[Bostock73]

Hi all,

So I purchased a K3 as I have some DT 990 Pros incoming. The amp arrived today so I thought I'd give it an early whirl with my Grado SR80's.
I'm using a 2020 Macbook Pro.

Firstly, I have to put max gain on and have the knob at about 4/5 o'clock to get decent volume. And even then, there is very noticeable distortion – as if I'm pushing the amp or headphones too much. Strange thing is, when I plug directly into my Mac and listen at the same volume, the sound is clearly cleaner and has zero distortion.

So what's going on here? Is it that the Grados are technically limiting the amount of power that can go through them, hence the distortion? Or do I need a more powerful amp? I'm worried because I know the DT 990s will be harder to drive...

Thanks for any help!

 

[Punslayer]

The K3 is not a particularly powerful amp, but it should be able to handle a pair of SR80. If you can, try it on a different computer to see if the behavior is the same. If so, the K3 is probably defective and you should return it. If it works on another computer, it's likely a configuration problem, but I'm not familiar with Macs so I don't know how likely that is or how to remedy if it is.

 

[Off2Geo]

Hi all,

So I purchased a K3 as I have some DT 990 Pros incoming. The amp arrived today so I thought I'd give it an early whirl with my Grado SR80's.
I'm using a 2020 Macbook Pro.

Firstly, I have to put max gain on and have the knob at about 4/5 o'clock to get decent volume. And even then, there is very noticeable distortion – as if I'm pushing the amp or headphones too much. Strange thing is, when I plug directly into my Mac and listen at the same volume, the sound is clearly cleaner and has zero distortion.

So what's going on here? Is it that the Grados are technically limiting the amount of power that can go through them, hence the distortion? Or do I need a more powerful amp? I'm worried because I know the DT 990s will be harder to drive...

Thanks for any help!

I can relate to "I have to put max gain on and have the knob at about 4/5 o'clock to get decent volume."
Same here just driving X2/X3's... But I notice no difference between different devices like you are seeing.