[Krolik]

Hey guys!
 
A week ago i got myself 702 65th Annies and listen through my dac2.. well, to get more or less good volume i need to turn the knob to 3 o'clock.. while for my audio technica ath-m50s 10 o'clock is pretty loud. i guess the Benchmark is just not powerful enough to drive those akg's? 
 
and the sound, while i admit is very clean, undistorted and natural, seems just too distant.. i find m50 are far more enjoyable for listening.. put you closer to music and also more emotional. maybe i need to educate myself to enjoy the more sofisticated and true sound of AKG? 
 
any help woul be appreciated!
 
Regards

 

[spittis]

If you get enough volume and there's no distortion then they are being supplied with enough power. Having the knob at 3 o'clock shouldn't be a problem.
 
It's quite normal to experience the sound being "distant" when moving from closed headphones to open ones. One week should be more than enough time to adapt though. How long have you listened to the K702 before going back to the ATH-M50?

 

[StudioSound]

The DAC2 ships at -10dB on its headphone outputs by default, and is adjustable to either 0dB or -20dB via a pair of jumpers inside.
There shouldn't be any problem running it at 3 o'clock, the only thing mentioned is that it should be at 10 o'clock or higher for optimal sound from the headphone outputs.

The manual will show you how to set the outputs to 0dB if you want more gain though, it only takes a couple of minutes.

As there are two jumpers, I wonder if they can be set independently though, so you could have one at -20dB for your Audio Technicas, and one at 0dB for your AKGs. The manual doesn't specify. Nope.

 

[Krolik]

  If you get enough volume and there's no distortion then they are being supplied with enough power. Having the knob at 3 o'clock shouldn't be a problem.
 
It's quite normal to experience the sound being "distant" when moving from closed headphones to open ones. One week should be more than enough time to adapt though. How long have you listened to the K702 before going back to the ATH-M50?

 
I have them both connected to the Bechnmark's twin headphone outs. Maybe upgrading to the dedicated amplifier will give a good jump in sound quality? Although some people say that HPA2 is already state of the art..

 

[StudioSound]

  I have them both connected to the Bechnmark's twin headphone outs. Maybe upgrading to the dedicated amplifier will give a good jump in sound quality? Although some people say that HPA2 is already state of the art.

 
The difference you're seeing in volume is due to the different impedances and sensitivities of the two headphones. The HPA2 should have no problem driving the K702's.
It's not a problem for the HPA2 to be at the 3 o'clock position, but if you want to reduce that, increase the DAC2's headphone outputs from -10dB to 0dB. (I may be mistaken, but I believe that means they are at half power by default)