sheepsheep
New Head-Fier
I spent some 4-5 hours researching headphones et al. and, while I started from nothing and have now amassed a tiny puddle of knowledge, I am feeling burned out and haven't closed the gap to my objective with the overwhelming amount of options available. So, in my wanderings, I discovered this forum, and I thought I would try asking those who are much wiser & experienced than myself.
I had been using a 5-year old Google Nexus 5x for my audio needs, mostly consisting of language study via recordings and voice chats. I once tried switching to a $30-$40 Bluetooth trucking headset (after an hour or two of research) with rave Amazon reviews for listening during car rides and found the phone to have noticeably superior clarity and better highs and retired the headset.
Recently I purchased a Pixel 4a (after several more hours of research) despite a couple YouTubers mentioning off-handedly that the volume was a little weak. I figured that, with the off-handed negative, among many positives, being in comparison to the prior, 1-year old flagship model, or other current budget models, the sound would still be better than my 5-year-old budget Nexus, but I was wrong. Compared to my old Nexus, the sound is awful. The volume is weak, but the sound is also muffled, the highs are missing, and it sounds like Google added some cheap-karaoke software effect to it. The poor sound quality has made my daily language lessons noticeably slower and more frustrating.
I found some headphones in the $50-$100 range which forums and blogs claimed would efficiently take my audio experience to unconceived of levels, and then found out that my Pixel 4a's DAC maxes out at 0.3 volts of output and can’t support them.
I’m hoping I can find a pair of headphones/IEMs/earbuds to fix my audio woes. Anyone able to tell me to “buy this” so I can stop looking? Or do I need to buy a new phone? ><
Desired specs:
-Needs to be compatible with my phone, a 3.5mm jack (or usb-c) and 0.3 volts.
-Primarily used for language study, so a neutral sound profile?
-Wired.
-Hopefully less than $100.
-I’d shell out an extra $10-20 for a comparable model that isn’t made in China, but I’ll take whatever I can get.
Thanks!
I had been using a 5-year old Google Nexus 5x for my audio needs, mostly consisting of language study via recordings and voice chats. I once tried switching to a $30-$40 Bluetooth trucking headset (after an hour or two of research) with rave Amazon reviews for listening during car rides and found the phone to have noticeably superior clarity and better highs and retired the headset.
Recently I purchased a Pixel 4a (after several more hours of research) despite a couple YouTubers mentioning off-handedly that the volume was a little weak. I figured that, with the off-handed negative, among many positives, being in comparison to the prior, 1-year old flagship model, or other current budget models, the sound would still be better than my 5-year-old budget Nexus, but I was wrong. Compared to my old Nexus, the sound is awful. The volume is weak, but the sound is also muffled, the highs are missing, and it sounds like Google added some cheap-karaoke software effect to it. The poor sound quality has made my daily language lessons noticeably slower and more frustrating.
I found some headphones in the $50-$100 range which forums and blogs claimed would efficiently take my audio experience to unconceived of levels, and then found out that my Pixel 4a's DAC maxes out at 0.3 volts of output and can’t support them.
I’m hoping I can find a pair of headphones/IEMs/earbuds to fix my audio woes. Anyone able to tell me to “buy this” so I can stop looking? Or do I need to buy a new phone? ><
Desired specs:
-Needs to be compatible with my phone, a 3.5mm jack (or usb-c) and 0.3 volts.
-Primarily used for language study, so a neutral sound profile?
-Wired.
-Hopefully less than $100.
-I’d shell out an extra $10-20 for a comparable model that isn’t made in China, but I’ll take whatever I can get.
Thanks!
