Thoughts: The BEST Gaming Headphone for All Time?
Pairing up a gamer with the right headphone is a bit like playing matchmaker! In this video, linked at the end, I boil down over 10 years of community advice into 3 Personality types: • Competitive • Entertainment • Immersion I share a few keywords to look for, as well as some software and settings suggestions. I think everyone has a little bit of each type in them, but which type is dominant for you? Thanks to the sponsor of this video: DekoniAudio.com Dekoni is a headphone accessories company, unique for providing frequency response graphs on their website so you know what effect their various pad options will have. Thanks also to Drop for giving me permission to share here. I hope it helps everyone! The video: https://youtu.be/42SRsSlIj-c
Sep 29, 2020
Lots of us might have a basic idea of what an amp does, but exactly how it functions (and the many benefits it can provide) are larger questions worth considering. The word amp is derived from the latin word amplificare, which means “to expand” or “to enlarge.” The basic function of an amplifier is to increase the power of a signal by taking energy from a power supply and converting it to a larger amplitude—therefore boosting that signal.
When sound is recorded, an electrical signal is generated through a series of vibrations and fluctuations in air pressure. First, sound waves move a microphone diaphragm back and forth, and the microphone converts that movement into an electrical signal. Then, a recorder encodes that signal as a pattern in a certain format, like grooves in a record, magnetic impulses on a tape, or ones and zeroes on a hard drive. Once the medium is determined for playback, a device reinterprets the pattern and uses electricity to move (or “drive”) a speaker. The goal is to reproduce the vibrations and fluctuations in air pressure to most accurately represent the original sound.
What happens when that signal is not strong enough to drive the speaker on the other end? Simple: Your music won’t sound nearly as good. In fact, it might not sound like anything at all. Some headphones require so much oomph to be driven that they are basically unlistenable without proper power. That’s where an amplifier comes in.
Virtually every device that produces sound—your MP3 player, computer, TV, etc.—has a built-in amplifier. But often, manufacturers compromise on the size of the amp when trying to pack other features into their products. Most MP3 players are known for their portability, battery life, and relatively good sound quality, but they’re not so great when it comes to driving a hefty set of headphones. A stand-alone headphone amp has much more space dedicated to better circuitry and power supply. This provides more output power and better control of the drivers for more detail and clarity in your tunes.
Given that headphones range greatly in price and performance, it makes sense for there to be a lot of variation in headphone amplifiers, too. The two most common types of amps used today are tube amps and solid-state amps.
Tube amps, invented in the early 1900s, use one or more vacuum tubes to physically increase the amplitude of a signal. They’re generally more expensive than solid-state amps because the technology that goes into them is more costly. They require additional care because the tubes need to be replaced every so often. They’re also touchier and more sensitive, because they produce an analog signal, and the resulting sound—generally warm, sweet, and natural—is a favorite of music purists.
It’s important to note that choosing the right amp is also a subjective process—which is why the debate between solid-state and tube amplifiers still rages on today, more than 50 years after the invention of the transistor. The best way to find the right amp is to pick one up for yourself.
Any Questions?
Leave ‘em in the comment section below, and someone from the community will be happy to help. Have personal recommendations or a cool audio setup to share? We’d love to hear about them—and see pictures, too!
Hit the "Follow" button to get notified about future articles from this account.