Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Dengan headphone yang baik, saya bisa mendengar suara penyiar dengan jelas tanpa harus menyetel volume tinggi. - With good headphones, I can hear the announcer’s voice clearly without having to set the volume high.

This is also grammatically correct, but the focus shifts more toward what I can do rather than under what condition I can do it. Fronting the dengan… phrase is a natural way in Indonesian to set the scene or condition at the start of the sentence.

What is the function of dengan here? Could I use menggunakan instead?

dengan literally means “with / by means of” and often introduces tools, methods, or accompanying things.

Dengan headphone yang baik ≈ With good headphones / By using good headphones

You can use menggunakan (“to use”) if you want a more explicit verb:

Dengan menggunakan headphone yang baik, saya bisa mendengar…
Saya bisa mendengar… dengan menggunakan headphone yang baik.

Differences:

dengan is shorter, very common, slightly more neutral and less “heavy”.
dengan menggunakan sounds a bit more formal or explicit (common in writing, instructions, formal speech).

All are correct; the original is natural and not overly formal.

Why is it headphone yang baik and not headphone baik?

In standard Indonesian, adjectives usually follow the noun:

headphone baik is not natural here.
The normal pattern is noun + adjective, e.g.
- rumah besar (big house)
- buku baru (new book)

Here, yang is used before baik:

headphone yang baik = “the headphones that are good / good-quality headphones”

yang is often used to:

Introduce a relative clause:
- orang yang tinggi = “the person who is tall”
Make the description sound a bit more specific or emphasize the quality:
- headphone yang baik sounds like “headphones that are (of) good (quality)”, not just any headphone.

You could also say:

headphone bagus

That’s very natural too. baik may sound a bit more formal / abstractly “good”; bagus is very common for “good / nice / of good quality” things in everyday speech.

Is there a difference between baik and bagus in this context?

Both can work, but there is a nuance:

baik: more general “good”, often used for behavior, morals, or quality in a more formal/neutral sense.
- orang yang baik (a kind/good person)
- kualitas yang baik (good quality)
bagus: “good / nice / great / excellent”, very common in daily speech for objects, results, performance.
- filmnya bagus (the movie is good)
- headphone bagus (good headphones)

In this sentence:

headphone yang baik = fine, slightly more neutral or formal.
headphone yang bagus = also very natural, maybe a bit more colloquial.

Native speakers would accept both.

Why is it saya bisa and not just saya + verb, or saya dapat?

bisa is a modal verb meaning “can / be able to”:

saya bisa mendengar = “I can hear / I am able to hear”

Without bisa, the meaning changes:

saya mendengar suara penyiar = “I hear the announcer’s voice” (a simple fact, not about ability)

bisa vs dapat:

bisa: very common in everyday speech.
dapat: slightly more formal or written. In many contexts they are interchangeable:
- Saya bisa mendengar…
- Saya dapat mendengar…

Both would be correct here; bisa is more colloquial and natural in speech.

Why is it mendengar and not just dengar? I’ve seen both.

dengar is the root. mendengar is the active verb form with the prefix meN-.

mendengar = standard / formal active verb: “to hear”
dengar (without meN-) is common in informal speech.

Examples:

Standard: Saya mendengar suara penyiar.
Colloquial: Saya dengar suara penyiar.

In spoken Indonesian, especially casual conversation, people often drop meN- for common verbs (e.g., makan → makan, melihat → lihat, mendengar → dengar). In writing or more careful speech, mendengar is preferred.

What does suara penyiar literally mean? Is it the same as “the announcer’s voice”?

Yes. suara penyiar is a noun + noun structure:

suara = voice / sound
penyiar = announcer, broadcaster

So suara penyiar literally = “voice of [the] announcer” → “the announcer’s voice”.

In Indonesian, possession or “of” relationships are usually just Noun1 + Noun2, where Noun2 explains or specifies Noun1:

rumah guru = the teacher’s house
mobil ayah = Dad’s car
suara penyiar = the announcer’s voice

There is no extra word like “of” or “’s” needed.

What exactly does penyiar mean? How is it different from pembicara or pembawa acara?

penyiar comes from the root siar (to broadcast) with the prefix peN-, which often forms “person who does X”:

siar → penyiar = broadcaster, announcer

Typical use:

A radio DJ
A TV news anchor
Someone whose job is to broadcast on radio/TV

Differences:

penyiar: a broadcaster/announcer (radio/TV).
pembicara: literally “speaker”; often used for a speaker at a seminar, conference, talk.
pembawa acara: host / MC of a show or event (TV host, event host).

In this sentence (suara penyiar), the context is likely radio/TV.

Why is it dengan jelas and not secara jelas? Are both correct?

Both dengan jelas and secara jelas can be used to form an adverb-like phrase “clearly”:

dengan jelas = with clarity / clearly
secara jelas = in a clear way / clearly

In practice:

dengan jelas is more common and feels more natural in everyday language.
secara jelas is also correct, often feels a bit more formal or technical, and is used more in written or formal contexts.

So you could say:

Saya bisa mendengar suara penyiar dengan jelas. (very natural)
Saya bisa mendengar suara penyiar secara jelas. (correct, but a bit more formal/less common in casual speech)

What is the role of tanpa harus here? Could I just say tanpa menyetel volume tinggi?

tanpa = without
harus = must / have to

tanpa harus menyetel volume tinggi = “without having to set the volume high”

The verb harus adds the nuance of necessity:
It’s not just that you don’t set it high, but that you don’t even need to set it high.

If you say:

…tanpa menyetel volume tinggi.

This focuses more on the action not happening: “without setting the volume high” (no mention of need/necessity).

So:

tanpa harus menyetel → “without needing to turn it up high” (emphasizes comfort / lack of necessity)
tanpa menyetel → “without turning it up high” (more neutral)

Is menyetel volume tinggi the only way to say “turn the volume up high”? Why no ke or lebih?

menyetel (from setel, “to set/adjust”) = “to set / to tune / to adjust”.

In the sentence:

menyetel volume tinggi = “to set the volume high”

No ke is required; tinggi works as the descriptive target:

menyetel volume tinggi
= set (the) volume (to) high

Other natural alternatives:

menaikkan volume = to raise / turn up the volume (focus on increasing)
menyetel volume ke tingkat yang tinggi = set the volume to a high level (more formal/explicit)
meningkatkan volume = increase the volume

You could also add lebih if you want to emphasize “higher” (comparative):

menyetel volume lebih tinggi = set the volume higher (than before)

But the original sentence just says “set the volume high”, so volume tinggi is fine and natural.

Why is there a comma after Dengan headphone yang baik? Is it required?

The comma after Dengan headphone yang baik separates the fronted adverbial phrase (a “with…” condition) from the main clause:

Dengan headphone yang baik,
saya bisa mendengar…

In Indonesian, when you put time, place, or condition phrases at the beginning, it is very common and recommended to use a comma:

Di pagi hari, saya berolahraga.
Kalau hujan, saya tidak pergi.

Is it absolutely mandatory? In many real-world texts it might be omitted, but in good, clear writing, the comma is preferred and is considered correct punctuation.

Does headphone here mean “headphone” or “headphones”? How does Indonesian handle singular and plural?

Indonesian generally does not mark singular vs plural on the noun itself:

headphone could mean a headphone, a pair of headphones, or headphones in general.

Plural is shown by context, numbers, or sometimes reduplication:

dua headphone = two headphones
banyak headphone = many headphones
headphone-headphone ini = these headphones (more formal / written style)

In this sentence, based on natural interpretation, headphone yang baik is understood as “a good pair of headphones / good headphones” without needing a separate plural form.

How formal or informal is this whole sentence? How would it sound in casual speech?

The original sentence is neutral and polite, suitable for:

everyday conversation
written texts (blogs, reviews, explanations)
semi-formal situations

A more casual version might be:

Dengan headphone yang bagus, aku bisa dengar suara penyiar dengan jelas tanpa harus naikin volume tinggi.

Changes:

saya → aku (more informal, friendly)
mendengar → dengar (dropping meN- form)
menyetel volume → naikin volume (colloquial “raise the volume”)

The original version is a good “standard” model for learners: natural, polite, and not overly formal.