Disappointed with my fairly new A700

[Genjuros]

Well I had high expectations of this headphone for it being my first audiophile headphone. Not sure if I set my expectations too high, but I could not tell the difference in sound quality on my ipod between my A700 and both my EP-630 and CX300. My songs are mainly encoded in 192 aac with some songs encoded in apple lossless. The experience I had while playing CSS was slightly better, I was able to hear footsteps more distinctly but not significant enough to make much of a difference from my EP-630 and CX300. I think that my on board sound card is the problem. So I was thinking of getting an upgrade, been reading the forums on something called the dac+amp. What is that ? Is it good for my situation ? I need it to be portable so I can use it for my ipod too. Thanks for taking time to read my fairly long story lol =) Oh btw I mentioned fairly new in the tittle as my headphones is only 2 weeks old, so it should be already burned in. My pc's motherboard is the P965 Neo2 if that helps =)

 

[1Time]

Welcome to Head-Fi. Let me see if I can help protect your wallet. So you've determined the A700 to be fairly comparable to the EP-630 and CX300 with your ipod and PC. I don't know how scalable the A700 is with a better DAC and amping, but I'm guessing not so much and they're not known as great headphones to begin with. So I wouldn't bother putting a lot of money into chasing after the A700's potential. I'm guessing the best money you could spend to start with would be a fiio portable amp for under $10 and see if that helps.

 

[erasmus]

actually.... the output of most onboard sound solutions is so terrible, that even your cx300s would greatly benefit from a dedicated DAC. My motherboard realtek audio output was honestly unlistenable, with too much noise and EM interference, grainy sound, and strident digital-sounding highs and weak bass.

Another factor is that upgrades frequently aren't as dramatic as most head-fiers make them out to be, unless you have a lot of experience with critical listening and A/Bing. It takes a lot of time to get used to and get to know the sound of new headphones, but afterwards you'll be able to make out even subtle differences in your gear (especially with music that you are highly familiar with).

These are all general statements though, as I haven't listened to the A700s before. I assume they're neutrally-biased cans, and so, don't have the wow-factor that more coloured cans like Grados or Etys have.

 

[StanleyB1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Genjuros /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well I had high expectations of this headphone for it being my first audiophile headphone. Not sure if I set my expectations too high, but I could not tell the difference in sound quality on my ipod between my A700 and both my EP-630 and CX300.

If you are using the iPod as a reference in order to complain about the expectations of the headphone, then your iPod must be an extremely special edition version.
Maybe you should look at it the other way: your iPod is just not man enough to do justice to your headphones.

 

[Genjuros]

Quote:

Originally Posted by StanleyB1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif your iPod is just not man enough to do justice to your headphones.

Yeah my thoughts exactly, so I was thinking about getting an amp+dac to improve sound quality from my ipod and pc. I posted this so as to get a response if my headphones would scale well with a dac+amp and if it will be worth getting one. I was under the impression that I would be able to hear greater detail from my songs and games after buying the headphones.

 

[donunus]

actually the ipod is not that bad. they drove my a900s pretty well that i actually preferred that pairing against an amped a900 which i thought got a little too bassy. If you cant tell the difference between the a700s and you creatives, it is because the a700s are not really that great. Maybe you should try the AD700 instead if you want more detail and a more balanced sound out of your current setup. of course also make sure all processing and eqs are turned off so that you dont get any unwanted clipping and distortion.

EDIT: by the way, IMO the a900 was still a big upgrade from the ep-630 even though they werent up to audiophile standards

 

[Nocturnal310]

My brother downloaded FLAC album today... playing FLAC through Onboard Realtek with Cheap sonicgear $15 headphones... it sounded like 56 kbps ***t


So i put on my HD555 ..even then it didnt sound like FLAC.

i think onboard soundcards are Worst enemy of Good headphones... get rid of it.

even a Cheap USB soundcard is better than any onboard

 

[Genjuros]

sooo I was thinking of getting an ibasso d2 for both my pc and ipod. Will it work ?

 

[Moontan13]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Genjuros /img/forum/go_quote.gif sooo I was thinking of getting an ibasso d2 for both my pc and ipod. Will it work ?

It could, but let me suggest a few things. Try out the A700 for a week or two without going back to any of your other phones. With direct comparison, good audio components with a flat response may well sound thin and weak next to lesser parts or those with accentuated bass or a warm signature. Give the A700s time to establish themselves by themselves.
Another thing to look for is the weak spot in the audio chain. Try comparing between the HP-out on a portable CD player vs. an iPod. Try them again, but fed through your home reciever or amp via line-out. What you're looking for is if AAC compression is hampering your phones, and to what extent inadequate amplification exacerbates the issue. I did this testing myself on a pair of new phones. Verdict: My new phones are more sensitive to AAC vs. CD than any of my other phones. Amplification doesn't really seem to hurt or help. What I think happened is that I finally got headphones good enough to show the weakness of 192kbps AAC.

Lastly, it could be you just don't like these phones.

 

[strend]

The A700's beat the snot out of my CX400's. But there really isn't that much of a difference between the two of them from my sons ipod.

When I brought the headphones into work and tried them on my work PC(running on-board audio. Realtek ac97), it honestly sounded horrid. Popping in an old Audigy 2 did wonders. The A700's really don't need an amp when driven from PC, just a decent sound card.

I'd say buy an X-Fi or Xonar for your PC and a FiiO for your ipod. The fiio is cheap enough just to buy one for the heck of it.

 

[glac1er]

Personally I wouldn't go straight to splurge cash on an amp or DAC or even new DAP yet.

The A700 is not a bad headphone. It beat the hell out of my EP630 back then out of an ipod mini. Maybe you just don't like the sound of your A700 or you just can't listen to the difference or it may even be defective (though unlikely). Let somebody else listen to your A700 and see what they think.

Check your if your source or ipod is that bad by using other setups or even borrow your friends' DAP for quick listen.

Seriously if you think the A700 is on par with EP630 out of an ipod, I doubt that the D2 will have any dramatic effect.

 

[Shingetsu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donunus /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you cant tell the difference between the a700s and your creatives, it is because the a700s are not really that great. Maybe you should try the AD700 instead if you want more detail and a more balanced sound out of your current setup. of course also make sure all processing and eqs are turned off so that you dont get any unwanted clipping and distortion.

I some what agree with you donunus, I found my A700s to be a fantastic upgrade coming out of just my Sound card, X-fi xtreme gamer at the time.

but i also think that the OP will benefit more from the AD700s. Most people come into the head-fi scene with only experience of Closed back chepo cans or buds, so listening to open back cans can be night and day for some.

 

[Genjuros]

Thanks for all the responses. I'm gonna try what Moontan said and see how it goes. Btw what is a dap ? Would anyone care to explain, still quite new to this =)

 

[glac1er]

DAP = Digital Audio Player, which I think refers to MP3 players.

Also, welcome to head-fi

. If you've already been thinking about the AD700 then your wallet is doomed

.

 

[rjgarcia]

DAP = Digital Audio Player

Basically mp3/media player...

-Robert