[Imdev]

I recently ordered a pair of 612s and am going to use them with an Asus D1 soundcard and EHP-O2 headphone amp. Has anyone had any experience with this setup or similar?
 
Would it be worth while selling the Asus D1 and EHP-O2 amp and getting an O2 + ODAC setup? How better would the sound be for these cans? Or is there a better setup for a similar price( £170 UK)?
 

 

[cel4145]

I recently ordered a pair of 612s and am going to use them with an Asus D1 soundcard and EHP-O2 headphone amp. Has anyone had any experience with this setup or similar?

I would wait and see what you think. Having the O2 is the important part here since it should provide good power to drive the K612s. Going from the D1 to the ODAC would give you minor SQ benefits.

 

[kman1211]

  I recently ordered a pair of 612s and am going to use them with an Asus D1 soundcard and EHP-O2 headphone amp. Has anyone had any experience with this setup or similar?
 
Would it be worth while selling the Asus D1 and EHP-O2 amp and getting an O2 + ODAC setup? How better would the sound be for these cans? Or is there a better setup for a similar price( £170 UK)

The DAC will likely offer a decent upgrade, although it may end up being a large upgrade to your ears. The amp will provide enough power, although I'm not sure how good of a pairing the O2 is with the K612.

 

[Imdev]

Thanks for the feedback, guys.
 
My recent Asus D1 order was cancelled(seller cancelled :-s). My phones are now on their way and I don't have any suitable source for them.
 
I am on budget here, so what would you recommend out of the following until I scrape together £500 for something decent.
 
Would Dacmagic or E17 be enough until I get enough money for a decent rig (£500)? If so what would be the bestout of the two?
 
Or would I get be better buying  Asus DG at (£20uk), D1(£50) etc with an O2?
 
I have about £100 - £130 to spend on a DAC/AMP or soundcard solution...

 

[cel4145]

Get the EHP-O2 and then save for a DAC. The EHP-O2 is a great amp, and that's the big need for the K612s is something that can drive them. Then take your time getting your DAC. If you follow the for sale forums here, you might get a good deal on something.

 

[Imdev]

I've decided to stretch my budget a little bit and pull the trigger on this - http://epiphany-acoustics.co.uk/products-page/dacs/ehp-o2d-miniature-desktop-headphone-amplifier-with-usb-dac/
 
I'll give you guys feedback on how I get on.
 
Cheers

 

[Imdev]

I've decided to stretch the budget and pull the trigger on the EHP-O2D at £170. Hopefully it's what I am looking for. I will post feedback on how I get on.
 
 
Cheers

 

[cel4145]

I've decided to stretch the budget and pull the trigger on the EHP-O2D at £170. Hopefully it's what I am looking for. I will post feedback on how I get on.

If you aren't happy with the SQ of the EHP-O2D, then your budget will need to be a lot larger. That's a great setup

 

[Punnisher]

The O2 should do nicely. I enjoy it with my K601. 120Ohms is in a nice sweet spot where it's high enough to be used with most tube topologies and low enough to be used with solid-state.

 

[Imdev]

Got my cans today and even though they aren't burned in properly and running via motherboard sound, I can already see(or hear) the potential.
 
Ordering O2 setup tonight. Looking forward to some good sound whilst working on my computer

 

[cokker]

  Got my cans today and even though they aren't burned in properly and running via motherboard sound, I can already see(or hear) the potential.
 
Ordering O2 setup tonight. Looking forward to some good sound whilst working on my computer

 
Running a Xonar DS with LME49860 and the EHP-O2, sounds fantastic to me.
 
Bass was a little thin at first but 24+ hours clocked and my brain (+burn in?) has adjusted to love it.

 

[MGbert]

  finally some measurements.
 

 
 
http://en.goldenears.net/42471

I've had my K612s for a few months now.  Using with a Win 8.1 laptop running Foobar2000, USB out to a Parasound zDAC driving the K612.  Was not fully satisfied with the bass at first; thought it was rounding transients.  But then, with the GoldenEars data above, I put the following EQ settings into Foobar2000's EQ plugin:
 
Level  Freq(Hz)

0         55
-3        77
-4        110
-5        156
-6        220
-6        311
-5        440
-3        622
-2        880
-1        1.2K
-3        1.8K
-6        2.5K
-1        3.5K
0         5K
-2        7K
-2        10K
-1        14K
0          20K
 
I find this setting works wonders, really allowing the zDAC to deliver tight, tuneful bass and as much clarity as is in the source material (I use WAV files ripped off CD with either EAC or CDEx).  No doubt others will want to tweak the levels, especially in the bass region; have at it!
 
 
Of course, you can save the above as a *.feq file.  Create and save an arbitrary EQ setting in Foobar2000, then use a text editor to substitute the above levels.  And I notice that GoldenEars is now using a variant of the Harman curve for baseline response; it seems to work!

 

[MGbert]

BTW, the zDAC delivers sufficient volume out of the K612s, but the volume does need to be set around 2:00 or 3:00.  This combo will not allow you to go deaf, or let the K612s create magic smoke. 

 

[IBIubbleTea]

For FPS gaming and causal gaming, K612 or the HD558s? 

 

[Imdev]

Guys just to give you an update, I got my O2 + ODAC and so far so good!!!
 
I previously had these headphones running off the motherboard... SOunded OK'ish but not loud enough...
 
I am not an Audiophile, as such, so can't really give you an in-depth review. All I will say is that they seem to do well with everything(music of all types, and movies) and the clarity is excellent.
 
Bass wise they are good, but if your a big bass-head then I would maybe give look at others.
 
Comfort wise they are excellent and fit perfectly. They are also very light.
 
I only got these phones a few days ago so hopefully the experience improves(not that I am dissapointed so far!)
 
I am having one small issue though with Alsa on Arch Linux. Does anyone have a .asoundrc config I could grab to get 24bit 96khz working on *nix? I can't seem to get it to go beyond 16-bit 44khz??? Tried various examples to no avail...
 
Again cheers for some of the answers to my initial question.