What do you use for your desk setup?

[KaminKevCrew]

I was just curious what everyone uses for their desk setups.

 

Use JRiver Media Center for my music player, and actually have windows directed to it as the default audio device, so that I can always use WASAPI through my Schiit Jotunheim. 

 

The Jotunheim runs my HE-560s through the balanced XLR jack, predominantly, though I do also have it running through a SMPro MPatch V2 to a pair of LSR305s in case I feel like listening to some speakers! (I would post a photo, but my desk is currently a mess of cables, so that will have to wait...)

 

So, what does everyone else use? Also, what do you usually use as the source for your music? (CDs, Spotify, etc.)

[vSaft_Hype]

Spotify for certain songs for my PS4 and YouTube for everything else I also use  Spotify for podcasts like the Misfits and Drunks&Dragons

[KaminKevCrew]

3 minutes ago, hypeftwmlg said:

Spotify for certain songs for my PS4 and YouTube for everything else I also use  Spotify for podcasts like the Misfits and Drunks&Dragons

Cool! What do you usually use for listening? (e.g. what speakers/headphones/whatever?)

 

[Raudi_]

Spotify, Tidal and Soundcloud

Focal Elex
THX AAA 789 Linear Amp

[vSaft_Hype]

2 minutes ago, KaminKevCrew said:

Cool! What do you usually use for listening? (e.g. what speakers/headphones/whatever?)

 

A pair of earbuds that came with a phone because my good ones broke

[Brooksie359]

Simply have my hyper cloud II hooked up to the usb dac that comes with it. I also have some sennheiser pc37x that I use sometimes but it's sorta loud where I live so the open back headphones really let in too much outside noise. 

[WickedStarfish]

40 minutes ago, KaminKevCrew said:

I was just curious what everyone uses for their desk setups.

I use Youtube most of the time, if its a simple music file (MP3) i'll use windows media player [as I dont really use many of them files] and for video files VLC

 

As for listening if im using my xbox or ps4 or its late (people in the house) I use my Logitech G231 Headset, through either the headset port on the controllers or the AUX port on my Corsair ST100 if im using my PC. 

If it isnt late or noone is here I use my "mashed together" speaker system which consists of a the Z506 Sub, Centre speaker, and front left and right speakers. then the surround speakers are ones that were for a older speaker system and i use them as the z506 surround speakers would not fit inside of my desk (i have a corner desk)

[KaminKevCrew]

41 minutes ago, WickedStarfish said:

I use Youtube most of the time, if its a simple music file (MP3) i'll use windows media player [as I dont really use many of them files] and for video files VLC

 

As for listening if im using my xbox or ps4 or its late (people in the house) I use my Logitech G231 Headset, through either the headset port on the controllers or the AUX port on my Corsair ST100 if im using my PC. 

If it isnt late or noone is here I use my "mashed together" speaker system which consists of a the Z506 Sub, Centre speaker, and front left and right speakers. then the surround speakers are ones that were for a older speaker system and i use them as the z506 surround speakers would not fit inside of my desk (i have a corner desk)

I recently acquired a PS4. For the controller headset port, do I need a 4 pole TRS jack, or can I get away with a standard 3 pole one (I'm not in need of being able to use a mic)?

[WickedStarfish]

1 minute ago, KaminKevCrew said:

I recently acquired a PS4. For the controller headset port, do I need a 4 pole TRS jack, or can I get away with a standard 3 pole one (I'm not in need of being able to use a mic)?

it should work with both, just turned my ps4 on and both my headset and a old pair of earphones worked in it, the older pair does not have a mic attached 

[KaminKevCrew]

7 minutes ago, WickedStarfish said:

it should work with both, just turned my ps4 on and both my headset and a old pair of earphones worked in it, the older pair does not have a mic attached 

Awesome, thanks!

 

[NuclearPenske7]

I use Creative X7 as my DAC and headphone amp for my Beyer T1. Line out from the X7 goes to my Onkyo A-905FX2 speaker amp powering the Onkyo D-152E bookshelves.

[Kalm_Traveler]

Most of the time i encode to 5.1 DTS Connect over to toslink to my 7.1 surround AVR, but for pure listening pleasure i have an Oppo HA-1 dac/amp with a balanced XLR cable going to Oppo PM-1 planar magnetic cans. 

 

For gaming with voice chat i use a Mayflower ARC DAC/ADC/amp with AKG K7XX headphones and a Modmic 5. 

 

On the smaller rig I have a Schiit Fulla 2 with Sennheiser HD6XX cans. 

[Masada02]

I use iTunes for my player partly because it syncs across all my devices and partly because I have been for 15 years. I generally download/buy from many different sources, then upload to iTunes.

 

At my desk I mostly just use my Edifier bookshelf speakers, but if I want to get serious I plug in my HE-1000 V2's. Both the 1000's and speakers use my multibit Lyr 3 as a dac+preamp/amp (the speakers are powered). I have the Tung-Sol tube in the Lyr 3.

 

Though generally if I just want to listen to music I'll listen on my big speaker setup in the living room which consists of: Magnepan 1.7i's powered by a Schiit Vidar and a decent Yamaha receiver to act as a dac and sub out for dual subs. It doesn't match the HE-1000's in terms of pure accuracy and detail, but I find it more enjoyable most of the time.

[Lathlaer]

I listen to music from Tidal and as for the hardware, it's Woo Audio WA8 Eclipse as DAC/AMP and Focal Utopia headphones. 

[Derkoli]

11 hours ago, KaminKevCrew said:

I was just curious what everyone uses for their desk setups.

 

Use JRiver Media Center for my music player, and actually have windows directed to it as the default audio device, so that I can always use WASAPI through my Schiit Jotunheim. 

 

The Jotunheim runs my HE-560s through the balanced XLR jack, predominantly, though I do also have it running through a SMPro MPatch V2 to a pair of LSR305s in case I feel like listening to some speakers! (I would post a photo, but my desk is currently a mess of cables, so that will have to wait...)

 

So, what does everyone else use? Also, what do you usually use as the source for your music? (CDs, Spotify, etc.)

too much

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I get the vast majority of my music from CDs that I rip to .mp3 (328kbps) and .wav (the latter for archival). I'm between desktop rigs so I'm currently using my Lenovo notebook for playback.

 

The sound comes from a USB DAC (Dragonfly Red) that feeds my 5" JBL LSR305p MkII satellites and JBL LSR310s sub (I had a now discontinued Corsair SP2500 2.1 speaker system, which I liked better because it had a setting for Dynamic Range compression but the sub died last summer).

 

I'm still using Media Monkey Gold for my player but, since getting the JBLs, I need a player or a DAC that has Dynamic Range compression. I haven't found a DAC that had the compression but VLC Media Player does so I've recently started fooling around with that, trying to come up with settings that work for me. So far, I've found VLC's Normalizer works better for what I want (Windows also has a Normalizer but it won't work through the DAC) but I need to work on making new playlists and come up with an easier to use skin. VLC has the added advantage that I can keep using it when I switch over to Linux.

 

I'm already using VLC for playing movies.

[Max_Settings]

[KaminKevCrew]

16 hours ago, Derkoli said:

too much

I wish I had that much space in my room for my desk. I'd have a much bigger one than I do now. Oh well. Once I move back up to Washington from San Francisco, I'll be looking into buying a house with enough space for a dedicated theater room, as well as a large office an dedicated listening room, haha! (San Francisco is just too expensive for that at this point.)

7 hours ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

I get the vast majority of my music from CDs that I rip to .mp3 (328kbps) and .wav (the latter for archival). I'm between desktop rigs so I'm currently using my Lenovo notebook for playback.

 

The sound comes from a USB DAC (Dragonfly Red) that feeds my 5" JBL LSR305p MkII satellites and JBL LSR310s sub (I had a now discontinued Corsair SP2500 2.1 speaker system, which I liked better because it had a setting for Dynamic Range compression but the sub died last summer).

 

I'm still using Media Monkey Gold for my player but, since getting the JBLs, I need a player or a DAC that has Dynamic Range compression. I haven't found a DAC that had the compression but VLC Media Player does so I've recently started fooling around with that, trying to come up with settings that work for me. So far, I've found VLC's Normalizer works better for what I want (Windows also has a Normalizer but it won't work through the DAC) but I need to work on making new playlists and come up with an easier to use skin. VLC has the added advantage that I can keep using it when I switch over to Linux.

 

I'm already using VLC for playing movies.

Do you like the LSR305 with the sub? I've been debating on getting the sub for about a month now and it'd be great to hear feedback from someone who has one!

6 hours ago, Max_Settings said:

snip...

Are the Edition X's worth buying? I've always loved the look and I'm thinking about adding a pair to my collection - I need to grab one of those RME DACs though. They look extremely cool!

[Volbet]

My desk setup for pleasure listening is:

Headphones

• Schiit Bifrost DAC
• Sciiit Modi headphone amp
• Shure SE846 earphones
• Beyerdynamic DT770, 880 and 990
• Sennheiser HD650

Speakers

• Denon AVR-2105 reciever
• Pro-Ject 6 turntable (modified)
• Luxman K-250 cassette deck
• Denon DCD-655.
• Quad S-2 speakers
• Denon sub (can't remember the model number)

My source is usually my local music library playing through Foobar2000 with the WASPI plug-in.

[Dackzy]

My desk setup for both work and fun is:

• RME ADI 2 DAC
• Cavalli tube hybrid
• AKG K612
• Sennheiser HD 25
• Sennheiser HD 580
• Focal Elex
• Ultimate Ears Reference Monitor
• Genelec 8040

I mainly use the amp in the RME ADI 2 DAC, but the CTH is nice when I want a more relaxed sound.

My main source is my local music library and I use Foobar2000. So far I am pretty satisfied with this setup. I do also have a older 5.1 setup for movies, but there are 4 different brands in that and I can't remember any of the models.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

7 hours ago, KaminKevCrew said:

...Do you like the LSR305 with the sub? I've been debating on getting the sub for about a month now and it'd be great to hear feedback from someone who has one!...

I've been happy with it. While the 305s were able to play the lower notes (I listen mostly to classical music), they were weak and muddy. With the sub, those notes are now clean and crisp and don't need excessive boosting. I did have to do some fooling around with the EQ in my player program to get the sound right.

 

Keep in mind the the sub is huge so placement may be a problem. The usual location for a sub on a computer setup is in the kneehole of the desk. In my case, there wouldn't be room for my knees and feet if I had put the sub there. Since I wasn't planning on parting with my knees and feet anytime soon, I had to relocate the sub.

 

According to JBL, the ideal location for the sub is between the centerline between the satellites and the left satellite speaker. The closest I could come to that was with the left side of the sub under the center of the left satellite. That has worked well for me. I had to fool around with the settings to get a decent balance because the left satellite is in a corner, unlike the right satellite. Despite the slightly less than ideal locations, I'm happy with the overall sound. 

 

If you like the bass heavy sound of a night club, there is a switch on the back of the sub that will boost the lower frequencies to give that sound (I didn't like it but that's a matter of personal taste). I feel it's a bit gimmicky since the same effect can be achieved by fooling around with the EQ.

 

Keep in mind that you have to have a decent sound source to hear any improvement in these speakers over cheaper ones. The onboard sound of modern MOBOs may give you that sound but you may have to invest in a DAC to get a decent sound (the Dragonfly Red is a bit pricey but it is a simple plug and play unit). You also have to be willing to fool with EQ settings on your player since the output of the speakers are flat by design.

 

Be sure to read the directions on how set up the speakers and sub to avoid possibly damaging them.

[jasonvp]

On 2/3/2019 at 7:24 PM, KaminKevCrew said:

So, what does everyone else use?

Wrote it up back around Christmas:

 

 

 

[Derkoli]

12 hours ago, KaminKevCrew said:

I wish I had that much space in my room for my desk. I'd have a much bigger one than I do now. Oh well. Once I move back up to Washington from San Francisco, I'll be looking into buying a house with enough space for a dedicated theater room, as well as a large office an dedicated listening room, haha! (San Francisco is just too expensive for that at this point.)

Do you like the LSR305 with the sub? I've been debating on getting the sub for about a month now and it'd be great to hear feedback from someone who has one!

Are the Edition X's worth buying? I've always loved the look and I'm thinking about adding a pair to my collection - I need to grab one of those RME DACs though. They look extremely cool!

its a full 16.2 setup now.. using auro 3D to decode it all. getting some new big three way speakers to replace the little ones at the fronts, also might be getting my hands on an SVS Pb 4000 sometime soon.. and yes my neighbours love me. All in a 10ft x 18ft room.. also got some monitor audio MR6 floor standers in my loft doing literally nothing as of right now.

[Derkoli]

19 hours ago, Max_Settings said:

Love the diagrams, got some myself of audio stuff.. drivers, valve's, solid state amplifiers etc.

[Derkoli]

7 hours ago, Volbet said:

Omega S-2 speakers

Pictures? cant find anything on these on google.