[i luvmusic 2]

  Can anyone advise me as to which amp would be best suited with Q701?
 
My options are  the Little Dot I+ 1+, MK II or the MK III.
 
Any help would be much appreciated.

hey i have the LD MK III with my DT880 600 ohms and i spend $200 for extra tubes and i'm not planning to buy a next amp just to power up the Q701 i'm hopping that someone here will actually read our post.

 

[VicM]

Is the Audioengine D1 any good for these? The amount of dac/amp I see people post and recommend is quite overwhelming, almost to a point where I want to give up. I am leaning towards the e17 or maybe the o2 amp/odac, I really don't know...

 

[i luvmusic 2]

  Is the Audioengine D1 any good for these? The amount of dac/amp I see people post and recommend is quite overwhelming, almost to a point where I want to give up. I am leaning towards the e17 or maybe the o2 amp/odac, I really don't know...

first i'm not an expert but i can tell you in my experience i have D1 with Bravo Audio Ocean and Little Dot MK III when those two amps were connected with D1 the Bass is more and less sound stage, most of the time though i plug in my LD directly to DVD player output  when playing CD.me personaly it's good enough, it is what you like to hear not what others opinion/suggestion i was  like you before but i just go ahead and bought those things and hope for the best and it turn out i like  those combo.get what ever you think you like best and if you don't like them you can always resale them you will never know what they sounds like if you don't try them.each one of us have different preference when it comes to music and gear.Good Luck.
my Q701 should be arriving within next week i can't wait to try it with my setup and no i'm not buying more amp just for Q701 i have alot of spare tubes for LD so no need for another amp. incase i don't like Q701 with D1 + Bravo Audio Ocean & LD MK III then sorry to say  i have to get rid of Q but it will take me weeks or months before i can decide if Q is for me or not i  need some time to adjust my sefl with Q i don't give up that easy.

 

[elwappo99]

  Is the Audioengine D1 any good for these? The amount of dac/amp I see people post and recommend is quite overwhelming, almost to a point where I want to give up. I am leaning towards the e17 or maybe the o2 amp/odac, I really don't know...

 
The O2/ODac combo or the Schiit Magni/Modi combo would both be fine starter units. No need to drop $500 on a combo for a starter rig, most people won't want to make that much of a commitment. If you're willing to spend a bit more I really like the Matrix M-stage amplifier with the Q701. It shows up used for quite a discount around here and would easily match with the ODac or Modi. 

 

[RamblinE]

I like the Audioengine D1 as just a DAC. On the computer I use the Headroom Micro Amp and that little thing is incredible. It really is a shame Headroom canceled their own line of devices. For the money its really flat and transparent. I also just got a Fiio E11 so that I can listen to my Q's with just my phone or tablet. Great purchase as its got plenty of kick for more demanding headphones. The outpour from my Nexus 7 was weak in the first place.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

 

[tdockweiler]

I like the Audioengine D1 as just a DAC. On the computer I use the Headroom Micro Amp and that little thing is incredible. It really is a shame Headroom canceled their own line of devices. For the money its really flat and transparent. I also just got a Fiio E11 so that I can listen to my Q's with just my phone or tablet. Great purchase as its got plenty of kick for more demanding headphones. The outpour from my Nexus 7 was weak in the first place.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

 
Totally agree. I've been raving about this thing paired up with the Q701 for years. I also found it even more transparent than the O2 and smoother in the treble. So far I've not found a headphone that doesn't work well with it. It even loves the HD-650 and my DJ100. It's even better with an upgraded Astrodyne power supply and the Micro DAC. It took me nearly 3 years to upgrade to the Micro DAC and i'm glad I did.
 
Someday i'd like to compare it to the Matrix M-Stage..
 
Oh and have to point it out that the Micro Amp won't make the Q701 any warmer than it already is. It's not that kind of amp

The mids of the Q701 are nice and full on it and it sounds pretty smooth overall.
 
NOTE: For an under $150 budget amp I liked the O2 and E9 with the Q701. E9 has some warmth. O2 is very similar to the Micro Amp, but not quite as good.

 

[VicM]

   
The O2/ODac combo or the Schiit Magni/Modi combo would both be fine starter units. No need to drop $500 on a combo for a starter rig, most people won't want to make that much of a commitment. If you're willing to spend a bit more I really like the Matrix M-stage amplifier with the Q701. It shows up used for quite a discount around here and would easily match with the ODac or Modi. 

The Schiit Magni/Modi combo does look pretty good.

 

[elwappo99]

 

   
The O2/ODac combo or the Schiit Magni/Modi combo would both be fine starter units. No need to drop $500 on a combo for a starter rig, most people won't want to make that much of a commitment. If you're willing to spend a bit more I really like the Matrix M-stage amplifier with the Q701. It shows up used for quite a discount around here and would easily match with the ODac or Modi. 

The Schiit Magni/Modi combo does look pretty good.

 
I haven't heard that combination with the Q701, but when I did get to hear it I was fairly impressed given the price and size. There is a used pair for sale on ebay for $150+ship which is a pretty good price, if that's what you decide you want. 
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Schiit-Magni-Modi-/171170561621?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item27da8f7e55
 
I can't comment on the D1, as I haven't heard it myself.

 

[VicM]

Is anyone using these headphones with a Xonar STX? Or is an external dac+amp the better option for these?

 

[whirlwind]

I have used my STX to amp the AKG Q701 at times......it does a nice job with them.

 

[elwappo99]

I have an Asus ST (same card, different connection), I think the Asus will do okay, but not necessarily great. I pretty much exclusively use mine for the digital out.

 

[Armotekma]

  Is anyone using these headphones with a Xonar STX? Or is an external dac+amp the better option for these?

 
If you don't already have the Xonar STX, it's probably better to just go Magni/Modi or O2/ODAC.
 
If you already have an STX, the DAC is good, but I'd recommend an external amp if you need more power. As I remember it the gain settings are software end and the max volume is 76 because after that it starts distorting. My HTC HD2 can drive them to normal listening volumes (80% vol, offering no overhead) but that should give you an idea about how "hard to drive" they actually are..

 

[VicM]

   
If you don't already have the Xonar STX, it's probably better to just go Magni/Modi or O2/ODAC.
 
If you already have an STX, the DAC is good, but I'd recommend an external amp if you need more power. As I remember it the gain settings are software end and the max volume is 76 because after that it starts distorting. My HTC HD2 can drive them to normal listening volumes (80% vol, offering no overhead) but that should give you an idea about how "hard to drive" they actually are..

I am using them with the STX. I figured since I game a lot and plan on getting some speakers soon the STX was the better option. The headphone still sound great with the STX, better than the HD595 I was using.

 

[Armotekma]

It's up to you if you want to buy different components. I personally like controls at my fingertips (convenient crashing at loud volumes and getting an audio loop..)
 
A dekstop amp might make a small difference, as the STX has 10ohm of output impedance and apparently you'll get distortion if your headphone impedance isn't atleast 8 times the output impedance.

 

[JoshC19]

how did you braid the cable?