[jaisin]

To start off, I previously owned the Shure E5c. I liked the Shures a lot, but I wanted something that didn't have as much isolation as IEMs. I bought the Grado 325i in September, but I didn't like them that much at the time. I've been using them a lot since then, and I have fallen in love with the open-air sound. I mostly use them with my Mac Pro, but I also use them with my 1st Gen iPod nano. I feel that my iPod drives them fairly well. I also have a pair of Shure E500s that I almost always use with my iPod.

anyway...

Today, I went to a certain store in Boston. I asked to try the AKG701. I didn't bring my music with me because it was an unplanned trip, but I did have my iPod on me. They didn't have an adaptor, so I wasn't able to listen to my own music. I like the AKG a lot, but the guy working there told me that the iPod was a bad source. He told me that it was very bad, and that I might as well not buy the AKG's if I was going to use an iPod with it. I asked him if it would be better with an amp, and he told me that I might as well listen to an AM radio. I told him my 325i worked well with the iPod, but he acted like I was an idiot. He told me that digital was bad. I even told him I used lossless files, but he said that digital music is like using an AM radio. I was really frustrated, and I just agreed with him and left.

Is it possible to use an iPod with a 701? Also, is the iPod really that bad of a source?

 

[sum]

If you have an amp, it'll be ok. It's still not the best source, but it will still be quite enjoyable.

 

[dw6928]

my 701s were barely tolerable with an ipod. they are power hungry and really
require a portable amp with an ipod to make them worth listening to.

 

[Davesrose]

It sounds like one of those uber yuppie music stores, you must have went to

The salesguy will always look down on you unless you follow his advise and only get expensive source equipment from them!!! I don't know if he's living in the stone age, or if maybe he is just a vinyl snob. If he said that digital was bad, that shows that he's either an idiot or just ignorant. Yes, a cheapy CD player might not sound as good as a mid level record player, but an expensive DAC with better yet, SACD....will trump a moderately priced record player. It is all about sources: there can be good analog or digital ones. And if AKG's literature is anything like Sennheisers, the headphone makers are always saying that their headphones are optimized for DAT, SACD,DVD, and CD.

 

[jinp6301]

yea that guy is an idiot. obviously an mp3 player isint going to give you the best signal, but a redwine imodded ipod with a xin amp paired with the k701 will be great. probably sound better then whatever the shop owner heard with a portable set

 

[ferraro25]

I think the K701 sounds great directly out of an iPod shuffle - at least the last generation of shuffles (what I have).

 

[ChaseD13]

well.....the ipod line out should sound pretty good.

anyone who is comparing lossless to am radio has never heard lossless. or any correctly encoded mp3s.

i bet if u blind tested that guy between vinyl and ipod line out (lossless) on what ever system he wanted that he wouldnt tell the difference.

its not that hard to decode digital audio. the ipod just doesnt amplify it to the needs of the k701.

digital pwns vinyl in convenience and portability, and the sonic quality gap is much smaller than the first two. but i respect those who enjoy vinyl, just i like carrying all my music in my pocket, not a uhaul.

 

[Dubzilla]

I'm waiting for my amp to arrive, and I admit that I've listened to my 701s through the ipod. It doesn't sound bad or anything, but no where near what I expect they'll sound like amped.

 

[wang228]

is that shop in harvard square?
i have a similar experience there.

 

[Hi-Finthen]

After telling the CSR you were using lossless I bet you confused the shoe salesman (last week) who equates it this way: MP3s played by High Definition Referance Quality Headphones known to need matching power amplification to achieve their referance quality potential as a waste and not a sale.

You know what you know. Your material encoded as you have it sounds "Good" with your Grados; Correct?
That is your point of referance . Which you should compare to other sources, IE CDPs for comparitive referance. To test for truth!

If that is true, then you only need to understand the AKG-701s will need amplification line out of your iPod due to their power hungry inefficientcy to achieve closer to their potential sonically presuposing the source and the material is up to the task to match.

Its fine to say the 701s will play and have listenable volume out of the phone jack of the iPod. That is one thing.
However, they will not be sonically near to the potential of the 701s and a waste of their ability compared to being otherwise hooked up to the iPod!

 

[warrior05]

i just don't get why these self proclaimed audiophile salespeople have to be such morons and espouse about something they obviously no nothing about. hearing stories like this just frosts my shorts to no end. man, i wish i was there with you. i would've talked this guy down till he cried "uncle". though of course he probably is someone if you told him the sky was blue he would disagree.

sorry. i'll calm down now.

by the way - i absolutely love the K701s! my imod'd ipod mated with the RSA Hornet make my AKGs absolutely sing sweet sweet music.

 

[jaisin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hi-Finthen /img/forum/go_quote.gif After telling the CSR you were using lossless I bet you confused the shoe salesman (last week) who equates it this way: MP3s played by High Definition Referance Quality Headphones known to need matching power amplification to achieve their referance quality potential as a waste and not a sale. You know what you know. Your material encoded as you have it sounds "Good" with your Grados; Correct? That is your point of referance . Which you should compare to other sources, IE CDPs for comparitive referance. To test for truth! If that is true, then you only need to understand the AKG-701s will need amplification line out of your iPod due to their power hungry inefficientcy to achieve closer to their potential sonically presuposing the source and the material is up to the task to match. Its fine to say the 701s will play and have listenable volume out of the phone jack of the iPod. That is one thing. However, they will not be sonically near to the potential of the 701s and a waste of their ability compared to being otherwise hooked up to the iPod!

Ya. I knew that they wouldn't be driven properly. Earlier I tried the Beyerdynamic DT 770 with my iPod, and it didn't sound how I thought it should. The only thing that made me mad is the guy seemed to think that it wouldn't even be worth amping an iPod.

 

[macm75]

The salesman is likely not an idiot or even a snob. I can relate and understand his feelings and possible frustration towards modern technology. But the bottom line is the guy has no right to tell you what is right and wrong about audio. The only way anyone ever understands is by experiencing it themselves. No salesman, critic, or even head-fi post is going to expose to you your audio truth. The only way to learn is by listening. Heck, you might even completely agree with the salesman at some point (but thankfully you'll not act like him).
Enjoy.

 

[jdimitri]

What a wanker..
But there is some truth to it, it wont sound great out of the ipod

 

[alpha80]

iPods are terrible @ anything less than 192 Kbps

iPods are Ok @ 320 kpbs

iPods playing back lossless is almost no different than a discman playing back 16/44.1k

Mint vinyl sounds the best, obviously.
24/96k sounds very good.
32/192k sounds really, really smooth.

TBH, you don't want to use a transparent headphone(K701) w/ an iPod.
Any high quality colored headphone will sound better w/ an iPod.

Real talk.