[Orlando Scarpa]

Hey everyone,

I use my AKG k271 daily for work (musician and composer, mainly film scoring) and also for general music listening (very eclectic, but lots of electronic, experimental and classical) feeding of my audio interface (Tascam 4x4). The headphone out on the interface is quite anemic (45 mW @ 32 ohms per channel) and I feel my k271 as being a bit under-powered. I am generally quite satisfied with the sound of the AKGs. I do feel I have to turn up the volume way to high on my Tascam, which sometimes generates some distortion. I also find the sound to be a tad bass shy. So, I started looking for an amp.
My budget is very low (max $60) and after some research I found the Fiio A3 (previously known as E11k). It's well inside my budget and has a pretty well regarded bass boost (which seems fun for casual listening, given that the 271 is bit bass shy). It's output is rated at 270 mW @ 32 ohms and the k271 specs are 55 ohm impedance and 104 dB SPL/V sensitivity. Also, I am not interested in changing my DAC, only want the amp .
Anyone have any experience with this combo? Is the A3 powerful enough for the k271? I've read mixed opinions on how easy the k271s are to drive.

 

[RONJA MESCO]

Don't know if you had your question answered, but I own the K271s. I've owned the Fiio amp you're talking about along with many other Fiio amps below and above this one. The A3 will power your cans just fine.

 

[Orlando Scarpa]

Thanks for the reply! I ended yo getting the A3 and am quite satisfied. Only issue is that it seems to clip the input when fed the line out of my interface, so I'm feeding it through the headphone out.
You said you own Fiio amps above the A3, did you notice any change in sound quality using better amps? It seems to clip a little on very high volumes, though I think it the AKG k271 not being able to handle that much power and not so much the amp.

 

[RONJA MESCO]

Im glad you got your A3. As for me, I only held onto it for prolly five months before I upgraded to the Fiio E12. I found it for an insane cheap price on EBAY. Once I did, my sound got richer I would say. For me the A3 is more veiled than the E12 is...plus the E12 is more powerful too. As for the clipping issue, isn't your interface like an amp too right? Im not the most technical person on here, but I do know that when you double amp within your chain, you can get clipping.

At one time, I had a monster portable stack (DAP > amp > amp > cans) and if my levels were too hot at certain points of the chain, it would clip. So, thanks to fellow Headfiers, eventually what I did is turned the volume of my DAP way up (close to Max). My next amp was volumed way lower than the source, and my last amp I used to control the overall volume . Tinker around and see what works, and when the clipping stops. But the idea is that you keep the source and your first amp at the same volume, and only adjust the last amp to get it to work right. Also adjust your hi/lo gain switch on your A3 accordingly.

 

[Orlando Scarpa]

There are actually two different types of clipping going on:
1) Input clipping. Feeding the A3 from the lineout of my interface results in input clipping (testing it with sinewaves it's pretty obvious it's clipping). With the headphone out, I can reduce the output and the issue is gone. Have done some research on the negatives of double amping, but have read varying opinions.
2) The other issue is this weird clipping I get only on VERY high volumes. It's a crackling kind of sound, as if the driver was giving in. Don't know if its an amp issue, or if the k271 simply doesn't handle very loud music too well. I get the exact same issue on similar levels on the k240 mkii, which I also have. When testing with sinewaves, at high enough volumes it sounds almost like guitar amp feedback with clipping, if that makes any sense. I rarely, if ever, listen to pop music at those levels. But with some classical or jazz recordings with lots of dynamics, I tend to raise the levels way up. I Was wondering if a more powerful amp would solve this, or if it's just a limitation of the headphone's power handling (with is rated at 200 mW, for both the k240 and the k271).

 

[RONJA MESCO]

I hear what you're saying....maybe a more powerful amp will help in this case because you have the interface in your chain. Like I mentioning earlier, if you didnt have the interface in the chain, you'd be fine. So you may have to start looking at those desktop units every audiophile reviewer seems to have from Schiit, JDS Labs and others that you can get for about $100 easy. I dont own any desktop systems, so I wish I could help you there...but there are others on here than can help your search a bit easier, who have similar setups like you do. Good luck...I hope you find a good solution soon...but at least youre going in the right direction/