Topic: Gaming TVs, Soundbars, Headsets and Shelving

@Wavey84
Right on. I'll be sure to try it out this weekend when I have time.

One thing though. I use Game Mode for Switch, PS5 and PC inputs. Whenever I've selected "Game Optimizer" it brings up the Game Mode menu at the bottom of the screen. I've never seen any Colorimitry options.

Ended up canceling the Schiit Hel 2. Read a ton of problems going on with them, unfortunately. Decided to settle on the Sound Blaster G6. Which was sold out virtually everywhere, except Amazon from a 3rd party seller for $190 + Tax. Found it on Amazon Japan for $147 shipped. Absolutely incredible that it can be obtained and shipped from around the world for $50 less.

Really like those 560S, but for now I'm gonna wait and see how the 38X perform. I can always send them back and order the 560S. My biggest concern isn't so much sound quality as it is comfort.

@Wavey84
Seems I’m on a splurge taking your advice lol

Ordered the 560S. For $140 refurbished I couldn’t say no. I have to see how good they are. Also got a separate DAC for my PC, the Fiio EK10, as it doesn’t apply any EQ beside optional bass boost and will power 560S all day.

If they’re noticeably better or more comfy than 38X, I’ll return them. I was so close to ordering the 660S also and keeping the best pair, but… $400-500 is just too much when most reviews say the 560S comes close.

@Wavey84
Got it! Thanks!

Here's a picture I snapped with my phone. What do you think? This is Horizon Zero Dawn on PC, with HDR, 4k, and the settings you just described.

@Wavey84
BTW I thought I saw an unboxing where the 560S did not have a detachable cord? Was I mistaken?

@Wavey84
This is on PC. I haven’t messed with PS5 yet.

But ya, all the settings match. Except Color Gamut is greyed out for me or I can’t find it, and RGB being limited or full is an Nvidia setting I’m not sure where it’s located.

Seems pretty good to me though.

@Wavey84
Perfect news hearing it's detachable. Instead of using the adapter, a cable with a 3.5mm TRS jack could be used.

BTW, I know with RGB limited, blacks on TV should be limited, or with RGB full, blacks should be full. As long as there's no mismatch the blacks are OK. On Switch, Auto didn't work correctly and crushed blacks such as on Quake icon, but manually setting to full to match TV looked perfect. I think it's working OK both on full on my PC. Will have to double check on PS5 though. Still gotta apply these settings you shared on the other inputs.

@Wavey84
I believe Full maps black to 0 and white to 255, while Limited maps black to 16 and white to 235. Which means full gets 36 more gradients between absolute black and absolute white.

Most ppl probably won't notice much of a difference. It may help with color banding a bit. The important thing is to make sure the source and the TV match. Either both Limited or both Full. If source is full but TV is limited, source is outputting blacks from 0-15 that aren't getting mapped to anything but pure black, so you get crushed blacks. When source is limited but TV is full, the TV is expecting 0 for black but the lowest it's receiving is 16, resulting in washed out blacks.

I have sharpness at 10 for all sources, except Switch. Due to its lower res, sharpness of 35 actually cleans up the image pretty well without going overboard. And medium super resolution which has no latency cost and works wonders.

I've also found, with the ultra low latency of game mode, for the Switch specifically since its the only console that has some games with more stuttery frame rates, I can get by with Motion Pro on Low which really takes the edge off the stuttery feeling of games like MH Stories 2 that aren't perfectly smooth from unlocked framerate. It's not magic of course. You can still notice. But it does make a noticeable improvement. Enough that to me it's worth the slight latency and slightly dimmer picture (which I compensated for by switching gamma back to 2.2 from the 2.4 you suggested). Again, this is unique for Switch.

And I gotta say, the colors really do look better now. And I'm over the moon at how motion pro low has smoothed out the stuttery motion of MH Stories 2. This is such great tech! Only made possible by the low lag game mode though. I tried medium and latency was a no go. It was too much. But low? It's doable.

@Wavey84
I don't think any of the super resolutions have latency, as they are more of a Sharpening filter than actual post processing. At least, that's how I understand it from the research I did- I haven't noticed any lag using it, anyways.

I prefer not using Motion Pro for any input, but Switch kinda needs all the help it can get, so for it I can make an exception. I'm surprised to hear they all have the same lag though. Medium definitely felt worse than Low to me. But even if it wasn't, the darker screen is just too much. I find Low is borderline acceptable once compensated for in other areas.

@Wavey84
Ya I was gonna ask about that. I just left my streaming apps alone. Got it set up pretty good already anyways.

I turned color down to 40 though. It was really strong in some scenes at 43.

Got my Sennheiser 560S today, and I love them! I was worried the difference wouldn't be noticeable, but... it actually is. Even to my untrained ears, I can tell a clear difference. And, despite them sounding better than my Arctis 9X on PS5, being plugged into the controller definitely takes the edge of brilliance away. When I plug into Switch Lite and watch the Zelda Skyward Sword trailer from news feed or the new Metroid trailer, it's audio nirvana.

So I'm glad I ordered 2 DACs. They really need direct line audio, no compression via wireless or Bluetooth transmission.

@Wavey84
Here's a cool quiz to test your ears. I don't yet have a USB-C to headphone jack adapter so I couldn't use my headphones, but even using my phone speakers I still got 3 of 6 correct, and 2 of 6 I guessed the 320 bit rate rather than the 128. And that's me, with untrained ears, using phone speakers. And I could still tell the difference of uncompressed half the time, and low compression vs high compression almost every time.

Recommended to take test with headphones.

https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2015/06/02/411473508/h...

2/6. With headphones.

So, yeah, I'll continue to stick with cheap equipment, lol.

@Ralizah
mp3 encoded at 320 is very hard to tell from uncompressed. Even with headphones most ppl will struggle. More of a point against paying for uncompressed music streaming services vs mp3.

I tell you what, though. Getting a pair of entry level audiophile headphones makes a far bigger difference than picking out music compression quality (though it should help with that also).

It's like... sounds and instruments are separated, coming from different areas of the headphone space. Clarity is incredible. No muddy bass or overemphasized low end. Just neutral hearing it as the creator heard it at time of recording. It's so good.

Experiencing Horizon Zero Dawn with the Sennheiser 560S has been revelatory. Now I truly understand how mediocre wireless gaming headsets are by comparison.

Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar on sale for $1799 via WELCOME10 promo code on Sennheiser website. Discounted from $2500 to $2000. Additional 10% off with promo.

That's $700 off MSRP!

https://en-us.sennheiser.com/ambeo-soundbar?utm_source=linksh...

Why am I now considering the Sennheiser 800S headphones with MSRP of $1700 when I just ordered 2 new headphones... oh man. The chase is real. I'm earmarking these as my endgame headphones. One day...

@Wavey84
I think I have a problem, lol. Ever since I got the Ambeo I've kinda become an audio junkie. And after getting the 560S, I've realized headphones are an important piece to any setup.

So... I just ordered the Sennheiser 800S for gaming (on sale $300 off for $1400, with a 10% WELCOME10 discount code that dropped it down another $140 to $1260 brand new from Sennheiser directly).

But after dozens of hours of research, I've realized there are better headphones for music, specifically. I wanted the Focal Elex for $700 but apparently there's serious driver failure issues. So I got an open box Focal Clear MG from Audio46 instead. Price was $1192 shipped (no tax due to being open box!) which seems pretty good given the $1500 + tax MSRP.

Hopefully this will cure the upgraditis.

I was so close to ordering the Hel 2, but I read about all sorts of issues. Proceed with caution. On the other hand, if they work well, let me know. JBS Atom+ and DAC+ also make a good pair and are compatible with PS5, Switch and PC. Creative G6 also fully compatible.

I've read about the BeyerDynamic treble. But I don't think there is a perfect headphone. Everything has its pros and cons. Even the 800S and Focal Clear. The 800S has Soundstage and imaging up the wazoo, but not enough bass. So good for gaming, less so for music. Whereas Focal Clear have bass and richer sound, but very in your ears without much depth. Good for music, less so for gaming.

I'm curious to year the DT1990 Pro though. I hear those are pretty great and slightly less treble.

@Wavey84
You really like those Beyer Dynamics, huh. It's hard to know how much you'll like headphones until you try em. Guess that's why some ppl buy so many. Speaking of which, I got 4 new pairs in the last week alone. But it feels like each one has its distinct purpose...

560S: HiFi reference headphones
38X: go-to gaming headset
800S: high end gaming headphones
Clear MG: high end music headphones

Guess it's time to sell all the SteelSeries. I still have an itch to know what the Hifiman Arya sound like with those planar magnetics. Basically the 800S, Clears and Arya are the big 3 high end $1500 headphones. Having 2 out of 3 just feels so... incomplete lol. But those large oval earpads on the Arya seem like they extend to your jawbone. Not sure how to feel about that.

You get one life. I've been living like a cheap grinch for the last 15 years, never spending money on anything besides games. Getting close to 40 yrs old, working day in day out year after year. No fancy car or boat or any of that. I made like $80k investing in crypto recently and hadn't spent one cent of it to date. It's high time to enjoy something nice and buy some toys. Feels good to have something new and exciting for a change.

The future of hifi will certainly be wireless, with amp and dac built right into the ear cup. Once we have Bluetooth 6.0, Bluetooth 7.0 and 5G takes over. Higher bandwidths as standard. One day wired headphones will be a relic of the past. Or at least, constitute a much smaller share of the high end market.

@Wavey84
Is there benefit to disabling the auto brightness limiter?

I'm not really sure what that functionality even does. I'm guessing it caps how bright the TV can get?

I suppose that's good for longevity (I'd like to get 5 yrs from this tv) but perhaps good for Switch input if using Motion Pro. Hmm...

@Wavey84
My bad, I should have said this natural life. As for life beyond, I am a firm believer in the Bible as the word of God. And having read it cover to cover several times over (even now, I read each night before bed), I can summarize as follows: God created man, who sinned against God (Romans 3:23 "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God"), and we are all condemned for it (Romans 6:23 "The wages of sin is death"). The second death, or lake of fire, where there will be "darkness" and "weeping and gnashing of teeth" was not designed for man, but it is where we are all headed to pay the penalty of our crimes against God. The good news comes in the fact God planned this all along, and Jesus had already decided to die to pay our penalty before the world even existed. John 3:16- for God so loved the world he gave his only son, that whoever believes on him will not perish but have eternal life".

I encourage you to download the free YouVersion Bible app, and set the translation to NIV, which is also voiced for audio playback with a timer. Start in Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, the 4 gospels that begin the New Testament. Reading the Bible for yourself in a translation easy to understand is the single most important decision you'll ever make. You can be secure in the knowledge of eternal life through Jesus Christ, if you desire it.

If you seek truth honestly from your heart, you will surely find it. I believe the Bible beyond doubt, as it is a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses, who report supernatural events in fulfillment of specific prophecies and claim their writings are divine (rather than human) in origin.

Anyways, sounds like we're the exact same age- 37. And ya, you get it. I try not to indulge beyond measure, as the desire for wealth and being rich can be a trap. Moderation in all things. Maybe splurge every now and then. Just so long as it doesn't become a habit. It'll leave you broke and unfulfilled. You're so right- we came into this world with nothing, and we can be sure we'll leave it the same way.

If I had to guess, in 10 years we'll probably start seeing quality wireless headphones that start to solve all the problems. We're already seeing some now. Hifiman has Bluetooth Ananda, and Audeze has the Penrose. But it'll take some time to perfect it. I suspect that, in 10 years time, we'll have high grade wireless headphones that can play near lossless audio. But, that's just my speculation.

Sounds like your friend invested early. Good for him. I didn't get in until the March 2020 C19 selloff. But it was a great time to buy. Bitcoin was only $6k, Ethereum was $180, and Cardano was 4 cents. Now BTC is $50k, ETH is $4k, and ADA (Cardano) is $2.50. Absolutely insane returns. If you ever want to get in, I don't think it's too late. Nowadays I dollar cost average in each week. Alarm set for every Monday at 9am. I buy $20 BTC, $20 ETH and $20 ADA. No matter what the price. As long as the market goes up long term, you're set. It takes away the risk of jumping all in at the top before a selloff.

@Wavey84
Looks like it's happening already.

Lossless audio via Bluetooth coming in 2022 with aptX Lossless. Can transmit CD quality audio over Bluetooth. Obviously audio quality can go even higher than CD but still, being able to transmit that kind of quality over Bluetooth is quite a feat.

https://www.whathifi.com/news/qualcomm-says-aptx-lossless-can...

Here is the perfect setup to run headphones through a DAC that works for PC, PS5 and Switch.

• Soundblaster G6 DAC/AMP ($150 shipped via Amazon JP or $190 shipped via Amazon US)
• 4 to 4 port USB Switcher with remote ($25 via Amazon US)
• USB-A to micro-USB cable

This DAC/AMP can drive anything. Literally anything. And it's the only one I've found that works on Switch, PS5 and PC. JDS Atom DAC+ and AMP+ do, but they're separate and require separate firmwares for each system, so they work on all 3, but not simultaneously.

Also am using the Fiio EK10 to drive cans from my phone. Helm Bolt dongle DAC and Hidizs S9 Pro dongle DAC (more power, but more battery drain) are great for portability, but to just plug in on the couch from phone and get enough power to sound better, this is perfect. Just set phone on wireless charger and run a USB-C male to USB-A female dongle into phone, with a USB-A male to micro-USB male cable into the DAC.

Here's the Hifiman Arya [July 2021 revision with Stealth Magnets like their $3500 HE1000-se model, increased sensitivity from 90 dB to 94 dB and decreased ohms from 35 to 32] at the top. Sennheider 800S on bottom left. Focal Clear MG on bottom right. Had to buy a headband cover to prevent stains on the cushion over time.

Ok . . . can my old 21+ year old Surround Sound System (JVC RX-6100V) be able to handle 5.1 surround sound from our Nintendo Switch?

It is really old. On the unit it says it does Linear PCM, Dolby Digital and DTS.

• The issues is that the JVC Amplifier only has a coaxial and optical digital input. (No HDMI input.)
• The coaxial input I have our DVD player hooked up to it.
• The optical input I have it hooked up to the optical out from the LCD TV that we play our Switch on.
• Our Nintendo Switch is hooked up to the LCD TV with HDMI.
• On the TV I have the digital sound as "Passthru", not "PCM".
• And with this configuration the JVC Amplifier picks up Linear PCM and outputs 2 channel digital from the Nintendo Switch.

Questions:
1) What is a standard (or cheap) game that for sure has surround sound on Nintendo Switch so I can make sure there is surround sound data to try to send through as I test the set-up?
2) Would one of those HDMI to optical converters be able to extract the surround sound data from the Switch's HDMI output and convert into something my 21+ year old JVC Amplifier would understand via. optical TOSLINK?
3) Is there anything I am doing wrong with the set-up (above) that would prevent it from working?

NOTE: We had the surround sound system since new — 21 years LOL. Got it when DVD players were just coming out. But we got tired of all the wires in the TV room, so we got a simple sound bar for the TV room, and this surround sound system got moved to the game room. It definitely sounds better playing games on the surround sound system (even if only in analog 2 channel) than playing sound through the TV. What got this started is I had an optical cable lying around, so I hooked it up between the TV and the JVC Amplifier. Got 2 channel PCM to work from the Nintendo Switch. And . . . now wondering if that is the end of the road, or if I can actually get surround sound to work. LOL.

Any help greatly appreciated!