Quake3World

Mat Linnett wrote:My MP3 player 'phones, Sennheiser HD 25-1 II:


My PC headset, Sennheiser PC 350:


For consoles & TV, Astro A40:


I've spent FAR too much on headphones in the past 5 years :E

I also have a pretty reasonable Altec Lansing 5.1 system on the PC that I picked up years ago and can't find an image of online.

LOL! Believe me, Brisk and I have spent waaay to much on headphones, it's not too late for you to stop!

ToxicBug wrote: Looks nice, but how does it look in your room? How do you like the setup anyway? Does it sound close to what you hear in a movie theater?

I like the look of them but I was lazy with the install and don't have a room with an optimal layout (I'm at work so no pics). I love the setup, sounds great and is really well balanced. My condo is attached to my neighbor on one side, so out of respect I've never cranked it to movie theater levels. It has a rich/clear/crisp sound across the entire range of frequencies though and I have no plans to replace it. Wouldn't mind a better receiver though.

bitWISE wrote:

ToxicBug wrote: Looks nice, but how does it look in your room? How do you like the setup anyway? Does it sound close to what you hear in a movie theater?

I like the look of them but I was lazy with the install and don't have a room with an optimal layout (I'm at work so no pics). I love the setup, sounds great and is really well balanced. My condo is attached to my neighbor on one side, so out of respect I've never cranked it to movie theater levels. It has a rich/clear/crisp sound across the entire range of frequencies though and I have no plans to replace it. Wouldn't mind a better receiver though.

I'd really like to hear a setup like that and compare. Even though mine's only 2.1, I find that it sounds very similar to a good movie theater.

ToxicBug wrote: Even though mine's only 2.1, I find that it sounds very similar to a good movie theater.

lol

Dark Metal wrote:

ToxicBug wrote: Even though mine's only 2.1, I find that it sounds very similar to a good movie theater.

lol

It doesn't have the surround sound, but the sound stage is very good. Don't laugh until you've heard it, it's a pretty serious setup.

Awesome headphones aside, here are my just-as-awesome nearfield monitors:

lol @ Doombrain-type thread.

GONNAFISTYA wrote:lol @ Doombrain-type thread.

Converts really are the worst.

"I had headphones forever as well, check out my boss set up now"

brisk wrote:Awesome headphones aside, here are my just-as-awesome nearfield monitors:

That's what I'm talking about! Nice! What do you use as a pre-amp?

amps (SXP2 Passive Preamplifier & SX25 25W Stereo Power Amplifier) and by these guys
http://www.perreaux.com/products/silhou ... amplifier/

speakers (400 series studio ref) & sub (sub10 active sub woofer) from these guys.
http://www.imageloudspeakers.com/index.asp

kiwi made, sounds great.

Nothing, besides my DAC/soundcard. They're active monitors so they're already amplified. Nice and clean.

Read about them here

DRuM wrote: http://imgur.com/a/XT5sK

Is that desk an Ikea Vika Amon? I'm moving soon and setting up a proper studio space and i'm considering making something like this albeit without the left/right shelves, which are where my monitors will go. It's either this, or a corner-desk setup, depending on space. I do like the look of that ikea hack though and being dirt cheap is a bonus too.

brisk wrote:Nothing, besides my DAC/soundcard. They're active monitors so they're already amplified. Nice and clean.

Read about them here

I know that yours are active, I looked them up. By pre-amp I meant your DAC/pre-amp, unless you're controlling the volume through your computer. What DAC do you have?

Asus Xonar STX

DRuM wrote:

brisk wrote:Same HD 800 + WA2 setup i've used for ages now. Once you have the best, you don't need to update.

I use Sennheiser HD580 precisions which I bought new a few years ago and which are great, but I have to admit I envy you wth those 800's. I'd love to hear what they sound like. I must pop into a good hi-fi shop one day and check some out, but at around £800, I can pretty much imagine how amazing the soundstage will be.


This is my set up. Vintage gear really, bought them all new back in the day and still all in perfect working order. Big box speakers you can't really get anymore. Massive bass on them and lots of top end, but somewhat missing middle. Metallic cones give a slightly harsh tone too. What I'd like to replace them with is something like the Ruark Epilogue II speakers or some floor standers.

Cookie for anyone that can name the artist on the vinyl cover in screenshot 5. I could be wrong but I suspect Big Kahuna burger may possibly be the one who would know.

http://imgur.com/a/XT5sK

Those look pretty awesome

When did you buy them?

DRuM wrote:

brisk wrote:Same HD 800 + WA2 setup i've used for ages now. Once you have the best, you don't need to update.

I use Sennheiser HD580 precisions which I bought new a few years ago and which are great, but I have to admit I envy you wth those 800's. I'd love to hear what they sound like. I must pop into a good hi-fi shop one day and check some out, but at around £800, I can pretty much imagine how amazing the soundstage will be.


This is my set up. Vintage gear really, bought them all new back in the day and still all in perfect working order. Big box speakers you can't really get anymore. Massive bass on them and lots of top end, but somewhat missing middle. Metallic cones give a slightly harsh tone too. What I'd like to replace them with is something like the Ruark Epilogue II speakers or some floor standers.

Cookie for anyone that can name the artist on the vinyl cover in screenshot 5. I could be wrong but I suspect Big Kahuna burger may possibly be the one who would know.

http://imgur.com/a/XT5sK

its chick corea!

really though, toxic. you need to hit ikea and get some proper apartment furniture. people will think you're a meth dealer and you won't get the sexy fun times.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S89836332/ - 63" x 31.5"
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S79807844/ - 94.5" x 31.5"

menkent wrote:really though, toxic. you need to hit ikea and get some proper apartment furniture. people will think you're a meth dealer and you won't get the sexy fun times.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S89836332/ - 63" x 31.5"
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S79807844/ - 94.5" x 31.5"

Dude...he spent all his money on gear. He has enough left over for one or maybe two crack-whores and that's about it. Give the guy a break.

menkent wrote:really though, toxic. you need to hit ikea and get some proper apartment furniture. people will think you're a meth dealer and you won't get the sexy fun times.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S89836332/ - 63" x 31.5"
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S79807844/ - 94.5" x 31.5"

Alright, I'll look into it. I think my screens are something like 10 kg each with stand, so it has to be a strong desk, minimum 72" wide.

brisk wrote:
Is that desk an Ikea Vika Amon? I'm moving soon and setting up a proper studio space and i'm considering making something like this albeit without the left/right shelves, which are where my monitors will go. It's either this, or a corner-desk setup, depending on space. I do like the look of that ikea hack though and being dirt cheap is a bonus too.

That black desk looks nice.

Mine's Ikea, yep It's the Ikea Galant in beech colour, 120cm x 80cm, but you can get bigger Galants if you require one and there's also the Galant corner desks you might want to consider. Nice quality, very solid, pretty heavy, and adjustable telescopic legs which is what sold me as you can tailor your exact gaming height for mouse and keyboard arm/hand comfort. Thickness of desk top is 3/4 inch. http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/S09806763/

ToxicBug wrote:
Those look pretty awesome

When did you buy them?

If you mean the speakers, well, I bought them new in erm.. the mid 1980's. Some small hi-fi shop near me that doesn't exist anymore.
Same with the NAD amp and turntable. Can't remember where the other stuff came from, but they're circa 1990's.

plained wrote:
its chick corea!

well done!

Cool thread, mon!

Firstly, @ToxicBug, your speakers are too widely spaced for where you're sitting (unless you sit three feet back and have six foot arms?) I realize you will probably not be able to move them much closer inward due to your desk and your monitors, etc., but ideally you want to form an equilateral triangle with the L+R channels and your head. This is for two reasons: 1) to ensure equal distance from each ear to each speaker (duh), and thus eliminate phase issues, where high frequencies are the first to go. Even a change in distance of +/- 1cm can make or break a certain range of frequencies. This obviously isn't paramount for casual listening, but if you start getting more serious about creating music, it's certainly something you want to look at. And 2) to ensure a realistic and stable stereo field. With speakers that far apart, I would be inclined to believe you are suffering from a "hole-in-the-middle" effect, whereby the centre of your stereo field is either completely absent or misinformed. Do a test, create a sound file or find one where a sound pans evenly and slowly from left to right and back again, position your head level with the speakers, and see if the sound doesn't drop out and/or become vague at any point. Again, this isn't a huge deal for day-to-day listening, but it can lead to an ugly sense of the stereo field when you go to mix time if you start getting on with creating your own music. Being that a huge part of the way instruments are separated and perceived in a mix (other than each instrument owning its own frequency band) is their location in the stereo field, it is imperative that your speakers are giving you as accurate as a representation of the stereo field as possible. I would suggest that if you get serious about making your own tunes that you downsize to two monitors and get those speakers in closer. Three monitors is cool but perhaps a bit overkill. I use Cubase and I run two 22" monitors and it works just fine. Tracking on one screen, then mixers, effects, inputs, automations, etc. on the other screen. It can get a little bit cramped at times, yes, but keep in mind music is about what you hear, not what you see. No one cares if you have three monitors or sixteen, they care if the music you make sounds sweet, and if your speakers are spaced like that, you will have a hard time getting there.

Well, my fuckin' camera is dead so photos will have to wait... I'm still running some shitty 5" M-Audio monitors and sub-woofer from quite a few years back. The tweets blew somehow so I bought some closely-matching ones from PartsExpress a year or two ago. I've got a few sound cards for various different sounds or inputs, but my speakers are running through a rack-mount Delta 1010. One day I'd like to get some nice standalone units but for the moment (and for these shite speakers), the Delta 1010 performs admirably.

PS - If you wanna talk shop about music creation, throw me a PM. I'm not a master by any means, but I've been doing it for about 7 or 8 years so I could probably pass on some knowledge or tips.

brisk wrote:Same HD 800 + WA2 setup i've used for ages now. Once you have the best, you don't need to update.

Oh that's how technology works huh?

mrd wrote:Cool thread, mon!

Firstly, @ToxicBug, your speakers are too widely spaced for where you're sitting (unless you sit three feet back and have six foot arms?) I realize you will probably not be able to move them much closer inward due to your desk and your monitors, etc., but ideally you want to form an equilateral triangle with the L+R channels and your head. This is for two reasons: 1) to ensure equal distance from each ear to each speaker (duh), and thus eliminate phase issues, where high frequencies are the first to go. Even a change in distance of +/- 1cm can make or break a certain range of frequencies. This obviously isn't paramount for casual listening, but if you start getting more serious about creating music, it's certainly something you want to look at. And 2) to ensure a realistic and stable stereo field. With speakers that far apart, I would be inclined to believe you are suffering from a "hole-in-the-middle" effect, whereby the centre of your stereo field is either completely absent or misinformed. Do a test, create a sound file or find one where a sound pans evenly and slowly from left to right and back again, position your head level with the speakers, and see if the sound doesn't drop out and/or become vague at any point. Again, this isn't a huge deal for day-to-day listening, but it can lead to an ugly sense of the stereo field when you go to mix time if you start getting on with creating your own music. Being that a huge part of the way instruments are separated and perceived in a mix (other than each instrument owning its own frequency band) is their location in the stereo field, it is imperative that your speakers are giving you as accurate as a representation of the stereo field as possible. I would suggest that if you get serious about making your own tunes that you downsize to two monitors and get those speakers in closer. Three monitors is cool but perhaps a bit overkill. I use Cubase and I run two 22" monitors and it works just fine. Tracking on one screen, then mixers, effects, inputs, automations, etc. on the other screen. It can get a little bit cramped at times, yes, but keep in mind music is about what you hear, not what you see. No one cares if you have three monitors or sixteen, they care if the music you make sounds sweet, and if your speakers are spaced like that, you will have a hard time getting there.

Well, my fuckin' camera is dead so photos will have to wait... I'm still running some shitty 5" M-Audio monitors and sub-woofer from quite a few years back. The tweets blew somehow so I bought some closely-matching ones from PartsExpress a year or two ago. I've got a few sound cards for various different sounds or inputs, but my speakers are running through a rack-mount Delta 1010. One day I'd like to get some nice standalone units but for the moment (and for these shite speakers), the Delta 1010 performs admirably.

PS - If you wanna talk shop about music creation, throw me a PM. I'm not a master by any means, but I've been doing it for about 7 or 8 years so I could probably pass on some knowledge or tips.

Trust me, I'm well aware of the acoustics. The speakers are pointed this way because that's how I can still hear them well when I'm sitting at the desk. They're actually pointing 2.5 ft behind me. I move back for serious listening, so that it creates an equilateral triangle (almost, anyway). My room's shape is retarded, so I'm not gonna bother treating it. When I'll move to a new apt, I'll make sure I have a good room to work with and I'll set everything up properly and spend some money on room treatment. I also need to adjust my sub with an SPL meter. As I said, at this point I'm not doing anything serious, I got this setup for entertainment and it definitely delivers on that!

BTW, I got three monitors for gaming, no way that I'm going to get rid of one of them!

ToxicBug wrote: Trust me, I'm well aware of the acoustics. The speakers are pointed this way because that's how I can still hear them well when I'm sitting at the desk. They're actually pointing 2.5 ft behind me. I move back for serious listening, so that it creates an equilateral triangle (almost, anyway). My room's shape is retarded, so I'm not gonna bother treating it. When I'll move to a new apt, I'll make sure I have a good room to work with and I'll set everything up properly and spend some money on room treatment. I also need to adjust my sub with an SPL meter. As I said, at this point I'm not doing anything serious, I got this setup for entertainment and it definitely delivers on that!

BTW, I got three monitors for gaming, no way that I'm going to get rid of one of them!

Aye aye, sounds good It's definitely a nice setup, just needs some minor tweaking is all. And like I said, unless you really get into music creation, it's not super important. If you really wanna get nerdy, you could get a pink noise generator and see how your room reacts.

i never put any emphasis on audio toys. I don't listen to music much at all any more, and it's progressively getting worse. I have a $60 7.1 system and even that was never put to work for its money.

But I do love me some sweet sweet pixels. I only have two 25.5 inch ASUS's but I'm looking to change them pretty soon. I kinda want to get frameless monitors and that sounds expensive.