Headphones sound different with PC compared to Mac. Is this possible?
Sep 14, 2013 at 10:51 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 15
johnp9723

johnp9723

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Hey guys I am pretty new to Hi-Fi headphones and Head -Fi. I have a question maybe someone can answer. Is it possible that the sound coming out of my headphones can sound different when i'm using my PC or when I use my Mac? Even though I use an external DAC and Amp? I have HE-500's with Schiit Magni and Modi. I could understand if I was just running them off the internal sound card and amp but with an external dac and amp doesn't it just sent the digital signal straight out of itunes into the dac and amp? So why would it sound different? I feel like the PC sounds a little brighter than the Mac, a little too bright.
 
Sep 15, 2013 at 12:42 AM Post #3 of 15
johnp9723 said:
  I think I found the problem. The PC still had the Equalizer turned on. The Macs is turned off. definately sounds better with it off.
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Have you tried using Foobar2000 to play audio files on the PC?
 
Sep 15, 2013 at 1:39 AM Post #6 of 15
johnp9723 said:
  No I haven't tried foobar. What does it do? It looks like it might be like iTunes? Is it any better? What is WASAPI? Thanks for the replies.
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The Foobar2000 program (& WASAPI) seems to offer about the best audio quality for music, coming out of a PC.
 
Sep 15, 2013 at 3:34 PM Post #9 of 15
Software changes the sound much more than one would think. If you really want to hear how much of a difference it can make try out Jplay. I'd avoid Jriver like the plague; not only do they say that software does not make a difference(if that's true what is the point of their software :p, a bit contradictory) but their program does some nasty things to your computer if you have it installed and try running a competitor's product. You might want to read some of the stuff here: http://jplay.eu/forum/jplay/jriver-install-message-httpjriver.comjplay.html/

After un-installing Jriver I had to reinstall a few programs that it had uninstalled on me or corrupted including my graphics drivers.

You might also find such differences between even the standard Windows media player, Media Monkey, and Foobar if you don't want to bother with free trials and programs that cost money.

Likewise you might want to try some of the audio PC tweaks on sites such as computer audiophile. I'm curious but what are the specs of your PC and Mac? I did an interesting test with Jplay a few weeks ago where I compared the sound of my desktop PC(with music on an SSD vs. mechanical drive) as well as controlling my PC through an ultrabook. Despite what they recommend on their forum I found the best sound having my desktop work alone with the solid state drive. Whenever the laptop or mechanical drive were used the sound became muddy and bright. Digital audio is fussy like that; it seems simple on the surface but in all honesty it's much easier to get a turntable setup than it is a good digital playback system on your PC.
 
Sep 15, 2013 at 9:32 PM Post #10 of 15
mohawkus said:
Software changes the sound much more than one would think. If you really want to hear how much of a difference it can make try out Jplay. I'd avoid Jriver like the plague; not only do they say that software does not make a difference(if that's true what is the point of their software
tongue.gif
, a bit contradictory) but their program does some nasty things to your computer if you have it installed and try running a competitor's product. You might want to read some of the stuff here: http://jplay.eu/forum/jplay/jriver-install-message-httpjriver.comjplay.html/

After un-installing Jriver I had to reinstall a few programs that it had uninstalled on me or corrupted including my graphics drivers.

You might also find such differences between even the standard Windows media player, Media Monkey, and Foobar if you don't want to bother with free trials and programs that cost money.

Likewise you might want to try some of the audio PC tweaks on sites such as computer audiophile. I'm curious but what are the specs of your PC and Mac? I did an interesting test with Jplay a few weeks ago where I compared the sound of my desktop PC(with music on an SSD vs. mechanical drive) as well as controlling my PC through an ultrabook. Despite what they recommend on their forum I found the best sound having my desktop work alone with the solid state drive. Whenever the laptop or mechanical drive were used the sound became muddy and bright. Digital audio is fussy like that; it seems simple on the surface but in all honesty it's much easier to get a turntable setup than it is a good digital playback system on your PC.
Click to expand...

 
wow that doesn't sound good, im gonna have to stear clear of jriver. i think i'll try media monkey or foobar. My pc is a little older i built it in 2008 its a custom build. I put a 3G dual core chip, standard hard drive not a SSD 512mb 9800 gtx graphics card, 4g of ram and running windows xp. Its a little outdated but still runs good. The macs are an early 2011 Macbook pro with 2.3 dual i5's 8g of ram and a mid 2012 imac quad core i5's 8g of ram 23inch
 
Sep 15, 2013 at 9:48 PM Post #11 of 15
johnp9723 said:
  Hey guys I am pretty new to Hi-Fi headphones and Head -Fi. I have a question maybe someone can answer. Is it possible that the sound coming out of my headphones can sound different when i'm using my PC or when I use my Mac? Even though I use an external DAC and Amp? I have HE-500's with Schiit Magni and Modi. I could understand if I was just running them off the internal sound card and amp but with an external dac and amp doesn't it just sent the digital signal straight out of itunes into the dac and amp? So why would it sound different? I feel like the PC sounds a little brighter than the Mac, a little too bright.
Click to expand...

 
Different driver. Different handling of coding. Different signal as a result.
 
Sure it's possible.
 
I used a friend's MAC and the decoding of FLAC was such a chore, and it sounded off. It was the software messing up with the processing.
 
Very best,
 
Sep 16, 2013 at 12:39 AM Post #12 of 15
johnp9723 said:
wow that doesn't sound good, im gonna have to stear clear of jriver. i think i'll try media monkey or foobar. My pc is a little older i built it in 2008 its a custom build. I put a 3G dual core chip, standard hard drive not a SSD 512mb 9800 gtx graphics card, 4g of ram and running windows xp. Its a little outdated but still runs good. The macs are an early 2011 Macbook pro with 2.3 dual i5's 8g of ram and a mid 2012 imac quad core i5's 8g of ram 23inch
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You've got two macs? That would make for some interesting testing. :D I know a lot of people in the 'computer audiophile' and Jplay crowds insist that you need a quad core PC to get the best sound. The computers I tested were my desktop, a 2010 build with an i5 2500K and 8GB of RAM; and a 2013 Ultrabook with an i7 4500U and 8GB of RAM. And the Jplay guys generally say that the low power quads are the best sounding(i5 2500T for example) so your imac might be a great computer to run an audio system around. You may want to read through this thread(and site) here; I'm more of a Windows guy myself but there does seem to be a good selection of software available for the mac that I'm not familiar with: http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f11-software/best-audiophile-music-player-mac-2012-a-9860/
 
Sep 16, 2013 at 12:51 AM Post #13 of 15
mohawkus said:
You've got two macs? That would make for some interesting testing.
biggrin.gif
I know a lot of people in the 'computer audiophile' and Jplay crowds insist that you need a quad core PC to get the best sound. The computers I tested were my desktop, a 2010 build with an i5 2500K and 8GB of RAM; and a 2013 Ultrabook with an i7 4500U and 8GB of RAM. And the Jplay guys generally say that the low power quads are the best sounding(i5 2500T for example) so your imac might be a great computer to run an audio system around. You may want to read through this thread(and site) here; I'm more of a Windows guy myself but there does seem to be a good selection of software available for the mac that I'm not familiar with: http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f11-software/best-audiophile-music-player-mac-2012-a-9860/
Click to expand...

 
malveaux said:
   
Different driver. Different handling of coding. Different signal as a result.
 
Sure it's possible.
 
I used a friend's MAC and the decoding of FLAC was such a chore, and it sounded off. It was the software messing up with the processing.
 
Very best,
Click to expand...

 
Ok, Thanks guys.
 
Sep 16, 2013 at 2:44 AM Post #15 of 15
I am listening to Mediamonkey right now and have been switching back and fourth from ITunes to Mediamonkey playing the same song and there is a diffenrence in sound also I need a bit more volume on Mediamonkey to reach the same level as iTunes. I prefer the sound of Mediamonkey. I don't know all the Head-fi language but i'll try to explain. The songs i listened to, Mediamonkey was a little clearer or more precise more in control and it sounded if the soundstage was bigger or there was more room between intruments. I'll be sticking with media monkey for my pc.
 
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