[conquerator2]

  I am absolutely torn between the Q701's and DT990 Pro 250's, I've been reading here for over a week and just can't make my decision.  Hoping you all can help me to make my decision, here are my constraints, facts, and plans:
 
- The best headphones I have ever owned are $10 earbuds, seriously.  This is my first good pair and I'm really looking forward to them.
- These will be used 99.9% of the time for gaming, primarily FPS games like Battlefield 4 (Titanfall, The Division, etc.) in the future.
- The DT990 Pro 250's are $50 cheaper and I am on as tight of a budget as possible
- My sound card will be the Sound Blaster Z
- I will have to budget on my amp, I am thinking something like the O2 or Fiio E9
 
Questions I am looking to finally answer:
 
1) Which headphones should I go for, given the above? 
2) Any other recommendations on sound card within the <$80 range?  Or is the Sound Blaster Z the way to go with this pricepoint?
3) Any recommendations on a different amp within the < $125 range?  If not, does the O2 or E9 match up better to the headphones you chose?

I'd recommend the DT990 as the safer choice for your first audiophile headphone, especially if used mostly for immersive FPS gaming. The Q701 will give you less bass and better positional accuracy but less immersion than the DT990. The DTs do have a bit of a treble spike though.
The problem is they are both somewhat different, the DT990 being slightly U shaped [more bass & treble, less mids] and the Q701 being more of an N shaped headphone [less bass, more mids & treble].
I'd still probably go for the DT990 solely for gaming though [Can't you get the Philips Fidelio X1 for a similar price? I think that'd be the best fit for you]
O2 is probably the best amp, more neutral. The E9 is warmer but IT DOES NOT synergize well with the AKGs in general so the O2 is a  more versatile option. The Xonar DX/XD is a very good choice, cheaper too. Has a good DAC in it. 

 

[InHartWeTrust]

  I'd recommend the DT990 as the safer choice for your first audiophile headphone, especially if used mostly for immersive FPS gaming. The Q701 will give you less bass and better positional accuracy but less immersion than the DT990. The DTs do have a bit of a treble spike though.
The problem is they are both somewhat different, the DT990 being slightly U shaped [more bass & treble, less mids] and the Q701 being more of an N shaped headphone [less bass, more mids & treble].
I'd still probably go for the DT990 solely for gaming though [Can't you get the Philips Fidelio X1 for a similar price? I think that'd be the best fit for you]
O2 is probably the best amp, more neutral. The E9 is warmer but IT DOES NOT synergize well with the AKGs in general so the O2 is a  more versatile option. The Xonar DX/XD is a very good choice, cheaper too. Has a good DAC in it. 

 
Thanks for the great response, dude.  I can get the DT990 Pro 250's for $150, the Q701's for $200, and I looked for the Philips Fidelio X1's and they are $250.  $250 is out of my  budget considering I still need to get the sound card and amp, too.

 

[kman1211]

   
Thanks for the great response, dude.  I can get the DT990 Pro 250's for $150, the Q701's for $200, and I looked for the Philips Fidelio X1's and they are $250.  $250 is out of my  budget considering I still need to get the sound card and amp, too.

With the DT 990 Pro, I personally wouldn't suggest it unless you have a tube or hybrid tube amp, they change drastically on tubes, far more musical and the midrange fills in and gains a lot of body while taking some edge off the highs. Something like the Schiit Vali will probably do well with the DT 990 Pro as well as the Q701. The O2 would probably be decent for the AKGs.

 

[retiredat21]

i have no idea how any of these options sound like. I have never used a headphone amp so please help me in choosing which combo i should buy.. im losing my mind.. help please... Its gonna be equally used for gaming and movies and maybe a little bit of music..

Xonar U3 + Fiio E6 + Fidelio X1 = cheapest, easy to use with an android device?

Xonar U3 +Fiio E17 + Fidelio X1= dac/amp combo

Xonar U3 + Fidelio E18 + Fidelio X1= functionality with android devices

Xonar U3 + Fiio E12 + Fidelio X1= just read from somewhere that the sound quality is good with this pairing

Xonar U3 + Fiio E11 + Fidelio X1= suggested by MLE

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Umm, I don't remember recommending the E11 over the E17 if it was on the table.

 

[retiredat21]

You said if im just going amp e11 is a good choice. But dac/amp is ur ultimate recommendation so should i just get the e17 out of all the choices? And do i need to buy any additional cables to get it working with the u3?

 

[InHartWeTrust]

As a noob, this is an open ended question to all.  What all do I need to drive the DR990 250's at minimum? 
 
Do I need a new sound card? 
Do I then need a seperate amp? 
Are there any sound cards that include a sufficient amp? 
What is the necessity level of a DAC?
 
I don't need perfection, I just want high performance audio (not the highest, just good) for my gaming.
 
Suggestions for each would be welcome.
 
Envy -  Do you have any thoughts on my question above re Q701's vs DT990's for gaming?
Quote:

 
With the DT 990 Pro, I personally wouldn't suggest it unless you have a tube or hybrid tube amp, they change drastically on tubes, far more musical and the midrange fills in and gains a lot of body while taking some edge off the highs. Something like the Schiit Vali will probably do well with the DT 990 Pro as well as the Q701. The O2 would probably be decent for the AKGs.

 

[kman1211]

 

DACs make a pretty big difference in the sound, more so than the amp if the DAC isn't at least decent. So a new soundcard such as the Xonar DX or Soundblaster Z is what is suggested. A cheaper desktop amp such as the Vali, O2, Magni, E09K, etc is going to give either the DT 990 or Q701 the power they need, although synergy is another matter. The DT 990 can be driven off some computers to sufficient volumes, but it's going to suffer in terms of sound quality, the DT 990 tends to sound excessively hollow in mids when underamped or if it doesn't have the right synergy. The Q701 will be better for gaming overall of the two, but it wants a good dac and an amp more than the DT 990 Pro.

 

[InHartWeTrust]

 
DACs make a pretty big difference in the sound, more so than the amp if the DAC isn't at least decent. So a new soundcard such as the Xonar DX or Soundblaster Z is what is suggested. A cheaper desktop amp such as the Vali, O2, Magni, E09K, etc is going to give either the DT 990 or Q701 the power they need, although synergy is another matter. The DT 990 can be driven off some computers to sufficient volumes, but it's going to suffer in terms of sound quality, the DT 990 tends to sound excessively hollow in mids when underamped or if it doesn't have the right synergy. The Q701 will be better for gaming overall of the two, but it wants a good dac and an amp more than the DT 990 Pro.

Is the Fiio E17 an amp and DAC combo?  Or am I misunderstanding the product description?
 
Would it sufficiently power both the Q701's and DT990's in combination with the Soundblaster Z?

 

[kman1211]

 
Is the Fiio E17 an amp and DAC combo?  Or am I misunderstanding the product description?
 
Would it sufficiently power both the Q701's and DT990's in combination with the Soundblaster Z?

I believe so, but I don't know the specifics of how it works.
 
I wouldn't really suggest that with either the Q701 or the DT 990 if you want to get great performance for your money. I would get a desktop amp such as the Vali, Magni, 02, etc. with a soundcard instead if you want the most sound quality for your money. Neither headphone will sound as good on a portable amp.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

The E17 is not enough for either of those.

 

[mikemav]

Hey guys, I have the AKG K702 Annies and they are driven from a Marantz receiver (SR-5005) with Dolby Headphone. Does anyone know how the output power and sound quality of a receiver like this on the headphone jack compares to say the few suggestions most people make for lower budget desktop amps here to drive the notoriously power-hungry AKGs in the $100-250 range? Also I get some sources converted to DH directly via the receiver, as it will process all signals (like HDMI-embedded audio) into Dolby Headphone on the output. So it supports codecs the MixAmp and DSS do not, which is useful for console games (Xbox One DTS) and movies as well. Do I know double-amping isn't the best practice, but I don't believe there is another way to do this (no HDMI input, multi-codec surround-sound friendly headphone DACs out there, right?) Someone really needs to make a MixAmp with HDMI inputs and a digital DH output (for external DAC+amp) for the headphone community. I suspect it's the licensing fees to DTS and Dolby and the HDMI working group (along w/ limited market) that prevents my dream headphone processor so far. Anyway, if you could shed some light if I am not getting enough out of my Annies w/ the receiver, please let me know... 
 
BTW MLE, I am the one who sold the MMX300's needing cable repair for cheap mentioned recently in this thread, so I hope you get a chance to review them (and sorry to you and the buyer that the pads looked a bit old and crusty!) 

 

[InHartWeTrust]

The E17 is not enough for either of those.

What would be the recommended amp for them then, with the $125 and under price bucket?  Desktop is 100% fine with me.  Is there a certain recommendation that tends to work best with the Q701 and one that works best with the DT990's?
 
The more I read the more I get confused, so, I guess I'll just ask the experts here.

 

[retiredat21]

Oh my i just saw the schiit vali and modi combination and its quite within my budget..can i connect this with the xonar u3 to get dolby headphone and would you recommend this?

 

[AxelCloris]

Oh my i just saw the schiit vali and modi combination and its quite within my budget..can i connect this with the xonar u3 to get dolby headphone and would you recommend this?

 
Schiit Modi is USB only so if you wanted a better DAC than the one built into the U3 you'd have to get a different one from the Modi, one that accepts toslink. You could use the Vali with the U3 without issue. The Vali is a very capable amp for higher impedance headphones. I'd recommend the Magni with more sensitive ones. I have owned both, both are good at what they do.