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 Post subject: Any one using a USB DAC with their PC?
PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 11:02 
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Esoteric

Joined: 12th Dec, 2008
Posts: 11767
Location: On Mars as an anthropologist...
Any one? I just ordered one, never bothered before. Are they really the be all and end all that I am told they are? I listen to a lot of FLAC so I am wondering if it will make a big difference?

I also ordered new headphones too.

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 Post subject: Re: Any one using a USB DAC with their PC?
PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 11:17 
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Paws for thought

Joined: 27th Mar, 2008
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Location: Just Outside That London, England, Europe
If you currently have a particularly shite one, then a better one, be it usb or not will be better. USB itself offers no particularly great advantages other than being a convenient connector.


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 Post subject: Re: Any one using a USB DAC with their PC?
PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 11:23 
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Esoteric

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Would it be better to connect the sound card into it using RCAs then Dave? The one I bought does not have optical. I got this one.

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Because I'm a moth to bright light with anything valve..

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 Post subject: Re: Any one using a USB DAC with their PC?
PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 11:31 
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Paws for thought

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JohnCoffey wrote:
Would it be better to connect the sound card into it using RCAs then Dave? The one I bought does not have optical. I got this one.

Image

Because I'm a moth to bright light with anything valve..


Assuming that it's a digital signal over RCA, then yes, I'd stick with that. Any means of sending a digital signal will perform as well as any other - and will be very noticeable if it doesn't. Because error correction will cope with any small problems, and once that doesn't, you start to get major issues. Sending the data over usb, rca, optical, the data will still reach the destination in the same form.


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 Post subject: Re: Any one using a USB DAC with their PC?
PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 11:34 
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Esoteric

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Wicked. I can basically do PC - DAC - speakers and headphones. So yeah probably better to do it like that so the whole audio thing gets converted, rather than just the headphones.

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 Post subject: Re: Any one using a USB DAC with their PC?
PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 11:44 
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Paws for thought

Joined: 27th Mar, 2008
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Location: Just Outside That London, England, Europe
Awesomes.

The main question is always: Do I like the sound?

If yes, great.
If no, be careful, there are people who make large amounts of money based effectively on quirks of the human brain rather than any particular benefit to the output sound. (Because if you spend lots of money on something and it will sound better, even if experimentally it sounds exactly the same. Happens with audio gear,musical instruments and so much other stuff)


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 Post subject: Re: Any one using a USB DAC with their PC?
PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 11:52 
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Esoteric

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Well up until now I've just been using cheap sets of headphones. I'm a bass junky, so finesse is certainly not of massive importance to me. There's just absolutely nothing like listening to Radiohead's "No Surprises" with a big set of cans on. I was going to get something like the Bowers and Wilkins P7 but in the end I read a lot of reviews and went for these.

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Reason being I often sit and listen to certain types of music (anything from The Andrews Sisters, Cole Porter, Radiohead, Pink etc) and either thing "Fuck I wish this had more bass" or "Fucking hell this sounds awful, I wish the bass would lay off" so the Beyers seemed like the perfect fit, given you have five levels of bass adjustment.

I'm sure I will love the DAC. I did a lot of reading on it and it's the only way to that warm sound for a reasonable amount of coin. Being a bass junky and loving that sort of heavy warm sound makes me a valve junky too :)

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 Post subject: Re: Any one using a USB DAC with their PC?
PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 12:49 
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Paws for thought

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Yeah, better eadphones should work. Well, up to a certain level anyway.

As far as Bass goes, I'd look at using eq settings and similar (i.e. the loud setting if there is one) on your player to solve that.


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 Post subject: Re: Any one using a USB DAC with their PC?
PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 14:13 
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Future War Cultist

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Location: Nottingham. Again. No, wait, I'm back in Manchester.
I recently picked up a pair of Skullcandy Crushers for my own bassjunkie tendencies - they're absolutely insane for electronica. I've got a Spotify playlist set up just so I can scare people with how much low-end these things put out; they're not so happy with fast, blastbeat-laden black metal though (I've got London by Voices on right now and whenever the double-kick work comes in the rest of the mix is obliterated). No Surprises does sound very, very nice on them though, and they're cheap enough to buy just to laugh at...

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 Post subject: Re: Any one using a USB DAC with their PC?
PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 14:43 
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Esoteric

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Location: On Mars as an anthropologist...
Yeah that's the issue I have with my Beats Pro Detox replicas. They're amazing for laid back thumping but not fast enough to keep up with beat driven high BPM music.

I bought a set of these for listening to classical and voice music.

Image

And I use them every Saturday and Sunday when the football is on and for any chat radio stations. They're really rather nice, being so light and non pressing. I also have replica Beats Solo HD and Studios as well as a couple of in ear type, but I rarely use any of those. The Solo HD are too bassy even for me (they make singing sound like a robot) and the Studios are very weak sounding with no bass to speak of at all. I know they're all replicas but from the research I did they sound pretty much the same or better and cost me bugger all. My Detox Pro would sell for £400 for real ones, I paid £35 and for sheer bass punch none of my other headphones even come close. I've even got a replica Beats Pill with a genuine Pills Dude and that thing has seen a lot of use. My wife and I used it when we went on our cruise, it proved very handy indeed :)

But this is the first time I've sort of dropped a bollock. The Beyers were £115 so I have high expectations. Apparently they are very similar to Beats Pro in punch, and also have a much wider lower end if you dare turn up the dials on each ear :)

I'll stick to the B&Os for anything else. I know they lack any bass at all but they are very honest.

Edit. Just listening to Iron Lung now by Radiohead and when it goes berserk they really can't keep up. Hoping the Beyers offer the speed I have read about :)

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 Post subject: Re: Any one using a USB DAC with their PC?
PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2015 9:34 
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Esoteric

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Location: On Mars as an anthropologist...
Got it about an hour ago. Can't really let rip yet because I'm waiting on other deliveries but it's pretty amazing even using USB (I'm lazy). Last night I listened to a reggae track (Conrad Smith - Dangerous) and like all of the other times I have listened to this song and reggae of a specific audio spectrum the headphones were buzzing and vibrating away on my head as usual but contained no actual sound for that bass note.. I listened to that same song on the DAC and to my amazement I actually had a very melodic bassline to go along with that particular bassline.

Not had much time to test it with anything else just yet but it's typically valve. Lovely warm sound :)

Very happy !

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