[KamillaLove]

I will buy my husband the new K812 to replace his K702, but what amplifier do they need? He has them plugged into a EMU 0404 USB DAC.

 

[kimvictor]

  I will buy my husband the new K812 to replace his K702, but what amplifier do they need? He has them plugged into a EMU 0404 USB DAC.

Lovely. Yet, not that many people here own the K812 as of now, so it's hard to tell which amplifier will pair well. I say get the K812 and wait on the amplifier until there are more experienced users that tried multiple amps.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I will buy my husband the new K812 to replace his K702, but what amplifier do they need? He has them plugged into a EMU 0404 USB DAC.

Audio-GD NFB-15.32, DAC/Amp, $255+shipping
Audio-GD NFB-11.32, DAC/Amp, $339+shipping
The 15.32 is more musical & smooth
The 11.32 is a little more detailed

 

[zenpunk]

You should ask our great Oracle Nomax. 

 

[BillsonChang007]

Yes! Ask our Nomax!

As far as I know thought, the K812 is very easy to drive... Almost anything will do

 

[Makiah S]

 
Audio-GD NFB-15.32, DAC/Amp, $255+shipping
Audio-GD NFB-11.32, DAC/Amp, $339+shipping
The 15.32 is more musical & smooth
The 11.32 is a little more detailed

Agree'd the Audio GD Amp Dac como units are very nice, either one should work very nice depending on his tastes! Then once more experinced users get a chance to pair the K812 with a nice'r I suppose a nice Birth Day gift would be a higher end Amp.
 
The Audio GD amps have a DAC line out as well. which will par with the sub sequant new amp purchase. Or if he likes the Audio GD unit he has, audio Gd it self sells better versisions of the low end amp dac units. 

 

[jespersen]

If your husband is very into the audiophile "thing", then he might have a very specific idea about what sound he wants. That said it seems likely that the K812 will be a very good pair of allround headphones even though only a few have heard it so far.
 
As for pairing it with an amplifier I concur with kimvictor that it might be a good idea to wait for further reviews; especially since the K812 has low impedance but high sensitivity, possibly demanding something different from the amp than many other high end headphones. As far as I can see (I haven't heard it personally) the E-MU 0404 has both a headphone amp and a dac, so why not try out that in themeantime?
 
So far the previews state that the k812 sounds good off even reasonably low end amps, however, it may scale well with high end ones. If a better amp is wanted he probably wants a better DAC unit also, since I presume (again, I havent heard the E-MU 0404) that this ~150$ all in one unit is significantly less quality than what the K812 will be able to bring to the table.
 
Cost and performance of DAC's and amps can vary greatly - often many times the cost of the headphones themselves. High-end amp bets could be the blue hawaii (tubes) or the SPL Phonitor (transistor) and the Lehmann linear was used for the K812 press introduction, so maybe another good bet ig high-end is wanted. As for DAC's I would point towards the NAD M51 for a solid performer, but again there are many options. Seperates allow for easier future upgrades, however, if he wants a small table top unit he might prefer a combined DAC/Amp. Depending on his needs/wishes there is a massive amount of other options to fit any taste and wallet, some good ones already mentioned which might very well be satisfactory for a long time. Note that some products may be harder to get than others (ordering from overseas etc.). Another entry level option could be the NAD D1050 DAC/amp, which could be a good/innovative table-top starter product.
 
Good luck - I'm sure your husband will be very happy with the new AKG.

 

[KamillaLove]

Thanks for all the responses guys 

 

[Nomax]

Yes! Ask our Nomax!

As far as I know thought, the K812 is very easy to drive... Almost anything will do

the best Brother FOR the akg k812 is the SPL phonitor or in two weeks the New flagship from SPL!regards nomax

 

[BillsonChang007]

the best Brother FOR the akg k812 is the SPL phonitor or in two weeks the New flagship from SPL!regards nomax

Nomax rocks! Thanks for the info

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Thanks for all the responses guys 

Might want to wait until early December before ordering whatever you get.
I would assume most places are very liberal with their return policy right after Christmas, for electronics.
but try to plan out to be able to return with in 30 days.
Otherwise they might only offer store credit, instead of a refund.

 

[Nomax]

Nomax rocks! Thanks for the info

You're welcome!nomax

 

[zorin]

  I will buy my husband the new K812 to replace his K702, but what amplifier do they need? He has them plugged into a EMU 0404 USB DAC.

I understand that you want to buy K812 for your husband, that is fine but if you do not know much about amplifiers, which judging by your question seems to be so, then let him decide what he needs. I assume that he has better knowledge regarding amplifiers. Your decision to buy some amplifier might be wrong one and not to his need or liking. Just give him the headphones and some intimacy in place of an amplifier.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Thanks for all the responses guys 

You can always ask here about what people are using to drive their K812 headphones.
This way you might have some ideas for your husband.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/684779/new-akg-k812

 

[cszdcr]

How lucky your husband is 

My families totally don't understand my headphone interests