I recently got this headset, and wow is it good. My only issue is when certain people talk on discord, I can hear a really high pitched ringing. I fiddled with a bunch of settings, computer audio and discord, and nothing seems to solve the issue. It is primarily if not all in my right ear only. Is there something wrong with my headset, or was that ringing always there I can just hear it cause the headset is THAT good? I haven't had any issues with any other application, though I have yet to test if I can hear the ringing on a different version of discord, say on my xbox instead of my pc. Only other issue I've had is occasional static, but I can't tell if it's from the headset or the show/game/etc.
Apr 24, 2024
You are a long way still from hi-fi audio. I would recommend re-considering your budget.
I can't answer how much better a dedicated external amp/dac will be than the sound card, since your computer likely has a unique electromagnetic profile when running. That being said, the soundcard is really just an internal amp/dac, so it's probably not going to be a huge leap, tbh. The O2+SDAC is almost guaranteed to probably be technically cleaner than the SMSL M6, but if you're eager to get new equipment, the wait is probably not worth it.
The difference is really about how much the difference in audio matters to you. Are you making music? Doing film production? Making Youtube videos or Lets Plays? Are you listening to music intensely and doing active listening? Then it might be worth it. When I worked in audio production and post-production, we used some extremely expensive equipment, but reliability and reproduceability is what mattered to us. If you put an ODAC and the DAC we used and hooked them up to some prosumer equipment, like some KEF eggs, the chance I'd be able to tell the difference between the two is probably only slightly better than random. Amps matter more, but people who are deeply invested in the hobby tend to inflate their importance. FWIW, most audio professionals I worked with cared far far more about the input, output, and workflow stages than the Amp or Dac. Amp was rarely discussed, DAC virtually never.
I'd also invest in some beater headphones to do A/B testing. A really bass boosted headphone (which a lot of consumers have) could help you figure out what your audience hears. If you get really serious about audio stuff, then you'll want to move out of headphones and move to studio monitors, but that's a whooole different story :)
Also don't dispute that there's a midfi trap. But I also doubt that's what GUTB, with their vicious enjoyment of calling people "have nothing students" and talking about "class warfare" is talking about.
After having a taste of "better" audio, are you fascinated enough to go further? If so, you can go much, much further -- FAR beyond this product can give you. In my opinion, something as low end as this would be unacceptable to an audiophile. The 6XX is a matter of contention -- while most would claim this is a mid-fi product, I say it is fatally flawed by it's lack of euphonics, ie, listening fun factor based on my experience with the HD600. I would strongly suggest a hi-fi product like the TH-900, Edition X, LCD-3, etc. The downside to hi-fi is that it costs a lot of money, but really not THAT much in the world of headphones, you are just talking about the cost of a quality 4K HDR home theater setup all told.