DIY hybrid ear tips
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I’ve never really liked foam tips, because I find it a pain to roll, insert, then have to hold the IEMs in place, until the foam expands. I like using silicone tips, but do miss the isolation of the foam tips. I’ve been looking for hybrid foam/silicone tips for a while, and haven’t found any readily available. I do like the isolation provided by multi-flange tips, and find the Shure triple-flange tips the most comfortable (not too sticky) for repeated use. I do cut off the smallest flange because it’s more comfortable, and doesn’t roll off the highs much. Well, I was experimenting with tips for my Etymotics, and found that the stalk of the triple flange Shure tips, perfectly fits snugly into the center of the Mercury (4.9mm) Dekoni Bulletz foam tips, thus making them hybrid tips. You do need the large size foam tips to fill out the Shure tips. Using the hybrid tips is the same as just using the Shure tips, but the isolation is quite a bit better. No modding...
Dec 8, 2019
And the point is while being a gamer and using pretty expensive headset (Beyer's MMX 300 to be precise) I don't give a damn about all of that surround sound scouting modes marketing bullshit. I do however want to get a good quality for stereo playback whether it is a game or music listening or whatever.
So basically I have to use some proper DAC/Amp with my headphones for decent listening experience. Well, you know, proper power delivery filtering, async usb connection, decent DAC, proper amplification section, all that stuff. The problem is, those are not meant to be used with the headsets and therefore don't provide you with a mic input. So in addition to using the DAC/Amp hypothetical me has to use his on-board audio (Realtek-made sigh) or a discrete sound card from ASUS/Creative/whatever.
The question is, with the demand for some proper DACs going on lately why no manufacturer tried to add an ADC with mic preamp to the mix? I know there are Creative discrete audio cards (E5, G5 etc) and I tried G5 myself. Nowhere near my O2+ODAC combo in terms of audio quality, and EMI both for headphones out and for mic in drove me nuts in addition to that. By proper DAC/ADC combo I mean the device that uses all the benefits of a good DAC/amp I mentioned earlier but adds a proper ADC+preamp for mic input. I know some USB controllers (namely Savitech's ones) allow configuring such a device.
I'd like to know your thoughts on this guys.