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boonemos t1_j1v31fb wrote

In somewhat reverse order, Digital to Analog Converter usually refers to an adapter that lets you plug in headphones through the USB port. Apple does a better than average job for audio things except when it comes to actually having ports to plug audio equipment into. Dongle is pretty cheap but I like the Qudelix 5K. While they don't pay me to shill it would be rad if they did.

While Apple Music doesn't have everything in their library... I don't think any of them do... the lossless support is really nice! Windows environment sucks but moving out of it is a good way to have less losses in your signal chain. Still not really sure of a good Windows service to cache and stream losslessly though that matches the apple library.

For the good ol' m8 Sennies, I'm seeing 300ohm impedance which can limit how loud they can get. I think this community is getting better at trying to not blast out their ears with open backs so you might not even need an amp at all! Yeah, the amp helps if you want to get L O U D. Thing is, it's hard to find papers that explicitly state how different listening when it comes to having more powerful amplifiers. Until some more research comes out on it, we're kind of in a spot where people are going to defend spending lots of money. You'll probably do fine with the dongle if what I see from https://old.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/ecf1ud/apple_usbc_to_35mm_adapter_impressions/ and https://www.headphonesty.com/headphone-power-calculator/ are right, but the build quality on the dongles are iffy so I would recommend getting two apple dongles when the first one breaks in a few months like mine did, a 5K, or something more expensive if you're curious.

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ManlyDude1047 OP t1_j1v5krf wrote

I have the dongle already because although I am a windows fanboy I just can’t get used to android phones. When I swapped to the Ipad It was crazy how much the audio improved. I thought I was streaming losless high-res (to my shure se215 and porta-pro’s).

Hope it all sounds good, I guess we’ll see tomorrow!

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boonemos t1_j1v8e4l wrote

While I won't disagree about how it's fun to hate on Windows, it should have decent support for 44.1KHz and 24-bit playback. Off the shelf, apple has nonmiddling electronics so I can see why it would sound better. I'm guessing you already ran full volume on windows with PEACE? Did it sound different with the dongle? It's highly likely the motherboard came with a noisy sound chip if it's years old. Anyways, best of luck with the new setup!

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ManlyDude1047 OP t1_j1vd5iv wrote

I did mess with Peace, yes and I also downloaded some FLAC files "legally" to see if the difference was about my source files. I don't really like going full volueme on anything my ears are a bit sensitive after going to the club a total of 6 times in my entire life. But it was night and day! Even on bluetooth what I got out of the Ipad and the windows is crazy different. See the thing is I recently discovered this and I am not really good at troubleshooting OR problem solving for that matter. If anyone asks "Lossless high-res" saved my life and for the rest I have no idea why one sounds better then the other. I just know I enjoy my current setup at least 56x times more.

The motherboard is a stock HP so I have no hopes for the sound card to be any good anyway, I just had the accidental step to the "other side" and now can't turn back.

Also, I don't know if thats realted either but turning off Dolby Atmos really imroved my experience as well it seems like. Other than anything Pat Benatar ever sung which is weird...

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boonemos t1_j1vfahz wrote

Might take a few minutes, but try turning off Enhancements and Spatial sounds in the Sounds Playback Properties. And try at least Studio Quality (24bit 44100Hz) in the Advanced Default Format. For PEACE, run it at 100% and use the Pre Amplifying to get it to a nice comfortable volume. Could help a little or be completely worthless but it doesn't cost any money. Supposedly this should minimize how much noise is passed through the chain. Cheers!

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