[perfect tritone]

  Hmm, I guess all of Asus's stuff has driver issues. Fun, I guess I'll skip the Asus sound cards. The driver issues I was talking about was a different issues specific to the Asus Maximus VI Impact Motherboard's sound card, something to do with not being able to utilize the amp all the way. I read about is somewhere, I forget where.
 
I think someone mentioned it before but have you considered the Schiit Magni? It's 100USD and very highly rated, once again, I don't own any of this (honestly too poor buy anything), but I did read a lot of the reviews and threads on the Magni (usually paired with the Schiit Modi DAC) along with some recommendations from people I personally know and the general consensus is that it is a really good Amp to have. No matter the level of Audiophile you are.
 
Enjoy~

 
Just pulled the trigger on the Q701 - the waiting has begun 

 
Schiit Magni seems to be getting good reviews in general, but I read that its synergy with Q701s is not optimal. I'll see how the Q701s will react to the Z and will review my options if I am not content with the results.

 

[VXAce]

   
Just pulled the trigger on the Q701 - the waiting has begun 

 
Schiit Magni seems to be getting good reviews in general, but I read that its synergy with Q701s is not optimal. I'll see how the Q701s will react to the Z and will review my options if I am not content with the results.

The waiting is gonna kill you, just kidding. I'm eager to see what you think about them, I also want a pair, but considering the fact how much they would cost, and the stuff I'd have to get to support them (I'm using the audio off of my motherboard) it wasn't quite worth it. I do hope that you enjoy them, just I have enjoyed my friends. Though if you are the type that likes the bass to hit a touch hard (perhaps not crazy "wub-wub" stuff, but stuff that is more errr... powerful, but not extreme) you might find them slightly lacking. On the terms of the "synergy" of the Magni with the Q701s, that's really up to you, as long as you enjoy it, then it's all good, just as I enjoy my motherboard's audio. To each his own.
 
But despite all the things I "don't like" about them, I still enjoy them every time I hear them. Please do tell what you think about them when you get them, it would help me make my decision on the path that I will take in the future.
 
Edit: I edited something

 

[cel4145]

This is the moment when I realized that I used up all the PCI and PCI-E slots in my computers, whoops, my bad. I guess this will have to wait after all.   Seems like the Modi/Magni might be the best option for me after all.

I don't think that's a step backwards from the Xonar STX/ST. I had the STX, and I got the ODAC (often considered equivalent to the Modi). Seemed like the ODAC was a bit better than the STX.
Certainly, I would expect that you would find that the Modi/Magni to be at least comparable to the Xonar ST/STX, if not better. So it's not a consolation prize

 

[perfect tritone]

  The waiting is gonna kill you, just kidding. I'm eager to see what you think about them, I also want a pair, but considering the fact how much they would cost, and the stuff I'd have to get to support them (I'm using the audio off of my motherboard) it wasn't quite worth it. I do hope that you enjoy them, just I have enjoyed my friends. Though if you are the type that likes the bass to hit a touch hard (perhaps not crazy "wub-wub" stuff, but stuff that is more errr... powerful, but not extreme) you might find them slightly lacking. On the terms of the "synergy" of the Magni with the Q701s, that's really up to you, as long as you enjoy it, then it's all good, just as I enjoy my motherboard's audio. To each his own.
 
But despite all the things I "don't like" about them, I still enjoy them every time I hear them. Please do tell what you think about them when you get them, it would help me make my decision on the path that I will take in the future.
 
Edit: I edited something

 
I will definitely share my impressions and will keep you posted if the waiting does not kill me

 

[Acextreme]

   
I will definitely share my impressions and will keep you posted if the waiting does not kill me

 
So, have you gotten both the Sound Blaster Z and the AKG Q701? How is the experience? Is the amp on the SB Z enough to drive the Q701 to your level of satisfaction? How's the bass? Heard the Q701 likes good amp power to drive it well in the lower frequencies like the bass.
 
I, too, am thinking of getting the Z and the Q701, so would appreciate it very much if you could share your experience here with us.

 

[perfect tritone]

   
So, have you gotten both the Sound Blaster Z and the AKG Q701? How is the experience? Is the amp on the SB Z enough to drive the Q701 to your level of satisfaction? How's the bass? Heard the Q701 likes good amp power to drive it well in the lower frequencies like the bass.
 
I, too, am thinking of getting the Z and the Q701, so would appreciate it very much if you could share your experience here with us.

 
Thanks for the reminder; I have long forgotten about my post

In terms of sound, the Z was powerful enough. I didn't need to set the volume more than 45-50 %. However, the Z was not a very good match for the dynamics of the Q701 to be adequately revealed. 

I then used the Q701 on my TASCAM US-2000 recording interface (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/tascam-us-2000-usb-audio-interface). Things got more fun with the US-2000. The soundstage and the distribution of power across the sound spectrum were impressive. Way better than my DT-990. In the end, I sold my Z and sticked with my US-2000.
 
Overall, the Q701 is a good choice for what I want to hear. The Z is not the best match for it, but nonetheless it still does a good job. A portable amp might give the Q701 what the Z lacks.

 

[Acextreme]

   
Thanks for the reminder; I have long forgotten about my post

In terms of sound, the Z was powerful enough. I didn't need to set the volume more than 45-50 %. However, the Z was not a very good match for the dynamics of the Q701 to be adequately revealed. 

I then used the Q701 on my TASCAM US-2000 recording interface (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/tascam-us-2000-usb-audio-interface). Things got more fun with the US-2000. The soundstage and the distribution of power across the sound spectrum were impressive. Way better than my DT-990. In the end, I sold my Z and sticked with my US-2000.
 
Overall, the Q701 is a good choice for what I want to hear. The Z is not the best match for it, but nonetheless it still does a good job. A portable amp might give the Q701 what the Z lacks.

Wow, what does this US-2000 do? Does it act like an amp here? I hope I am not lost here.
 
Am I right to say that the Q701 sounds just ok, like any other headphones would have been with the Z without any external amp, because for some reason, the Q701 is demanding more power for certain portions of the sound spectrum which the Z is unable to supply sufficiently and thus just feels like the full potential of the Q701 is not unleashed? So I reckon you are suggesting that a good external amp (choice of amp shall not be the scope of this discussion) just might be the one to give the Q701 enough juice for it to perform better?
 
Sorry, I just want to be certain what you are trying to say as I am not too sure what the TASCAM US-2000 does. I hope you don't feel that I am forcing you to take a stance in this issue. If the Q701 performs quite acceptable with the Z (my requirements aren't too high actually, coming from a lousy Carcharias), I might just live with it and get an external amp some time down the road, or maybe never. The other card I was considering was the ZxR (which I heard the amp is as powerful as the STX) but I don't want to get it if it's also not powerful enough to drive the Q701, especially when the extra price of the ZxR is more than the price of a Magni amp. I am just considering what choices I have.

 

[perfect tritone]

 
Wow, what does this US-2000 do? Does it act like an amp here? I hope I am not lost here.
 
Am I right to say that the Q701 sounds just ok, like any other headphones would have been with the Z without any external amp, because for some reason, the Q701 is demanding more power for certain portions of the sound spectrum which the Z is unable to supply sufficiently and thus just feels like the full potential of the Q701 is not unleashed? So I reckon you are suggesting that a good external amp (choice of amp shall not be the scope of this discussion) just might be the one to give the Q701 enough juice for it to perform better?
 
Sorry, I just want to be certain what you are trying to say as I am not too sure what the TASCAM US-2000 does. I hope you don't feel that I am forcing you to take a stance in this issue. If the Q701 performs quite acceptable with the Z (my requirements aren't too high actually, coming from a lousy Carcharias), I might just live with it and get an external amp some time down the road, or maybe never. The other card I was considering was the ZxR (which I heard the amp is as powerful as the STX) but I don't want to get it if it's also not powerful enough to drive the Q701, especially when the extra price of the ZxR is more than the price of a Magni amp. I am just considering what choices I have.

 
The US-2000 is a recording interface. It has many inputs and outputs, optimized for recording situations. It has a dedicated headphones output on it, which does a fairly good job, although I don't know what kind of an amplifier circuit was used for this output. The US-2000 is an overkill for non-musicians, though.

I think the best solution in your case is to try the Q701 is to try it with the Z. It's likely that you'll be satisfied with the results. If you are not, you could add an external amp that you could use with the analog out of the Z. As far as I remember, Z's analog outputs were high quality, and a good dedicated headphone amp through the analog output of the Z will give the Q701s the juice they need.