[preproman]

Quote:

 
 
Is anyone else doing this with their 701s?  Need more impressions..

 

[moriez]

Quote:

Is anyone else doing this with their 701s?  Need more impressions..

 
Yar, or someone doing something similar? Not the Alpha Pads perse.

 

[sionghchan]

Hi all,
 
Now that I'm rediscovering my love for the K701, I was wondering if anyone tried changing their pads to the memory foam K702 65th Anniversary Edition ear pads?  If you have, is it worth doing?  Does it change the sound quality significantly?  Does it bring it to the level of the K702 65th Anniversary Edition (afterall, I have heard from lots of people that all the K70X headphones all share the same drivers and enclosures but just different ear pads)?
 
Thanks for your time!

 

[rckyosho]

Quote:

 
 
Is anyone else doing this with their 701s?  Need more impressions..

I assume you have the K701 that is why the interest in this 

 and from your signature I see that you also have the mad dogs. Why not just try it yourself instead of waiting for impressions from others. It's quite easy to test it out, just remove the pads from both headphones and put the alpha pads onto the K701 and while holding it with your thumbs and fingers wear it over your ears. If you like the change in sound you can then try my method which I did a couple of post back because it's still reversible and without causing any damage to the alpha pads(you do need to sacrifice the velour pads for the plastic ring though, best if you can find some old discarded ones). Now if you ever feel like going back to the original pads you can still do so.

 

[preproman]

Nope - don't have the 701s anymore.  Just was asking..

 

[firefly89]

i've just got a used pair of k701's (at an amazing price)
 
initially disappointed > got an amp > 10x better > tried out a combination of dac's and amps > made judgements > allowed friends to listen (non audiophiles- but their opinion matched mine without me telling them what to think/hear) > happy with sound quality, but think there is scope for improvement
 
 
I got the headphones mainly for gaming, I'm listening to more and more music though and was slightly concerned that they wouldn't be 'musical' enough or have enough bass (I also considered philips fidellio x1's and sennheisedr 598/650's)
was pleasantly surprised with the bass, knew the soundstage was going to be awesome though
 
if you want to hear my thoughts on the amp pairings then they can be found in this thread
http://www.head-fi.org/t/676684/software-eq-to-make-up-for-headphone-deficiency#post_9704988
 
but to summarize:
 
audioengine d1: fantastic clarity, doesn't push the bass up so 'bass light' phones like the k701 sound weak
fiio e17: not as much clarity as d1, but better bass (and tone controls)
fiio e12: best bass of the lot, delivers sub bass with the bass boost enabled, nice sound but as an amp only it depends on the source that feeds it
 
fiio e12+audioengine d1: good clarity, better bass, but something just doesn't work for me here- flawless for gaming though, the detail in unreal
fiio e12+ e17: warmer, more bass, but not magical
fiio e12+ xonar u3 gaming card (a cheap usb sound card for gaming): surprisingly my favorite combination, lacking clarity and top end, muddy midrange, but a thick warm sound that is very musical and very pleasing, my friend agreed (he said the d1 through the e12 had more detail, but he prefered the sound of the u3+e12, and also just going straight out the samsung galaxy headphone output and through the e12- he noticed how bad it sounded ran through the samsung without the amp)
 
 
so i'm fairly happy with the e12 as an amp, and although the d1 is clearly a capable dac (don't like the headphone amp though) I think I would like to return the D1 and the fiio e17, and use the e12 just with the xonar u3 until I find a better DAC/amp combo that keeps the rich warmth, but adds in some sparkle and clarity
 
I might end up keeping the d1 though for gaming use as it's so good (and has spdif input), I might keep the e12 as a portable (but I don't listen to music on portable players outside the house, and I certainly won't take my k701's out the house), but either way my options (and time is running out for returns) are:
 
 
1) keep audio engine d1 as DAC, return everything else, pair with very warm amp (possibly a tube amp?) or switch audioengine d1 for a JDS odac for more performance and less money (lose spdif input but not a deal breaker)
 
2) return everything, and invest in great all in one DAC/amp- thinking of breaking the bank for a woo wa7 (most expensive but my god it's beautiful), or a schitt valhalla (don't mind spending money on something that looks great as well as sounds great)
 
3) keep d1 + e12 and k701's for gaming, get new headphones for music (fidellio x1's? or sennheiser 598/650) and see if they're better with the d1 (possibly a big expensive mistake...)
 
4) xonar u3 and e12, be happy and keep using until find something better, don't rush into something now (but I have the money right now, might not have so much to spend in 6 months time)
 
 
so what do you think- are tubes the way forward?
or is it as simple as software eq for one of the combinations I already have 

 

[derbigpr]

Quote:

i've just got a used pair of k701's (at an amazing price)
 
initially disappointed > got an amp > 10x better > tried out a combination of dac's and amps > made judgements > allowed friends to listen (non audiophiles- but their opinion matched mine without me telling them what to think/hear) > happy with sound quality, but think there is scope for improvement
 
 
I got the headphones mainly for gaming, I'm listening to more and more music though and was slightly concerned that they wouldn't be 'musical' enough or have enough bass (I also considered philips fidellio x1's and sennheisedr 598/650's)
was pleasantly surprised with the bass, knew the soundstage was going to be awesome though
 
if you want to hear my thoughts on the amp pairings then they can be found in this thread
http://www.head-fi.org/t/676684/software-eq-to-make-up-for-headphone-deficiency#post_9704988
 
but to summarize:
 
audioengine d1: fantastic clarity, doesn't push the bass up so 'bass light' phones like the k701 sound weak
fiio e17: not as much clarity as d1, but better bass (and tone controls)
fiio e12: best bass of the lot, delivers sub bass with the bass boost enabled, nice sound but as an amp only it depends on the source that feeds it
 
fiio e12+audioengine d1: good clarity, better bass, but something just doesn't work for me here- flawless for gaming though, the detail in unreal
fiio e12+ e17: warmer, more bass, but not magical
fiio e12+ xonar u3 gaming card (a cheap usb sound card for gaming): surprisingly my favorite combination, lacking clarity and top end, muddy midrange, but a thick warm sound that is very musical and very pleasing, my friend agreed (he said the d1 through the e12 had more detail, but he prefered the sound of the u3+e12, and also just going straight out the samsung galaxy headphone output and through the e12- he noticed how bad it sounded ran through the samsung without the amp)
 
 
so i'm fairly happy with the e12 as an amp, and although the d1 is clearly a capable dac (don't like the headphone amp though) I think I would like to return the D1 and the fiio e17, and use the e12 just with the xonar u3 until I find a better DAC/amp combo that keeps the rich warmth, but adds in some sparkle and clarity
 
I might end up keeping the d1 though for gaming use as it's so good (and has spdif input), I might keep the e12 as a portable (but I don't listen to music on portable players outside the house, and I certainly won't take my k701's out the house), but either way my options (and time is running out for returns) are:
 
 
1) keep audio engine d1 as DAC, return everything else, pair with very warm amp (possibly a tube amp?) or switch audioengine d1 for a JDS odac for more performance and less money (lose spdif input but not a deal breaker)
 
2) return everything, and invest in great all in one DAC/amp- thinking of breaking the bank for a woo wa7 (most expensive but my god it's beautiful), or a schitt valhalla (don't mind spending money on something that looks great as well as sounds great)
 
3) keep d1 + e12 and k701's for gaming, get new headphones for music (fidellio x1's? or sennheiser 598/650) and see if they're better with the d1 (possibly a big expensive mistake...)
 
4) xonar u3 and e12, be happy and keep using until find something better, don't rush into something now (but I have the money right now, might not have so much to spend in 6 months time)
 
 
so what do you think- are tubes the way forward?
or is it as simple as software eq for one of the combinations I already have 

 
 
Tubes and K701...not sure. IMHO a good solid state with low output impedance would be better. What you have now certainly doesn't bring them to their full potential.  If you game a lot, then you should maybe get a sound card.   Something like Asus ST will power the K701 extremely well and bring them close to full potential, I dont really hear any difference when moving up to Musical Fidelity M1DAC and Little Dot MkV, which is a 1100 dollar combo.  You can put better opamps inside for better matching of sound signatures.  Plus you would get all the dolby and surround features, something once you get used to, you wont be able to watch movies or play games without.  Its definitely the most cost effective and by far the best sounding solution for music and games.  That was you can use the ST as a DAC and amp for games and movies with dolby headphone, and you can also it purely as a DAC with the Fiio E12 if you find it sounds better than ST's headphone amp, which I highly doubt based on my comparisons with much more expensive amps than E12.

 

[Happy Camper]

Tubes sound great with the 701s. I used a Singlepower Extreme Platinum for years with them and was very happy with it. Tubes take the edge off a strident SS source.

The Ks maximum recommended power (AKG site) says 200 mw or .2 watts. I'd suggest a bit more for peaks. Like say 500 mw or .5 watts.

 

[firefly89]

Quote:

 
 
Tubes and K701...not sure. IMHO a good solid state with low output impedance would be better. What you have now certainly doesn't bring them to their full potential.  If you game a lot, then you should maybe get a sound card.   Something like Asus ST will power the K701 extremely well and bring them close to full potential, I dont really hear any difference when moving up to Musical Fidelity M1DAC and Little Dot MkV, which is a 1100 dollar combo.  You can put better opamps inside for better matching of sound signatures.  Plus you would get all the dolby and surround features, something once you get used to, you wont be able to watch movies or play games without.  Its definitely the most cost effective and by far the best sounding solution for music and games.  That was you can use the ST as a DAC and amp for games and movies with dolby headphone, and you can also it purely as a DAC with the Fiio E12 if you find it sounds better than ST's headphone amp, which I highly doubt based on my comparisons with much more expensive amps than E12.

 
thanks, I think people are in 2 minds about tubes and k701's, some love and some hate, might try out a cheap tube amp to see if I like the 'colour', but that might give me the wrong impression.
 
 
I actually like the sound of the xonar u3 and the e12, it's the best combination I have right now and i'm just going to enjoy the music until I can get something of a true upgrade, i'm sick of side grading. Think i'm going to blow the budget on the woo audio wa7 when I next get paid.
 
 
Unfortunatley I game on a macbook pro retina so can't get the pci card,
99% of the time i'm in osx but I go onto windows for gaming- here I use the xonar u3 usb card to do dolby headphone processing, only used it for games (where it's fantastic), I usually watch films on the big screen with surround sound so never tried it with dolby headphone. On the mac side I just use the xonar u3 as a generic soundcard to send audio to the e12
 
 
 
fiio e17 is definitely going back, it's just not that great (fantastic for the money though)
 
 
Quote:

Tubes sound great with the 701s. I used a Singlepower Extreme Platinum for years with them and was very happy with it. Tubes take the edge off a strident SS source.

The Ks maximum recommended power (AKG site) says 200 mw or .2 watts. I'd suggest a bit more for peaks. Like say 500 mw or .5 watts.

 
thanks, I think i'm going to stick with the xonar u3 and e12 right now, but i'll look into your tube amp. I think i'm going to stick with this combo and spring for the woo audio wa7 next time I get paid, i've heard it has good synergy with the k701's? and it looks amazing, or I might try the aune t1 tube amp as a cheap intro
 
also heard good things about the audio gd nfb-5
 
so plenty to consider

 

[miceblue]

I personally don't like the E12 with the K 701 too much. Objective 2 and JDS Labs C5 sound muuuuch cleaner, more spacious, and overall just sweep the E12 in terms of overall sound. The E12 sounds rather bright next to the two.

 

[firefly89]

Quote:

I personally don't like the E12 with the K 701 too much. Objective 2 and JDS Labs C5 sound muuuuch cleaner, more spacious, and overall just sweep the E12 in terms of overall sound. The E12 sounds rather bright next to the two.

interesting
 
i've tried a lot of much much brighter combinations over the past few days, in fact i'd go as far to say the e12 shifts all the frequencies downwards, as in it digs up some better sub bass but trades in some highs
to be fair the dac/soundcard feeding it is pretty bad and no doubt obscures a lot of detail (particularly in the high end)- but I like it for background listening- the better DAC has a brighter sound but it is too distracting
 
i'd need to try the e12 with another dac to see if I can find this brightness you speak of
 
 
I just ordered an aune t1 tube amp , a good precursor to the woo audio wa7 i'm lusting after?

 

[miceblue]

Yeah compared to the O2 and C5, the E12 is relatively bright. String instruments have more bite to them and I didn't like that. Not to mentioned the collapsed soundstage of the E12.
 
The WA7 wasn't too bad with the K 701. It made the soundstage deeper and less wide, rolled-off the extremes of the frequency spectrum, made the midrange a bit warmer, and it lost some resolution when compared to the ODAC/O2.
 
However, I really really really liked the K 701 out of the Bottlehead S.E.X. That thing was just plain, raw, awesome. The soundstage was more rounded than the WA7, so it was natural-sounding, the bass didn't have as much as a roll-off, the midrange was tubey-lush and very organic-sounding, and the highs were a bit laid back.

 

[HaVoC-28]

Quote:

Tubes sound great with the 701s. I used a Singlepower Extreme Platinum for years with them and was very happy with it. Tubes take the edge off a strident SS source.

The Ks maximum recommended power (AKG site) says 200 mw or .2 watts. I'd suggest a bit more for peaks. Like say 500 mw or .5 watts.

 
More for what ? even for peaks . You will never put 200 mW on a K702 . Only a fraction of it for "peaks" .
 
My current AD2000X has a 2w maximum handling power , it does not mean that i need 5 watts ...

 

[Zoldar]

Hi all,

Now that I'm rediscovering my love for the K701, I was wondering if anyone tried changing their pads to the memory foam K702 65th Anniversary Edition ear pads?  If you have, is it worth doing?  Does it change the sound quality significantly?  Does it bring it to the level of the K702 65th Anniversary Edition (afterall, I have heard from lots of people that all the K70X headphones all share the same drivers and enclosures but just different ear pads)?

Thanks for your time!

I would really like to know some experiences on annie pads on ak701

 

[Zoldar]

Anyone? No one tried K702 65th Anniversairy pads on a K701????????