Comment on Lemmy's "Mildly Interesting" site is more interesting than "Damn, that's interesting."
mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 days agoThere’s a weird phenomenon where subs get homogenized and less accurate as they get popular. It’s because posts and comments are ranked by user votes, not accuracy. So as subs get popular, pandering to the average user works more and more.
I work in professional audio, and there is a lot of misinformation, disinformation, and snake oil in the audiophile world. And I was fairly active on a few audio related subs back when they were niche. But as they grew, the snake oil inevitably ended up at the top of the comments more frequently.
It’s because someone peddling snake oil can get upvoted by the masses if they make it sound believable, and stroke the average reader’s ego just a little bit. If a situation requires in-depth technical knowledge about how something works, that post likely won’t appeal to the average user on a popular sub. But someone offering snake oil in an easily digestible format will get upvoted just because the masses believe it.
Let’s say someone posts a troubleshooting question on a technical topic. The problem isn’t something the average user would encounter, and just using surface-level knowledge will get you nowhere. Now let’s say there are two answers: One is correct, but highly technical. It flies over the average user’s head. The other is incorrect, but is presented in a way that the average user feels like they learned something from it. On a niche sub, the first answer (correct) would be upvoted. On a popular sub, the second (incorrect) would be upvoted.
People want to feel smart, not be smart. If you’re reading a highly technical post that you don’t understand, you don’t feel smart. Because if it’s too technical, it’s all just going right over your head. And that doesn’t feel good. But if someone posts something that seems technical but is really just surface-level stuff that anyone can understand, it will get upvoted by the average user. On a niche sub, there are enough experts to bury the incorrect/surface-level posts. But on a popular sub, those experts get buried by the masses.
Bosht@lemmy.world 1 day ago
By what I’ve experienced that sounds dead on. Well, while I have you here: what do you recommend for a headset on PC for general use, music, gaming? Because good gods the headset market full of garbage headsets that are toted as amazing and the audio is gross at best.
mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
It really depends on what you’re planning on using it for. If you’re going strictly for accuracy, (and by that, I simply mean that the sound waves being produced by the headphones are as close as possible to the electrical signals being sent from your computer), I would suggest splitting your mic and headphones apart into two different devices. It’s worth noting that lots of users don’t actually want accuracy from their headphones. That’s why the debate is such a personal thing. Lots of gaming headsets will be decent enough for gaming… But that’s largely due to convenience (having a mic built into the headset makes playing with friends easy) and it severely limits your options in regards to audio accuracy. Most gaming headsets will be tuned for what companies think the average gamer wants, not what is accurate. Going from a set of gaming cans to a nice set of reference headphones will likely feel like they have less “punch” in the bass, (most gaming headsets are tuned to be very bass heavy) but you’ll likely notice more clarity in the mids and highs.
The best accuracy is generally going to come from something like a set of studio monitor headphones. Something like the
Audio Technica ATH MorATH Rseries, or theBeyer Dynamics DT990 Proswill be solid and have good audio quality. Some companies (like the Beyer Dynamics I mentioned) even use easily replaceable head/ear cushions, which can help move them from “buying for my current setup” to “buying for life” status.For monitor headphones, they’re basically split into two different types - Closed, and open backed. Closed back is what you’re probably used to, with the solid ear cups. Open backed are going to have an open/mesh cup instead. The point of an open-backed headphone is that it more naturally emulates a live listening experience where you’re hearing a performance in a room, not just hearing a speaker recreating those sounds. If you can tolerate room noise, (or at least have your desk set up in a quiet area), an open backed pair will likely be more appealing. They’ll also likely be more comfortable for long-term wear, as they won’t trap as much heat and moisture.
If you’re really considering a pair of monitor headphones, you’ll likely want an amp to go along with it. Your computer’s output will likely be underpowered for driving the bigger cones in a pair of decent headphones. Your computer’s output may be audible without an amp, but it likely won’t be very loud. And you’ll likely miss lots of the lower end, as the bigger cones take more voltage to move. Headphones are rated in ohms, and a higher rating means it takes more power to get the same volume level. There are plenty of audiophiles who will argue about which headphone and amp combos are the best, but it likely won’t make a huge difference for the average user. A basic amp rated at (or at least near) whatever your headphone’s ohm rating is will likely be fine.
Monitor headphones won’t have a lot of the bells and whistles that you’d expect from a gaming headset, like an included mic, surround sound, noise canceling, etc… They do one thing, and one thing only: Make noise as accurately as possible. The expectation is that you’re going to be using them in a treated room meant for monitoring audio. For example, in a recording studio. So they ditch things like noise cancellation, because they expect you’ll have that built directly into your infrastructure instead. They won’t have an included mic, because they assume you’ll have a dedicated talkback system. They won’t have surround sound (unless you’re specifically using a pair made for mixing surround sound) because music is typically mixed in stereo.
In regards to a mic, I’m going to say something potentially controversial: You probably don’t need a nice one. Believe it or not, most gaming headsets have good enough mics for the average user. A basic dynamic mic on a boom arm will likely be fine. There’s nothing wrong with something like a Shure SM58S, except for the fact that you’ll need an audio interface (like a Scarlet 2i2) to plug it in. But if you’re already in the market for a headphone amp, you can probably just get an interface that does both. Unless you’re streaming for a living and the quality of your vocal input really matters, you can use a basic USB mic or whatever cheap dynamic mic floats your boat. Your friends on Discord won’t notice the difference between a $50 USB mic and a $2500 condenser mic.
Personally? I do enough audio at work. I don’t want to think about it at home. I use a Corsair gaming headset when I want a mic+surround sound, or Sennheiser HD 280 Pros (or my IEMs, if I’m feeling fancy) for listening to music. They’re comfortable enough for daily use, and I honestly couldn’t be bothered to set up a bunch of audio gear at home. My desk setup is already complicated enough as it is; I don’t need to complicate it even more with an audio interface or mic boom just to enjoy playing my games. Audio gear is a world of diminishing returns, where going from “bad” to “good” is usually pretty easy, but going from “good” to “great” quickly gets expensive, and you start stumbling across all of that snake oil I originally mentioned. Personally, at my own desk, I’m fine with just “good enough” quality gear. If I want to mess around with the really nice stuff, I’ll do it at work where the employer is footing the bill.