Users of headphones/IEMs with OLED TVs, please help me with my setup.

[ravihpa]

Hey guys,

I'll be buying an LG C1 55 in a couple of months. I'm waiting for festive offers (Diwali offers) to begin in my country (India) as that's when we get the best prices on LG OLED TVs.

My concern is I can't get a soundbar or a surround sound system installed at home as it'll disturb my family. So the only options for me are headphones or IEMs. I prefer IEMs than headphones but I'm not one to shy away from an amazing experience and hence I can get a good headphone as well. My usage is going to be PC and console gaming and watching movies and TV shows.

I am a total noob at setting up a good audio setup. I have a kickass gaming PC but no audio gear so far. I only have my Blons BL-03 IEMs. My main concern and the most confusion is whether I should go wireless audio or wired.

Wireless - Maybe good quality wireless headphones or earbuds like Sony XM4s or something. Another thought process was getting Fiio BTR5 portable bluetooth amplifier which I can connect to TV via bluetooth and simply plug in the headphones or IEMs into it. But still, I have no idea what else is available in the market. Also, I read somewhere that there might be audio lag with OLED, lip sync issues, etc. Since I don't have the TV yet, I can't check for it.

Wired - Get a good quality dac/amp and run wires from the OLED to the dac/amp and then simply connect the headphones to it.

Also, what about Dolby Atmos? My friends were telling me that Dolby Atmos is mindblowing. What kind of audio setup will support Dolby Atmos? Which headphones/earphones? Will Dolby Atmos work with OLED?

Please guide me. I have zero knowledge about this and there is so much confusion. I am ready to invest in a good audio setup. I just need the right guidance in finalizing what exactly to get and then I'll just go get it.

Thanx a lot in advance. Desperately waiting for a reply

 

[fLUX]

Hey guys,

I'll be buying an LG C1 55 in a couple of months. I'm waiting for festive offers (Diwali offers) to begin in my country (India) as that's when we get the best prices on LG OLED TVs.

My concern is I can't get a soundbar or a surround sound system installed at home as it'll disturb my family. So the only options for me are headphones or IEMs. I prefer IEMs than headphones but I'm not one to shy away from an amazing experience and hence I can get a good headphone as well. My usage is going to be PC and console gaming and watching movies and TV shows.

I am a total noob at setting up a good audio setup. I have a kickass gaming PC but no audio gear so far. I only have my Blons BL-03 IEMs. My main concern and the most confusion is whether I should go wireless audio or wired.

Wireless - Maybe good quality wireless headphones or earbuds like Sony XM4s or something. Another thought process was getting Fiio BTR5 portable bluetooth amplifier which I can connect to TV via bluetooth and simply plug in the headphones or IEMs into it. But still, I have no idea what else is available in the market. Also, I read somewhere that there might be audio lag with OLED, lip sync issues, etc. Since I don't have the TV yet, I can't check for it.

Wired - Get a good quality dac/amp and run wires from the OLED to the dac/amp and then simply connect the headphones to it.

Also, what about Dolby Atmos? My friends were telling me that Dolby Atmos is mindblowing. What kind of audio setup will support Dolby Atmos? Which headphones/earphones? Will Dolby Atmos work with OLED?

Please guide me. I have zero knowledge about this and there is so much confusion. I am ready to invest in a good audio setup. I just need the right guidance in finalizing what exactly to get and then I'll just go get it.

Thanx a lot in advance. Desperately waiting for a reply

Hey Ravipah,

Hope you are doing good, I remember having a trade with you on TE for sansa clip earbuds

General wisdom IMO would be to get a decent BT capable dacamp , the BTR5 would suffice generally and at slightly higher price ranges you can look at Fiio Q5S (used units if it works) / Xduoo XD05/XD05+ and likewise.
Units like Fiio Q5S / Xduoo XD05 will serve you handy in long term too, the BTR5 are underpowered if you ever decide to upgrade your IEMS/Headphones into slightly demanding units. I am not a huge advocate of wireless IEMS/HP , although they are very convenient they sound really bad in comparison to wired counterparts.

If you could provide a budget we could work with acceptance margins for how much you can exceed , we can suggest some alternatives .

 

[ravihpa]

Hey Ravipah,

Hope you are doing good, I remember having a trade with you on TE for sansa clip earbuds

General wisdom IMO would be to get a decent BT capable dacamp , the BTR5 would suffice generally and at slightly higher price ranges you can look at Fiio Q5S (used units if it works) / Xduoo XD05/XD05+ and likewise.
Units like Fiio Q5S / Xduoo XD05 will serve you handy in long term too, the BTR5 are underpowered if you ever decide to upgrade your IEMS/Headphones into slightly demanding units. I am not a huge advocate of wireless IEMS/HP , although they are very convenient they sound really bad in comparison to wired counterparts.

If you could provide a budget we could work with acceptance margins for how much you can exceed , we can suggest some alternatives .

Hey there,

Call me Ravi I'm doing good. Thanx for asking. How are you? Yeah, I remember our transaction. It's been a while

I'll check out the Fiio Q5S and Xduoo XD05/XD05+.

So far, I don't have any budget. But I am not one to shy away from a decent audio setup. It'll be a one-time investment and I'm okay with that. For now, you can think of it as, money no bar. But of course, I don't wanna invest 1 Lakh in it, lol.

Just a side note, I'm not a music lover. I don't listen to music. I'm more of a video gamer and I love watching movies and TV shows. So maybe we can focus on that. I'll be getting a PS5 soon and already have a Nintendo Switch. I'd love to have the best audio experience when watching movies and playing video games. And it's quite unfortunate that I can't install a proper sound system for it, like my friends have, the 5.1 surround systems, etc. This is because I'm a night owl, and I don't wanna disturb my family. BTW, if it matters, I can get open-back headphones if I have to as my room door will be closed and I don't think they'll make that much sound so as to disturb anybody in the night (right?).

BTW, A friend suggested Zen Dac V2, and I fell in love with it. I was okay spending 13k on that dac/amp too as I read very good reviews on it. But I got stuck when I found out that the only audio in was PC?

Please guide me on how to proceed further.

PS: I don't mind running wires from my TV to my PC table, if it'll provide me the best experience. I'll anyways be running an HDMI cable from my PC to my TV. I'll be getting an LG C1 OLED (if that matters) and it'll be wall mounted above my bed, and my PC will be about 6 feet away from the TV.

Thanx a lot, buddy, for all the help

 

[fLUX]

Aah if you are more into video games and movies , see if you can get hold of Audeze Mobius. I had it for a few months , did really well for games and movies , was much better than other wireless solutions for music.

New was available for 28k odd 2 years back , no idea what the prices are like now

 

[ravihpa]

Aah if you are more into video games and movies , see if you can get hold of Audeze Mobius. I had it for a few months , did really well for games and movies , was much better than other wireless solutions for music.

New was available for 28k odd 2 years back , no idea what the prices are like now

Audeze Mobius not available anywhere. Besides, do you think I should go wireless?

 

[superczar]

Hey guys,

I'll be buying an LG C1 55 in a couple of months. I'm waiting for festive offers (Diwali offers) to begin in my country (India) as that's when we get the best prices on LG OLED TVs.

My concern is I can't get a soundbar or a surround sound system installed at home as it'll disturb my family. So the only options for me are headphones or IEMs. I prefer IEMs than headphones but I'm not one to shy away from an amazing experience and hence I can get a good headphone as well. My usage is going to be PC and console gaming and watching movies and TV shows.

I am a total noob at setting up a good audio setup. I have a kickass gaming PC but no audio gear so far. I only have my Blons BL-03 IEMs. My main concern and the most confusion is whether I should go wireless audio or wired.

Wireless - Maybe good quality wireless headphones or earbuds like Sony XM4s or something. Another thought process was getting Fiio BTR5 portable bluetooth amplifier which I can connect to TV via bluetooth and simply plug in the headphones or IEMs into it. But still, I have no idea what else is available in the market. Also, I read somewhere that there might be audio lag with OLED, lip sync issues, etc. Since I don't have the TV yet, I can't check for it.

Wired - Get a good quality dac/amp and run wires from the OLED to the dac/amp and then simply connect the headphones to it.

Also, what about Dolby Atmos? My friends were telling me that Dolby Atmos is mindblowing. What kind of audio setup will support Dolby Atmos? Which headphones/earphones? Will Dolby Atmos work with OLED?

Please guide me. I have zero knowledge about this and there is so much confusion. I am ready to invest in a good audio setup. I just need the right guidance in finalizing what exactly to get and then I'll just go get it.

Thanx a lot in advance. Desperately waiting for a reply

Unfortunately the only solution that would fir all your needs will be a full ATMOS setup which you cannot do because of other constraints.
WHat that would mean is you would need to prioritize as there is no one size fits-all answer for your requirements.

e.g. if your are going to use a console, it would be extremely difficult to go wireless as none of the current consoles support BT audio (it sounds odd, but that how it is)
If pristine audio is a priority, wired headphones with an external DAC+ amplifier would be the answer - but they will fail in surround

If surround/ atmos for movies is a priority, Apple TV with Airpods max (or pro) would be the right option (I use pro as a backup at nights - and I’d say it comes to 60% of the atmos experience from my normal speaker based setup - but I believe the max should come a lot closer)
However, they will not sound as good as the former for plain stereo.

Your first step should be to fix a budget and determine your priorities

 

[arj]

Hey guys,

I'll be buying an LG C1 55 in a couple of months. I'm waiting for festive offers (Diwali offers) to begin in my country (India) as that's when we get the best prices on LG OLED TVs.
----

Wireless - Maybe good quality wireless headphones or earbuds like Sony XM4s or something. Another thought process was getting Fiio BTR5 portable bluetooth amplifier which I can connect to TV via bluetooth and simply plug in the headphones or IEMs into it. But still, I have no idea what else is available in the market. Also, I read somewhere that there might be audio lag with OLED, lip sync issues, etc. Since I don't have the TV yet, I can't check for it.

--

Thanx a lot in advance. Desperately waiting for a reply

Have you considered RF wireless headphones ? they are excellent and have a better bandwidth and min distance than bluetooth. they usually have a separate transmitting unit with a built in DAC, or also taking analogue in.
eg

Sony Premium Lightweight Wireless Home Theater Headphones for TV Computer and Hi-Fi Audio : Amazon.in: Electronics

Sony Premium Lightweight Wireless Home Theater Headphones for TV Computer and Hi-Fi Audio : Amazon.in: Electronics

www.amazon.in

Sennheiser also has a good range on these with rechargeable batteries and option to add headphones to the same transmitting unit but at a much higher price range.

 

[fLUX]

Audeze Mobius not available anywhere. Besides, do you think I should go wireless?

If it was Audeze mobius wireless was good, they could he used wired too and was amazing for games and movies.

Wired is anyday better SQ wise , however since you don't have much preference towards how they should sound for music I don't think it will make sense investing a lot in headphones for gaming/ movies.
Ignore the atmos, it would be like virtual surround in the case of headphones and will need a dedicated HT setup.

 

[ravihpa]

Thanx a lot for all the help guys. I've decided to get the TV first. Since I'm gonna be going for a 65 inch C1 rather than the previous 55 C1, I gotta keep check on my finances for now

I'll be revisiting this thread later and checking out all the advice here and then finally make an informed decision about what kind of sound setup I'll be going forward with.

Thanx again for all the help. Really appreciate it

 

[ravihpa]

Hey guys, @fLUX @superczar

I got a crazy deal on Amazon for Sennheiser HD 650 and after some research and speaking with a few friends, went ahead and ordered them.

One of my friends even told me that these are "legendary" and can also do Dolby Atmos

After doing a little bit of research, I came to know that for getting Dolby Atmos from my LG OLED to these, I'll need to use Optical Out from TV and hence need to get a dac/amp that can receive Optical In.

What would you guys suggest?

 

[superczar]

Hey guys, @fLUX @superczar

I got a crazy deal on Amazon for Sennheiser HD 650 and after some research and speaking with a few friends, went ahead and ordered them.

One of my friends even told me that these are "legendary" and can also do Dolby Atmos

After doing a little bit of research, I came to know that for getting Dolby Atmos from my LG OLED to these, I'll need to use Optical Out from TV and hence need to get a dac/amp that can receive Optical In.

What would you guys suggest?

Dolby atmos on standard 2 driver headphones is done through time & phase manipulation of the output signal to simulate object placement.
Since this done via software, in theory, any headphone can support ATMOS.

however the only consumer oriented devices that can do the software handling are Apple devices eg apple TV (but no headphone out) or PCs (as far as I am aware)
The HD650 is an excellent headphone on its own so may not be worth the hassle of trying to use ATMOS with it IMO

 

[ravihpa]

Dolby atmos on standard 2 driver headphones is done through time & phase manipulation of the output signal to simulate object placement.
Since this done via software, in theory, any headphone can support ATMOS.

however the only consumer oriented devices that can do the software handling are Apple devices eg apple TV (but no headphone out) or PCs (as far as I am aware)
The HD650 is an excellent headphone on its own so may not be worth the hassle of trying to use ATMOS with it IMO

Understood. That is some great advice.

My whole idea is to get a kickass headphone for gaming and movies on TV. Can you please help me on how is the best way to connect it to the TV? I also want to connect it to my PC.

One friend was recommending a Schiit Modi 3+ from headphonezone since it also has optical in.

All in all, I just wanna have a good time watching movies and playing games on my OLED TV. Please guide me.

 

[BLASTO]

Please try oppo enco m31 with the LG oled. It has dual mode, one flat and one bass boosted.. Flat goes very well with music and bass boosted mode go very well with movies without hindering the dialogues.
I know you will be tempted to discard it for the price but it is a real diamond amoung the dust and I can vouch for the pairing with LG oled.

As for sennheiser, I dont know how it can do atmos. It is a stereo headphone. You will need a headphone amp to drive it properly.

 

[superczar]

Understood. That is some great advice.

My whole idea is to get a kickass headphone for gaming and movies on TV. Can you please help me on how is the best way to connect it to the TV? I also want to connect it to my PC.

One friend was recommending a Schiit Modi 3+ from headphonezone since it also has optical in.

All in all, I just wanna have a good time watching movies and playing games on my OLED TV. Please guide me.

The HD650 is a bit of overkill tbh for the intended use case.
It’s meant ideally for desk usage with a headphone amp.

Using an amp driven headphone with a tv will be an ergonomic nightmare.

It may not be a bad idea to get a decent tws on the side for your tv .. AirPods, pixel buds, Samsungs are all heavily discounted currently.

Keep the 650 aside for usage with a PC or such combined with any decent headphone amp

 

[ravihpa]

The HD650 is a bit of overkill tbh for the intended use case.
It’s meant ideally for desk usage with a headphone amp.

Using an amp driven headphone with a tv will be an ergonomic nightmare.

It may not be a bad idea to get a decent tws on the side for your tv .. AirPods, pixel buds, Samsungs are all heavily discounted currently.

Keep the 650 aside for usage with a PC or such combined with any decent headphone amp

I jumped on the HD 650 because I got it for 20k in a crazy good Amazon lightning deal. About the ergonomics, there shouldn't be a problem as I'll anyhow be running a 2.1 HDMI cable from my TV to PC desk next to it. Since I'm doing that, I can easily run an optical out from TV to the dac/amp on the PC desk. The dac/amp will also be connected to the PC.

About tws, I read up that there is sync issues with even the latest and greatest, like Sony XM4 headphones. Nonetheless, it has always been the case that wired is the way to go. I might get Sony XM4 earbuds or Oneplus Buds Pro in the future.

But please help me out with the best setup for the HD 650 now.

I have a friend who's relatives are coming from US at the end of this month, which opens up the possibility of getting a good dac/amp at a decent price.

Another friend of mine suggested the Schiit stack -- Schiit Modi 3+ (for the dac) and Schiit Magni Heresy (for the amp). Both are $99 each. Are these worth getting? Or is there something better I can try to get from the US?

Or if I can get something decent over here itself, I would not hesitate to purchase.

Thanks