud enough personally but some people prefer louder. Have you had your hearing checked recently? but yes, you should either try listening to your music a bit softer or get an amp.

Only volume differences. So only if it's not loud enough now for you.

I've never tried out either, but my general experience is that headphones close in model number usually have few actually sound quality differences, so he's probably right.

Hey, sorry, I live here too, I was just caught up in the nonsense going on at 4chan the last couple of weeks. I'd do speakers over headphones any day. Why do I do headphones? Nobody else likes my music .

I almost broke my monitor trying to get that bug. Good one.

It's a close priority, mostly because AMPs and DACs are often sold together recently. I have them in the same priority level because I like to sidestep such split hairs, but If you are trying to decide if you need either but aren't sure, the checklist is as such: Do I need a bigger/better amplifier?: Is it loud enough? Does it make noise? If yes to either, you'd probably receive an improvement from a new amplifier. Do I need a bigger/better DAC?: Does it STILL make noise even without the amplifier in the chain? Is it at least capable of outputting the source bit-depth/frequency of the file/disc you'd like to play (usually that's 16/44.1 or 48 for sane people with CD quality audio or streaming off of Spotify)? If yes to either, you'd probably want a new DAC. Other than that, given most modern non-audiophile designs, unless you want to play DSD for whatever ridiculous reason, most of the time your onboard passes all of those steps with flying colors. Sure some laptops have crummy audio ports. That's why USB powered headphone amp/dac combos like the E10 and such exist. Do keep in mind, get better headphones before considering ANY of this stuff. So, yes, @ChunksOfLemon I'd suggest you just stick to good old onboard unless it's unbearable to be the only kid on the sub-forum without a fancy Amplfier/DAC combo. I didn't even mention output impedance, and it probably doesn't even matter, especially if after you buy all this new gear (save perhaps an output transformer-less Class A tube amp *cough*) and you can't discern an obvious difference to begin with, getting an amp with a better output impedance won't matter much either. If you start to worry about jitter, THD, and heaven forbid SNR, you'll just end up doing something like one of those pictures on page 1 and thats... that's my line.

http://www.theaudiocritic.com/back_issues/The_Audio_Critic_16_r.pdf (page 39) you wanted some data? Here's some.

I still think so, but it's my opinion alone (as stated at the top) so take it with a grain of salt.

6. Repeat

whoops, thanks

The STX was specifically designed and often marketed as a compatible headphone with the Essence STX and Essence One. Look at Linus's old videos from the NCIX days. If it's got anything, it's got way more than enough power for a pair of HD800s. Remember that power requirements are a function of resistance AND sensitivity, and resistance varies with frequency (impedance).

except noise or hum if it's not well designed

He's pretty chill most of the time. He and JDS don't really work together though. Although they both seem to be using the same parts and building off the same design, It's always seemed JDS was more focused on his own amps and Mayflower always had more interesting options with the exception of engravings. If you REALLY want open headphones, the most open thing you can get that I've tried so far is either the HE-500 or the LCD-2. Their a bit pricey (and you probably really don't want to spend that much), so out of the stuff you picked out I'd say the HD558/598 or maybe an ebay pair of HD650s cheap. Would you need a more powerful amp for any of those? No, with the exception of the HD650 *maybe* (the resistance is up to 550 Ohms in the lower frequencies if you look at a graph). Definitely would get an amp for either the HE-500 or the LCD-2 though.