Do headphone adapters diminish quality of sound?

[Francis O.]

Hello there,

 

Im planning to buy a new headset. My concern is, my desktop has like two slots, one for audio, one for the mic. Im using an adapter (one female to two male 3.5mm jack) since my old headphones only has one jack. I feel like it diminished the sound quality since im using an adapter. 

 

Im planning to get the Steelseries arctis 5 and i believe it only has one jack also. So im concerned that i might buy a new one and the sound quality wont be great because of the adapter. Thanks in advance.

[rice guru]

16 minutes ago, Francis O. said:

Hello there,

 

Im planning to buy a new headset. My concern is, my desktop has like two slots, one for audio, one for the mic. Im using an adapter (one female to two male 3.5mm jack) since my old headphones only has one jack. I feel like it diminished the sound quality since im using an adapter. 

 

Im planning to get the Steelseries arctis 5 and i believe it only has one jack also. So im concerned that i might buy a new one and the sound quality wont be great because of the adapter. Thanks in advance.

The arctis 5 comes with a usb adapter so your PC audio ports should be free. But splitters shouldn't affect audio quality but will affect volume

[vanished]

If it's just a TRRS to TRS splitter so you can plug it into a normal PC it shouldn't have any effect on the sound.  The cable itself wouldn't do any harm unless it's remarkably terrible, and as for what it does to the onboard audio or soundcard in your PC, unless the mic and line out ports were designed to have separate ground for some reason, bridging them the way this would shouldn't cause any issues.  If anything, using the included USB adapter (if applicable/present) would lower the sound quality a lot more than what you're doing now, as they generally have very poor DAC and amp quality compared even to what's built into your motherboard.  Just keep in mind that's a generalization based on what I've seen before and doesn't necessarily hold true for the pair you're looking at.

[Francis O.]

14 minutes ago, rice guru said:

The arctis 5 comes with a usb adapter so your PC audio ports should be free. But splitters shouldn't affect audio quality but will affect volume

Oh yes. I think the volume got affected when i used an adapter. In using the usb adapter. Will it affect quality or volume?

[Francis O.]

15 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

If it's just a TRRS to TRS splitter so you can plug it into a normal PC it shouldn't have any effect on the sound.  The cable itself wouldn't do any harm unless it's remarkably terrible, and as for what it does to the onboard audio or soundcard in your PC, unless the mic and line out ports were designed to have separate ground for some reason, bridging them the way this would shouldn't cause any issues.  If anything, using the included USB adapter (if applicable/present) would lower the sound quality a lot more than what you're doing now, as they generally have very poor DAC and amp quality compared even to what's built into your motherboard.  Just keep in mind that's a generalization based on what I've seen before and doesn't necessarily hold true for the pair you're looking at.

Thank you for your comment. So using the usb adapter is a bad choice. In using old headphones with the splitter. I think the volume got affected. I play PUBG. And and feel like im having a hard time with the audio. If the splitter is the way to go. Do you have any recommendations which brand of splitter is good that doesnt dimishes both quality and volume?

[rice guru]

Just now, Francis O. said:

Oh yes. I think the volume got affected when i used an adapter. In using the usb adapter. Will it affect quality or volume?

That depends heavily on the quality of your onboard. If your motherboard is 6 years old or older the usb adapter is probably better but if you have a decent motherboard that is reasonably new it is probably better as it should have a superior audio chip. But the arctis 5 isn't exactly what I would personally call good or decent so I doubt you could really tell the difference through that headset anyway. Unless something picks up noise.

[Francis O.]

2 minutes ago, rice guru said:

That depends heavily on the quality of your onboard. If your motherboard is 6 years old or older the usb adapter is probably better but if you have a decent motherboard that is reasonably new it is probably better as it should have a superior audio chip. But the arctis 5 isn't exactly what I would personally call good or decent so I doubt you could really tell the difference through that headset anyway. Unless something picks up noise.

Its a brand new mobo. Just bought the desktop a month ago. The steelseries arctis 5 has good reviews i think. And im on a budget. Haha. Cant afford those 400$ headphones. Haha

[191x7]

I won't go talking about the audio splitters (those that split a TRRS to TRS to divide the headphones from the microphone) since those shouldn't affect the sound quality.

What I will be talking about is the headset itself. The Arctis 5 costs some 100€, and in that price (range) one can get headphones or headsets THAT actually do sound quite good.

Just take a look at the Cooler Master MH751 or MH752. Those are the Takstar Pro82 with an added microphone. The MH752 even comes with an USB sondcard.

If not the CM MH751/752, there's still the Cloud series from Kingston HyperX. Those Takstar Pro80-s might be outdated, but they still sound fine.

[Francis O.]

20 minutes ago, 191x7 said:

I won't go talking about the audio splitters (those that split a TRRS to TRS to divide the headphones from the microphone) since those shouldn't affect the sound quality.

What I will be talking about is the headset itself. The Arctis 5 costs some 100€, and in that price (range) one can get headphones or headsets THAT actually do sound quite good.

Just take a look at the Cooler Master MH751 or MH752. Those are the Takstar Pro82 with an added microphone. The MH752 even comes with an USB sondcard.

If not the CM MH751/752, there's still the Cloud series from Kingston HyperX. Those Takstar Pro80-s might be outdated, but they still sound fine.

Ill look into those. Thanks very much