My 701's distorting

[Bon]

Hey all, i have recently purchased a pair of these akg's and found only lately that they seem to start 'distorting' dare i say it, at low volumes with certain types of heavy bass and types of soft metal music. the heavier part of the spectrum.
using through my ipod alone seems to emphasize this, and i'm quite positive that i haven't damaged them through burn-in which was only done at slightly higher than listening volume and a bit of pink noise at 80% listening.

could this be a problem with
a- amplification
b- ipod (not line out)
c- damage

thanks guys
let me know what you think

 

[tomb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bon /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hey all, i have recently purchased a pair of these akg's and found only lately that they seem to start 'distorting' dare i say it, at low volumes with certain types of heavy bass and types of soft metal music. the heavier part of the spectrum. using through my ipod alone seems to emphasize this, and i'm quite positive that i haven't damaged them through burn-in which was only done at slightly higher than listening volume and a bit of pink noise at 80% listening. could this be a problem with a- amplification b- ipod (not line out) c- damage thanks guys let me know what you think

Seeing as how AKG K701's are notoriously difficult to drive, it sounds like a perfect example of lack of amplification. Low frequencies will take prodigous current with a relatively low impedance phone like the K701's. There's no way in you-know-where that an iPod can support that, even at low volumes.

 

[manofmathematics]

Are you boosting lower level frequencies at all? This sounds like hard clipping. You may also be presenting whatever you're driving the headphones with, with too much of a load.

 

[Bon]

It sounds better and less 'distortion' with a better source. It seems with the ipod, obviously not sufficient to drive the akg's itself, the distortion gets worse. waiting on a dv amp so when that come i will try it out. just worrying as i have never heard of this problem before

 

[Bon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by manofmathematics /img/forum/go_quote.gif Are you boosting lower level frequencies at all? This sounds like hard clipping. You may also be presenting whatever you're driving the headphones with, with too much of a load.

Not boosting low freq. as far as i know, too much of a load through the ipod? could you explain that. thanks manofmath

 

[xnothingpoetic]

Not sure this applies to the AKG's, but have you check for any hair poking at the driver?

That might cause such problems.

 

[EYEdROP]

Im pretty sure its your source. You said the distortion wasnt as bad on better sources, hence why I think its simply a lack of adequate amplification.

 

[Zorander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bon /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hey all, i have recently purchased a pair of these akg's and found only lately that they seem to start 'distorting' dare i say it, at low volumes with certain types of heavy bass and types of soft metal music. the heavier part of the spectrum. using through my ipod alone seems to emphasize this, and i'm quite positive that i haven't damaged them through burn-in which was only done at slightly higher than listening volume and a bit of pink noise at 80% listening. could this be a problem with a- amplification b- ipod (not line out) c- damage thanks guys let me know what you think

Out of curiosity borne from reading your post, I hooked my K601 (which presents similarly tough load to the K701) to the headphone out of the iPod, sampled a few tracks and could hardly hear any distortions. Damn it, I was actually surprised the iPod drove it more than decently and I might start sampling the K340 on the iPod someday, but I digress. In your case, I would be tempted to point at possibility (c) and a fourth possibility: the recordings themselves.

Cheers!

 

[pearljam5000]

my only source\amp is the Cowon D2 and i play it at full volume with bass boosted,and i hear no distortion at all.
but it does a powerful amp of 37mw+37mw

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zorander /img/forum/go_quote.gif Out of curiosity borne from reading your post, I hooked my K601 (which presents similarly tough load to the K701) to the headphone out of the iPod, sampled a few tracks and could hardly hear any distortions. Damn it, I was actually surprised the iPod drove it more than decently and I might start sampling the K340 on the iPod someday, but I digress. In your case, I would be tempted to point at possibility (c) and a fourth possibility: the recordings themselves. Cheers!

 

[Currawong]

I tried just now and was rather shocked that my 5G iPod could drive my 701's as well. At max the volume was only moderate, but certainly without distortion. Miles away from what I get with a proper amp, of course, but not un-listenable.

 

[d-cee]

I'd be inclined to say its due to lack of amplification, but based on the comments above this may not be the case.

My K701 right speaker also started doing funny things and I thought it was a loose connector but it turns out there was a fine hair on the driver.

 

[Bon]

Hrm ok i have a few ideas. its hard to explain really, its distorion, but then again its not

i might have a hunt for some hair buried in them as this sounds quite probable. im sure they sounded fine a few weeks ago,
fingers crossed for some hair in drivers :S

 

[Uncle Erik]

You're probably driving the iPod's amp into clipping. I've run a K-701 from a 5G iPod, and it doesn't sound good. It's flat and lifeless. Way better than iBuds, for sure, but nowhere near what the K-701 is capable of.

 

[Zorander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong /img/forum/go_quote.gif I tried just now and was rather shocked that my 5G iPod could drive my 701's as well. At max the volume was only moderate, but certainly without distortion. Miles away from what I get with a proper amp, of course, but not un-listenable.

Sounds like you need to adjust your sig there.

 

[Currawong]

Ahh, yes, when I wrote that, I'd tried driving my 701's with the Corda Move using just USB power. It was also a response to all sorts of people talking about 701's for use with mp3 players.