[brown274]

Ok, so I have the 701's pushed by a headsix amp, alo lod from an ipod. I am not that happy with the sound of these. I have about 100 hours on them but they seem to lack the sparkle that I know they have.
Should I buy a usb dac or get a more powerful desktop amp. I listen to it about 5 hours a week so I don't want to spend a lot on a better amp if that is the way to go. All my music is eac ripped to wav.
What do you guys recommend?

 

[nor_spoon]

Why do you make two separate, identical threads?

Any happy 701 owners

 

[FallenAngel]

Needs a better amp

 

[fordgtlover]

Maybe you just don't like the K701. While it's true that the K701 scale very well as the source and amp improve, it is still the same sound signature.

Sell them and buy the D2000, or similar.

Oh, I'm a happy 701 owner. Thanks for asking.

 

[brown274]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nor_spoon /img/forum/go_quote.gif Why do you make two separate, identical threads? Any happy 701 owners

Not everyone reads every thread

 

[NiceCans]

If you do not like the sound with the HeadSix then I suggest you go to a different headphone. Regardless of the amp the K701 will still have basically the same sound.

 

[wfranklin]

One thing you didn't mention is what resolution you've ripped your files to. Unless you are running lossless or full .wav, you don't stand a chance of hearing the best from your K701s. Even better from a non-iPod source or (from what I've heard) and iMod with VCAP external. Better also (as others have suggested) with different amp; some (such as I) prefer tubes, others SS. I've gotten reasonable results with iPod (ALAC files) to Alo LOD to iQube, although not as good as dedicated CD source thru either the Woo WA6 or MAD HD200.

 

[NiceCans]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wfranklin /img/forum/go_quote.gif One thing you didn't mention is what resolution you've ripped your files to.

Quote:

Originally Posted by brown274 /img/forum/go_quote.gif All my music is eac ripped to wav.

You may have read right past it, but it was there near the end of his post.

 

[wfranklin]

Of course you are right, oh mighty one. Mea culpa.

 

[Bencrest]

I note the OP says he's given them 100 hours... well whatever anyones feelings on burn-in, it's taken me about 1000 hours to really appreciate my K701!

For a start I was very underwhelmed, but decided to keep sticking with them, selling other headphones over them in the process (HD650 for example).

Now I'm glad I've kept them

I can see why a lot of people might not like their reasonably uncoloured tone, so perhaps they just aren't for you?

I'd say to give them a bit longer first though

 

[roethlar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brown274 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not everyone reads every thread

So bump the original rather than spam the forums like an annoying child looking for attention.

 

[third_eye]

I'm happy with my 701 out of an Apogee Duet. I'm hoping to be ecstatic tomorrow night when I plug into the Raptor for the first time.

 

[third_eye]

You will also need better amplification for the 701. Portables cannot drive the 701 to their potential. The Apogee Duet was better than my Predator (which is among the best portables), which is why I ended up selling the Predator.

 

[atbglenn]

Being a bass player, I just couldn't get used to the lack of low end punch the 701's had. I burned mine in for at least 300 hours and still didn't have the low end I like. At the time I had an X-Can V3 and a Little Dot 2++. Maybe a different amp would have helped?

 

[NiceCans]

Quote:

Originally Posted by atbglenn /img/forum/go_quote.gif Being a bass player, I just couldn't get used to the lack of low end punch the 701's had. I burned mine in for at least 300 hours and still didn't have the low end I like. At the time I had an X-Can V3 and a Little Dot 2++. Maybe a different amp would have helped?

The k701 is not going to have low-end punch like Senn's or Grado's regardless of what you plug it into, that is just not their character. Their strong suit is texture/timbre/tonality and finesse, not brute force.