[iancraig10]

My O2 drives the k612 fine. You are right - it does need the same power as the 601 but I haven't found it problematic as far as power goes.

At the moment, I'm sticking with 702 pads. I'm finding it lovely and warm with plenty of bass so I may keep the 601 as it is and the 612 with its warmer sound with the pads.

 

[WilliamLeonhart]

Thank you for your advice. I have not auditioned the T1, so I don't really know how different it is from the ODAC (or whether it is a good DAC or not). Anyway IMO the most fun part of being a audiophile is that I always try to find new sounds to experience, so if the T1 is diffrent enough (and if it's good), I think it might be worth the investment. Have to try it sometimes in the future though.
 
Anyway my cousin just shipped a pair of K612 from Amazon US (that's half the world away) and he never considered any amping or DAC at all. So it sucked when driven by his laptop. I'm trying to woo him into exchanging for a pair of HD598 or MA900. I really miss the sound of the K601. And the K612 is a beau. 

 

[robakri]

I'm just thinking instead of spending what, like 200$ or sth for a T1 which has a DAC that is probably not better at all than the ODAC and possibly has some problems (users reporting no 24 bit). You could just go for a real tube amp and let all of the money go towards the amp which is where the difference will be heard. You don't really need a new DAC to get something different from your current setup, just a different sounding amp.

 

[WilliamLeonhart]

If then what tube amp would you recommend for the price? I'm not quite familiar with tube amps, just hearing people say that they have "warm and colored" sound is all. 

 

[appsmarsterx]

  If then what tube amp would you recommend for the price?

 
Hifiman EF2A

 

[Mad Max]

  If then what tube amp would you recommend for the price?

 
Qinpu A3. It does not have a built-in DAC like EF2A, however, but thoroughly and significantly trumps the little fun Hifiman in sound quality.
EF2A's massive gain makes it hard to use with anything less than 250-600-ohm headphones because it goes too loud too quickly and you are stuck using the beginning of the volume control where you can run into channel imbalance easily if you want to listen at a lower volume.  The Qinpu is better-suited to a wider variety of headphones and whether you want to listen to them softly or very loudly (don't kill your ears!).  You can also try it with passive speakers.

 

[mindbomb]

I'm thinking about getting one of these. However, I have some amp concerns. Going by the sensitivity spec of 101db/v, I should be able to get 103 db peak. Is that enough dynamic range? It seems the ideal value is 110db, which is significantly higher. 

 

[robakri]

I dont know of any tube amps to suggest, I just think paying for another entry level dac is a waste instead of going for a pure amp since you have a capable dac. Schiit products are very little colored, people seem to like the little dot.

On another note I just tried these cans and me likey big time. More auditioning then impressions!

 

[Punnisher]

See if you can visit some local headphone meetups. It's the best way to audition different amps with your headphones. Having a good match is very important and there's nothing better than trying it for yourself. Also, see if there are any hifi stores around with a selection of amplifiers.

 

[robakri]

Some guy over at reddit headphones was all up in a thread on those claiming night and day difference between the 601 and 612 with the latter being utter garbage. So with the k612s on the way I drove myself mad reading stuff Anyway After having heard them and obsessed over the goldenears measurements, I have to say that it sounds to my ears extremely similar to the actual measurements and I must add that I like it a lot.
 
k612 measurements: http://en.goldenears.net/42471
 
k601 measurements: http://en.goldenears.net/8449
 
And the only significant difference in these measurements is a treble peak that was eqed down on the 601.
 
Some impressions:
 
Extremely detailed with ridiculously fast bass, gives an insane impact on certain drums. The highs are pretty much perfect to me, I'm hearing a bunch of detail without harshness and sibilance, just smooth and really pleasant. The 2-3k peak does make female voices sound a bit shouty at times. It's not bothering me for now, but I'm thinking of doing a computer wide EQ, anybody know what is best to use for that? Either way, the nature of the peak is a mild increase in frequency with a very predictable shape, this is so much easier to EQ to perfection then for example a treble peak (which in my experience have just left everything feeling unnatural when eq'd out).
 
The stage is very pleasant, never overdoing it, yet always with lots and lots of depth to it. 

 

[iancraig10]

That just about says it all .... 'Some guy'.......

There's always someone who thinks the opposite on hi fi forums

The graph shows it to be slightly smoother unless they've measured it incorrectly. I think sometimes, people just want to be noticed.

 

[robakri]

Hes the mod over there and pretty respected. You are also some guy, so am I, this is the internet. He does have a preference towards a darker sound, but so do a lot of us (not me though)

 

[appsmarsterx]

 
Some impressions:
 
Extremely detailed with ridiculously fast bass, gives an insane impact on certain drums. The highs are pretty much perfect to me, I'm hearing a bunch of detail without harshness and sibilance, just smooth and really pleasant. The 2-3k peak does make female voices sound a bit shouty at times. It's not bothering me for now, but I'm thinking of doing a computer wide EQ, anybody know what is best to use for that? Either way, the nature of the peak is a mild increase in frequency with a very predictable shape, this is so much easier to EQ to perfection then for example a treble peak (which in my experience have just left everything feeling unnatural when eq'd out).
 
The stage is very pleasant, never overdoing it, yet always with lots and lots of depth to it. 

 
+1
 
in the early days 2k spike was also bothering me, some female vocals sounded harsh and dry. after trying E17 with slight bass, 2k spike was completely gone for me. now 612 sounds almost perfect for my taste. 
 
deep bass texture is the star feature in 612. sounds phenomenal with electronic music.

 

[WilliamLeonhart]

Hey guys thank you for your recommendations. Here in my city I can get Little dot and Darkvoice as well, how will these compare to the Hifiman and the Quinpu?

 

[iancraig10]

Hes the mod over there and pretty respected. You are also some guy, so am I, this is the internet. He does have a preference towards a darker sound, but so do a lot of us (not me though)

I take it that the members were having a bash? I meant to write, 'some guys'. What I mean is that you always get such wide, varying views on the same gear, but measurements are at least stable and (hopefully) correct..