[beekermartin]

I thought about using the regular RCA left and right outputs.  I am using XLR outputs to my amps so the RCA outputs aren't being used.  The downside to that is the volume control of the 886 will effect the volume of the LD.  In other words the 886 will be changing the gain.  Also, since I have a 7.1 setup and the left/right channels are crossed at 40hz I wouldn't get the full signal without having to change settings every time I use the headphone amp. 
 
I am not using Zone 2 or 3 but I am almost positive they only work with analog stereo inputs.  Which means I would have to run RCA cables for them to work.  Maybe there is a setting in the 886 that makes the tape monitor output work with digital inputs but I doubt it.  I will RTFM tonight and post on the 886 thread on avsforum. 
 
I mainly use the Oppo for listening to music but I do listen to a few concert HD DVDs and can stream music from my computer using the cable box.  Being able to use all sources without having to change any settings would be ideal.  I am getting the feeling it won't be that simple.  I could always use the headphone output of the 886 to feed the LD but obviously that would give far from ideal sound quality.   
 

 

[liamstrain]

I think using the zone 2 or 3 should by pass the 40hz cross (in theory anyway - unless it funnels that to the sub out). I don't know about the analog inputs only, but I don't see why it wouldn't feed through the signal. You would still have to deal with the variable volume, but in a quality pre-amp, that is half the point of it, so you should not be loosing much quality wise. 
 
Good luck, let us know what works. 
 
Pre-amps like this are one reason I love vintage gear. Much simpler.

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

I just received my Litte Dot i+ this evening.  It is stock, as far as I know, and I assume the gain is in the stock "low" setting.  I am going to pull it apart tomorrow and verify that.  Anyway, I connected it to my Oppo BDP-80 and AKG Q701s.  I only listened for a few minutes.  It does sound very good.  The only thing that took me by suprise is that I have to turn the volume up past halfway to get decent volume.  In fact I was able to turn it all the way up and it was loud but not extremely loud.  Does that sound about right for the LD i+ and the 701's? 
 
I am going to check on the gain setting tomorrow.  If it is on low I will try the high setting to see if that helps with the volume.  Don't get me wrong.  It is loud enough at the highest setting but I didn't think I would be able to listen with it set that high without it being painful.   

If it goes loud enough, I wouldn't get too worried about it.  Sounds like gain is set to low, is their a 0dB gain setting?
I can turn my La Figaro volume control full out, it doesn't distort, but it is a bit too loud.
 
 

 

[beekermartin]

I tried the high gain setting and the volume is much louder.  At @50-60% it is right around the perfect volume.  I am going to leave it at the high gain setting. 
 
On another note I am hearing some distortion in the left channel.  It is minor but it sounds like a slightly blown driver.  I am going to contact AKG to see if they will replace them under warranty.  I've only had them for about two weeks and all I did was leave them playing at low volume for a week or so.  I noticed that same distortion using my computers sound card and I assumed the distortion was caused by the soundcard.  Unfortunately there appears to be a defect in my 701's.  Hopefully AKG is easy to deal with. 

 

[liamstrain]

What kind of distortion? I had a bass "rattle" in my right driver for a while, which went away over the course of a week or so as the headphone broke in a bit. 

 

[beekermartin]

I did some serious listeining tonight to try to narrow down the distortion.  I listened to a lot of music but two things stood out.  I listened to Bob Dyland's Time Out of Mind.  That has a lot of low end bass.  Sure enought the distortion stayed in the left channel and I switched the headphones around to verify it wasn't my ears.  it is not my ears.  There is low end distortion in the left channel.  I then listened to the Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds Bluray and the distortion was barely evident.  Of course that disc has next to no low end.  Just two acoustic guitars and some effects.  I assume the distortion is in the low frequencies only.   I quess I could try to wait it out to see if it goes away with break in but I doubt it.  It was so bad while listening to Time Out of Mind that I had to turn it off.  I don't think it is going to correct itself with break in. I could be wrong of course.
 
On a side note, the DM and TR bluray sounded incredinble on the 701's and stock LD i+.  It wasn't as good as my speaker setup but it was damn good.  I think I wll be able to find a happy subsitute for my speaker setup using the 701's and LDi+ once I get the distortion figured out. 

 

[planx]

Just curious... Anyone try the Q701 with a hifiman EF2A?

 

[tdockweiler]

Quote:

Just curious... Anyone try the Q701 with a hifiman EF2A?

I hope someone has..i'd be interesting in knowing.
I've been thinking of getting a LD I+ or EF2a for my DJ100 and future Grado 225i.
 

 

[liamstrain]

I have the K702 and the EF2A - they play nicely together. 

 

[planx]

Quote:

Just curious... Anyone try the Q701 with a hifiman EF2A?

I hope someone has..i'd be interesting in knowing.
I've been thinking of getting a LD I+ or EF2a for my DJ100 and future Grado 225i.
 

The EF2A amps the SR225i very nicely with stock tubes. Bass and mids have significant improvement and the treble is subtle. I was worried at first because the SR225i is very easily powered and the EF2A's sensitive volume knob would surely blow my ears out, but it turned out the sensitive volume knob didn't affect the SR225i too much. Just be careful with IEMs. Raytheon tubes are coming so hopefully i'll like them

 

[planx]

I have the K702 and the EF2A - they play nicely together. 

Brilliant. Just stock tubes?

 

[liamstrain]

Quote:

Brilliant. Just stock tubes?

I ended up with the Mullard 8100/4010 tubes. I *think* I hear a difference, but have not blind tested them. Either way, they were cheap, and the pairing sounds good. I like it with my 225i as well, though there is quite a lot of gain, and I usually have to dial it down a touch in software.

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
I've run my Q701 from something as simple as the Fiio E11 and even my E10 and upwards of a Schiit Asgard & Lyr and frankly, it's not that big of a difference, if any.
 
  
 
Ultimately I find it's still just not that warm, not even as warm as my Hifimans (300/400/500). It drives fine from a lower powered source. I don't think you need massive amping to really get the worth of the Q701. I also don't think a warm tube amp helps much. But that's just my experience with it from several of my sources. I like the headphone, the Q701 is fantastic. My only beef with it is that it's just not warm enough for me, even though it's a little warmer than the K701 which was just too thin.
 
Very best,

 

[liamstrain]

Quote:

  
 
It drives fine from a lower powered source. I don't think you need massive amping to really get the worth of the Q701. 

Agreed. This is true of the K701/702 as well. I do, personally, like the tube warmth (and the EF2a has a very light hand with the tube inputs, it's pretty transparent) - tho it is hardly necessary. I frequently add a touch of EQ to most of my headphones anyway - so it's mostly a non issue.
 
I wish they were higher impedance, as I think they'd be great through the Bottlehead Crack - but I certainly don't see a need to throw tons of power at them unless you want to. 

 

[planx]

Great to know. I wasn't concerned by the amount of power required to drive them, I was looking for some other amps that works well. Glad to see that the Q701s work well with the EF2A and maybe my Raytheon tubes coming. Does the Q701 really sound nice with the E11? I find the E11 to be warmish/dark and wouldn't that interfere with the Q701s original sound sig? I like the E11 with some IEMs and HPs, and I dislike it with IEMs like my UM customs.