Sennheiser PC37X randomly goes bad after disconnecting the cable ?
Greetings, Yesterday I was using my headset like normal with my macbook, just listening to music and on a call with people like usual, and the headset was perfectly fine. The stock wire that came with the headset is extremely long and yesterday it annoyed me very much that it kept getting tangled with itself, so I decided to see if the cable is replaceable. I pulled out the cable from the headset and saw the adapter, and looked online for a replacement. Upon plugging it back in, the audio sounded extremely muffled and washed out. Im not sure what I did wrong to make it mess up like that as I've always taken good care of it, ive had it for about 2 years and its always just been chilling on my desk, but anywho I thought the cable just went bad and ordered a replacement. The replacement came, and the issue is still persistant, so I am not sure what the issue is I've tried multiple different headsets and the issue is not with the port, and I also tried it with my windows laptop and...
Apr 23, 2024
And keep in mind that even relatively inexpensive DACs have different sound characteristics (warm, analytical, bright, dark, etc.). Also, some DACs feature optical and/or coaxial digital inputs - in addition to USB - for added functionality.
Bottom line: Compared to using a phone/computer headphone jack (or low-end audio source's RCA line out) as the source for your amplifier, a good - but not necessarily expensive - DAC will make a substantial improvement in the sound you hear.
I haven't personally noticed any difference in sounds between different inexpensive DACs. The only advantage I see to purchasing a higher-end DAC (really anything above the ODAC or Modi) would be because of features (such as inputs), not because of sound.
I haven't heard many - much less been able to side-by-side compare - inexpensive (~$100) DACs. But I would bet that I could hear a difference - at least with some of them - using an above-average amplifier and headphones/speakers.
Higher-end DACs do sound better. For example, my iFi Micro iDSD BL is noticeably better (more spacious and detailed) than the Micca Origen+ that I sold.
Maybe I just have bad ears but I highly doubt that I'd be able to tell the difference between any high-end DAC and the ODAC/Modi in a blind test.
Various DAC specifications describe how "clean" a DAC's signal is: total harmonic distortion (THD), dynamic range, signal-to-noise ratio. Also, a full Line Out signal is 2.1 V. Some (lesser) DACs short-change the output voltage.
If you can't tell the difference between the Schiit Modi and high-end DACs, you might have bad (less discerning) ears... or maybe just bad audio equipment.