I had a Focal Bathys. They sounded great, but the build quality was laughable for such a high priced pair of headphones. Some plastic bit broke and they've become unusable after only two years.

So I bought some cheaper BT headphones just for home office purposes, calls and such.

And I treated myself to a dedicated USB DAC (iFi Zen DAC v3) plus wired headphones (Hifiman Arya Organic) connected with a balanced cable.

Never going back - I don't think that kind of sound quality is even possible with Bluetooth.

[–] lime@feddit.nu 2 points 1 week ago (2 children)

it's absolutely possible, since the signal is digital. you can get bluetooth DACs with balanced output.

[–] glorkon@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

When I mentioned "balanced output" I was referring to the analogue cable I'm using to connect the headphones to the DAC. Balanced means you get separate channels for each ear in your analogue signal path.

With a Bluetooth connected wireless headphone, it's always balanced by definition. But when I said "that kind of sound quality isn't possible" with Bluetooth, I was referring to a different problem: Digital to analogue signal conversion.

In my setup, it happens in the DAC which is audiophile quality. Signal path: PC - (digital USB) -> DAC -> Balanced cable (analogue) -> Headphones.

In Bluetooth, it looks like this: PC - Bluetooth (digital) -> Headphones (which do the digital to analogue conversion).

This signal conversion can't match the quality of a dedicated desktop DAC.

[–] lime@feddit.nu 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

i know what a balanced output is. i am saying that there are dedicated audiophile-grade, battery powered bluetooth receiver DACs with balanced output, which you can plug any wired headphones into, usually through a 2.5 or 4.4mm jack so you don't blow up your cheap pairs. they usually come with a built-in mic and a lapel clip so you can use them to take calls. FiiO is a big brand that makes these, but there's a whole market.

[–] glorkon@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Well, but that wasn't the use case I was talking about at all. I was talking DAC + wired headphone vs. Bluetooth headphones.

You're talking about wired headphones with a Bluetooth DAC. Entirely different thing.

The only difference in that setup is the connection between PC and DAC. USB or Bluetooth. I could connect my Arya Organic to a Bluetooth DAC, of course. Nonetheless, you completely misunderstood my entire point.

[–] lime@feddit.nu 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

usually if you use bluetooth headphones it's because you want wireless headphones. you were saying that it wasn't possible to get the same quality when using bluetooth and i'm telling you it's entirely possible. you weren't talking about a usecase to begin with, only that you were not happy with the headphones you had tried.

[–] glorkon@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Again, when I said it wasn't possible to get the same quality using Bluetooth, I meant using Bluetooth headphones, not a Bluetooth DAC and wired headphones. And this is the second time I'm explaining that to you, not going to waste my time doing it three times.

[–] lime@feddit.nu 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

i am not getting that from any of your earlier comments.

[–] glorkon@lemmy.world 0 points 1 week ago

Then you didn't even really read what I said. I even described the two different kinds of signal paths I was talking about in my first response to you.

This has been a waste of time. Have a nice day.

[–] glorkon@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

Also, might I add, I have tried just about all the highend Bluetooth headphones.

Dali IO-12, Mark Levinson No 5909, Focal Bathys, B&W Px8, T+A Solitaire T, Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H100. In a shop which had them all available to try. I've compared them with the Arya Organic and the Meze 109 Pro (both wired).

The Bluetooth headphones I liked the most were the Dali. They really came close to the wired ones. But then again, I would advise you to check out the Hifiman Arya Organic at a local dealer if you can. You will definitely know what I'm talking about.