Lets talk PC Audio

Wile E · Mar 7, 2011

Bah, don't get me started on joint stereo. lol.

Mussels · Mar 7, 2011

Wile E said:
Bah, don't get me started on joint stereo. lol.

in before mailman posts a picture of a boombox filled with weed.

at least we got the audio experts in the one place, so now people can get 3-4 simultaneous answers to any questions they may have, with high odds of accuracy in the responses.

m4gicfour · Mar 7, 2011

Well nothing's a magic bullet, after all. Crystallizer was meant to "enhance" low quality audio, and it perceivably does that, even if it does so by an understanding of equipment and human hearing rather than actually increasing quality.

As for the article, Mussels you definitely do have an understanding of most of the things involved, just be careful about how you state things. Audiophiles tend to be a nitpicky bunch. If you have the patience to refine this and admit when you may be wrong or misinformed, I see this becoming a great resource. :toast:

Jack Doph · Mar 7, 2011

Wile E said:
Bah, don't get me started on joint stereo. lol.

You & me both mate XD

I even complained to a radio station once, because I caught them out using a crappy joint-stereo MP3 instead of the proper CD :rockout:

Mussels · Mar 7, 2011

m4gicfour said:
Well nothing's a magic bullet, after all. Crystallizer was meant to "enhance" low quality audio, and it perceivably does that, even if it does so by an understanding of equipment and human hearing rather than actually increasing quality.

As for the article, Mussels you definitely do have an understanding of most of the things involved, just be careful about how you state things. Audiophiles tend to be a nitpicky bunch. If you have the patience to refine this and admit when you may be wrong or misinformed, I see this becoming a great resource.

thats the plan. i mostly have to be careful when editing based on peoples comments, because i can guarantee people will disagree as to whats right... and then its either guesswork or research to figure out who's right, and what to say.

Frizz · Mar 7, 2011

Just another question guys while I have you all here :laugh:

Should I even bother with turning on EAX and playing with the Graphic Equalizer from my sound card's driver/software? lol ...

Jack Doph · Mar 7, 2011

randomflip said:
Just another question guys while I have you all here

Should I even bother with turning on EAX and playing with the Graphic Equalizer from my sound card's driver? lol ...

Yes!
Because.. your ears are NOT like those of the sound engineer.
Use the EQ to suit YOUR hearing

EDIT: or your equipment

Mussels · Mar 7, 2011

randomflip said:
Just another question guys while I have you all here

Should I even bother with turning on EAX and playing with the Graphic Equalizer from my sound card's driver? lol ...

I use my EQ to boost bass for my headphones, as they're a bit lacking. EQ comes down to personal choice, but the goal should be to make as little change as possible to get the sound you want. No point boosting the bass to max for one song, only to find bad company 2 machine gun fire just made you sterile from the subwoofer shakin your janglies apart.

as to EAX, it depends on the games. while EAX is nothing fancy in itself, some games (warcraft III comes to mind) dont let you get surround sound without EAX, so its better to enable it in those.

Wile E · Mar 7, 2011

I don't bother with EAX except in games. As for EQ, I use them to correct output of equipment, as most equipment is not perfectly linear.

m4gicfour · Mar 7, 2011

randomflip said:
Just another question guys while I have you all here

Should I even bother with turning on EAX and playing with the Graphic Equalizer from my sound card's driver/software? lol ...

I'd say, if you have the ability to use EAX, use it. For the games that support it, it does help. Now I wouldn't bother going out and buying anything so you can use EAX, but if you've already got it, it does sound good.

EDIT - Yeah, as wile E said; just in games.

Mussels · Mar 7, 2011

see what i meant about 4 answers to each question? we even line up with our opinions! (mostly)

Jack Doph · Mar 7, 2011

Mussels said:
see what i meant about 4 answers to each question? we even line up with our opinions! (mostly)

Ain't that grand?
XD

Frizz · Mar 7, 2011

Mussels said:
I use my EQ to boost bass for my headphones, as they're a bit lacking. EQ comes down to personal choice, but the goal should be to make as little change as possible to get the sound you want. No point boosting the bass to max for one song, only to find bad company 2 machine gun fire just made you sterile from the subwoofer shakin your janglies apart.

as to EAX, it depends on the games. while EAX is nothing fancy in itself, some games (warcraft III comes to mind) dont let you get surround sound without EAX, so its better to enable it in those.

Jack Doph said:
Yes!
Because.. your ears are NOT like those of the sound engineer.
Use the EQ to suit YOUR hearing

EDIT: or your equipment

Wile E said:
I don't bother with EAX except in games. As for EQ, I use them to correct output of equipment, as most equipment is not perfectly linear.

m4gicfour said:
I'd say, if you have the ability to use EAX, use it. For the games that support it, it does help. Now I wouldn't bother going out and buying anything so you can use EAX, but if you've already got it, it does sound good.

EDIT - Yeah, as wile E said; just in games.

And just like that I am educated

, time to start playing around with what I've got. :toast:

m4gicfour · Mar 7, 2011

Mussels said:
see what i meant about 4 answers to each question? we even line up with our opinions! (mostly)

Hey man, Active thread. Very active thread. When I replied (both times) there were no replies, now there's at least two or three in between my post and what I was replying to. Have to think that can only be a good thing, so long as things stay on-topic, accurate, and civil

Ra97oR · Mar 7, 2011

The most important thing is, the sound is as good as the source files is. You are just going to suffer more if you use more detailed equipment for listening to high compression files.

Jack Doph · Mar 7, 2011

randomflip said:
And just like that I am educated , time to start playing around with what I've got.

Enjoy it you shall

Ra97oR said:
The most important thing is, the sound is as good as the source files is. You are just going to suffer more if you use more detailed equipment for listening to high compression files.

nail <-> head
Absolutely!
I wish more people could truly understand what that really means.

m4gicfour · Mar 7, 2011

Ra97oR said:
The most important thing is, the sound is as good as the source files is. You are just going to suffer more if you use more detailed equipment for listening to high compression files.

98Kbit MP3 is a no go on my Onkyo TX-Sr876 w/ polk audio 7.1

Just NO FRAKKIN WAY MAN!

Audio is a gateway drug. You buy a good reciever, you need good source. You get good source, you need good speakers, you get good speakers you need good source Files.

I just need another hit man.... Just gotta get my fix!

Jack Doph · Mar 7, 2011

m4gicfour said:
98Kbit MP3 is a no go on my Onkyo TX-Sr876 w/ polk audio 7.1

Just NO FRAKKIN WAY MAN!

Ye gods man!
You might even feel ill using flac!
XD

Ra97oR · Mar 7, 2011

m4gicfour said:
98Kbit MP3 is a no go on my Onkyo TX-Sr876 w/ polk audio 7.1

Just NO FRAKKIN WAY MAN!

Trust me, its worse on my HA5000 + AD1000PRM combo. It kills, literally. I stayed away from youtube just for that reason.

m4gicfour · Mar 7, 2011

Ra97oR said:
Trust me, its worse on my HA5000 + AD1000PRM combo. It kills, literally. I stayed away from youtube just for that reason.

I believe it

Jack Doph · Mar 7, 2011

Ra97oR said:
Trust me, its worse on my HA5000 + AD1000PRM combo. It kills, literally. I stayed away from youtube just for that reason.

Question: do you use headphones at all?
If so, what do you use?

Ra97oR · Mar 7, 2011

Jack Doph said:
Question: do you use headphones at all?
If so, what do you use?

Read the thing you just quoted.

Here a picture of it

Wile E · Mar 7, 2011

Ra97oR said:
Trust me, its worse on my HA5000 + AD1000PRM combo. It kills, literally. I stayed away from youtube just for that reason.

Hell, it's murder on my Forte's in-built headphone amp thru my Grado SR225i's. I can't imagine how awful it would be if I grabbed a real HP amp and something like a nice set of PS1000's.

m4gicfour · Mar 7, 2011

All I know is I cannot let my father learn that such things exist. He already has like 5 sets of headphones, and a house filled with pro audio equipment. I mean, how many mixing boards do you need? Well this one is portable and this one has effects and this one has lots of channels

Jack Doph · Mar 7, 2011

Ra97oR said:
Read the thing you just quoted.

Here a picture of it

http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/8707/img5756g.jpg

Sweet

I could do with that for my Beyerdynamics

BTW.. Thanks Mussels.
Thoroughly enjoyable & highly informative

About time someone did this!

System Name	The ClusterF**k
Processor	980X @ 4Ghz
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 BIOS F12
Cooling	MCR-320, DDC-1 pump w/Bitspower res top (1/2" fittings), Koolance CPU-360
Memory	3x2GB Mushkin Redlines 1600Mhz 6-8-6-24 1T
Video Card(s)	Evga GTX 580
Storage	Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB, 2xSeagate 320GB RAID0; 2xSeagate 3TB; 2xSamsung 2TB; Samsung 1.5TB
Display(s)	HP LP2475w 24" 1920x1200 IPS
Case	Technofront Bench Station
Audio Device(s)	Auzentech X-Fi Forte into Onkyo SR606 and Polk TSi200's + RM6750
Power Supply	ENERMAX Galaxy EVO EGX1250EWT 1250W
Software	Win7 Ultimate N x64, OSX 10.8.4

System Name	Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor	Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard	Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling	Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory	2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage	2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s)	Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) \| Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) \| Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case	Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G560 \| Corsair Void pro RGB \|Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply	Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse	Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD	Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores	Nyooom.

Processor	Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard	MSI MAG X570S Tomahawk Max WiFi
Cooling	EK Supremacy EVO Elite + EK D5 + EK 420 Rad, TT Toughfan 140x3, TT Toughfan 120x2, Arctic slim 120
Memory	32GB GSkill DDR4-3600 (F4-3600C16-8GVKC)
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte Radeon RX 7900XTX Gaming OC
Storage	WDBlack SN850X 4TB, Samsung 950Pro 512GB, Samsung 850EVO 500GB, 6TB WDRed, 36TB NAS, 8TB Lancache
Display(s)	Benq XL2730Z (1440P 144Hz, TN, Freesync) & 2x ASUS VE248
Case	Corsair Obsidian 750D
Audio Device(s)	Topping D50S + THX AAA 789, TH-X00 w/ V-Moda Boompro; 7Hz Timeless
Power Supply	Corsair HX1000i
Mouse	Sharkoon Fireglider optical
Keyboard	Corsair K95 RGB
Software	Windows 11 Pro

System Name	Frankenstein v7
Processor	Intel i7 2600K (@ stock)
Motherboard	Asus P8Z68-V
Cooling	Corsair H100
Memory	Corsair Vengeance 4x4GB DDR3 @ 1866MHz
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte 7870 WindForce 2GB
Storage	Samsung F3 1TB HDD
Display(s)	Samsung S24C750
Case	Antec P280
Audio Device(s)	Creative Labs X-Fi Elite Pro
Power Supply	Corsair HX850
Software	Windows 7 Pro - 64-bit

System Name	Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor	Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard	Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling	Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory	2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage	2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s)	Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) \| Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) \| Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case	Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G560 \| Corsair Void pro RGB \|Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply	Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse	Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD	Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores	Nyooom.

Lets talk PC Audio

Wile E

Power User

Mussels

Freshwater Moderator

m4gicfour

Jack Doph

Mussels

Freshwater Moderator

Frizz

Jack Doph

Mussels

Freshwater Moderator

Wile E

Power User

m4gicfour

Mussels

Freshwater Moderator

Jack Doph

Frizz

m4gicfour

Ra97oR

Jack Doph

m4gicfour

Jack Doph

Ra97oR

m4gicfour

Jack Doph

Ra97oR

Wile E

Power User

m4gicfour

Jack Doph

System Name	White Theme
Processor	Intel 12700K CPU
Motherboard	ASUS STRIX Z690-A D4
Cooling	Lian Li Galahad Uni w/ AL120 Fans
Memory	32GB DDR4-3200 Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte Aero 4080 Super 16GB
Storage	2TB Samsung 980 Pro PCIE 4.0
Display(s)	Alienware 38" 3840x1600 (165Hz)
Case	Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO White
Audio Device(s)	2i2 Scarlett Solo + Schiit Magni 3 AMP
Power Supply	Corsair HX 1000 Platinum

System Name	ARiA
Processor	AMD Ryzen 3600
Motherboard	MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15S
Memory	32GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200MHz C16 DDR4 (2x16GB)
Video Card(s)	Nvidia RTX 2070 Super FE
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO NVMe (1TB), 850 EVO SATA (500GB), WD Ultrastar (6TB)
Display(s)	Asus VG279 144 Hz IPS
Case	Fractal Design Define R6
Audio Device(s)	Chord Hugo 2 to lots of headphones
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime+ 850W Gold
Mouse	Steelseries Rival 600
Software	Windows 10 Pro