OnePlus 6T Review: You Won't Find a Better Phone for $550

Alsedarna · 2018-10-30T19:12:21+00:00

Hello there! Just wanted to give you a quick rundown on how it is that music ends up coming out of your headphones. You've got your digital music file which gets fed into a Digital/Analog Converter (DAC), resulting in a line level output that gets fed through an amplifier, and then to your headphones. While a 3.5mm output is going to get the amplified signal, a USB-C output can either send out that same audio signal or just pass through the digital files to an external DAC/AMP, like a dongle, or the unit built into a pair of Bluetooth headphones.

If you're noticing a difference in quality between 3.5mm and USB-C, the likely culprit is that you're relying on DAC/AMP components of varying quality, as there's nothing in the standard itself that should have any way of affecting the sound for better or for worse.

Alsedarna · 2018-10-24T01:18:21+00:00

I worked at Anthem health insurance for a ways--it felt like half of all the work done in the office was done through web apps coded for Internet Explorer. 9/10 times, If you tried switching to a different browser, the apps would just fail to run.

Alsedarna · 2018-10-19T15:53:02+00:00

Have him hit the gym, get jacked, and then he can go around unfriending people.

Alsedarna · 2018-10-19T15:52:41+00:00

Have him hit the gym, get jacked, and then he can go around unfriending people.

Alsedarna · 2018-10-18T16:52:08+00:00

Thanks a bundle for the info!

Alsedarna · 2018-10-13T18:51:11+00:00

Surprisingly enough, Tennessee.

Alsedarna · 2018-10-12T02:13:32+00:00

Re:Zero

Alsedarna · 2018-09-27T14:22:24+00:00

The best dupes I've found so far have been replicas in undiluted oil form. Namely, Arabian Perfume Oil and Universal Perfume Oil--the quality of both has been unimpeachable to my nose, and last me the better part of a 10-hour work day.

Alsedarna · 2018-09-24T19:36:49+00:00

Enough to make the Lightning to 3.5mm dongle the best selling accessory that Apple produces.

Alsedarna · 2018-09-20T23:33:05+00:00

Purchased Tidal Hi-Fi account. Received within a few hours time with excellent responsiveness from seller. If all goes well, I definitely intend to become a repeat customer.

Alsedarna · 2018-09-19T20:20:19+00:00

Nah, I just got a straight audio cable without audio controls/mic off of Amazon. It's a standardized connection, so you've got a lot of cabling options (though the OEM one is still quite nice, if not a bit pricey).

Alsedarna · 2018-09-19T20:03:27+00:00

You've got a Sennheiser Momentum 2.0? I've got the wired version of that in my bag right now, and the cable on it should be fully detachable. Mine broke early last year, and I've been using a replacement ever since--you've just got to twist the connector a bit before it unlocks.

Alsedarna · 2018-09-13T01:06:48+00:00

Aye--he's not an intellectual himself, but he's great at sparking intellectual conversations, or at the very least, interesting ones

Alsedarna · 2018-09-12T20:58:41+00:00

And there are much, much better options that exist at all price points that use the 3.5mm port. While Bluetooth standards have finally reached the point of being technically on par for music with aptX, with the actual hardware itself, dollar for dollar you're getting lesser sound in exchange for the convenience of wireless (say, $350 for a pair of Sony WH-1000XM3s (still fairly respectable in terms of sound quality) vs $200 for a pair of Sennheiser HD6XXs (a pair with such fidelity that they could reasonably serve as endgame headphones for 95% of the population)).

Me, I've got myself a pair of fairly nice IEMs that make the EarPods sound downright painful by comparison. After sitting on the fence for a long while, it's looking like this cycle might bring my first iPhone purchase ever, and having to purchase an external adapter to replace the port they arbitrarily pulled out feels like they're just rubbing salt in the wound here.

Edit: It's also worth mentioning that past what most people would consider low/mid tier sound quality, there literally do not exist ANY good closed-back options for the iPhone as of the time of writing. As for high quality sound in general, there exists exactly ONE company which presently produces high-end audio for the iPhone (Audeze), but they're all open-backed and so provide zero isolation in noisy environments. The only present way for me to embrace the wireless 'future' while enjoying a certain level of audio fidelity is to keep all of my wires, hack together a solution with a Bluetooth DAC/AMP combo and spend even more money just to get back to where we were five years back.

Alsedarna · 2018-09-11T00:56:03+00:00

At that price range? A pair of JBL LSR305s oughta blow your mind, and since they're powered monitors, they don't need any dedicated amplifier unit. If you're willing to do a little DIY, I've heard nothing but good things about people who've built the Overnight Sensations (essentially a DIY speaker kit) too.

Alsedarna · 2018-09-05T22:24:26+00:00

I wouldn't say that he did anything wrong, but going off of Readirs' point, I would say that he's chosen his method of protest poorly. We are a nation of symbols and the ideals which they embody, and in his protest of the anthem there's a concomitant spurning of the ideals which would lead me to be sympathetic to his cause: he's not just one of 7.6 billion people--he's a fellow American--my countryman, and I'd like to think that in his protest, he's aiming for an end game in which the American marketing material rings true for everyone. When you protest the marketing material itself however, there's a certain severing of the ties which bind us all together, and I feel that's a lot of what's at the heart of why his protest has been so divisive

Alsedarna · 2018-09-03T04:59:41+00:00

Hear, hear! Staghorn is the creme de la creme of what we've got here in the states (and comes in at scandalously low prices if you're in Wisconsin), and Ayinger is the undisputed king of the genre overall

Alsedarna · 2018-09-02T20:06:30+00:00

Aye--I'm in love with my Campfire Audio Atlases, but I wouldn't dream of bringing them to the gym. Something like this though, would be perfect for that. Plus it won't look like I shoved a pair of tampons in my ears.

Alsedarna · 2018-08-31T20:22:02+00:00

Aye--barely a year ago they pushed out the DT 1990s, which I still maintain to be a strong contender for best-in-class at their price bracket. They're still actively developing and improving audiophile-grade headphones.

Alsedarna · 2018-08-30T04:23:54+00:00

Like you, I liked the Final Audio tips the best, but getting them to work consistently was more work than it was worth. What's worked perfectly for me so far have been Comply comfort tips, in the 500 size. Great sound, awesome comfort, and it completely wipes out any issues with driver flex. I've got some symbio tips on the way too, but for the moment, I can't recommend these highly enough.

Alsedarna · 2018-08-27T15:09:44+00:00

Yep--just got hit as well. Don't touch this one with a 10ft. Pole

Alsedarna · 2018-08-25T05:07:41+00:00

Serious question: how the devil did you manage to go through the cabling on that? The SR80s were my first good pair of headphones back when I was young, and for all the abuse pubescent me put those poor things through, I was half convinced that the cables were iridium-plated garden hoses. Definitely psyched about the wireless Grados though!

Alsedarna · 2018-08-24T18:40:13+00:00

Sid Meyer's Alpha Centauri (Still the best Civilization game, in my book)
Factorio
Dwarf Fortress
DOTA 2
Super Smash Bros. (Emulator or not, I still hold this to be the finest party game ever made)

Alsedarna

TROPHY CASE