[Hawaiiancerveza]

I'm really enjoying it out of my Lavry Da11 while listening to applelossless music. Feels... right...very neutral to my ears.  

 

[stv014]

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Well i have a X-FI Titanium HD soundcard, you cant get much better,its top of the line as far as computer soundcards go.  I may not being hearing the full potential of the Q701s, but the highs seem tinty, they kind of hurt my ears on some songs, the bass is not bad, the mids are decent, its hard for me to describe.

 
The headphone output of the Titanium HD has an impedance of 35.6 Ω (according to goldenears.net), and this does boost the highest treble frequencies slightly with the K701/Q701. But this is a relatively minor difference (about 1.3 dB at 20 kHz), so you may simply prefer a darker sounding headphone like the HD650.

 

[Katun]

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By those graphs, I'd avoid the PX100-II like the bubonic plague. Way too dark going by those graphs, and if there's anything that can be said about most Senns, is that they tend to go to the darkside, quite a bit more than I'd prefer. The Q701 is fine in the treble range for me. Any smoother, and I'd probably hate them.

 
I don't mind stock sound and find it quite nice. But I personally prefer a 5db increase around the 4K region and 7K region.

 

[Chris J]

I don't mind stock sound and find it quite nice. But I personally prefer a 5db increase around the 4K region and 7K region.

I think us Q lovers are all closet trebleheads!
LOL!

 

[PurpleAngel]

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I'm pretty sure the Q701 is 62ohm... just saying...

Dam, that is right 62-Ohm, not the only time I've made that mistake.
At least I'm only off by 7-ohms.

 

[Soundfreak33]

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The headphone output of the Titanium HD has an impedance of 35.6 Ω (according to goldenears.net), and this does boost the highest treble frequencies slightly with the K701/Q701. But this is a relatively minor difference (about 1.3 dB at 20 kHz), so you may simply prefer a darker sounding headphone like the HD650.o

Ok thats good to know, thats the problem i have with them, the highs are just to bright.  Im going to return them for a refund and try something else, thanks.

 

[tdockweiler]

Quote:

 
The headphone output of the Titanium HD has an impedance of 35.6 Ω (according to goldenears.net), and this does boost the highest treble frequencies slightly with the K701/Q701. But this is a relatively minor difference (about 1.3 dB at 20 kHz), so you may simply prefer a darker sounding headphone like the HD650.

Have you even tried the Q701 with the Titanium HD? I wish people would stop spreading this non-sense about how a higher output impedance on an amp/soundcard is automagically going to boost some headphones frequency response. If you've tried this combination then OK. People should test things before assuming it would do this. People say this all the time about the E9 too and it's annoying. The 10 ohm output on the E9 doesn't mess with the sound of the Q701 at all.
 
The reason he probably doesn't like it is PROBABLY due to source and lack of proper amping. The Titanium doesn't have a dedicated amp. If he was using it with a full desktop amp i'm sure his opinion would be slightly different.
 
The Q701 in my experience is more harsh and fatiguing when it's not amped properly. Like with the E10 and using a LOD cable. With my Micro Amp or even the E9 it's not even remotely fatiguing with it's treble. If it ever is it's crappy recordings.
 
I really don't understand why people buy the Q701 without an amp. Despite the lower ohm rating they're one of the harder headphones to drive properly. Sure, you get loud volume levels but that doesn't mean squat. Q701+portable amps makes me sad

 

[Soundfreak33]

Quote:

Have you even tried the Q701 with the Titanium HD? I wish people would stop spreading this non-sense about how a higher output impedance on an amp/soundcard is automagically going to boost some headphones frequency response. If you've tried this combination then OK. People should test things before assuming it would do this. People say this all the time about the E9 too and it's annoying. The 10 ohm output on the E9 doesn't mess with the sound of the Q701 at all.
 
The reason he probably doesn't like it is PROBABLY due to source and lack of proper amping. The Titanium doesn't have a dedicated amp. If he was using it with a full desktop amp i'm sure his opinion would be slightly different.
 
The Q701 in my experience is more harsh and fatiguing when it's not amped properly. Like with the E10 and using a LOD cable. With my Micro Amp or even the E9 it's not even remotely fatiguing with it's treble. If it ever is it's crappy recordings.
 
I really don't understand why people buy the Q701 without an amp. Despite the lower ohm rating they're one of the harder headphones to drive properly. Sure, you get loud volume levels but that doesn't mean squat. Q701+portable amps makes me sad

I didnt know i was going to need a amp, the K550s sounded fantastic out of the box on my Titanium HD.   Im going to buy a E9 and try it, just to say i tried it and see what happens.  Everybodys ears hear things differently, just like some people love green beans, others hate it.  I may be sensitive to pitchy treble, i know that the hights are very bright with my current soundcard, so i will see what a E9 will do for me, but it will need to be quite a difference for me to consider keeping these.  I will say i do like the bass, its tight, clean, its there when you need it on my kind of music, so thats the positive.

 

[LugBug1]

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I really don't understand why people buy the Q701 without an amp. Despite the lower ohm rating they're one of the harder headphones to drive properly. Sure, you get loud volume levels but that doesn't mean squat. Q701+portable amps makes me sad

Some good advice there folks. 
 
The Q/K70X's can be wonderful, or really quite bad. And it all depends on what you feed them.  
 
I simply wouldn't recommend these phones to anyone on a small source budget, they are never gonna show what they are capable of with anything other than at least midprice equipment. IMO ofcourse.
 
Problem is, akg have been selling them to look cool and funky with the lime green and sporty look etc, when infact they are not the most fun headphone out there. They are definitely not! They were originally designed for studio and high end hifi. Plug them into an ipod and they are going to sound poop.. simple as.  Plug them into a cheap cmoy amp and they will sound as good as the amp is.
 
Give them a quality, dynamic dac and amp and they will blow the competition away, they are that transparent!
 
Cheers

 

[Soundfreak33]

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Some good advice there folks. 
 
The Q/K70X's can be wonderful, or really quite bad. And it all depends on what you feed them.  
 
I simply wouldn't recommend these phones to anyone on a small source budget, they are never gonna show what they are capable of with anything other than at least midprice equipment. IMO ofcourse.
 
Problem is, akg have been selling them to look cool and funky with the lime green and sporty look etc, when infact they are not the most fun headphone out there. They are definitely not! They were originally designed for studio and high end hifi. Plug them into an ipod and they are going to sound poop.. simple as.  Plug them into a cheap cmoy amp and they will sound as good as the amp is.
 
Give them a quality, dynamic dac and amp and they will blow the competition away, they are that transparent!
 
Cheers

I would love to hear that sound you talk about on these, so is a E9 ? a waste of money on these, cause im not spending $300 on a amp

 

[LugBug1]

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I would love to hear that sound you talk about on these, so is a E9 ? a waste of money on these, cause im not spending $300 on a amp

Come on over my friend I'd love to show you!
 
I don't want to get into the old argument of source being equal to hp. But, my point was that although the Q/K's are now a lot cheaper than they once were doesn't mean that they are going to synergise with cheaper equipment. I haven't heard the E9 so can't comment, used to have an E7 and thought it was great with IEM's. What always surprises me with the Q/K's is the amount of comments on the harshness/brightness in the treble... I have only heard harshness on very old recordings, this is because old recordings are harsh. The AKG's are one of the most transparent hp's out there. What you hear is what is there.. Warts n'all. This is why I don't necessarily agree with their recent marketing. AKG for me has always stood for studio reliability (Sorry Quincy).
 
I've only recently started using the K702's as a home hifi hp, used to think the K701's were a bit cold and lifeless. This was until I used them with a half decent set-up, I now consider them very highly.

    

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

You didn't know the Q701 would need an amp? It's only been CONSTANTLY mentioned on Head-fi since the K701 days.

They will reward you when amped, though you're into a darker sound, sound they may just not be for you. You may as well get a Sennheiser then.

 

[Neosk]

Does a dedicated amp really help the Q701s out?
 
I tried listening to them out of my desktop headphone jack, udac 2, iphone, and fiio e11 and couldn't really distinguish the differences between these sources, except the bass boost on fiio e11. All of these sources had ear-piercing treble on several of the songs I listened to, so I added additional dampening to the Q701s.
 
After experimenting on and off for a few months with the dampening, I found the perfect combination for my ears that subdued the treble just enough to eliminate most sibilance without over darkening the headphones. From that point, I have been loving these headphones ever since (after modding the painful bumpy headband) and couldn't imagine other headphones that excels much more than the Q701s.
 
So my question is, If I invest in an odac/o2 combo will I hear a significant improvement? I have been enjoying them underamped the whole time and I don't really hear a loss in dynamics, bass(maybe impact), midrange, or treble. They sound amazing but that nagging curiosity is making me question otherwise since the K701s are notoriously power hungry.

 

[Soundfreak33]

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You didn't know the Q701 would need an amp? It's only been CONSTANTLY mentioned on Head-fi since the K701 days.
They will reward you when amped, though you're into a darker sound, sound they may just not be for you. You may as well get a Sennheiser then.

I been on this forum 3 weeks, not 3 years, so no i didnt know they needed a amp.

 

[hsubox]

I been on this forum 3 weeks, not 3 years, so no i didnt know they needed a amp.

Get yourself a $60 cmoy amp ( I have the jdslabs one ). It's a great intro to amps, portable, not very expensive, and sounds pretty good with the Q701s. And also, it's better than no amp at all.