[Davrix]

Its 4 am and I feel like my head is about to explode at this point.  I thought buying a nice pair of headphones would be just a simple thing… I had no idea the landmine field I was walking into. 
I just ordered a pair of Q701’s off amazon, the price was right with gift cards and some extra cash I got from a side job, I was able to snag them for like 80 bucks. They’re going to be here today or tomorrow and the last thing I want to do is plug them in and be disappointed with my purchase, which in the end no one really ever wants.
 
I thought I had this figured out with the whole AMP and DAC information, been reading so many threads over the past week on these forums it’s made my head spin.  I have a very old solid state amp from a floor speaker set up. I figured oh simple, it’s got enough power to drive the speakers it should be fine for the headphones despite being older then well I am.  I would just run the amp through my computer using the red white adapter to the small audio jack into the back of my motherboard.  Figured I would save myself the money on a newer amp right now and didn’t think I would need a DAC sense I’m running through the analog ports on the PC and not the USB. 
 
I’m sure some of you are laughing at me right now; it never occurred to me that the signal from the PC is still digital and that it runs through the cheap ass on board DAC on the motherboard.  I thought I was bypassing that until I did some more reading tonight and realized my mistake.
 
That being said what’s my best solution to all this?  I do not have a lot of extra cash to throw at a pricey AMP DAC combo like the E17 and E9k.  I still have the old solid state amp is there a good DAC I can just buy that will take care of my needs?  Should I just get the e10 and bypass my old amp as it’s about within my budget right now to fix this problem, being that its 53 dollars right now on amazon.
 
Any help or advice would be helpful right now as I’m feeling just a little stressed out over this whole thing now, I never thought something as simple as headphones could turn into something so complicated.

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
Your best solution is simply to know what kind of headphone you're getting into, and be ready for that. The Q701 is a great headphone, if it suits your taste. I liked it. But it's not my go-to at all, and not my highest recommendation. But some love it and it's awesome for them. The Q701 sounds a little thin to me, but it's warmer than it's AKG cousins, due to it's overall flat sound. It's a little dry. Treble is extended, very detailed, but not overly bright. Mids are excellent, but with a slightly artificially expanded sound stage that may make them sound a touch distant instead of intimate. The bass is very dry, not boomy, just punchy, a little on the shy side, but it does dig rather deep into sub-bass tones without a problem, simply not with a lot of volume behind those tones; in other words bass will never be what you hear over something else. If that sounds like what you're looking for, then you're good to go.
 
Here's the next solution; understanding that it's over-stated that these headphones need some kind of mini-nuclear power plant to power. It's simply not true. I've ran my Q701's from anything from a simple Fiio E10, Fiio E11, to things like a Schiit Asgard, Lyr, Little Dot MKIII, and various AV receivers, and even some soundcards like the Xonar DG. And you know, it just sounded fine from all of them. They're not that hard to power.
 
If you do not have extra money to just throw around, then don't fret, reading head-fi will make you think you need $1000 worth of equipment for $200 headphones. It's a gear-head game. There's the "technical" stuff and then there's just the down to earth "here's what it sounds like to a laymen" stuff. 
 
The Fiio E10 sounds great with the Q701. It gives you a nice DAC and a solid little amp that will power the Q701 just fine in one nice neat package. It also has line-out capability that will allow you to output to another amplifier later, if you choose to get something else, so you can retain it's use as a good little USB DAC. It lets you grow, so to speak.
 
You most certainly do not need the E17 & E9K. Way over-kill in terms of amplification.
 
I say this as someone who is all about over-kill. I reterminate my headphones with cables with speaker taps, plugged into speaker amps. But I also have the Fiio E10 and other little devices that honestly work perfectly fine for what you're doing.
 
Very best,

 

[Davrix]

Thanks MalVeaux for the honest reply, sorry it’s taken me awhile to respond but a long sleep and the usual day to day chores had to be taken care of while I’m still on vacation.
 
As for my selection I did do a lot of reading of people’s impressions of them and it seemed like the right fit for the style of music I listen to along with the fact I am a heavy gamer that isn’t into the fps so I don’t need that boom boom bass or fake surround a sound card will give you.  There were a lot of impressions of the q701’s that I liked and some that made me weary but they seemed like a better fit then the Sen 598’s I was originally looking at for only 15 dollars more on amazon when I purchased them.   In the end if I don’t really care for the sound I will just send them back and try for something else. 
 
If you have any other headphone you might recommend within a 250 dollar budget that are available on amazon sense the gift cards I have only work there I would be very grateful. Pretty much Love classic rock and anything but Steve Vai and Joe Sat, ect…  But I am hoping I will enjoy the Q’s and I will just nab up the E10 and see how that works vs my old amp and the on board DAC or as you mentioned the E10 has the bypass swish so maybe I can use it with the old amp for better power and just use it as a DAC it actually gives me some options to think about which is nice from such a little device.

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

Thanks MalVeaux for the honest reply, sorry it’s taken me awhile to respond but a long sleep and the usual day to day chores had to be taken care of while I’m still on vacation.
 
As for my selection I did do a lot of reading of people’s impressions of them and it seemed like the right fit for the style of music I listen to along with the fact I am a heavy gamer that isn’t into the fps so I don’t need that boom boom bass or fake surround a sound card will give you.  There were a lot of impressions of the q701’s that I liked and some that made me weary but they seemed like a better fit then the Sen 598’s I was originally looking at for only 15 dollars more on amazon when I purchased them.   In the end if I don’t really care for the sound I will just send them back and try for something else. 
 
If you have any other headphone you might recommend within a 250 dollar budget that are available on amazon sense the gift cards I have only work there I would be very grateful. Pretty much Love classic rock and anything but Steve Vai and Joe Sat, ect…  But I am hoping I will enjoy the Q’s and I will just nab up the E10 and see how that works vs my old amp and the on board DAC or as you mentioned the E10 has the bypass swish so maybe I can use it with the old amp for better power and just use it as a DAC it actually gives me some options to think about which is nice from such a little device.

 
Heya,
 
If the Q701 pleases you, great. Give it a few days. If not, I would suggest you try: Hifiman HE-300, Beyer DT880 PRO 250ohm, Ultrasone HFI 2400. The E10 can handle all of them fine.
 
Very best,

 

[Davrix]

Thank you for the suggestions, if the Q's turn out to be not my cup of tea i will look into the others.