[eiop]

I've gone through the LD I+ thread, and although there were some differing opinions, I felt that the majority of the posters in that thread thought that the LD I+ would be sufficient to drive hte k701s. The thing is, I'm running the k701's out of my headsix from my A818 right now (sounds anemic), so I figure any kind of desktop amp will be superior in terms of SQ. I actually looked into some portable amps before deciding to look into a solid desktop model, and the RSA Predator was initially a front-runner in the race to separate me from my money

. However, it seems like the general consensus around these parts is that a portable amp will not do the K701's justice.

After a month of looking around for a suitable DAC/AMP combo I could pick up for my K701's, I've decided to go with the U-Control and the LD I+. Just wanted to see what you guys thought, and wondering how they compared to a single-unit DAC/AMPs or other combos?

Thanks for the input!

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I was not impressed with the u-control, as it was a little less spacious and detailed than a 5.5 ipod video headphone out or macbook out. The only benefit I found was that it has less hiss with very sensitive IEM than those other 2 sources.

I'm not sure what else can be found that cheap to do the job for you.

 

[REB]

The LD I+ does a decent job of amping the K701, but not more than that. It amps the K500 and the K501 very well (which are very power hungry), but the K701 doesn't really shine with the LD I+ IMHO.

 

[eiop]

How about the LD MKIII? I saw one on the for-sale forum. Honestly, a better question would be "which amp is actually good with the k701?", as it seems like those headphones are really picky when it comes to amps. Seems like there's always a thread going on about amping k701s but there's always a mix of opinions (I guess that's the nature of opinions). The latest thread has some people going on about a bunch of portable amps and the LD I+ and the LD MK V. In a perfect world, I'd go for the best, but at this point I'm more looking for "bang for the buck".

As for the U-Control, yah, I figured it would be garbage, but I wanted some first-hand accounts. Looks like the search is still on. I'm prepared to drop three to four times the cost of the U-control on a proper DAC.

What about DAC/AMP combos? I'm not too familiar with them other than the portables and the Meier offerings.

 

[HippieTom]

shanling ph100 will do perfect.cant find any complains with the k701 combo from what i have read. it comes up everytime im reading about them and what great synergy it is. and great price

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

There is a review on the Purity Audio K.I.C.A.S. Caliente discrete SS amp that is about $399 and had fantastic synergy with the K701.

A similar amp in that price range, that was very nice with everything that I threw at it was the Grahm Slee NOVO, but I didn't have a K701 to try with it. However, it was good with my 600 ohm AKG K240M as well as RS-1, D2000, Edition 9, HD600, and some of my IEM.

Then you could get a Super Pro DAC707 DAC for $115 to feed the amp - but you should toss the DAC707's crappy power supply and buy a nice regulated PSU - and then the DAC sounds very nice (with my $100 Sigma 11 PSU it has better detail and dynamics with less noise than stock PSU).

If your DAC doesn't need optical and coax digital inputs, just a good USB DAC then the iBasso D3 DAC is very good; with nice detail and soundstage for about the same price as a DAC707 and Sigma 11 PSU ($215), with the benefit of being a nice portable amp too. The D3 DAC has a line out function when the amp is off, which only takes power from the USB. I only have 100 hours on my D3 and I haven't really studied the sound fully until I do my review at 300-400 hours of burn-in, but so far I am impressed. I have tried feeding the D3 DAC from my Macbook into my Woo WA6 with an ALO SXC mini-RCA interconnect and it is impressive and on approximately the same level as my Headroom Micro DAC and Super Pro DAC707/Sigma 11.

 

[eiop]

Thanks for the input...I guess I'll do more research and come up with another setup. I'm not too keen on the idea of the Caliente, since I'd have to get a new PSU for it (that and the fact that it'd cost more since where I live we don't use 110V). I've actually taken a long look at the Shanling PH100, and it's now one of the frontrunners. I'll have to read more about the Graham Slee NOVO since most of the stuff on google just talks about that trial they were holding with users on the internet.

 

[eiop]

um...is there any particular reason why I should get a 24V sigma 11? apparently the DAC takes 12V input?

 

[myinitialsaredac]

If your handy with an iron I've read a lot of happy head-fiers using a Millet Max to drive their 701s.

Dave