Lets talk about: Sound.

[Evo85]

Speakers : JVC home Theater http://av.jvc.com/product.jsp?modelI...thId=30&page=1

Headphones: Logitech http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/ga...s/358&cl=us,en

Sound Card: Onboard 8ch HD (ALC 1200)

Obsession level: Moderate

[craigo]

Speakers: Klipsch promedia GMX A 2.1

Soundcard: Intel® High Definition Audio subsystem using the Sigmatel* 9274D audio codec

DVD drive: LG GH20NS15 firmware modded to STFU when playing discs\

Software: winamp set to 24bit playback

Audio Obsession Level: I care what it sounds like

[tigger]

Heres what they look like.I ave them on spiked stands with silver anniversary wire.They are biwireable too.

[Ketxxx]

Nice sleek fronts, they could of picked a better colour to stain the wood though IMO.

[Ra97oR]

Originally Posted by Ra97oR

^^ :P

Speakers: Creative T40 Series II
Speaker Special Features: Dual Input, Headphone jack both goldplated
Soundcard: Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music (Pure Direct)
Headphone/Headset: Denon AH-D1001/ Creative Aurvana Live!/ Platronics .audio 370
Speicals On Computer: Sound damping, silent treatment with massive heatsink
Audio Obsession Level: Hell yes!

Over all this setup is very good for music, only with high quality files though as Pure Direct doesn't to alter the sound in any way, so no 'fix' for poor files.

2.0 is the most pure way to listen to music, however I agree it under perform in some areas like movies.

picture time.

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by Ra97oR

picture time.

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/7324/dsc00217n.jpg

YAY I HAVE THAT KEYBOARD.

oh yeah, nice speakers

[Ketxxx]

Your desk is a lot neater than mine

[alexp999]

Mine looks like that on picture days, doesnt right now tho

[tigger]

Mines always covered in tat

[Ketxxx]

lol same. Right now sitting on my desk I have glasses, floppy disks, a penknife, screwdriver, ruler, pens, camera, BGA heatsinks, FET heatsink, VF900... the list goes on

[Frederik S]

My usual desktop setup is something like this:
Foobar 2k with ASIO4ALL, Optical out from Realtek HDA to Octavart The One DAC / Headphone amplifier, and one of the following headphones: Ultrasone PRO900, modded SR-60s.

My favourite setup at the moment is this: Marantz CD6002 -> Head-Direct EF1 with a Sylvania 12AU7 tube (HP rebrand) -> AKG K701 / Ultrasone PRO900s / Modded Sennheiser HD580.

And then of course I have a Travagan's Green powering a set of Qinpu speakers which is quite a potent near field system.

Audio Obsession Level: Head-fi, I like my headphones

The great thing about headphones is that you do not have to spend boatloads of cash in order to get a well performing setup, and you are never limited by the acoustics of your listening room.

[Tatty_One]

Originally Posted by tigger

Mines always covered in tat

Someone mention my name?

[Yukikaze]

I have two sets of Logitech Z-2300s (One at my apt, one at my parents' place), since the Z-5500s were too rich for my blood when I was buying and my poor student apartment lacks the space for a full surround setup.

I love the Z-2300s to death, especially their massive woofer.

[department76]

Speakers: custom-built 3-way towers and 2-way center, paradigm Atom v2 surrounds
Receiver/Amp: Denon AVR-685
Headphones: Denon AH-D1000
Soundcard: Auzentech X-Fi Prelude
Software: X-Fi software suite, RC8 drivers, WMP Lossless encoding on most music.
Audio Obsession Level: devout audiophile and DIYer


ketxxx:

just looking at your EQ settings, i have an important suggestion, the same goes for anyone using EQ. i don't see a total gain adjustment/compensator anywhere (normally 0db, sometimes +12dB, to -12db, for a +/-12dB EQ). all of your adjustments are positive amplitude, this means that across all frequency bands, you are adding a net average of + gain. this is where the use of the total gain adjustment comes in. for best results on any audio system, the average DC value across an equalizer should be 0dB, otherwise you are just adding static gain into the signal which will more than likely result in clipping. yes it is possible to clip your output signal if it is gained too much, yes there are in-audible levels of clipping. normally clipping becomes audible at very high levels so if your stuff sounds fine right now, its probably still clipping at an in-audible level. 0dB on the EQ corresponds to the reference output level of your audio hardware, so asking for a static gain of +6dB is a poor choice. just because your EQ goes to +12dB, that doesnt mean your hardware can handle +12dB. hard to say exactly what someones EQ could really handle in terms of gaining the reference signal, but generally that just isnt a good idea. it is also possible that the EQ software already determines the dc and biases it automatically to avoid clipping. that would be great implementation by the manufacturer, but i highly doubt its common (my auzen prelude doesn't do that).

why is a static gain a bad thing?
1) you can clip your outputs before the amplifier (between your soundcard, before the signal reaches your speakers)
2) every +3dB increase results in a 2x power demand on your amplifier. having a static gain on your EQ is the same thing as having your volume permanently turned up by a small amount.

to avoid clipping your ouput: slide everything down in equal amounts so the average overall gain is 0dB, or use an overall gain compensator in the EQ to negate the DC gain of the current EQ settings-- this will not change the way your EQ settings sound, it will be the same thing as turning down the volume.
it's really easy to find the average gain, just average all frequency band magnitudes together, if it's postive, you need to cut, if it's negative you're OK but could stand to raise the level a bit.

hope that all makes sense.


edit: here's my EQ settings, should show the concept a little better. i gain the low bass heavily because i don't have a sub, my receiver has good clean power that can handle it (my towers are 3.0cuft w/ 12" woofers).

[Ketxxx]

Theres no clipping for me. In my case due to the music I listen to ramped EQ settings clean things up. Clipping really isn't something I would consider a issue unless someone is daft enough to set things to +6db or more. I listen to a lot of music at very high volumes and specifically tune my EQ while listening to audio at high volumes so I can pick up on clipping. It wouldn't surprise me if Asus did implement something to automatically avoid clipping given the calibur the Xonar DX is, but only way to be sure is to ask Asus.

[tigger]

Does it make a diferance using a digital out or analouge out? i dont use any sort of eq,either software or on my amp.Straight digi signal to my amp.

[Ketxxx]

I've never heard any difference between the two, but there may be something I'm missing. One thing I did notice with digital was less hiss on low quality speakers.

[Ra97oR]

Originally Posted by department76

Speakers: custom-built 3-way towers and 2-way center, paradigm Atom v2 surrounds
Headphones: Denon AH-D1000
Soundcard: Auzentech X-Fi Prelude
Software: X-Fi software suite, WMP Lossless encoding on most music (very few songs out of my collection of 6300 are anything below 256kbps)
Audio Obsession Level: devout audiophile and DIYer


ketxxx:

just looking at your EQ settings, i have an important suggestion, the same goes for anyone using EQ. i don't see a total gain adjustment/compensator anywhere (normally 0db, sometimes +12dB, to -12db, for a +/-12dB EQ). all of your adjustments are positive amplitude, this means that across all frequency bands, you are adding a net average of + gain. this is where the use of the total gain adjustment comes in. for best results on any audio system, the average DC value across an equalizer should be 0dB, otherwise you are just adding static gain into the signal which will more than likely result in clipping. yes it is possible to clip your output signal if it is gained too much, yes there are in-audible levels of clipping. normally clipping becomes audible at very high levels so if your stuff sounds fine right now, its probably still clipping at an in-audible level. 0dB on the EQ corresponds to the reference output level of your audio hardware, so asking for a static gain of +6dB is a poor choice. just because your EQ goes to +12dB, that doesnt mean your hardware can handle +12dB. hard to say exactly what someones EQ could really handle in terms of gaining the reference signal, but generally that just isnt a good idea. it is also possible that the EQ software already determines the dc and biases it automatically to avoid clipping. that would be great implementation by the manufacturer, but i highly doubt its common (my auzen prelude doesn't do that).

why is a static gain a bad thing?
1) you can clip your outputs before the amplifier (between your soundcard, before the signal reaches your speakers)
2) every +3dB increase results in a 2x power demand on your amplifier. having a static gain on your EQ is the same thing as having your volume permanently turned up by a small amount.

to avoid clipping your ouput: slide everything down in equal amounts so the average overall gain is 0dB, or use an overall gain compensator in the EQ to negate the DC gain of the current EQ settings-- this will not change the way your EQ settings sound, it will be the same thing as turning down the volume.
it's really easy to find the average gain, just average all frequency band magnitudes together, if it's postive, you need to cut, if it's negative you're OK but could stand to raise the level a bit.

hope that all makes sense.


edit: here's my EQ settings, should show the concept a little better. i gain the low bass heavily because i don't have a sub, my receiver has good clean power that can handle it (my towers are 3.0cuft w/ 12" woofers).

Wow! Nice setup, agreeing the headphones are awesome?

[Studabaker]

My 2 cents on Crystalizer. I don't use it. Softmodding the Audigy to X-Fi delivers a sound quality benefit on it's own. Crystalizer has made everything I have tried it on at all settings sound like ass.

[Wile E]

I don't use any effects on my Audigy2 ZS either. I hate them. All those posts, and I completely forgot to mention my setup. lol.

Speakers: none atm. Used to be a pair of M-Audio powered monitors, but I sold them, as I want a 5.1 setup. Soon to be Polk RM6750 5.1's

Headphones: Razer Barracuda HP-1 5.1 surround. Terrible headphones. Regret purchasing them. Shure E2c IEMs that need recorded due to my bunny eating the cord.

Soundcard: Audigy 2 ZS (thinking about upgrading soon)

Software: D_K Drivers; FLAC and WAV encoding only. 320kbps AAC for portables.

Amp/Receiver: Onkyo TX-SR500 65Wx5 (at 8 ohms)

Audio Obsession Level: Audiophile without the money to be an Audiophile. lol. I'd spend $100k on my setup if I could. lol. I used to run live sound semi-professionally.

[department76]

Originally Posted by Ketxxx

Theres no clipping for me. In my case due to the music I listen to ramped EQ settings clean things up. Clipping really isn't something I would consider a issue unless someone is daft enough to set things to +6db or more. I listen to a lot of music at very high volumes and specifically tune my EQ while listening to audio at high volumes so I can pick up on clipping. It wouldn't surprise me if Asus did implement something to automatically avoid clipping given the calibur the Xonar DX is, but only way to be sure is to ask Asus.

fair enough

audio is all in the eye of the beholder anyhow...

[iandh]

I'm semi-audiophile I suppose (my cheapness prevents me from going full blown)

Custom built monitors w/LPG 1" silk domes & SEAS 7" mids, custom 18db-HP/12db-LP passive crossovers (self-designed)
Sonic impact T-amp
X-Fi Xtremegamer (only because I got it dirt cheap)

And NO, no pics. I refuse to show the crappiness of my speaks. Maybe one day when I get around to building proper enclosures I will show them.

Originally Posted by Ketxxx

My X540s ain't the best, but they do a decent job. Audiophiles aren't so much about how much is spent on their sound setups, thats addicts. Audiophiles are the people who understand what instruments are supposed to sound like and spend hours tweaking their sound setup to get as accurate as possible representation of what those instruments sound like in real life on their setup without the music sounding flat.

A good ear is better than good gear...

[HeadlessChicken]

Originally Posted by department76

fair enough

audio is all in the eye of the beholder anyhow...

wouldnt that be the ear of the beholder ?

[Ketxxx]

I'm surprised my ears haven't blown up yet, but I guess thats what happens with 2 operations strengthening thin eardrum walls.

[department76]

Originally Posted by iandh

I'm semi-audiophile I suppose (my cheapness prevents me from going full blown)

Custom built monitors w/LPG 1" silk domes & SEAS 7" mids, custom 18db-HP/12db-LP passive crossovers (self-designed)
Sonic impact T-amp
X-Fi Xtremegamer (only because I got it dirt cheap)

And NO, no pics. I refuse to show the crappiness of my speaks. Maybe one day when I get around to building proper enclosures I will show them.

A good ear is better than good gear...

all my speakers are primarily for my HT setup, my computer isn't far away (15ft of component and fiber-optic cable easily solves that). my current project in mind is a 2.0 setup especially for my computer. i am jealous of your T-amp because that's exactly what i've been thinking of to power it. Seas make some pretty nice woofers :-D

my own towers i re-vamped some vintage Fisher towers from the ground up (12" Dayton Classic woofer, 6" Dayton RS for the mid, 1 1/8" Vifa textile dome tweet, new custom crossover, internal chamber for the mid, wall dampening), my center is in a custom built cabinet (2nd order xover w/ zobel, 2x Dayton RS 6" and a titanium Dayton tweet). picture of the center opened up is attached.

i <3 partsexpress

what do you use for your xover design? i use Passive Crossover Designer 5.1, it's free , realtively accurate, and operates via excel spreadsheet. not ideal nor user friendly, but it works. i use REW for taking measurements and testing, along with a radioshack spl meter.

attached is also a pic of a set of speakers i made for my parents. 8" Hi-Vi M8N woofers and 1" Vifa titanium dome tweets, 12dB/oct lpf @ 2khz & 12dB/oct hpf @ 3khz. they have brackets for wall-mounting.

no my cabinet construction isnt perfect on either, but i'm not ashamed.