Speakers at home. Nothing compared to dynamic range there.
Over the ear headphones on planes. More comfortable for longer wears, good sound quality, and they block out the crying baby if you get active noise cancelling
Ear buds for short rides on the bus/train. Pop em in and go
Headphones because I use hearing aids and thus I can't use earbuds at the same time. Speakers if there is no one around and/or I'm just tired of headphones.
Hopefully some day the Steam Deck will include Bluetooth LE audio and LC3 codec and then I will be able to stream directly into my hearing aids :)
Don't know what codec it uses but it works fine with Phonaks.
Yes I know, that is because Phonak use Bluetooth classic, and older standard with more lag, more battery consumption and less quality but far more compatibility. I heard you can connect a Phonak to pretty much anything Bluetooth capable, even old dumb phones or mp3 players.
I have the Resound Nexia which use Bluetooth LE audio, MFI and ASHA protocol which are supposedly better but you need devices that support them. MFI is for Apple devices and ASHA is Android exclusive. But outside of that you are pretty much screwed. LE Audio and the LC3 codec are here (since several years ago) to fix that but adoption it's being very slow.
For what I've read the distro in which Steam OS is based has already BT LE audio and the LC3 codec support built in but it is up to Valve to implement it at a OS level. One can dream :)
I mostly use the built-in speakers. Sometimes my IEMs, using a USB-C dongle as my OLED's headphone jack is pretty noisy (I know it's easy to fix, but I haven't gotten around to it yet).
as my OLED's headphone jack is pretty noisy
How?
It's not shielded properly, so the surrounding electronics cause crackles, buzzing and similar noise. AFAIK this was the case for all OLED models on launch. Might be fixed for newer ones, I'm not sure. Apparently it can be fixed by opening the Deck and sticking on some eletric insulation tape.
Earphones because fan is too loud for speakers and headphones too big
IEMs. Larges headphones are cool and all, but I have a fro so the head dent is real.
Depends entirely on what environment I'm in and to some degree even my mood. Sometimes you just want to slap some headphones on and erase the rest of the world. Sometimes you just want a more full rich experience where it feels the room you can move around freely. Sometimes it doesn't matter at all
I usually just use the deck speakers, but I'm usually playing at home and want to be able to hear what else is happening in the house. If I really need to hear the audio or if I'm using voice chat I usually just use my bluetooth ear buds.
Speakers, but I live around other people, so headphones all the way.
On the SD I used to just use the built in speakers all the time. Literally years, I have a launch console.
But just two weeks ago I discovered they still make earbuds that sit in your ear instead of in your ear canal. Like, quality ones. And now that's all I use.
They're perfect because they sound great, but still let outside noise in, so if my wife starts talking to me I don't just ignore her. But they're also small and fit in the case, good for travel.
I'm having a very hard figuring out what you are describing, but im also huge into Ear Buds, I just hate not being able to hear my surroundings when it gets dark.
Could you share an example?
I use the same earphones I use on my phone, I would prefer to use overear headphones but the only ones I own require a dedicated amp to drive and I hate having dongles hanging off my stuff...
I use IEMs through a dongle dac because I have an OLED that has interference on the audio board and I've been too lazy to open it up to isolate it and I don't want to wait to send it into Valve for repair.
I use my IEMs 😎
For my PC I prefer headphones for the immersion. When on the Steam Deck, I use in ear buds. I have a handful of Apple ear pods I’ve amassed over the years that I’ll use when I’m trying to get some quick gaming in. If I get a chance to really sit down and game for an hour or more, I use my JBL Quantum TWS with the USB C receiver. Total immersion, excellent sound quality, noise canceling, and incredible latency. Battery life could always be better, but they’ll comfortably get me through a solid gaming session on the Deck.
I don’t use the speakers on my Deck at all. I probably should play some games with it and see how I like it.
Earbuds for activity. They cancel out distractions and mostly I'm listening to podcasts.
Open-back headphones for gaming and music listening. High dynamic range and side to side balance is important.
Studio monitors for casual listening or movie watching. Best low end response and can move a lot of air.
I would probably prefer headphones if I could stand wearing things on my ears longer than 30 minutes. Even if they're super comfortable and don't squeeze my ears, after a bit they start feeling hella hot and like they're being squeezed. The audio quality is better and easier to hear, but I'm way more comfortable physically using speakers.
My Phillips Fidelio over ears, but the built-in speakers are surprisingly adequate.
honestly I prefer games have really good hearing accessibility options and UI so I can mute the game and play while I listen to an audiobook with my partner... and then my shure aonic 50 bt/wired headphones, third favorite being sony xm3/xm4 (and newer versions) bt/wired headphones.
Speakers, because that implies I have room for a baller setup. IEMs otherwise because glasses.
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