[Za Warudo]

I used a sine wave generator to test the difference between a modded side with an unmodded side, and most of the difference was at below 200Hz.

 

[ThurstonX]

Thought I'd post a word of caution for people thinking of making, or having made, a custom cable for your AKGs:
 
Tell the maker to switch pins 2 & 3 on the mini XLR
 
(this assumes a standard config on the TRS end)
 
In more detail
 
general XLR convention is:
 
pin 1: ground
pin 2: pos
pin 3: neg
 
and usually on 1/4 or mini TRS, tip = pos = left, and ring = neg = right
 
so, pin 2 = left, pin 3 = right
 
BUT, AKG reverses pins 2 & 3, so
 
Pin 1 : Ground
Pin 2 : Ring/Right
Pin 3 : Tip/Left
 
 
In doing research into making a cable for my HiFiMAN HE-500s I thought I might try one for my Q701s.  I came across a few posts that point out the fact that AKG does not wire in the standard way, at least for the US and perhaps elsewhere (I have no idea if there's a global standard for such things).  That made me suspicious of the cable I had Redco make.  Sure enough, left and right are reversed.  Easy to test with a balance adjustment  *sigh*
 
Now I'm definitely making a cable using some of the Mogami W2799 I got from Redco for the HE-500s project.  I used a thicker version of the Mogami Neglex Quad when I ordered my custom cable from them, and that was a mistake.  The W2799 is much better suited for headphone cables, being thinner.  FWIW, I've been using a $200 cable from plusSounds on my HE-500s, and I can't hear any obvious, immediate difference between it and my homemade cable.  Nothing against plusSounds.  They were easily the least expensive of all the makers I checked out, and had the most options to configure a cable.  If you're not a DIYer, I recommend them.  And I'd recommend Redco for reasonably priced cables using standard wiring and connectors, either for parts or making the cable.
 
On the positive side, I'm going to recycle my old custom Q701 cable and make a pair of short interconnects for my Bifrost-to-Lyr stack.  Silver linings and all that 

 
Just thought I'd throw that out there.

 

[ktm]

I just picked up a set of q701's 10 days ago used locally for $100.
I'm pretty happy with them. I pulled the bass port tape off, and did a little EQ in foobar.
It's hooked up to a ASL mg head OTL. The lead tube is an rca 7025, which is about
middle of the road for warmness.Much more lively than the hd-650's. Those have a habit
of sounding muddy and bloated in the bass, lower mids. I just never could get them right.
I find the bass to be about right. My PS500's have more bass and a overall warmer sound
(so unGradolike!).The comfort lever is a bit better, too. For whatever reason, the bumps don't
bother me. And I have thinning hair, plus a Marine style haircut.
Although they were used, I let them run in a couple of days, and real or imagined,
they sound better. Best $100 I ever spent. They certainly are power hungry.
So an amp is a good idea. So for me, it's between the ps500's and the q701's.
Both are good sounding cans. The current price on the q701's makes it easy to
afford a decent amp to drive them.

 

[eimis]

Congrats mate... 100 is a wonderful price

 

[larken]

  Thought I'd post a word of caution for people thinking of making, or having made, a custom cable for your AKGs:
 
Tell the maker to switch pins 2 & 3 on the mini XLR
 
(this assumes a standard config on the TRS end)
 
In more detail
 
general XLR convention is:
 
pin 1: ground
pin 2: pos
pin 3: neg
 
and usually on 1/4 or mini TRS, tip = pos = left, and ring = neg = right
 
so, pin 2 = left, pin 3 = right
 
BUT, AKG reverses pins 2 & 3, so
 
Pin 1 : Ground
Pin 2 : Ring/Right
Pin 3 : Tip/Left
 
 
In doing research into making a cable for my HiFiMAN HE-500s I thought I might try one for my Q701s.  I came across a few posts that point out the fact that AKG does not wire in the standard way, at least for the US and perhaps elsewhere (I have no idea if there's a global standard for such things).  That made me suspicious of the cable I had Redco make.  Sure enough, left and right are reversed.  Easy to test with a balance adjustment  *sigh*
 
Now I'm definitely making a cable using some of the Mogami W2799 I got from Redco for the HE-500s project.  I used a thicker version of the Mogami Neglex Quad when I ordered my custom cable from them, and that was a mistake.  The W2799 is much better suited for headphone cables, being thinner.  FWIW, I've been using a $200 cable from plusSounds on my HE-500s, and I can't hear any obvious, immediate difference between it and my homemade cable.  Nothing against plusSounds.  They were easily the least expensive of all the makers I checked out, and had the most options to configure a cable.  If you're not a DIYer, I recommend them.  And I'd recommend Redco for reasonably priced cables using standard wiring and connectors, either for parts or making the cable.
 
On the positive side, I'm going to recycle my old custom Q701 cable and make a pair of short interconnects for my Bifrost-to-Lyr stack.  Silver linings and all that 

 
Just thought I'd throw that out there.

I read about how the pins might have been reversed before, so when I made my own cable for the q701, I just used a multimeter instead to test; I was quite surprised to see that the pins on my set wasn't reversed, so the above might not be applicable to all q701s. FWIW, I bought mine fairly recently about 3 months ago.
 
Same thing when I tested the stock cables that came with it. Pin 2 was wired to the Tip, and Pin 3 was to the Ring.

 

[ThurstonX]

  I read about how the pins might have been reversed before, so when I made my own cable for the q701, I just used a multimeter instead to test; I was quite surprised to see that the pins on my set wasn't reversed, so the above might not be applicable to all q701s. FWIW, I bought mine fairly recently about 3 months ago.
 
Same thing when I tested the stock cables that came with it. Pin 2 was wired to the Tip, and Pin 3 was to the Ring.

 
That's a good point.  Definitely worth testing with the stock cable to see how ones particular set is wired.  Does that beg a question, I wonder:
 
What if AKG wires their stock TRS connector backwards, too.
 
Hmmm, not sure my brain is up to it at this vino-soaked hour 

 
Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[larken]

   
That's a good point.  Definitely worth testing with the stock cable to see how ones particular set is wired.  Does that beg a question, I wonder:
 
What if AKG wires their stock TRS connector backwards, too.
 
Hmmm, not sure my brain is up to it at this vino-soaked hour 

 
Thanks for pointing that out.

If both are wired backwards, then it becomes correctly matched  , making it just a regular trs to mini-xlr cable

.
 
the 2799 is a good choice. I made several cables for my headphones using stripped wires from it, and I couldn't be happier with the weight and ergonomics of the resulting cable (though I use it for a 6-8 strand braid).

 

[ThurstonX]

  If both are wired backwards, then it becomes correctly matched  , making it just a regular trs to mini-xlr cable

.
 
the 2799 is a good choice. I made several cables for my headphones using stripped wires from it, and I couldn't be happier with the weight and ergonomics of the resulting cable (though I use it for a 6-8 strand braid).

 
See, I told you it's too late for this schiit 

 
I was thinking about a stripped and braided cable to reduce the weight and make it more flexible.  Research for another day, but if you have any tips or links, hit me.

 

[larken]

   
See, I told you it's too late for this schiit 

 
I was thinking about a stripped and braided cable to reduce the weight and make it more flexible.  Research for another day, but if you have any tips or links, hit me.

Sure thing, I'll pm over a few useful links  when I get off work in a few hours.

 

[ThurstonX]

  Sure thing, I'll pm over a few useful links  when I get off work in a few hours.

 
Head-Fiers are the best  

 

[8mike8]

Hey guys!

After reading this great thread, I went ahead and broke my piggy bank and bought myself the Q701 from amazon.
And I must say, they sound amazing! so thanks to you all

my setup:
dell lapy -> Foobar (wasapi) ->  HiFimeDIY Sabre U2 Asynchronous USB DAC -> Q701

I just wanted to note that with this dac, although I rarely need to set the volume to it's maximum setting, it happens.
Furthermore, when i unplug my laptop from the power source, the volume is definitely not sufficient.

So here is my 2 cents: If you want to get the U2 USB DAC, than just get this model instead:
http://hifimediy.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=62_73&product_id=87
(HiFimeDIY Sabre USB DAC 2 (external PSU) - the Asynchronous USB model)

cheers! 

 

 

[Mama Krama]

For the life of me I can't do the bass mod. The screws I'm using to twist just end up scratching plastic and moving nothing.

 

[Za Warudo]

For the life of me I can't do the bass mod. The screws I'm using to twist just end up scratching plastic and moving nothing.

Use a couple of thumbtacks, the screws might be to thick to get a footing on the grill.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

A cheap pick tool from Harbor Freight or hardware store or auto parts place would do well for what you guys are trying to do:

 

[snowshoe]

You may also be turning in the wrong direction. I used the pointy end of my spudger.