[LarsHP]

I got the Matrix M-Stage (class A modded) for my K-701.
The M-Stage sounded warm and refined and in that sense paired well with the K-701.
However it didn't fix the frequency imbalance that I naively thought it would.
The K-701/K-702 is bright. Too much treble and too little bass.
It's on the other hand quite transparent and - if eq'ed - all in all a very good headphone.

 

[chicolom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saintly /img/forum/go_quote.gif

 
 
A problem with the E9 is that it clips with the HRT MS II since its input can't handle the 2.25V of the MS II.

Hopefully this can be fixed with a little digital volume attenutation?
 
I'm getting an HRT MS II soon, and its going to be with my E9 for the time being (may upgrade amps in the future).

 

[chicolom]

Quote:

However it didn't fix the frequency imbalance that I naively thought it would.
The K-701/K-702 is bright. Too much treble and too little bass.

Perhaps a swap for the Q701s is in order? 

 

[Saintly]

Quote:

Yeh it'll be interesting to spend 3 to 4 hours really getting down to the nitty gritty ~ keen to see how it handles
a HD800 actually!
 
Pity I won't have a Matrix M-Stage on hand, it would be good to get really detailed on their actual real world
performance as those two amps hold the cards in the entry level amp camp.

It's great that you're taking the time to do this.  You have no idea how valuable this information will be (or maybe you do, since you're taking the time to do such a comparison) to people on a limited budget wanting to get the most out of it in terms of amplification.  I know I was lost trying to figure out exactly how the Fiio E9 stacks up to the more well-regarded ones.  Keep us posted! 

 


Quote:

Thanks for pointing that out! I haven't tried my HRT MS II with the E9 yet and I guess that's a good thing. Seems like a perfect match with my Micro Amp though.
This combo might not be so good with the HD-650, but I'll have to try it.
 
Strangely enough my Q701 sounds pretty good with my portable Airhead amp. Not suggested, but gets the job done. Somehow it seems like I remember that my old K701 gave me much more trouble with that amp.
Back in the day when I was clueless I drove a K701 with a portable amp

Wasn't too bad actually.
 
 

 
Here's the thread I made about it.  I emailed Kevin from HRT and he confirmed the clipping.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/581735/distortion-clipping-with-fiio-e9-and-hrt-music-streamer-ii
 
Now that you mention driving the K701s with a portable amp, I actually liked my K702 better with the E7 than with the E7/E9 combo.  I no longer have the E7 and K702 but from memory, the E7 by itself made the K702 sound more intimate and the bass a little more concise.  It's been a few weeks since I heard the combo so my description may be a bit off, but I do remember liking the K702 better with E7 than E7/E9.  Also, the E7 at 15-20 volume was plenty for the K702.
 
 

 

[Saintly]

Quote:

Hopefully this can be fixed with a little digital volume attenutation?
 
I'm getting an HRT MS II soon, and its going to be with my E9 for the time being (may upgrade amps in the future).

Kevin from HRT suggested I drop down the output in the media player to reduce the MS II's output voltage but the clipping is still there for me.  It's such a shame because apart from the clipping, the MS II/E9 sounded tons better than the E7/E9.  Clarity and soundstage were improved but the difference in the bass was the most apparent.  The bass with the MS II is so much fuller yet still tight.
 
Hope you have better luck!

 

[tdockweiler]

Quote:

 


I saw that NwAVguys blog as well.  He talks about the output impedance and basically says the E9 should suck with low ohm headphones and do better with higher ohm ones.
 

 


I think you mean the 1/4" jack?  1/8" is the smaller one, and it has an added resistor thats supposed to shift the whole  frequency response down (warm it up).  The 1/8" jack is also 43 ohm output impedance, which is way high, and basically makes it hard to ever recommend using that jack over the 1/4" @ 10 ohms output impedance. 
 
Both the Headfonia review of the E9 and the NwAVguy talks about the differences between the two jacks.
 
 
I personally stick with the 1/4" jack with my Q701s.  Soundstage is definitely larger with E10 DAC to --> E9, than with my E10 alone.  I also noticed a little less mids, and more highs.  Again headfonia says the E10 alone is warm and has pretty full mids, so maybe the E9 is just removing that coloration?...

 
Haha. Don't ask me how I did that! I know my jack sizes and screwed that one up! Fixed..
 
I bought the E10 for my DJ100 and didn't like it. Didn't try it with anything else but the M50. Poor match for those possibly. I bet it'd be a nice alternative to the E7 for the E9!
 
Took me forever to figure out why the E7 was fatiguing my ears so much and I read from another review saying it had "edgy" treble and I agree with that. Yet I believe the Headfonia site says the total opposite.
Impressions of DACs/Amps never make sense to me half the time!
 
 
 

 

[tdockweiler]

Quote:

I got the Matrix M-Stage (class A modded) for my K-701.
The M-Stage sounded warm and refined and in that sense paired well with the K-701.
However it didn't fix the frequency imbalance that I naively thought it would.
The K-701/K-702 is bright. Too much treble and too little bass.
It's on the other hand quite transparent and - if eq'ed - all in all a very good headphone.

Haha, I had that same issue and Q701 fixed all my problems. I know that's what AKG marketing wants everything to think, but I believe it's true and it really DOES sound a tiny bit different.
Worth a try if you love the K702 and can try the Q701 (with a good return policy).
 
 

 

[chetlanin]

Any decent amp with a suitable bass boost option or -preferable- tone-controls.

 

[chicolom]

Quote:

Kevin from HRT suggested I drop down the output in the media player to reduce the MS II's output voltage but the clipping is still there for me.  It's such a shame because apart from the clipping, the MS II/E9 sounded tons better than the E7/E9.  Clarity and soundstage were improved but the difference in the bass was the most apparent.  The bass with the MS II is so much fuller yet still tight.
 
Hope you have better luck!

 
Hmmm......Hmm...hm..
 
Weird.  That is strange.  I would think dropping the volume in the media player would help.  I assume you tried going to the music streamer in control panel and lowering the levels there as well? 
 
I'm wanting an HRT DAC, because they're supposed to specialize in soundstage - which is what I specialize in as well
 
I emailed Kevin as well about the difference between the Headstreamer and the Music Streamer II when used as pure dac-to-line-out device.  This is what he had to say:
 
" There are some differences between the HeadStreamer and the Music Streamer II when used as a line output; the HeadStreamer's FS (full scale) output level is a bit lower at 1.4 VRMS versus 2.25 VRSM for the Music Streamer II.  The isolation stage that the Streamer II offers can be important for any mains powered device.  If your just driving headphones then the HeadStreamer is clearly the appropriate choice.  If your going to driver anything other than headphones, then the Music Streamer II is the best choice. "
 
I would be fine I guess with the Headstreamer if it had the same sound quality, but something about going from the Headstreamers HP out to another amp seems wrong.  Kind of like your double amping the signal instead of taking a dedicated line out signal...  I don't know...
[size=10pt]  [/size]

 

 

[LarsHP]

Haha, I had that same issue and Q701 fixed all my problems. I know that's what AKG marketing wants everything to think, but I believe it's true and it really DOES sound a tiny bit different.
Worth a try if you love the K702 and can try the Q701 (with a good return policy).

No, I am going to sell it. The HE-6 is enough of full size headphones for me.
I only have one head and two ears ...

 

[Saintly]

Quote:

 
Hmmm......Hmm...hm..
 
Weird.  That is strange.  I would think dropping the volume in the media player would help.  I assume you tried going to the music streamer in control panel and lowering the levels there as well? 
 
I'm wanting an HRT DAC, because they're supposed to specialize in soundstage - which is what I specialize in as well
 
I emailed Kevin as well about the difference between the Headstreamer and the Music Streamer II when used as pure dac-to-line-out device.  This is what he had to say:
 
" There are some differences between the HeadStreamer and the Music Streamer II when used as a line output; the HeadStreamer's FS (full scale) output level is a bit lower at 1.4 VRMS versus 2.25 VRSM for the Music Streamer II.  The isolation stage that the Streamer II offers can be important for any mains powered device.  If your just driving headphones then the HeadStreamer is clearly the appropriate choice.  If your going to driver anything other than headphones, then the Music Streamer II is the best choice. "
 
I would be fine I guess with the Headstreamer if it had the same sound quality, but something about going from the Headstreamers HP out to another amp seems wrong.  Kind of like your double amping the signal instead of taking a dedicated line out signal...  I don't know...
[size=10pt]  [/size]

 

Yep, tried lowering the volume of the MS II as well to no avail.
 
Kevin told me the same thing in further email correspondences and recommended the Headstreamer several times.  Although the T1s have high sensitivity, I'm a still a bit skeptical of the Headstreamer amp's ability to push the 600 ohm load.  I have a SOHA II coming in to pair with the MS II; hopefully there won't be any clipping here.
 

 

[Libertad]

A AMP/DAC that might be worth looking into is the microshar uDAC311 its usb powed dac with a amp and has a hardware bassboost knob.

 

[Zombie_X]

I think the E9 sounds fine with my low impedance gear. It just doesn't seem to power any high impedance gear well at all. The E9 does really had with a 600Ohm DT990. The T1 sounds fine but only because it's high sensitivity. The T1 itself it not that demanding at all. 
 
I've found the E9 to sound extremely sub par with the K701's and even more so with the HD600. Like I said everything sounds compressed. With my SR-80i it sounds great, not neutral, but great.
 
And no I am not comparing it to my expensive amps at all as that's not a fair comparison. I compared it to a PHENIX G3. The G3 is about the same price (minus shipping that brings it up to $160). Between them the G3 powers all the high impedance gear best. I know one is tube based but I'm going by amps in the price bracket. 
 
 
Quote:

WOW...I don't know what to say here. This is 100% opposite of my impression. IMO the E9 is actually quite bad for driving any small portable headphones. I think there's been lots of reviews that confirm this (The NWAVguy(?) website is one of them I believe). So bad that I just refuse to use most with them. Some Audio Technica stuff sounds good at least. What's especially bad is the people who say the E9 can't drive a 600 ohm headphone. That's nonsense. Not saying you should buy the E9 for one or that it gets my approval.
 
I'm not a huge fan of the E9 and rarely use it. It's very good for the price. What do you expect for $100 or so? For the K702/K701 it was a massive upgrade over my Asgard (for the K702 ONLY!!). No kidding. But yes, the Asgard (version I had) was a very poor match for the K702. Supposedly it's been improved. No, the Asgard isn't better than the E9, but the E9 was a better match for AKG stuff.
 
Biggest part I don't agree with is that I think it makes almost all of my headphones have an artificially huge soundstage. It actually makes my Q701 have less fuller mids and I don't like it as much. If this means, the E9 is less colored then so be it..BTW how the heck can an amp make a headphone's soundstage seem much larger? Isn't that considered coloring the sound a bit? I don't want to change amps and make it larger than it's supposed to be.
 
BTW both jacks offer a slightly different sound to me. The 1/8" jack has the larger soundstage and the sound is much brighter. The smaller jack adds a bit of warmth and the soundstage seems smaller. Sounds a tad less clear. Maybe this is the jack which gave you the impression of a squashed sound with a smaller soundstage?
 
Seriously, you're not comparing your $500+ amps to the E9 right?

 
Not a fan of the E7 as a dac at all and I hated it with the E9.
 
If there's an amp for $100 that's easily purchased in the USA and sounds great with the K702, please let us know.

 

 

[Saintly]

Quote:

I think the E9 sounds fine with my low impedance gear. It just doesn't seem to power any high impedance gear well at all. The E9 does really had with a 600Ohm DT990. The T1 sounds fine but only because it's high sensitivity. The T1 itself it not that demanding at all. 
 
I've found the E9 to sound extremely sub par with the K701's and even more so with the HD600. Like I said everything sounds compressed. With my SR-80i it sounds great, not neutral, but great.
 
And no I am not comparing it to my expensive amps at all as that's not a fair comparison. I compared it to a PHENIX G3. The G3 is about the same price (minus shipping that brings it up to $160). Between them the G3 powers all the high impedance gear best. I know one is tube based but I'm going by amps in the price bracket. 
 
 
 

Now that you mention it, a big problem I have with the E9/T1 pairing is that the dynamics seem very compressed.  Higher intensity passages of vocals sound very restrained and just can't seem to let out the pent up energy.  I actually posted about it here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/508836/the-official-beyerdynamic-t1-owners-club-appreciation-discussion-thread/1545#post_7893613
 
I take it that it's a limitations of the E9 and not the T1, right?  Hopefully the SOHA II will be a step up.
 

 

[Gwarmi]

Quote:

Now that you mention it, a big problem I have with the E9/T1 pairing is that the dynamics seem very compressed.  Higher intensity passages of vocals sound very restrained and just can't seem to let out the pent up energy.  I actually posted about it here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/508836/the-official-beyerdynamic-t1-owners-club-appreciation-discussion-thread/1545#post_7893613
 
I take it that it's a limitations of the E9 and not the T1, right?  Hopefully the SOHA II will be a step up.
 

Oh The T1 is one hell of a headphone out of a juicy amp 

 
The best I've heard is from a Sugden Masterclass HA-4 (feel free to price one of your kidneys on the black market)
 
Just totally neutral and that headphones goes about being pretty much flawless, not everyone's cup of tea but it's more
or less impossible to fault.