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Are external DACs unnecessary? Is a computer just as accurate?
Mar 16, 2015 at 12:38 PM Post #91 of 129
bigshot said:
  I tend to just buy one set of headphones that I really really like and try to find one that doesn't require lugging around an extra amp. Once I do that, I stop buying stuff and listen to music until it breaks.
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That's cool. I like lots of different sounds, though, and some headphones have technology that enables them to excel at certain things that other headphones can't, even with EQ. But at least I probably won't "need" to get any more new headphones now that I've got two that are considered by some to be the best in their respective fields.
 
Mar 16, 2015 at 1:56 PM Post #92 of 129
music alchemist said:
But at least I probably won't "need" to get any more new headphones now. . . .
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Isn't that what you thought when you ordered the Focal Spirit Pros?

The audio hobby is a journey, not a destination, and the directions we travel change as we buy equipment and gather more experience. Slow down and take some time to smell the roses (i.e. enjoy the equipment you have) along the way instead of rushing to find the penultimate experience, as if such a thing actually exists. There will always be something better (the grass is always greener). Take your time more before moving onto the next thing :)
 
Mar 16, 2015 at 2:04 PM Post #93 of 129
cel4145 said:
Isn't that what you thought when you ordered the Focal Spirit Pros?

The audio hobby is a journey, not a destination, and the directions we travel change as we buy equipment and gather more experience. Slow down and take some time to smell the roses (i.e. enjoy the equipment you have) along the way instead of rushing to find the penultimate experience, as if such a thing actually exists. There will always be something better (the grass is always greener). Take your time more before moving onto the next thing
smily_headphones1.gif
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All things being equal, closed headphones can't compete with open ones for serious audiophile home listening. I've just been trying to get the best sound quality I could with the resources I already had, and I knew I could do better, hence the trade.
normal_smile .gif

 
(Although the FSP was the best closed headphone I've heard overall, it had a really bad resonance where the sound reflected and swelled up, making things sound unnatural. Every closed headphone does it, but it was especially bad with that one, sadly.)
 
Anyway...I didn't mean for this thread to turn into a headphone and amp advice thread. lol
 
Mar 16, 2015 at 2:07 PM Post #94 of 129
Lately, the expansion of my setup has involved settings and compatibility of formats more than sound quality. I'm very happy with my equipment. My latest project (which is still ongoing) is becoming totally region free in my projection system and puzzling out the maze of file formats for video as I build my media server. That's incredibly complex. I tied my system in a knot this weekend trying to get MKV rips of PAL videos to play in Plex without stuttering. I ended up solving the problem, but I royally messed up the settings between my AV amp, media server, blu-ray player and projector doing it. Frame rates, refresh rates, connection types, aargh!
 
Mar 16, 2015 at 2:09 PM Post #95 of 129
bigshot said:
  Lately, the expansion of my setup has involved settings and compatibility of formats more than sound quality. I'm very happy with my equipment. My latest project (which is still ongoing) is becoming totally region free in my projection system and puzzling out the maze of file formats for video as I build my media server. That's incredibly complex. I tied my system in a knot this weekend trying to get MKV rips of PAL videos to play in Plex without stuttering. I ended up solving the problem, but I royally messed up the settings between my AV amp, media server, blu-ray player and projector doing it. Frame rates, refresh rates, connection types, aargh!
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I do weird stuff with videos too. It's pretty frustrating sometimes, even on a gaming laptop. I should probably get a custom desktop.
 
Mar 16, 2015 at 2:46 PM Post #96 of 129
It can be like trying to open a can of beans without a can opener sometimes.
 
Mar 17, 2015 at 12:29 AM Post #97 of 129
bigshot said:
Lately, the expansion of my setup has involved settings and compatibility of formats more than sound quality. I'm very happy with my equipment. My latest project (which is still ongoing) is becoming totally region free in my projection system and puzzling out the maze of file formats for video as I build my media server. That's incredibly complex. I tied my system in a knot this weekend trying to get MKV rips of PAL videos to play in Plex without stuttering. I ended up solving the problem, but I royally messed up the settings between my AV amp, media server, blu-ray player and projector doing it. Frame rates, refresh rates, connection types, aargh!
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What kind of funny stuff are you doing with your videos? ReClock, madVr & co?
I'm just using Xbmc and have no issues with any format on a core i5-3xxx laptop. ImageQ on the projector is pretty good too
 
Mar 17, 2015 at 12:36 AM Post #98 of 129
It's an interlacing problem. PAL DVDs of UK TV shows from the 70s are 25fps interlaced to a 50Hz refresh rate. US standard is 30 fps / 60Hz. The numbers don't divide evenly, so you have to deinterlace properly and reinterlace to convert 25fps to 30. Before it was just dropping a frame every second to conform 25 to 24 and that was causing hitches in the movement, especially on pans. Or it was making it up with fields, which was creating combing artifacts.
 
Interlaced video is a bitch.
 
Mar 17, 2015 at 12:56 AM Post #99 of 129
bigshot said:
  I tend to just buy one set of headphones that I really really like and try to find one that doesn't require lugging around an extra amp. Once I do that, I stop buying stuff and listen to music until it breaks.
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I wish I can go back to that state of mind.
 
Ever since I got sucked into this high-fidelity hobby, I often find myself critically listening to the gear and never really feeling satisfied after the initial WOW moment wears off and then I get the itch to upgrade or something.
 
I remember growing up just appreciating the music first and foremost without expecting too much from the hardware that I could afford at the time.
 
Mar 17, 2015 at 1:36 AM Post #100 of 129
jologskyblues said:
I wish I can go back to that state of mind.

Ever since I got sucked into this high-fidelity hobby, I often find myself critically listening to the gear and never really feeling satisfied after the initial WOW moment wears off and then I get the itch to upgrade or something.

I remember growing up just appreciating the music first and foremost without expecting too much from the hardware that I could afford at the time.
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99.9% of the people around here have the same issues ... me included. The gear/upgrade bug is very hard to get rid of ... may be impossible cause I never heard such a success story
 
Mar 17, 2015 at 1:51 AM Post #101 of 129
bigshot said:
It's an interlacing problem. PAL DVDs of UK TV shows from the 70s are 25fps interlaced to a 50Hz refresh rate. US standard is 30 fps / 60Hz. The numbers don't divide evenly, so you have to deinterlace properly and reinterlace to convert 25fps to 30. Before it was just dropping a frame every second to conform 25 to 24 and that was causing hitches in the movement, especially on pans. Or it was making it up with fields, which was creating combing artifacts.

Interlaced video is a bitch.
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Dont know how it works but havent seen such artifacts in Xbmc. And I have all sorts of DVDs from all over the world: Pal, Ntsc, etc. there is also an option in Xbmc to set the display refresh based on video refresh rate.
Anyway, really glad I do not have to care about that stuff too
 
Mar 17, 2015 at 11:35 AM Post #102 of 129
cel4145 said:
The audio hobby is a journey, not a destination, and the directions we travel change as we buy equipment and gather more experience. Slow down and take some time to smell the roses (i.e. enjoy the equipment you have) along the way instead of rushing to find the penultimate experience, as if such a thing actually exists. There will always be something better (the grass is always greener). Take your time more before moving onto the next thing
smily_headphones1.gif
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And just for that remark...
 
Behold the wrath of the Alchemist:
 

 
mwahaha!
darthsmile.gif

 
(But really, I'm getting this because I have to wait weeks to receive the JVC and a week to receive the beyers and I'm really impatient and have wanted to try the Sony MDR-7506 for awhile anyway because it's one of the most popular studio monitor headphones and the headphones I have with me right now sound like mud.)
 
Mar 17, 2015 at 2:00 PM Post #103 of 129
jologskyblues said:
  Ever since I got sucked into this high-fidelity hobby, I often find myself critically listening to the gear and never really feeling satisfied after the initial WOW moment wears off and then I get the itch to upgrade or something.
Click to expand...

 
The way I do it is to plan ahead before buying anything. I decide on the criteria I'm looking for first, then get the headphones or speakers that match that the best. When you just sample "flavors" you tend to drift around. It helps to have the anchor of analysis of what you really want. The electronics are easy. They are pretty much plug and play since they are audibly transparent. But replacing speakers and headphones is a BIG job. Thankfully, I will probably never need to do that again (knock on wood!)
 
Mar 17, 2015 at 2:06 PM Post #104 of 129
prot said:
Dont know how it works but havent seen such artifacts in Xbmc. And I have all sorts of DVDs from all over the world: Pal, Ntsc, etc. there is also an option in Xbmc to set the display refresh based on video refresh rate.
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It's interesting because both Plex and XBMC gave me problems with these programs, but it different ways. Plex stuttered. XBMC had combing artifacts in pans. Both of them had hidden menus in the play screen that offered other kinds of deinterlacing that fixed the problem. I think the problem with these disks was that they were British shows from the 1970s, and not only were they shot 25fps, they were interlaced for a 50Hz refresh rate. The trick was finding the right way to deinterlace them so they could be reinterlaced to play cleanly as 30fps/60Hz.
 
Mar 19, 2015 at 2:55 AM Post #105 of 129
bigshot said:
It's interesting because both Plex and XBMC gave me problems with these programs, but it different ways. Plex stuttered. XBMC had combing artifacts in pans. Both of them had hidden menus in the play screen that offered other kinds of deinterlacing that fixed the problem. I think the problem with these disks was that they were British shows from the 1970s, and not only were they shot 25fps, they were interlaced for a 50Hz refresh rate. The trick was finding the right way to deinterlace them so they could be reinterlaced to play cleanly as 30fps/60Hz.
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In theory Plex & Xbmc should work the same since Plex is just an xbmc fork. Could be that they changed the playback engine though.

Not sure if I have any videos in that format. But dont care much, a few image artifacts never stopped me from enyoing a movie. The 155" screen helps me forget about all else :)
 
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