[Mad Lust Envy]

Definitely the A40s+Mixamp. That A50...meh.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Playing with the Compass 2. The Annie and HE-400 sound absolutely fabulous off it.

 

[chicolom]

Quote:

Playing with the Compass 2. The Annie and HE-400 sound absolutely fabulous off it.

 
 
LOL... that's too much amp for one desk.  Something's going to break/explode.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Lol well, the bottom is the SA-31, so it won't be here for long.

Dear god, how I've missed that lovely volume knob. I will never, EVER again go with digital buttons.

Actually, the Compass 2 is a little shorter in length, about 3-4 inches.

 

[Impulse]

Maybe, but it'll break/explode in awesome fashion!

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

That stack is sexier than any Schiit stack! And it looks like it would turn into a Decepticon! :veryevil:

Wow, now I'm blindly trying to adjust the volume by touching digital buttons... looks like I'm gonna have to get used to having a volume knob again. When I had the NFB5, the volume knob was placed on the right side of the front face. The Compass 2 has it directly in the center. Oh Audio-GD, you are confusing me with adjusting the volume after having owned 3 amps from you guys!

 

[chicolom]

Quote:

That stack is sexier than any Schiit stack!

 
Everyone knows Audio GD makes the sleekest sexiest amps. 
 
Their amps are almost as sexy as their website.
 
Almost.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Hahahah. That's a low blow! But yes, that website needs a serious overhaul... as well as a fluent english webmaster.

Having messed with the USB input, Optical, as well as using the ODAC to the Compass 2's line (and Compass 2's dac into the SA-31), I can easily say the Compass 2 sounds just as good to me as any combination using the ODAC or SA-31. I could swear it sounds even better because there are no external cables between the DAC and amp in the Compass 2.

The HE-400 sounds REALLY, really good off it right now. Of course, so does the Annie, but I'm focusing on the HE-400 atm.

 

[Sleinzel]

As stated somewhere back in this thread, I bought a Q701 and a HD598.
 
Hd598 went back to amazon, the Q701 just blew it away.
 
I bought a HD650 for movies and for a little bit more bass. The Q701 eats it in terms of gaming. But I like the HD650 more. The Q701 starts hurting after 4 to 5 hours because of the bumpers. A simple readjustment helps for me.
 
My Soundcard, the Xonar Essence ST, does a good job. Of course its not a 2000$ amp, but I think its still capable of driving both headphones pretty well.

 

[gl0ry]

I ended up buying the A40s + mixamp.  The mixamp definitely has some issues at the moment primarily microphone related.
 
As far as audio goes they work perfectly fine.  Compared to the Sennheiser PC360's they definitely lack some clarity, but they have better bass response.  With the mixamp and features, I feel like the Astro package is a better value.  The sound quality is definitely comparable.
 
The Sennheisers microphone blows it out of the water though, but I don't know if anyone cares about that.

 

[catspaw]

That looks expensive... (compass 2).

 

[calpis]

I have knob envy.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

That sounds wrong on so many levels...

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Here is what people need to realize about the K702 Anniversary:

The biggest change going from the older AKGs to the Annies is the addition of bass. If your music taste doesn't have a lot of importance towards bass, you may feel the Annie is too similar to the older non-Annies.

However, play some EDM and hip hop on the Annie and compare to the older ones. I GUARANTEE the difference will obvious.

So, if you are one that wished for more bass, better comfort (as in a ginormous leap in comfort), and warmer tone, the Annie will not disappoint. Yes, it is still a K702/Q701, and listening to certain genres will make them sound more similar than different.

Give them their chance, and use them for things that favor the low end.

I am betting that those people who say they sound basically the same as the non-Annies is because they listen to stuff that takes little importance in bass, like Classical.

What the K702 Annie has done is make them a complete all-rounder, and not a specialist. It does everything well, as opposed to certain genres well, like the Q701/K701, etc.

 

[NamelessPFG]

Quote:

LOL... that's too much amp for one desk.  Something's going to break/explode.

 
Now imagine if he had the rare SRM-T2 or BHSE...those things look pretty huge going by the pics, and even have separate power supply blocks!
 
Also seconding MLE on the convenience of a proper volume knob, since I can tell at a glance what the volume setting actually is.