OM hawk
100+ Head-Fier
I'm more or less new to this hobby, and there may be something I'm missing here...
but I have to ask, why would a serious audiophile use open backed headphones with their computer as a source, or for that matter, why would an audiophile gamer play games on a console with open backed headphones, when computers and game consoles give you a constant, built-in noise floor due to their fan noise? My Playstations, both 3 and 4 make a TON of noise, and my PC is constantly humming and there's these little ticking noises all the dang time. Is this distracting noise not the exact kind of thing we as audiophiles would strive to eliminate, seeing as how it comes between us and our music? This is why I use a portable dap as my source, because it is, obviously, silent at all times. But as I've been learning more and more about audiophile culture, it seems that lots of people use their PCs as part of expensive hi-fi audio systems. Do you all modify your computers to be quieter somehow? A big part of my reason for choosing my Neuman NDH20 cans is that they are totally closed, with quite good isolation, so I can block out the fan noise of my PS4 when I'm trying to get immersed in Skyrim or The Last Guardian. But most of the really great audiophile cans on the market are open backed. I saw a youtube video where a reviewer was saying the HD800 was a fantastic headphone for gaming, and I was like nope, that's wrong, very wrong. Now, if you have a Nintendo Switch, that would be great with an open back. But then it would have to be easy to drive, of course. I used to rock some Grado SR80i's with my Playstation Vita.
I'm just curious, because I know audiophiles do obsess over little things like this. I can't be the only one who turns the thermostat way up so the AC won't cycle on while I listen to music...
but I have to ask, why would a serious audiophile use open backed headphones with their computer as a source, or for that matter, why would an audiophile gamer play games on a console with open backed headphones, when computers and game consoles give you a constant, built-in noise floor due to their fan noise? My Playstations, both 3 and 4 make a TON of noise, and my PC is constantly humming and there's these little ticking noises all the dang time. Is this distracting noise not the exact kind of thing we as audiophiles would strive to eliminate, seeing as how it comes between us and our music? This is why I use a portable dap as my source, because it is, obviously, silent at all times. But as I've been learning more and more about audiophile culture, it seems that lots of people use their PCs as part of expensive hi-fi audio systems. Do you all modify your computers to be quieter somehow? A big part of my reason for choosing my Neuman NDH20 cans is that they are totally closed, with quite good isolation, so I can block out the fan noise of my PS4 when I'm trying to get immersed in Skyrim or The Last Guardian. But most of the really great audiophile cans on the market are open backed. I saw a youtube video where a reviewer was saying the HD800 was a fantastic headphone for gaming, and I was like nope, that's wrong, very wrong. Now, if you have a Nintendo Switch, that would be great with an open back. But then it would have to be easy to drive, of course. I used to rock some Grado SR80i's with my Playstation Vita.
I'm just curious, because I know audiophiles do obsess over little things like this. I can't be the only one who turns the thermostat way up so the AC won't cycle on while I listen to music...
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