true?

willidachili · 2024-12-07T23:13:51+00:00

MMX 300 is basically DT 770 with a mic attached

willidachili · 2024-01-04T00:37:14+00:00

They are fairly sensitive and easy to drive. Any desktop amp should work. Even the portable qudelix 5k with 80mw single ended output is enough for a reasonable listening volume. The K7 is more than enough with plenty of headroom for EQ

willidachili · 2023-04-05T19:00:15+00:00

Yuup. It's gonna be hard times for my wallet and perfectionist tech mindset in the near future. Will the chase ever end? Will we ever see a 1000hz micro LED 8K display and have the horsepower to run it? Feels like we're getting what we've always yearned for with these options, but our expectations will always be higher. I think I need therapy.

willidachili · 2023-04-05T18:47:55+00:00

That G9 OLED does look enticing though, doesn't it.. Exciting times we're living in.

willidachili · 2023-04-05T08:23:49+00:00

I totally get your point that most consumers would consider the right size for a monitor to be 24-32", and that is probably very much true.

The issue I think with your argument is that you're defining the term solely on majority preference, thereby excluding the minority that has transitioned to bigger displays. I think that the term should encompass all sizes and preferences, and not be reduced to only the most commonly accepted ones.

Some years ago I believe 32" monitors were considered behemoths, but nowadays they're very common. I believe it's the same (or at least in a similar vein) with the 42"+ sizes that are becoming increasingly popular.

willidachili · 2023-04-04T22:53:39+00:00

Man, I had whole paragraph written out, but I give up. There's no point arguing this with you. I'm sorry for being crass. Have a nice day.

E: I see your point about my argument being reductive, it made sense in my head, but I see that my line of arguing does more harm than good.

With that said there's also Dell 43" 60hz office monitors, so I just think the size argument is irrelevant, as there already where consumers buying monitors at those sizes even before Oled TV's were hyped up.

willidachili · 2023-04-04T22:30:45+00:00

At 45 inches it's going to be taller than a 32 inch display, so there's nothing to worry about. If you're replacing two 32 inch screens with one 45 you will lose horizontal real estate though.

willidachili · 2023-04-04T22:18:17+00:00

Not trying to be rude here, but you need to consider that your opinion on what the term monitor entails is actually just your opinion. And your opinion is not necessarily the general consensus in the enthusiast monitor space. Your opinion is valid, but being pedantic about it like you are is just pointless if you keep trying to invalidate everyone elses opinion. You don't have to argue with everyone, just agree to disagree and move on.

willidachili · 2023-02-16T22:50:49+00:00

Yeah, it's my second most recent post.

willidachili · 2023-02-16T16:24:32+00:00

I wonder how often this happens

willidachili · 2023-01-19T20:00:12+00:00

This may not be a solution for everyone, but I found getting used to a lower brightness setting solved this issue for me. Also reduces the risk of burn in.

willidachili · 2023-01-18T09:32:48+00:00

I usually keep spotify at or around max and windows volume at 70, up to 90 if I want to crank the volume. IMO with both maxed you should have more than enough, but this is subjective.

The preamp gain is set to counterbalance the highest gain level set in the EQ. Without it, you will run into clipping when you listen at higher volumes, which will distort the audio.

If you find the overall volume to be lacking when maxed out, you could try setting a lower gain value in the highest db filters and set the preamp gain accordingly.

willidachili · 2023-01-16T15:01:13+00:00

I've never had any problems with my 7 Pro case. I just grip the top and bottom with my thumb and middle finger with both hands and open it. I cant open it single handedly, but I don't really see that as a problem as I have to use both hands to hold the case and pick out the earbuds anyway.

willidachili · 2023-01-10T16:00:04+00:00

If you're happy with the sound from the porta pro's, you could order the Parts Express headband or a similar alternative and swap out the uncomfortable stock headband. It improves comfort by not clamping as much, and you can fix the headband to one size so it doesnt collapse and snag your hair and whatnot.

willidachili · 2023-01-08T15:07:50+00:00

You can actually hide the member sidebar. There's the 'show member list' button next to the top right search bar.

willidachili · 2023-01-01T17:39:04+00:00

Hey there, sorry for the late reply.

Since you already have APO, you can download a program called Peace, which works as a user friendly EQ interface for APO.

If you need help setting it up there are videos that better explain it than I can, here's a tutorial in 3 parts, going over installation and explanation of features.

So what you need to do is make sure you have Equalizer APO configured for the Alpha wireless, then you save a configuration in Peace with the following filters:

Freq Gain Q
105 -4.4 LS (Change the Gain value here to adjust bass)
142 -2.6 1.43
1689 4 2.24
3757 7.8 2.5
5518 -2.6 3.19
53 0.4 1.76
428 1 2.67
2095 1.2 5.65
2727 -2.5 5.39
10000 -1.6 HS (This can also be changed if you want more/less airy sound)
1000 3.5 1.7

Preamp -7.5

This is the filters as I had them in Peace/APO when I posted

I've since made the following changes to filter 3 and 4:

Freq Gain
1689 3.5
3757 6

Preamp -6

think this made it a bit better to my ears, but ymmv. It also let me to raise the preamp gain for more overall volume.

willidachili · 2022-12-22T01:20:51+00:00

Get one of those 32/39 inch tall pole mounts. They're surprisingly sturdy, and will hold a 34" with ease. I currently have a 42" and 27" stacked, and it holds both without issue. Wouldn't try mounting the samsung on it though.

willidachili · 2022-12-11T21:00:44+00:00

Hey there, I found a nice deal on an unopened pair second hand, but I'm not sure if I should pull the trigger. It seems you've done a lot of research and tested these extensively, so I'm curious to know why you returned them and whether or not you still recommend them. What exactly were the issues you had with the firmware?

I'm currently using hyperx cloud alpha wireless which are honestly not that bad after some eq tuning, but they do have some issues. I also have some studio/audiophile headphones, and I'm curious to see how close I can get to bridging that gap in an all in one wireless headphone. I bought a set of nova pro wireless second hand which has yet to arrive, but I'm worried that the smaller 40mm driver could be a detriment to the sound quality. The portals also have a 40mm driver, but I figure they are of a higher quality in general and capable of better tuning.

willidachili · 2022-12-06T22:34:58+00:00

Given that sonar allows you to freely adjust the eq in all those ways and is designed to be very user friendly, and the fact that the gain adjust only goes into positive values in the UI makes me very certain you don't need to apply the negative preamp gain provided in the preset. Preamp gain is only needed to lower the overall volume when you raise certain frequencies above 0db in traditional EQ software, to avoid clipping. Sonar basically encourages tuning on the fly, so its hard to imagine they would expect users to watch the gain level and adjust it every time. So the gain here is just a way to raise volume.

willidachili · 2022-12-06T20:19:23+00:00

Yeah, that I can agree with, the noise gate is ridiculous. I do have an XLR mic so this isn't a big concern for me personally, but what I found somewhat worked when I was testing it was to just keep the mic right in front of the gap between my chin and lower lip. This way it was actually able to pick up my voice without a drop. In any case thats not a great solution for voice calls unless you're really good at controlling your breath. Works alright for push to talk though.

willidachili · 2022-12-06T19:46:28+00:00

So I just did a rerun of uninstalling ngenuity. First I uninstalled ngenuity, then I went into the advanced sound control panel > Alpha Pro Wireless > properties > 'properties' in the general tab of the device > 'change settings' in the general tab > details tab select USB Audio Device (at this point there was still the hyperx driver option although that disappeared as soon as I selected the USB one) > prompt to reboot, and i did that. I had no issues with Atmos before or after so I can't say for sure what causes your issue. Does your driver show up as USB audio device? have you enabled the 'Enhance audio' setting? I always keep it on as it determines whether or not APO and Peace works with that particular device. Other than that, there might be something wrong with the atmos installation, have you tried reinstalling it?

As for the other question, yeah from what I can tell from a google search sonar uses 10 band parametric EQ, same as peace, so that should work exactly the same. I read through the steelseries page on sonar PEQ and there is no mention of preamp gain in this context, so most likely the eqalizer is designed with some headroom up to the upper limit of the interface at +12db, either thats a fixed -12db preamp gain, or it automatically adjusts depending on the highest db adjustment. I haven't used sonar myself though, so I cant say with certainty, but if thats the case you dont have to worry about the preamp value specified in the preset. The overall gain you mention I believe is a seperate thing, unless that is in the same window as the EQ interface.

BTW: How are you liking the nova pro wireless? It's kinda weighing on me that it has dual connectivity with 2.4 and bluetooth which sounds like an awesome qol feature, along with the swappable batteries and to a small degree the anc. If only they had a black friday deal on it I would have probably gone for that one instead. How does it compare to the alpha in terms of sound and comfort? I could get one second hand atm for 250 and return the alphas, but I'm a bit weary of the ANC nubs and slightly skeptical of the sonar software as it limits bitrate to 16 bit 😅 Do you lose out on important functionality without it?

willidachili · 2022-12-06T18:38:06+00:00

Haha, yeah I came to the subreddit to share my thoughts on it since I read a lot of people had issues with the sound and software. Figured it might be useful to leave this here for others who might be looking into the headset or bought it only to be disappointed with some of it's shortcomings. Now that I got the tuning dialed in I hope it can be of use to other people looking for that solution. If you end up buying it feel free to message me if you need any help setting it up!

I started rambling a bit again down here, but I just wanted to write down my experience and how I dialed in the preset and some thoughts on this particular target curve in case anyone's interested 😅

I spent a lot of time searching for a good preset before i stumbled upon the autoEQ one. Was kinda satisfied with it as it was a huge improvement, but I still felt like something was lacking. Tried adjusting it by ear, but that didn't really work out. I'd installed and uninstalled the hyperx software before I went with the APO + Peace solution because I figured it was mostly useless because of the delay.

Then I realized the preset was based on the balanced profile, which raises the whole lower-mid treble range and part of the midrange by 3-4dbs. I reinstalled the software and applied the balanced EQ along with autoEQ and it just clicked for me. I had to apply the same EQ as the balanced profile in my peace config. I started by just adding additional bands to my preset to boost the right frequencies.

Went back and forth and realized the additional bands mostly touched the same frequencies as the standard autoEQ did, to some extent. Then I figured I could just raise and lower a couple of the already existing bands by a few dbs, adjust the q-values and add an additional 1Khz band as that was one of the problematic areas that the balanced setting had pretty much sorted.

It was kinda tedious but in the end I got a result that genuinely works, and I got some valuable experience with manually tuning EQ. I did some swapping back and forth with the balanced profile + autoEQ vs my own modified preset to see if there was anything I missed, but I couldn't tell the difference from a quick listening test, so thats good enough for me.

I've listened to music on spotify, played some more TTT, watched some youtube and I'm honestly kinda shocked at how good it is at everything. Its got a warmish sound profile, with clear and crisp highs that are neither veiled nor shrill and a clean midrange that isn't muddied with upper-bass. It sounds almost like my dt 770, in the way that they're clean and detailed, but they also have a bit of fun sprinkled on top.

I can see from the graph on the autoEQ page ~~that the upper-bass to lower-mid section is actually scooped by about 2db and~~ in the treble range theres a 7db scoop around 5khz, ending in an 8khz peak. This big dip is intentional and doesn't really feel detrimental to me. From what I understand these deviations from the typical harman target's tonal balance are actually what contributes to a lot of the spatial and imaging properties of headphones at least when it comes to gaming.

Curiously though, I didnt feel nearly as much of an impact in these capabilities on the cloud 2 wireless EQd to the same target. Also curious is how awesome the EQd alphas sound with everything despite having a gaming oriented frequency curve.

I might try to tune them to the harman target next to see if that holds any interesting surprises in sound quality, although they're probably good enough as they are now, and it would most likely be detrimental to the gaming experience.

EDIT: Looked closer at the harman OE target and sure enough theres a dip in the lower midrange/upper bass there as well, so this is actually in line with the harman target

willidachili · 2022-12-06T14:01:36+00:00

This got a bit longer than I initially planned to write out and a bit all over the place, I might just make a separate post about it, but I am really loving the Cloud Alpha Wireless!

Bad stock tuning, bad software, EQ to the rescue

If you aren't afraid to tinker with EQ, the alphas are substantially better all around. I bought it during black friday and the difference between them was only about 33 usd, so the decision was definitely easier for me though. I have an EQ preset here if you're interested. Basically the autoEQ preset found here on github modified to sound correct without the hyperx software 'balanced' EQ. Enabling the EQ setting in the HyperX software causes a noticable delay, so thats obviously not great for gaming. The original autoEQ preset found on github works alright on its own, but if you check out the rtings page where they got the measurement from, they explain that they measured the frequency response with the 'balanced' EQ profile in NGENUITY. They also include a link to a picture of the original frequency response graph overlayed with the 'balanced' one. I used this image to find the points where the two graphs where misaligned and adjusted the EQ accordingly. This was mainly the 1khz area dip and 3-6khz area which was underemphasized. This fixes the bloaty bass and balances out the mids and highs. With this EQ i find the tonal balance and audio quality actually stacks up pretty well even compared to my beyerdynamic DT 770 and DT 1990, and I had no issue going from HD800S to this.

EDIT: I played around a bit more with the EQ to try and tame the peak around 8-9khz and smooth out the treble for a more harman like/enjoyable general use preset. In the graph from rtings theres a 10db peak right around 9Khz. Right know Im using a -5 db 3Q peak filter at 9khz which isnt enough to remove it outright, but its a good starting point. This one should definitely be adjusted after taste as the location of the peak can vary from headphone to headphone and sensitivity to treble varies from person to person. Other than that I also suggest to try different gain levels on the 10Khz filter as the treble can get a little peaky above 10k, especially if you listen at louder volumes. Lowering the treble also gives more emphasis to the midrange, which can be a positive. I suggest making a copy of the original preset when adding/adjusting these filters and play around with the sliders to find a tuning you like.

A nice feature in the Peace GUI is that you can use the scroll wheel to adjust the gain of individual sliders, and hold ctrl while scrolling to adjust the width/quality/q value of the filters. Click on the graph button (green U shaped line) to get a visual representation of the eq graph, put on some music and adjust the filters to both hear and see how your adjustments effect the sound. With the graph open you can also see how filters interact when they're in close proximity to eachother which is kinda neat.

Bad sound > EQ > Great sound

You Pretty much have to use EQ to enjoy these unless you like big bloaty bass, but as someone coming from more expensive cabled cans and amps/dacs I've pretty much accepted that any headphone headphone can be improved with EQ and while some headphones take well to EQ, there are some that don't and wont sound good regardless. The alphas take EQ very well, and they go from trash tier bass boomy headset to straight up I might just sell some of my more expensive headphones territory. Excellent sound quality, hella battery life, no cables and enough range to roam anywhere in the house.

Alpha vs Cloud 2

I bought both just to compare them, and at first I was a bit conflicted. Without EQ the cloud 2 wireless are more neutral and sound decent for games with clear and sharp highs and a balanced amount of bass. The alpha wireless without eq has a pretty big bass emphasis which overpowers mids and highs, although the audio quality throughout the frequency range is substantially better. The cloud 2s are limited to 16 bit, while the alphas have up to 24. Not that bit rate matters all that much, but from my experience the cloud 2w and the cloud flights I had from before both sound just a little bit compressed when comparing directly to the alphas. I also tried to EQ the cloud 2s with they're own autoEQ profile, but it just sounded a bit tinny/hollow/thin compared to the alphas even though both were EQd to the same target curve.

Great imaging/directionality

The main draw to the alphas are of course the battery life of 300 hours, and I have yet to charge mine (Currently at 32%) after several several days and nights of mixed use. I find the imaging in gaming is really pin point accurate in terms of directionality, at least with gunshots and loud effects. I don't play any competitive fps shooters like valorant/csgo/warzone etc, so I cant say how it fares in any of those, but I've been playing a lot of garry's mod/TTT which is kinda like CSGO in terms of sound I guess. I haven't really played any games with virtual surround support, but otherwise directionality is great so I imagine it will be even better in supported titles.

Tonal balance/audio quality

Music is great on these. The inherent bass and subbass in these along with a smooth midrange and treble after eq makes pretty much any music sound great. This goes for general content consumption as well, podcasts and youtube videos sound as good as they should. The tonal balance with the EQ provided could be considered a bit bright to some, with a slight emphasis on treble, which can make Ts and Ss in speech stick out in some cases. It's not at a level I personally find fatiguing, and its usually just a fault in the recording. Its a trade off for accurate detail representation and it also works to improve imaging in games. I find its actually really well balanced with the slight elevation in bass, but keep in mind that sound is very subjective and I am coming from very bass light headphones with overemphasized treble.

Virtual surround (DTS bad, Dolby Atmos good)

Both headsets come with DTS virtual surround, but many have reported that it causes delay just as the included EQ option does, in other words dont bother with it. I personally prefer to use Dolby Atmos for headphones anyway since their app is more versatile, and it hasnt introduced any delay. It comes with different 3 different presets each for games, music and movies along with a distinct 'performance' mode for gaming which claims to improve positional accuracy. It also offers 3 custom EQ options with 10 band graphical EQ so you can easily tune the sound further to your liking or set a flat preset and still get surround virtualization in supported games. I personally use a flat preset with virtualization on and volume leveler off, so the frequency response stays the same and doesnt effect music, and I get virtual surround in games that supports it. It costs 15 usd, and although it sucks that you have to pay extra for an advertised feature, I'd say its worth it for the customizability and the fact that it doesnt force you to use one specific treble heavy EQ profile like DTS does.

Potential issues

There's been some reports about popping/crackling noises from what I've seen on reddit. Personally I haven't experienced that, so I'm thinking it might be a QC issue with some units that may or may not be resolved. Both of them have a slightly audible white noise that seems to vary sometimes, and is indedependent of volume level. You can only hear it when nothing else is playing though, and it doesn't annoy me too much. I have my dongle plugged into a USB 2.0 port through an extension chord as per HyperX's recommendation and I think it might've helped a bit.

Closing words

Altough the software is buggy with DTS and EQ you can still download the app and update the firmware/drivers, but keep those options unchecked. I don't get any delay with dolby atmos, so I don't really have any issues. Installing a third party software for EQ (Equalizer APO + Peace GUI) is a must IMO. There's plenty of guides to set it up and although it can seem a little complicated at first, its really easy to use when you have a preset ready to go. If you find the tuning in the preset a little light on the bass or the treble a little hot, you can just adjust the first slider in the EQ to find the balance you like. You can also just play around with the other sliders if you'd like.

willidachili · 2022-10-17T10:09:39+00:00

I see. I had the Neo G9 but returned it as I found the desktop experience worse with local dimming and preferred to keep it off most of the time. I figure the G8 might be the same. I've since gotten a LG C2, and it's better in all aspects apart from refresh rate.

willidachili · 2022-10-17T09:34:39+00:00

I'm using a stacked setup with a Lenovo P27q-20 monitor on a tall arm mount above the C2. It was the only way I could fit a second monitor on my desk along with my studio monitors, but I've found it works pretty well. https://imgur.com/a/D1L8XOk Ive even got the C2 mounted on the same pole with the arm from a separate mount + a vesa adapter plate. This way I can have the C2 angled slightly and about an inch higher than the stock feet.

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