[Rossy007]

So here is what I have:
 
AKG Q701 with the bass mod
CAmbridge Audio DacMagic 100
CD player with optical out
Little Dot 1+
 
When I am playing jazz, easy listening or especially classical, I absolutely love the sound. Its warm, spacious and the bass is clean and extended. I know some people say the Q701's can be bass light but when I hear cello's timpanys, double bass, its extremely low and detailed. Here is my problem, I sometimes listen to rock and pop and for some reason, the top end seems a little shrill and hard and the bass is very light without much weight. Would I have to have another set of headphones to just use for that type of music or would I need to invest in a whole new amp that would give me the same as the little dot gives with classical but also some drive for rock and pop?
 
I have a $700 budget.
 
Thanks everyone

 

[NA Blur]

No amp, unless it is designed to drastically color the sound, is going to make the transducers on the Q701 have less treble. I suggest another headphone as your gear looks to already be decent enough to drive most cans well. Rock is hard to accommodate with headphones and is not always recorded well leading to problems in the recording itself rather than the headphones.
 
You can always try to EQ down ( 2-4 dB each ) the 1kHz, 3.5kHz, and 7kHz bands to see if that helps.
 
Take a look at the graph from this link:
http://graphs.headphone.com/graphCompare.php?graphType=0&graphID[]=283&graphID[]=2931&scale=30
 
See how the D7000 drops below 0dB from 1kHz on and the Q701 has that wide peak around 7k and a smaller peak at 2kHz? Those are the treble peaks that tend to make it sound bright at times. Finding a way to tone down those peaks be it via EQ or another headphone will help when listing to busy music like rock. The Philips Fidelio X2 for example does well at dropping the upper frequencies down as to avoid sounding bright. They do have a peak around 10kHz, but the ear is much less sensitive at that frequency. Perhaps give those a try.
 
Here is the Fidelio X2 Charts for comparison:
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/PhilipsFidelioX2.pdf
 
Hope that helps.

 

[Rossy007]

Thanks, I'm currently taking a look at the Phillips and they look promising. I am also looking at the MUSES02 op amp that may help. I'm not a big fan of "rolling", just not my thing but I may give the op amp a try and if that doesn't work, i may order the phillips.
 
Thanks again