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guppy posted:My parents are going to be spending something like 36 hours on airplanes and asked me if I knew of any good noise-cancelling IEMs. I don't know if that's even a thing outside of Bose and they don't want to pay the $300 or whatever that Bose is asking. I'm guessing it's not possible to satisfy all of these criteria but are there any acceptable noise-cancelling IEMs at or below an $80 price point? Etymotic IEM's isolate as well as anything out there, they tend to insert kind of deep, but if you can wear those silicone triflange ear plugs, you can wear these. The Ety Kids 5 is the low end at $40 at amazon, they isolate drat good and don't sound too bad at all. Very detailed. All Ety's are lean on bass and they're no exception, they also seem to have a bit of a bump around 6K. They have a high impedance to help limit the volume, keeping kids, the intended target, from damaging their hearing. Joker did a good writeup on them in his review IEM thread on head-fi. http://www.head-fi.org/t/478568/multi-iem-review-302-iems-compared-1964ears-v6-stage-added-11-12-13-p-806 Personally, I'd want something a bit less bright and fatiguing for a long trip like that, maybe the $65 Vsonic GR06 would work, it also gets 14 different sets of tips and the nozzle swivels so I don't think very many people will have problems getting a good seal. Retarted Pimple fucked around with this message at 05:08 on Nov 24, 2013 |
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Nov 23, 2013 23:30
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Paradox Personified posted:So my Yamaha EPH-100s came in today, the left audio channel was totally out and the right audio sounded like a loving pair of those iPhone pieces of poo poo... look, do they sound tinny and bass-less even when working properly, and even with the equalizer jacked up like crazy? I'm just tired of the constant pain from over-ear sets, and the last over-ear I had was a Nady brand, QH560, and its online presence was nothing compared to the glowing four and five-star reviews these Yamahas get- and the sound from the Nady set was still better, the bass I could reach with those was amazing. For further comparison, last IEM I had which caused me to fall in love with the design was a Sennheiser brand (a couple of CX500s) and it didn't even sound this bad. No, that definitely isn't right. The EPH-100 should sound very full and warm, not tinny at all. Sounds like you got a bad pair. It's also possible that the headphone jack on your player/phone has some gunk/dust in it that's messing with the connection.
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Nov 24, 2013 01:41
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Thanks everyone. I passed on your suggestions.
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Nov 24, 2013 03:02
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guppy posted:Thanks everyone. I passed on your suggestions. I've got some experience of this, having tried two brands on noise-cancelling IEMs on intercontinental flights, and I don't seem to agree with the rest of the crew here. I'm regularly using one pair from Audio Technica (ATH-ANC23 BK IM). It does really make a huge difference when you switch on the NC, so it's not just the passive isolation working. I don't keep them turned on when sleeping on the flight, because I find the drone of the engines doesn't really bother me then. It's when I'm watching a movie or TV show that it really shines. I can use a waaaay lower volume setting with these, which saves a lot of ear fatigue, without missing out on any dialogue. They come with an airplane adapter, and are not very pricy at all. Using regular IEMs is fine, too, it just isolates noticeably less. I wouldn't spend too much on audio quality because they're mostly gonna hear engine noise anyway in that case (auditory masking etc). In any setting outside of an long-haul airplane flight, I would recommend against getting active NC, but that is the one situation where I think it's warranted.
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Nov 24, 2013 18:03
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Budget - 50ish dollars Source - 90% iPad/iPod, 10% PC Isolation Requirements - YES, I sometimes use my headphones as earplugs when studying in a distracting place. Preferred Type of Headphone - IEM, they need to be portable and be able to be thrown in a backpack. Also they need to be black, I'm not a frat boy. Also, I have smallish ear canals, so swappable rubbers are pretty much needed. Preferred Tonal Balance - I listen to a wide variety of music, so I would think balanced? I feel mid-bass is more important to me than sub-bass. Past Headphones - I had some IEM skullcandies until I recently lost them. They met my needs, but I'd love to step my game up and see what sounds I have been missing. Preferred Music - I listen to a lot of Electronic Dance Music (think BBC essential mixes). Lots of Drum and Bass. Trap, Classic rock, Eurobeat, NPR broadcast, Folk Rock, pretty much everything but country. djfooboo fucked around with this message at 19:01 on Nov 24, 2013 |
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Nov 24, 2013 18:55
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djfooboo posted:Budget - 50ish dollars http://www.amazon.com/Etymotic-Research-Isolating-In-Ear-Earphones/dp/B003S3RFIQ/ I constantly hear good things about these, and they're right in your budget. side note: I wonder how they fare up alongside the Bose IE2?
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Nov 24, 2013 19:28
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Anyone know if they've released any news on some mid-tier high-tier IEM deals for black friday? Or will we have to wait until later this week? Budget - 150-200ish Source - Iphone / laptop Isolation Requirements - good isolation Preferred Type of Headphone - IEM Preferred Tonal Balance - As long as it has great sound quality and you can tell/differentiate where sound in the music is coming from Past Headphones - I have a V-moda m80s and a klipsch x10 from last year's amazon sale Preferred Music - Anything from Rock, electronic to classical
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Nov 25, 2013 11:37
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I'm going to start commuting on the train again, and I'm looking for a nice pair of headphones. I'm to get something like the Sony MW600 for bluetooth bridging, since I had having my phone tethered to my head. In NYC especially it's a pain, since a lot of times the cord gets hooked by someone and I'd rather have the bluetooth clip flip out of my pocket instead of my phone. I've always used ear buds, but I'd like a decent pair of over the ear headphones. My budget is around a hundred. I don't want thumping bass driving headphones, I enjoy listening to music that requires high frequencies to be clear and crisp. Any suggestions? I'm going to dig through this thread today, seen as I'm winding down my last week at my old job and no one cares enough to schedule meetings with me to hand off my projects, so I just have a web of cubicle web surfing.
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Nov 25, 2013 16:13
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Tactical Lesbian posted:http://www.amazon.com/Etymotic-Research-Isolating-In-Ear-Earphones/dp/B003S3RFIQ/ From Headphone website: (1) Etymotic HF5, $90-$150. Excellent isolation with a rather neutral/natural sound. Anemic, yet punchy, bass, clear/detailed and neutral mids and sparkling highs. Very analytical and detailed. Anemic yet punchy bass? I'm not sure what that means. Like a bass note is strong only on a downbeat then fades?
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Nov 25, 2013 16:52
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djfooboo posted:Anemic yet punchy bass? I'm not sure what that means. Disregard it, is my best advice. Etymotics typically shoot for a "flat response," meaning that all frequencies are roughly the same volume. However, most people don't like to listen to music that way, and when they move to a flat response from something else that boosts sounds like bass, it sounds weird and bad to them. If you want to know more, I did a stupidly huge post on sound a while back. A lot of these terms exist because there's a need to discuss and identify characteristics of sound when buying headphones, but unless you've got a certain level of education in the subject you're going to be grabbing at straws trying to make your points relatable to your audience. Ergo, unquantifiable and nebulous descriptions.
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Nov 25, 2013 17:06
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Anyone got any comments on my below post, by any chance? Just need to know a bit about amping, and some comments on the isolation of the Sonys and suitability to my needs. Ordered the Shure SRH1540s - excited! OneSizeFitsAll posted:Hi guys. I’d really appreciate two bits of advice: on some IEMs, and on amping for the new cans I’ve got my sights on. I’ve been doing a fair bit of research, including reading the nice guide linked to in the OP, but as usual when I do this I find more questions popping up and my position on everything shifting.
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Nov 25, 2013 22:10
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I have no knowledge about the Sony's but different tips aren't going to help with microphonics if that's the issue. There are many IEM's in that price range, maybe you should look to something that doesn't have microphonics issues instead of trying to work around them? The giant IEM comparos on Head-Fi would probably be pretty reliable on stuff like handling noise. Can your card output two sets of stereo at the same time? Then you could connect one output to the speakers and another to the headphone amp. Then you just turn one down and the other up to switch. I'd do the same thing with a DAC, just run the digital out at the same time as the speaker out and just turn off the speakers when you want to listen to headphones.
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Nov 25, 2013 22:20
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powderific posted:I have no knowledge about the Sony's but different tips aren't going to help with microphonics if that's the issue. There are many IEM's in that price range, maybe you should look to something that doesn't have microphonics issues instead of trying to work around them? The giant IEM comparos on Head-Fi would probably be pretty reliable on stuff like handling noise. My card only has one outputting set of phono jacks. The other output is a 15-pin D-sub connector with coaxial S/PDIF. From what I can see, DACs are USB, though? I thought maybe I could connect a USB DAC/amp like the Fiio E17 or this Epiphany. Then switch audio outputs in Windows as and when I want to change. From what you're saying though I should be able to run both without going into Windows audio settings each time I want to switch, even with a DAC? You're probably right about the tips with the Sonys - I was mainly wondering how bad the isolation truly is out of the box.
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Nov 26, 2013 00:13
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I run my e17 off optical toslink and it'll also run off spdif. DAC just means that digital (like the spdif output) is being converted to analog and there are plenty of non USB DAC's out there. You just need to see what inputs they support. If your card can't do it I'd think that your motherboard would be able to if it's at all recent.
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Nov 26, 2013 02:25
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Got you. Thanks. Sorry for the dumb questions.
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Nov 26, 2013 02:59
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No worries. Some of your more specific questions might be better answered at head-fi as you've got a better chance of finding people who have first hand experience with a broad range high end IEM's. Been looking for a set of compact portable headphones and wound up finding some AKG K451's for $20 open box. For the price they're pretty nice. Sound's good enough for my purposes, they're relatively comfortable, and they get really small. If you touch the cord or cans at all there's a lot of handling noise, which is my biggest gripe with them.
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Nov 26, 2013 20:30
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I just found out that the most awesome vacuum tube store on earth is closing forever on Saturday. (Seriously. Akihabara Radio Store is closing. The world is a sadder place.) I want to get up there and buy some tubes for our Schitt Lyr for my husband for christmas. If you could buy anything, what would you get? He's got Sovteks in it now, changed from the NOS GE 6BZ7s that came with it. He usually listens to his HD800s with it.
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Nov 27, 2013 12:58
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I've heard good things about Mullard NOS tubes. edit somehow forgot a word. Retarted Pimple fucked around with this message at 02:23 on Nov 28, 2013 |
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Nov 27, 2013 16:25
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The HiFiMAN HE-300 will be on sale on Friday for $149. Has anyone tried these headphones? I've read that they are easily driven and I won't need a huge amp, and for that price it seems like a steal.
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Nov 27, 2013 18:06
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n/m
Josh Lyman fucked around with this message at 08:08 on Nov 28, 2013 |
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Nov 28, 2013 05:49
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Budget: 150-250$. Looking for something in the medium price range. Source: For the most part, I'll be playing my music from my iPod. Isolation requirements: Closed would probably be for the best. Most of the time whenever I listen to music I'm either on the bus/metro or at school. Preferred Type of Headphone: Over-ear. It should also look nice (I'll trust your judgement on this ). Preferred Tonal Balance: I would prefer bass heavy headphones while keeping a nice balance overall. Past Headphones: Until now, all that I have been using have been either IEM's or earbuds. Truthfully, I listen to music so much that I'd rather have some quality headphones. That and IEM's or earbuds seem to crumble in my hands. Preferred Music: I will solely listen to EDM music, either House, Trance, Dubstep and the likes. This is going to be my first pair of over-ear headphones, I'm looking to have something that's pretty durable. I don't really want to have to replace it within a few months.
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Nov 28, 2013 06:58
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xntrggr posted:The HiFiMAN HE-300 will be on sale on Friday for $149. Has anyone tried these headphones? I've read that they are easily driven and I won't need a huge amp, and for that price it seems like a steal. My experience with planars is that they benefit lots from an amp. Then again that's only 2, Mad Dogs and T50RP, which are the same headphone.
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Nov 28, 2013 14:02
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If anyone's interested in the Audio-Technica M50, it's going to be an Amazon lightning deal at 3am EST, so 18 hours from now.
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Nov 28, 2013 15:01
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Does anyone have any experience with RHA headphones? I'm looking for a new set of in ear headphones and they look like exactly the sort of thing I want (the M600 or M750). Reviews seem pretty positive and the three year warranty sounds good, was just wondering what the opinion on them is.
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Nov 28, 2013 15:22
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Midorka posted:My experience with planars is that they benefit lots from an amp. Then again that's only 2, Mad Dogs and T50RP, which are the same headphone. The HE-300 has dynamic drivers.
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Nov 28, 2013 15:54
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I'm looking to buy headphones for my father's christmas. He's going to mainly use them to watch movies and sometimes a little bit of music in order not to wake my mother  Budget - 100ish$ Source - Television Isolation Requirements - No Preferred Type of Headphone - Full size and it must be wireless Preferred Tonal Balance - Suitable for movies Past Headphones - I'm sorry but I can't remember what old headphones my father used before Preferred Music - My father listen to stuff like Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones etc...
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Nov 28, 2013 16:44
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I need some replacement running headphones. These are on sale for $9.99. I figure you can't go wrong for :tenbux:, but I didn't know if anyone had any input. Thanks!
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Nov 29, 2013 00:53
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Ksc75's are also in sale for ten bucks and I really like them for running. They don't isolate at all, which may or may not be attractive to you.
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Nov 29, 2013 01:08
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the posted:I need some replacement running headphones. These are on sale for $9.99. I figure you can't go wrong for :tenbux:, but I didn't know if anyone had any input. Thanks! The M6 are fantastic for what they are/their usual price point, and they're a steal at <$10. They've appeared in this thread a couple of times, always with praise. I have the M6P (the version with the inline mic/remote) and I love them as beater earbuds with isolation. They're a bit below the Apple EarPods (the ones that debuted with the iPhone 5) sound-wise- so don't expect anything fantastic on that front- but they isolate like much much more expensive IEMs with the right tips.
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Nov 29, 2013 01:28
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Hey guys - which of these should I buy, the Audio-Technica ATH-CKS55BK or the Sennheiser CX 300B MK II? Or something else?
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Nov 29, 2013 04:13
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To cover what I said up there I was looking at this one which has quite good reviews on Amazon. Any input? Philips SHC8535
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Nov 29, 2013 08:54
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I'm sure it's already been discussed in the thread, but does anyone have any tips for dealing with earwax? Not for getting rid of it, since that's probably both impossible and damaging, but more for just stopping it getting in the way, clogging up the earphones and then having to clean them afterwards. It's a bit of an issue for me, I often end up with my ears feeling blocked after using my eardrums and I often find them clogged with wax after taking them out. Does anyone have any ways of either preventing this or dealing with it?
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Nov 29, 2013 09:30
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Considering between the MDR 1Rs and MA900s. I loved my 7506s, but remember them getting uncomfortably hot after using them for a while, so I think I'll go MA900, but was wondering if anyone else had some thoughts.
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Nov 29, 2013 10:13
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Budget - $50-$150 Source - iPod/iPhone Isolation Requirements - No Preferred Type of Headphone - IEM Preferred Tonal Balance - Would prefer bass heavy, but its not that high of a priority Past Headphones - Shure e2c, Shure SE115 - loved them both Preferred Music - Hip-Hop, Electronic Looking for a pair of headphones for the gym to replace my Shure SE115's. The big thing for me is that the Shure line had a modular cord. (The headphones were basically a 1 foot cord with a 2 foot extension) This allowed me to clip my iPod nano to the collar of my shirt for my workout. The Shure SE210's had this feature, but the current SE215's are now just a single 3 foot cord. Right now I'm leaning toward purchasing a pair of the older SE210's on eBay. I haven't had any luck finding any headphones in a similar quality bracket with this "short cord" feature. Does anyone know any alternatives with a short cord?
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Nov 29, 2013 12:17
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That Which Squeaks posted:Considering between the MDR 1Rs and MA900s. I loved my 7506s, but remember them getting uncomfortably hot after using them for a while, so I think I'll go MA900, but was wondering if anyone else had some thoughts.
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Nov 29, 2013 12:44
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sharktamer posted:I'm sure it's already been discussed in the thread, but does anyone have any tips for dealing with earwax? Not for getting rid of it, since that's probably both impossible and damaging, but more for just stopping it getting in the way, clogging up the earphones and then having to clean them afterwards. You could plunk a couple bucks down for an ear canal irrigation kit from the drugstore. Just be sure you follow the instructions to the letter. It won't solve all your problems, but it might prevent excessive wax buildup.
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Nov 29, 2013 13:34
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Yuns posted:I don't have any experience with the EPH-100s but I am very curious about the condition you got them in. Was there any indication that they might be counterfeits? Were they purchased from Amazon or through another vendor on Amazon? They were from Amazon, not through a secondary vendors. I rarely go through vendors. For some elusive RAM, maybe. Anyhow. The replacements are out for delivery (SmartPost isn't so bad after all, thanks FedEx!) and I'm so extremely curious as to how this new pair will turn out. Thus far, though, it's been such a pleasant experience with Amazon and the USPS RMA-pickup guy had a cool earring. Forgot to add; this is a very nice website, tons of tests and very simple layout: https://www.audiocheck.net/soundtests_headphones.php Paradox Personified fucked around with this message at 17:45 on Nov 29, 2013 |
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Nov 29, 2013 17:26
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WugLyfe posted:You could plunk a couple bucks down for an ear canal irrigation kit from the drugstore. Just be sure you follow the instructions to the letter. This. My dad and I have wax-buildup issues, and we have to irrigate at least weekly. Alternatively, you can go to an ENT and they can remove the wax with a special tool, but that gets expensive.
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Nov 29, 2013 18:53
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So as a person who has a V-moda m80 and mid-tier IEM and not some studio quality stuff, is buying an amp/dac a good idea if I use my laptop / iphone 5 for music?
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Nov 29, 2013 19:34
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The Biggest Jerk posted:So as a person who has a V-moda m80 and mid-tier IEM and not some studio quality stuff, is buying an amp/dac a good idea if I use my laptop / iphone 5 for music? Doubtful. Not sure about the IEM but the M80s don't draw a ton of current.
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Nov 29, 2013 19:37
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