Topic by sadhö

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Topic: techfool asks about loudness headphones where what how

Hello,

the problem I have is that pianoteq is crackling just a bit and I don't know where I could gain just a bit more of loudness. It is very close: the UR22 audiointerface headphone level is 100% and ptq I want to use with maybe -3db or -4 so its not going yellow...

do I need an amp for the headphones?

or is there a knob in windows I neglect?

the SL88 volume is up also...
headphones are dt 770pro so I hope these are not the problem!


Thank you in front my pianoteq-friends

Reply by Key Fumbler

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Re: techfool asks about loudness headphones where what how

If your playback device is set to 100% in Windows (right hand of taskbar - loudspeaker driver icon) and that's still not enough then yes you should consider adding a separate headphone amplifier with more oomph.

The SL88 volume data output control should be irrelevant to Pianoteq.

Reply by ChrisPringle

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Re: techfool asks about loudness headphones where what how

The beyerdynamic headphones you have come in three versions of impedance — 32, 80 and 250 ohms. If you have one of the latter two, it is certain that you will need to use a headphone amplifier.

I have the Roland RH300 headphones and when connected directly to my laptop the sound is quite feeble, barely workable. By contrast, when connected to my Douk vacuum tube USB DAC with output for headphones, everything comes alive - the sound quality and volume ability is amazing.

Reply by Key Fumbler

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Re: techfool asks about loudness headphones where what how

Here is a technical measured performance breakdown of multiple sound interfaces including the pros and cons of UR22 in that respect. 

https://youtu.be/xLShpyzwvJs

The article outlines how (as per normal) the higher impedance headphones will give lower distortion, better control  thus superior accuracy with UR22.
However the limited output with the particularly weedy UR22 (within this group of sound interfaces) does also limit their usefulness with lower sensitivity headphone models.

No one should assume they will definitely have to buy a separate headphone amplifier with absolutely any sound interface if they wish to use decent high impedance headphones because that's not always the case.  Plenty of them are capable of dangerously loud volume even with high impedance headphones!

You have to consider the headphones sensitivity and their impedance. The lowest impedance headphone version being best suited to portable battery devices as they go louder for less power, thus batteries lasting longer.

Reply by sadhö

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Re: techfool asks about loudness headphones where what how

thanks,

I have the 80 Ohm version of the headphones. It is so close what's bothering me...

the volume of windows (main/line..) has no effect on the loudness of ptq

when I play hard, ptq turns yellow. What I'm just trying now is: I have an Equalizer APO: I want to use it's preamp. maybe that works AND do you know if there is a ptq .dll file somewhere so I could open it inside this APO as a vstplugin --- but I guess this also won't work cause I'm just using standalone... hmm?

I'm of course not english native (german) and yeah. I'm just an analog guy who wants to practice piano=)

Reply by Key Fumbler

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Re: techfool asks about loudness headphones where what how

sadhö wrote:

thanks,

I have the 80 Ohm version of the headphones. It is so close what's bothering me...

the volume of windows (main/line..) has no effect on the loudness of ptq

when I play hard, ptq turns yellow. What I'm just trying now is: I have an Equalizer APO: I want to use it's preamp. maybe that works AND do you know if there is a ptq .dll file somewhere so I could open it inside this APO as a vstplugin --- but I guess this also won't work cause I'm just using standalone... hmm?

I'm of course not english native (german) and yeah. I'm just an analog guy who wants to practice piano=)

Never heard of a hardware APO equaliser.  A software one certainly won't do what you want.

If you have sonically transparent hardware that is compatible then sure try that. An EQ unit is unlikely to be the best quality but you never know.

80 ohm being the middle ground should be fine on all kinds of sound sources. Try it and let us know what you find.

Reply by sadhö

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Re: techfool asks about loudness headphones where what how

"Equalizer APO" is a free software ...

Reply by Key Fumbler

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Re: techfool asks about loudness headphones where what how

sadhö wrote:

"Equalizer APO" is a free software ...

In that case that won't work. Software doesn't have real electrical circuit gain.

Reply by sadhö

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Re: techfool asks about loudness headphones where what how

Dear Mr. fumbler of keys,

I am now waiting for my new audio-interface (I ordered the 1st place "Moto M2" of the video you recommended). I'm excited... the steinberg ones did badly, so I'm hoping for a big improvement

thanks again

Reply by Key Fumbler

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Re: techfool asks about loudness headphones where what how

sadhö wrote:

Dear Mr. fumbler of keys,

I am now waiting for my new audio-interface (I ordered the 1st place "Moto M2" of the video you recommended). I'm excited... the steinberg ones did badly, so I'm hoping for a big improvement

thanks again

I haven't worked through all the specifications in that video so I assume he said it has enough juice for those higher impedance headphones.
Anyway hopefully that does the trick for you. ☺️

Reply by sadhö

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Re: techfool asks about loudness headphones where what how

Wow! It does the trick and the whole thing sounds better... didn't think that would be possible, but it definitely does! hurray!!