What HEADPHONES, MICS & AMPS Do I Use? Ft. Mayflower ARC DAC/AMP/ADC Combo

[@CortMarshal]

If I'm correct in remembering, that V67G has an extra layer of mesh in the grill that hurts the sound. If you unscrew the bottom ring of the mic and slide the body off, it's two screws to get the headbasket off and you can tear out the inner grille with a pair of pliers, put it back together and it'll sound about $100 more expensive.

[@techyescity]

I will check that out, thanks for the tip.

[@CortMarshal]

Yep, did this to my Nady mic. A lot of them come with this "extra protection". Just be careful to not touch the gold capsule while the headbasket is off. It pops easier after the mod, but the sound is worth having to use a pop filter

[@cooper845]

LOVE THAT UVE BEEN PUSHING OUT A VID EVERY DAY FOR PAST WEEK

[@chloeprice8]

i have to say that i really appreciate the good quality of the sound and video on the channel..it makes it enjoyable to watch.. i realy hate it when ppl make videos that look all pixelated and sounds like farting through a crisps bag.. as audio cards i have the same edirol but in all silver color and an xonar DG (you had one in one of your old dual xeon editing rig) and a few other ones

[@5991Dima]

MAN! Just wanna say Thank You! Youre just awesome,you inspired me to build my own price performance builds, youre an awesome KZbinr and i love to watch your stuff. Keep on going! Thank You from Germany! :)

[@Small_Vocaloid_UTAU]

A small, yet significant error: 10 dB is over 3 times the amplitude, but that translates to 10 (!!) times the power. EDIT: The V-Moda Crossfade LP2 definitely have an accentuated bass. You can use them for editing, but I would definitely not say they are close to neutral.

[@progamer00006]

calling vmoda neutral is kinda hilarious, isnt it...

[@techyescity]

Oh I linked the LP2s, doh... lol I have the LP originals.

[@Small_Vocaloid_UTAU]

The LP2s are generally considered to be better anyway ;) By the way, the LP originals have more accentuated bass than the LP2. I guess more neutral headphones, must sound bass light to you. Perhaps even anemic. When I first used more neutral headphones than mainstream, it took me a while to get used to them, but now I don't feel like going back.

[@techyescity]

oh no worries, so I shouldn't bother updating the description? Yeah its funny that you mention that, bass anaemic headphones to me actually are neutral on frequency response curves....! lol... you guessed it. I love my L1s for end listening, can't stop using them for some reason.

[@redg8453]

YES knows best

[@FuadShaqiri]

Can you do a video for budget DAC/AMPs

[@progamer00006]

higher end of budget: schiit fulla 2 lower end of budget: Fiio E10k ende

[@FuadShaqiri]

Thanks man

[@tomisthename10]

headphones and mics would be appreciated ;)

[@progamer00006]

Fuad Shaqiri np

[@kristoffer8740]

Schiit Modi 2 and Schiit Magni 3

[@johnjackson8902]

The V67G is a very nice mic. It sounds like something much better than an $80~USD mic would (partially due to the fact that it was almost $300 when it came out).

[@Heru3005]

It never gets much love but if your in the market for a desk mic the Blue Nessie is an awesome all-in-one solution. Absolutely love mine. Also highly recommend the Panda Stack from SMSL for headphones. It consists of the Sanskrit DAC, the Sanskrit Pha headphone amp, and the Sanskrit LPS power supply (you can do without the LPS tbh). There's also a matching speaker amp too if you want that. If anyone is interested, take a look at the Panda Stack review over on Z Reviews channel, he covers it pretty well. Headphone wise I use my Sennheiser HD 598's. Little light on bass but thats an easy EQ fix.

[@peterjansen4826]

Tech YES City The Sennheiser HD 800 was too revealing for you, maybe you should try out the HD 700 (I have one) or the HD 600 (more base focused in comparison to the HD 700). Still looking for a better DAC+amp though which can be used on a computer. Mayflower can't be bought in many countries, maybe you could recommend some products from bigger brands like Yamaha and Cambridge? By the way, Philips is one of those bang for the buck brands for headphones (like Audio-Technica). Fun to know, Philips (to be more accurate, a Belgium engineer working for the Dutch Philips) invented the CD player and the CD, together with Sony which did the software. The size of the hole in the CD is based upon a certain Dutch coin which an engineer had in his pocket during the discussion. It turned out to be large enough such that everybody can put his finger through the hole and pick it up but not that large that you loose too much space for data storage. If it would have been up to Philips we now would have 14 bit music, Sony didn't agree to it and demanded 16 bits, that had to do with older sources for data storage and transferring data. At first Philips wanted to use dummy bits but eventually they chose to use the well known 16 bit format. Imagine that, 4 times as little information for music, I am not sure that I would like it.

[@ShawnStrickland]

I bought the Vmoda M100 about a month ago, hot damn they sound freaking amazing and build quality is great.

[@MerolaC]

I have a Fidelio X1 and I absolutely love them. The L1 are also excellent.

[@AbrahamsYTC]

Thanks, I'm planning on getting this at the end of the year. Time to move on from my E07K, but I don't really think it'll be much of an upgrade but at least it'll make my mic situation easier to manage.

[@spazzen]

I use a Head Box DS, really nice quality. Anyone really interested in getting a DAC Amp i highly suggest one with a digital readout. Nothing against knobs, but On my unit i know i like certain levels when in voice chat with people, certain for gaming and movies, and different again for music. Far easier to have a digital readout and know those levels exactly to switch between them than the inaccuracy innate with a knob. For those older, think trying to align an old FM radio vs when digital FM radio's came in.

[@MGsubbie]

I personally use the BeyerDynamic DT 770 Pro with a modmic 5 and a Creative Soundblaster X-fi HD. All of it combined is about €280, but I love it. The headphones are the best I have ever owned. Incredible bass, gunfire and explosions really come alive in it. I can hear all the footsteps. (Mostly used for Battlefield 1.) The external sound card helps me take the most of the headphones too. When I first tested it out I could hear some kind of buzzing in the background when watching Awesome Hardware. At first I thought my audio quality went down. Then I came to the realization I could actually hear the air conditioning in the background, something I was never able to hear before. But even just using the front panel connectors, the audio in those headphones is great. I am a bit disappointed by the modmic, audio quality isn't as good as I hoped for. But the modular design and the fact that it came with a ton of cable sleeving that I have put to good use on things like my front panel power connectors, makes me satisfied. As well as the two audio extension cables.

[@marcin7258]

DT 770 are great with my Fiio olympus 2 dac/amp.

[@JLawlietK]

8:52 the P goes POOM! PAP PAP KA KA KA! SKIDIPIP PAP PAP! SKYAAA!

[@iAsbestos]

The P goes skrrrahh, pap, pap, ka-ka-ka Skibiki-pap-pap, and a pu-pu-pudrrrr-boom Skya, du-du-ku-ku-dun-dun Poom, poom

[@GurtTarctor]

Oh great to hear that Tech Lounge will be returning!! :)

[@Sent2Strike]

This guy is an awesome reviewer!

[@Sevanon]

Great video! Might have to look into an upgrade for myself. I went from a generic 'Gaming' Headset with built in mic. Bought myself a bundle from Amazon, the 'Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 Stuio (2nd Gen). It included a condenser mic + Headphones and USB Audio interface with included XLR cable. I find it works reasonably well with family and friends letting me know its a huge improvement. Not bad for around £200 for the whole set. Just need a mic arm and good to go. Plenty of reviews on them too. Good to know about the lavalier mic though.

[@Dpaq13]

yo, great work on the channel mate...keep it up -- love the new 'studio' ;)

[@jigsomyoca5377]

Was expecting the sound blaster ae-5 somewhere in the video as he seemed to like it a lot when he reviewed it.

[@techyescity]

Yeah its a really nice solution too, pcie card though and I work with so many different computers so an external dac/amp/adc combo is best for me.

[@jigsomyoca5377]

ahhh yeah makes sense. Was planning on upgrading my soundblaster Z to the AE-5 and your review is a major factor why I'm considering it. Thanks for the reply... cheers from the Philippines

[@JarrodsTech]

Which were the headphones that just fell apart during that live stream that one time? lol

[@techyescity]

They were the thermaltakes lol.

[@AndyWJP]

I am also using an Edirol UA25 (minus the X designation) complete with the gold plated headphone adaptor! Recently I upgraded my motherboard and lost an optical audio connector (even though there is a pin-header available) so now go USB to the Edirol and then Optical cable from the Edirol to my sound system which works fine for 2.1 sound. However I did find that the analogue audio on my new ASUS PRIME B350-Plus motherboard is good with low noise.

[@EAGLEMANFREEDOM]

Hearing VModa's described as neutral caused me physical pain. Edit: try the HD700s if the T1 and 800s fidelity was too much for you. Judging by your preferences, I think you'd enjoy their sound signature.

[@techyescity]

Thanks, will definitely have to try them out.

[@dangavsterGAMES]

It would be great to see a review of that Edirol Preamp with your condensor mic, I've been looking for a fairly cheap hardware solution to my compression and Tube simulation needs.

[@nizodizo9549]

What the hell happened to your HD-595's?

[@techyescity]

They got modded, then they broke then they got repaired again.

[@memoli801]

Strange, I have seen repairs. They looked diffrend. I guess that gives it character.

[@jimbuster1820]

You are truly the city of tech

[@Xanarinera]

Hey mate, have you given a set of hd650's a go. I bought the hd6xx of massdrop a few months ago and can't wait for them to get here, just wondered what your thoughts are on them?

[@FatheredPuma81]

I have no idea what he meant about the impedance mismatch thing. I only use headphones with my computer through onboard audio and always have.

[@N0N0111]

7:57 When you cut the wire of that mic, and solder it to a headset. Will the sound be better because the mic is from insane quality?

[@techyescity]

I actually wanted to try it for a 'gaming headset' tech yes city style. Would be one heavy headset though lol.

[@progamer00006]

ive done sth like that before... I used the capsule of the popular zalman mic and a Superlux HD668B (not a headset but one insane gaming headphone for 30 bucks) made a construction out of pliable wire to attach the capsule to the headphones like a headset... Later i advanced it, put it so it would be directly in front of the users mouth, but now it hat a very small, selfmade pop filter attached, with 1 cm distance to the mic.

[@JohnDoe-pb4pk]

How would you plug up a headset to the mayflower arc mk2? By “headset”, I mean, a headset that has a microphone built into it... Like, I’m using the Sennheiser GSP 602’s... And they only have a single 3.5mm jack... so, would I just plug them directly into the headphone jack on the front of the Mayflower? Or, would I plug them into the mic jack on the front of the Mayflower? OR, would I need to use a 1-Female/2-Male Y-Splitter cable (with green and red male plugs) to plug one into the mic jack and the other into the headphone jack on the front of the Mayflower... and then, just plug my Sennheisers into the female plug on the Y-Splitter? Any help would be much appreciated!! Thanks, in advance!!!

[@Quimet93]

I actually usea an Audio-GD NFB 11.28 as the Dac/Amp, for the headphones side i use the HifiMan He400i as open back and the E-MU Teak as closed back. In one or two month i'll be getting the HifiMan Edition X which i fell in love with when i tried them.

[@rohitbeniwal8649]

Hey there Bryan I was wondering if the sounds better than the O2 Amp ODac combo... I just put in my order for the arc... I just hope it's not worse than the O2 .... I still have time to change my order to an O2

[@Killpool-uz3wj]

Damn Peters got some skills!

[@ej1025]

I use an iFi Micro iDSD Black Label. It is pretty much all you would ever need and it's portable.

[@novazo1]

6:55 I know that feeling. Played a game with brand new headphones and on a cutscene I could hear the actors/actresses lips, breathing. Like wtf? Never had that experience before, unless the game was just that bad when heard from regular TV speakers.

[@mikesama5458]

amazing shirt, bro

[@edenfrawley9247]

I dont want to toot my own horn but i am........ actually........... A big fan of Tech YES City. Also i am first

[@1984kylea]

How does the mic throughput work on this? I understand I plug my 3.5mm mic in the front of the arc and then run a 3.5mm to 3.5mm into my motherboard, but does that actually clean up the sound? I mean, you are still ultimately plugging into the same 3.5 mm in the motherboard. Or does the sound only get cleaned up if you plug in via USB? Doesn't the USB deteriorate the headphone sound v.s the optical?

[@bodycounter9386]

What does the frequency response curve look like with activated DSP?

[@logicalfree]

I use an old mini Pioneer amplifier with an Eq unit and closed over ear Panasonic headphones . The sound , clarity , Bass it's amazing and they are cheap , i think...

[@mtnmankeith9069]

Why get the mayflower arc over a amp/dac that you can set eqs like the new sound blaster g6?

[@LexLutha]

i have the HD650s and bought the FiiO Olympus2 dac. I feel like the phones dont go high enough with this dac. Can a better dac make my cans louder?

[@bopsop]

I'm using the TEAC AI-301DA Dac Amp. Using optical. Combined with Cambridge Audio SX-50 speakers

[@cbrdealer]

If my headphones have a mic and it has one 3.5 connector how do I get around my amp/dac not letting my mic work? Would a splitter work?

[@Hwasabi_MLBB]

Im using the soundblasterx katana and an neewer mic. My friend said my mic sound bad. Will getting An sound card to the setup helps? Just to boost the mic and uses katana for game sound

[@Wasabs]

Hey, why is it that TekSyndicates mic test was better compared to this

[@ParadoxdesignsOrg]

The original HyperX Clouds are pretty amazing bang for the buck. If you can find them

[@iheartmysquid]

link the compressor you mentioned please

[@techyescity]

auctions.yahoo.co.jp/search/search?auccat=&tab_ex=commerce&ei=utf-8&aq=-1&oq=&sc_i=&fr=auc_top&p=ua25+ex&x=0&y=0&fixed=0

[@GundulmuGaming]

Japan ?

[@iheartmysquid]

There is an international link on that page. It tells me exact compressor hes using tho so it helps, it also is real cheap on that site

[@gaiustrollius9920]

Well the only thing I have sound-wise on my pc is a pair of sony zx-110 headphones. I can't complain for the price (21€) since they're the best headphones I could pick up at that price range. Clear sound, and pretty nice bass.

[@progamer00006]

Gaius Trollius thats very bad for gaming though, recommend a Superlux HD668B for that

[@gaiustrollius9920]

Mr.Magnificent They're actually decent. I have them for a year now and I game a lot.

[@mattinman8285]

Hey Brian, are you going to be selling your Modi. I'd be interested if you are :)

[@georgezhang404]

Great video as usual. Im deal huntung right noe and was wondering which would be better an a8 6600k or a q6600

[@yaaseenknox2697]

Depends on your budget

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

The TECHNICS SUA900 MKII is better than any other amp except the MARANTZ Class A amp as both amps have headphone sockets, I have had a DAC connected to it and it sounds great but the amp does recapping every 10 years.

[@TheLastCast.]

What are you're thoughts on the cloud II hyperX ?

[@chikabestwaifu1539]

Can you do a video with the under rated i5-3470? Runs PUBG at med/high at 60fps with a GTX 1050 Ti.

[@CutdarthvaderWOT]

Thanks for the videos! I use a Rode NT 1 A mic on a Rode boom arm with a focusrite 2i2 which works well but need to get a decent pop filter any recommendations? Cheers

[@techyescity]

I don't use a pop filter, just talk at an angle so the sound doesn't boom in. I use to use the cheap ones, but they hurt sound IMO.

[@CutdarthvaderWOT]

Tech YES City thank you!

[@frogtechtips]

Nice stuff man I wish I have money for staff like this :-)

[@vinnyonyt9964]

i just got a pair of superlux hd668b's and they are way to quiet. my question is do i need an amp+dac, just amp, or just dac. also what do they do? what is a good option under $50 for what i need? and do i need a sound card?

[@techyescity]

You can get just an amp and use the onboard line out if you have one, or just the headphone out, should be able to achieve pretty good results. As for a budget dac/amp fiio hit the market pretty well from every thing I heard, they even make a $30 amp only I believe?

[@MrAntieMatter]

What happened to your 595!?

[@jackniederberger1591]

hey great video I'm looking to get sennheiser game zero headsets for my pc in a few days which I believe are 50 ohm. I heard these headsets run a lot better with a amp/dac and I'm wondering if this will be a good amp/dac for those headsets. Before this i was thinking about getting the GSX 1000, but a lot of people said there are much better amps/dacs then that out there than that one. It would really mean a lot if you or anyone could get back to me because I don't really know to much about this stuff. Thanks for reading.

[@Startekselva]

im using the ARC works perfectly and gamer dream with neutral sound DAC no op amp

[@djmandrick]

2:50 "This will be replacing my shit Modi Stack". Thanks Bryan, I'll avoid those then!

[@Rolandeld1999]

The company name is Schiit. No joke

[@TSLMachine]

Watch this Schiit for a little backstory on that Schiit-y company name. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aWOQiWeped9_jtk

[@progamer00006]

that schiit is actually a tiny bit better but takes up more space and has no mic in

[@MrKingkamon]

Found a bunch of new old I7 875K any intrest to you? I have 8 sealed lol.

[@GundulmuGaming]

what about your clip on mic ? in this video

[@techyescity]

HMNsound microlav, mentioned it near the end.

[@tacanacy]

The BoomPro sounded awful with the ARC. A $7 sound card from Sabrent makes the mic sound great for voice chat and decent for streaming. With the ARC, it doesn't sound half-decent even for voice chat.

[@xeonelite6051]

How is it for gaming?

[@pieceofpotato7883]

how many billion bytes of ram they got?

[@Nessayosm]

Nice shirt Brian

[@progamer00006]

omg you own the hd595 aswell :OOOO :D so old man having it for 12 years now, but my daily desktop driver is an hd600 plugged into the schiit stack frequency peaks and bumps EQed with Equalizer apo But what have you done to them .... taping up just a little of the grill on one side is a bad thing and already causes imbalance... like having an hd555 on one side, and an hd595 on the other... and because the hd555 basically was a hd595 with a little tape on the inside... Also VModa and neutral? well screw it... if you want sth like your HD595 but with bass and even better positional audio and actually neutral, get the HD599

[@jupitersailing6911]

Sent out that ASRock board Bryan!

[@wilco886]

I play metal pretty much all day and I'm the only one in the house who likes metal so I have headphones on all the time. RIP my ears I guess

[@TheMabiNerd]

he was doing what to his peppers!?

[@OlaJustin]

I hate mics that aren't pee safe! Useless really! Glad someone finally touched on the subject! 🤐

[@ramsfan6237]

Hey if you guys have any questions feel free to ping me on here! Thanks for the review!

[@Jarrod_kane]

The Philips coffee stain kills me

[@DueM]

try sony mdrv6 they are great, chuck some beyerdynamic soft pads on them though.

[@weatherby1982]

look at the pretty colours kids...... it has RGB lighting.....now give us more money.

[@elevengiant]

what price range of sound card for media consumption is good for me, if i already have x370?

[@techyescity]

If you have speakers and they work fine, then I wouldn't bother, but if you have headphones and your ears are constantly ringing, even at normal volume levels, then I would think about something like the ARC of even a budget Fiio option.

[@elevengiant]

ty. so even cheapest budget ones are better than x370?

[@keithjones1924]

I have two astro mixamp pro tr dac/amp one for PC /xbox and one for ps4. with shp 9000s Philips the lower end then Fidelio. Boom MIc vmota

[@benjackson2598]

I'm going to buy a sound-card, any suggestions?

[@sniperpronerfmods9811]

hell, no, its basically a scam

[@TheLTGamer]

Hey bro would you recommend the v67g or the at2020

[@meza3214]

WoRN Wolf -TheLTGamer price wise, the at2020 can be found for 20 bucks on Craigslist/eBay. Quality won't be as good, but the price can't be beat.

[@AK90]

Also, that Katana system costs £300? 0.o I would rather buy the Logitech Z906, at 500w RMS it kicks ass. And no useless RGB :P

[@thecroutoncave1924]

I got a 3930K for $90USD. am I a master JeBay now?

[@Lionchuu]

Why are ur headphones taped up like that?

[@WayStedYou]

Joseph Young think his brother stepped on them or broke them while he was away

[@Learn2Code92]

Tech hell yes city!!!

[@Learn2Code92]

Awesome! :)

[@Greenberet.]

so who won,peter or chuky?

[@secondc0ming]

Is this video playing at the wrong speed?

[@janpaolodeguzman329]

Brian"The DEAL Man" back at it again

[@Valfaun]

i still want to get a Modi/Magni stack at some point. for headphones, but also for active speakers to replace my sound card. not sure if it works like i think it does, but i found a switchable signal splitter with one input and two outputs so i could just leave the DAC on at all times and have a physical switch to toggle between speakers and headphones without having to bother with multiple playback devices in Windows. if any of that made sense, can someone confirm or deny whether that would work? this is the switch, btw: www.amazon.com/Sescom-SES-AUDIO-AB-Stereo-MP3-Switch/dp/B008BMLXAU

[@ej1025]

Valfaun The new Magni 3 or the Magni 2?

[@Valfaun]

EJ102 unless there's a reason to stick with the older model, i'd get the new one. i guess you're asking because the new Magni now comes with outputs of its own and works as a speaker pre-amp, too?

[@ej1025]

Valfaun Yes

[@BoHorror]

Didn't this guy have a soundblaster

[@JimmyJammy97]

is that a star wars shirt?

[@techyescity]

yes

[@JimmyJammy97]

the force is strong with this one.

[@JimmyJammy97]

Bryan If you have not yet, I'd recommend checking out the Sennheiser GSP 350 and the Audio-Technica ATH-PDG1

[@AK90]

I´ll stick to my Astro A40 + MixAmp setup :P Dont need anything better, and I only paid $30 for it xD

[@johnsoriano3812]

This one is good. We'd love to send you our audio products. I already sent an email.

[@SamsterBirdies]

*buys dac for 5$ earbuds*

[@jackelofnar]

I use a schiit stack with a fostex T50rp v3 which i find brilliant.

[@Sam-vn5vy]

€420 (Not Kidding) for : i5 2400 (3.1Ghz) R9 290 8GB DDR3 500watt power supply Worth it? it runs PUBG on Ultra with 80FPS average, Battlefield 1 Ultra with 60FPS

[@sniperpronerfmods9811]

yes

[@seyf1212]

Get 16gb ram

[@sniperpronerfmods9811]

honesty I have never found a use of my 16 of trident z rgb, save the money

[@techyescity]

I would try drop in a lower offer of around 350 euro :p

[@mattygee1402]

Why does it sound like such crap quality

[@positivemelon7578]

Matt G probably because of the mic

[@hidjedewitje]

Because the mic has much more impact than the adc. Besides I think the mic is just a pass through. Although I might be wrong on that

[@OrganicGreens]

pff buy an producer quality audio interface. you can get em used dirt cheap and they are higher quality

[@progamer00006]

Phillip Morrison they aint

[@OrganicGreens]

they aint cheap or they aint high quality? because they are both... and it will have a higher quality mic input with a pre amp on most interfaces as well. I would recommend a Focusrite Scarlett Solo their around 70-100 USD new you can find em used for 50 bucks... honestly even a Behringer UM2 at 30 USD new would probably sound better than this thing. If your headphones requires more power than an your interface provides a simple clean headphone amp is what you want no added saturation or distortion from tubes. Id recommend a fiio a3 on the cheap for a headphone preamp

[@progamer00006]

Phillip Morrison a cheap or also equally priced Audio interface does not have the same output quality as such an exeptional Dac/amp combo like the Schiit Stack for example. Numbers on paper dont say anything, pcb shots do

[@intrepid_wandering]

Line 6 UX2

[@jcBirds]

tech YES lounge!!!