In Ear Monitors for gaming

[L.o.D.]

So I'll be testing a pair of these this weekend, but I am curious to know if a DAC is needed or not?
Gadgetrytech claims the Creative G8 is the king. What say you?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-p5rU-0gqA&t=59s

[Corona Scurrae]

Like show Dan pointed out there is no need for it. These companies take advantage of the general ignorance of consumers. It's similar to people buying expensive new phones just for the camera when in reality they could spend half of that and buy a dlsm camera that shoots infinitely better pictures that don't require an algorithm to "clean up" the image.
Imo spend your money on good headphones or speakers and don't buy extra hardware to fix an ongoing issue for which the lazy developers are responsible.

[L.o.D.]

Messaggio originale di Yhorm:

don't buy extra hardware to fix an ongoing issue for which the lazy developers are responsible.

I'm not actually buying extra hardware, just looking to replace what I have for something better.
My current audio source for gaming is the HyperX Cloud 2s using it's dongle. For anything else, I use the HD audio from my gpu to my 5.1 Yamaha system.
I'm not liking my realtek alc12xx my motherboard has.

[Tonepoet]

D.A.C. stands for digital to analogue converter. Since you don't hear in binary code (Morse code doesn't count), a D.A.C. is needed to hear sound. However, with that having been said, your computer has an integrated D.A.C. already and discrete digital to audio converters are usually just snake oil, and if you do need one, the Behinger U.C.A. 202[www.bhphotovideo.com] has been proven to give good output[nwavguy.blogspot.com] (we're strictly talking about its performance as a D.A.C., not as a headphone amplifier). No need to spend $150 when you can just spend $18 if all you want is a discrete D.A.C.

The UCA 202 will likely reduce noise from the other components in the P.C. that can interfere with the outgoing audio signal.

[L.o.D.]

Messaggio originale di Shodan:

Similarly, if your amplifier is inadequate, you're also not missing out on sound quality, just volume. This is a bit tricky because we perceive higher volume as better which might lead people to believe things like amplifiers adding bass to headphones, but in reality, nothing is added, it's just that bass requires higher volume to be heard and felt properly, unlike say listening to a a news anchor talking which works perfectly at the faintest volumes. Same with "details", of course they won't be as loud as the "main" stuff, so if the main stuff is already quiet, then the details will be too quiet to be audible. That doesn't mean one amplifier is "more detailed" than the other, it's simply higher volume.

I have a Yamaha RX V-385 connected to my pc, but it's never used for gaming as I don't feel it's detailed enough for surround in games though the gpu audio.

Think someone once told me the ALC1220 is not as good as the HD audio driver on my RX 6600 XT.

[Emig5m]

As crazy as this sounds, my favorite headphones to date are the Sony WH-1000XM3 using bluetooth with the LDAC codec. And this is coming from someone who has a full blown B&W 800 series loudspeaker system. I have a Schitt Modi Dac with a JDS Labs headphone amp and fancy Beyerdynamic wired headphones and I'm more impressed with the wireless bluetooth Sonys lol. (MUST USE THE LDAC CODEC THOUGH!!!!)

[L.o.D.]

Well, looks like I may just have to break down and get a dedicated sound card after all these years for my IEMs. Onboard audio for whatever reason is broken and sounds way off.
Debating on the Sound Blaster SE or the AE-7...

[Emig5m]

Messaggio originale di L.o.D.:

Well, looks like I may just have to break down and get a dedicated sound card after all these years for my IEMs. Onboard audio for whatever reason is broken and sounds way off.
Debating on the Sound Blaster SE or the AE-7...

Just get good bluetooth headphones....dealing with cables suck and you can get up and run to the bathroom without having to remove your headphones lol.

[Corona Scurrae]

Messaggio originale di Emig5m:

Messaggio originale di L.o.D.:

Well, looks like I may just have to break down and get a dedicated sound card after all these years for my IEMs. Onboard audio for whatever reason is broken and sounds way off.
Debating on the Sound Blaster SE or the AE-7...

Just get good bluetooth headphones....dealing with cables suck and you can get up and run to the bathroom without having to remove your headphones lol.

Except windows is notoriously bad in regards to anything bluetooth. There is noticeable lag that isn't apparent on phones tablets etc.
I still use bluetooth because it's comfortable but wired on windows is better.

And btw it's off topic

[Trout]

Messaggio originale di Emig5m:

As crazy as this sounds, my favorite headphones to date are the Sony WH-1000XM3 using bluetooth with the LDAC codec. And this is coming from someone who has a full blown B&W 800 series loudspeaker system. I have a Schitt Modi Dac with a JDS Labs headphone amp and fancy Beyerdynamic wired headphones and I'm more impressed with the wireless bluetooth Sonys lol. (MUST USE THE LDAC CODEC THOUGH!!!!)

neither windows 10 nor 11 support LDAC. you need to buy a license for an A2DP driver that supports it, and that's per PC. you need to reinstall your OS? shell out the 10 bucks again. that sucks. LDAC only works on android and pipewire (although not everyone is willing to switch to linux)
also, i'd rather have lossless wired audio with little latency for when i also want to watch a movie or play a game, even if LDAC's bitrate is high enough to cover CD quality, though keep in mind there's snobs out there who think that's not good enough even if it more than covers our hearing range

[L.o.D.]

Messaggio originale di Shodan:

Don't listen to those paid advertisers on YouTube etc.

I forgot to ask, who are we supposed to listen to when looking for reviews on products if not YT or reddit or any other site? That's how people base their purchases on by reading/watching reviews. If we can't trust them, who do we trust and what makes them better?

Also, after looking over my motherboard and it's layout, I can't use an internal card due to it will block the gpu fans.
So I need to find a good external DAC.

[Emig5m]

Messaggio originale di Trout:

Messaggio originale di Emig5m:

As crazy as this sounds, my favorite headphones to date are the Sony WH-1000XM3 using bluetooth with the LDAC codec. And this is coming from someone who has a full blown B&W 800 series loudspeaker system. I have a Schitt Modi Dac with a JDS Labs headphone amp and fancy Beyerdynamic wired headphones and I'm more impressed with the wireless bluetooth Sonys lol. (MUST USE THE LDAC CODEC THOUGH!!!!)

neither windows 10 nor 11 support LDAC. you need to buy a license for an A2DP driver that supports it, and that's per PC. you need to reinstall your OS? shell out the 10 bucks again. that sucks. LDAC only works on android and pipewire (although not everyone is willing to switch to linux)
also, i'd rather have lossless wired audio with little latency for when i also want to watch a movie or play a game, even if LDAC's bitrate is high enough to cover CD quality, though keep in mind there's snobs out there who think that's not good enough even if it more than covers our hearing range

I don't mind paying the $10 for LDAC support but LDAC should actually be the default bluetooth codec these days...it's not 1952 AM radio days lol. BTW, I experience no sound latency while watching movies with my bluetooth headset and its so nice not having a wire dangling from my head and also being able to jump up to grab something without my headset needing to be taken off.

[Emig5m]

Messaggio originale di L.o.D.:

Messaggio originale di Shodan:

Don't listen to those paid advertisers on YouTube etc.

I forgot to ask, who are we supposed to listen to when looking for reviews on products if not YT or reddit or any other site? That's how people base their purchases on by reading/watching reviews. If we can't trust them, who do we trust and what makes them better?

Also, after looking over my motherboard and it's layout, I can't use an internal card due to it will block the gpu fans.
So I need to find a good external DAC.

Do they still make the Dragonfly USB DAC? I used that one before with success and it looks like a simple USB stick but it's been years since I've been wired or kept up with it. I also had the fancy Schitt Modi DAC and it wasn't really any better than the Dragonfly USB DAC...

[Emig5m]

Messaggio originale di L.o.D.:

Messaggio originale di Shodan:

Don't listen to those paid advertisers on YouTube etc.

I forgot to ask, who are we supposed to listen to when looking for reviews on products if not YT or reddit or any other site? That's how people base their purchases on by reading/watching reviews. If we can't trust them, who do we trust and what makes them better?

You really can't trust too many people. Like the early reviewers of smartphones will never talk about the downsides or flaws until after everyone has bought one then they'll start talking about camera flaws etc...

[RMJ]

FACT, Wireless will never sound as good as wired. It matters not what "adapter" - signal changer you use...

And no a DAC will not make bad "cans" sound better = ROFL! MYTH!

[Shodan]

Messaggio originale di L.o.D.:

Messaggio originale di Shodan:

Don't listen to those paid advertisers on YouTube etc.

I forgot to ask, who are we supposed to listen to when looking for reviews on products if not YT or reddit or any other site? That's how people base their purchases on by reading/watching reviews. If we can't trust them, who do we trust and what makes them better?

Also, after looking over my motherboard and it's layout, I can't use an internal card due to it will block the gpu fans.
So I need to find a good external DAC.

"who are we supposed to listen to when looking for reviews"

I'll stop you right there:

Don't look for reviews to begin with.

Look into the product itself. Look at how Apple advertises the AirPods Max and what the main selling points are. It's wireless connectivity because that's "clean" and "modern" these days, specifically seamless connection with the iPhone together with a fancy animation. Then, it's design, portability, active noise isolation and so on. No mention of sound quality whatsoever, aside from the usual marketing phrases like "truly premium sound quality that takes your music to another level" and "lots of bass", and so on. No specifications like frequency response, total harmonic distortion, nothing. This gives you a perfect idea about what kind of a product it is and who it's targeted for. Obviously, it can't have very good sound quality if it's never mentioned and not taken seriously at all.

Most importantly, try whatever you want to try for yourself because that's really the only way to know for sure.

You got paid reviews, you got people who are full of crap, you got propaganda and so on. For example, just look at the insane amount of comments all over the Internet saying "intel is trash, I wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy, you couldn't pay me to use their processors, horrible evil big corporation, AMD is our savior, AMD truly cares about the consumers, I'm switching to AMD and so is everyone" which is textbook propaganda. AMD is a corporation like any other, so is Intel, neither are charity and they both make more or less the same products for more or less the same prices, really. I have both at home, not even the biggest experts could possibly notice a practical difference between the 2 unless they look at specifications and see what a PC has in it, yet you have these completely insane cultists saying the kind of nonsense they say.

https://sai.squig.link/?share=HD800S,Arctis_3

Messaggio originale di RMJ:

FACT, Wireless will never sound as good as wired. It matters not what "adapter" - signal changer you use...

And no a DAC will not make bad "cans" sound better = ROFL! MYTH!

I love seeing comments like this on the Internet, feels like an alternate reality when people actually say the truth instead of trying to sell you the most basic technology that costs a few cents and fits into the tiniest adapters for a fortune.