My first open back headphones. Need help and recommendation.

[Akhil7j]

When it comes to buying off the Internet with headphones, just have to find a place with a good return policy. Unlike with buying many speakers online, if you don't like them, return shipping is not too high and a reasonable demo fee. That's how I treat it. A trade off for the good prices one can find online.

I have Modi first generation. Good DAC for the money. The Modi 2 arguably is a good enough DAC that spending more results in greatly decreasing returns if any significant difference since the Modi 2 already measures very accurate within the range of human hearing.

In the same price range of the Modi 2 Uber and Magni 2 Uber is the Audio GD-NFB-11 combined DAC/headphone amp. Worth looking into if you would like a combined unit.

Thanks.. I checked Audio GD but couldn't find the price and shipping info.
 
AKG K7xx is active on Massdrop again. $199 is really attractive price for such highly rated Headphones. Thinking of giving it a shot and still if I don't like it, I can sell it or keep it for rarely listening.
 
Just a noob question, if I connect the headphones to my Denon 1911 AVR which is connected via HDMI from my PC; will it be able to drive them correctly? Or, if I buy the Schiit stack with dedicated AMP and DAC, will there be a noticeable difference in sound quality?

 

[cel4145]

Thanks.. I checked Audio GD but couldn't find the price and shipping info.

Price is at the top of the page: http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/NFB112014/NFB112014EN.htm. Shipping cost through the shipping cost link

Just a noob question, if I connect the headphones to my Denon 1911 AVR which is connected via HDMI from my PC; will it be able to drive them correctly? Or, if I buy the Schiit stack with dedicated AMP and DAC, will there be a noticeable difference in sound quality?

AVRs often do better with higher impedance headphones, but difficult to say since manufacturers rarely provide any stats about the headphone amps in AVRs.

 

[DangerClose]

 
Just a noob question, if I connect the headphones to my Denon 1911 AVR which is connected via HDMI from my PC; will it be able to drive them correctly? 

 
Probably. Most AVR reviews don't pay any attention to the headphone output, and output ratings don't tell the whole story.  I have a receiver with a rated headphone output in its manual of 560 ohms.  People may assume high-ohm output on low-ohm headphones will make the bass boomy.  If it does, I wouldn't call it excessive on this one, but this one makes the sound thick and warm.  Good for "thin-sounding, cold" headphones, not so good for already warm headphones.  They still sound good, but it's like listening to syrup.  Clean syrup, but syrup.  
 
Power shouldn't be much of a problem from the Denon, and that's the main purpose of an amp.  If you don't like the sound, then look into getting something else. 
 
I have a Q701, and it's good when powered properly, and its soundstage is great for games and for analyzing music, and I can enjoy it with music, but then I put on practically any other headphone, and the music sounds more like music.  I have a freak K701 that I'm guessing is similar to or maybe even warmer than a K7xx.  I like that a lot with its fuller sound, but there's still that analytical vs. musical fight going on.  

 

[Akhil7j]

I joined the K7xx from Massdrop and waiting for their shipping to start.
 
For amplification, I was checking the classifieds and there are some people selling Centrance DACmini in a good price. Is it worth buying those? I hope there are no known issues in DACmini AMP/DAC.

 

[cel4145]

I joined the K7xx from Massdrop and waiting for their shipping to start.

For amplification, I was checking the classifieds and there are some people selling Centrance DACmini in a good price. Is it worth buying those? I hope there are no known issues in DACmini AMP/DAC.

I don't have any experience with that model. But they give an output power rating of 1.5w. Not sure at what impedance rating that is, but should be more than enough for the K7XX.

 

[crazychile]

I used to own standard K702s, and while all the notes and detail were there, and they sounded impressive for the first few weeks, ultimately they just didn't make music for me and I had to get rid of them. I did like the comfort.
 
Maybe K7XX fixes the musicality issue, but I've never heard them. I've been tempted to try a pair but I'm saving for a pair of Stax....another beast entirely.
 
I drove K702s with a Lyr 2 amp. I completely agree that a Magni 2 would be plenty of power. Personally I'm more DAC sensitive than amp, providing the amp is "sufficient" for the application.

 

[Akhil7j]

  I used to own standard K702s, and while all the notes and detail were there, and they sounded impressive for the first few weeks, ultimately they just didn't make music for me and I had to get rid of them. I did like the comfort.
 
Maybe K7XX fixes the musicality issue, but I've never heard them. I've been tempted to try a pair but I'm saving for a pair of Stax....another beast entirely.
 
I drove K702s with a Lyr 2 amp. I completely agree that a Magni 2 would be plenty of power. Personally I'm more DAC sensitive than amp, providing the amp is "sufficient" for the application.

The CEntrance DACmini is a DAC/AMP which i was thinking of pairing with AKG K7xx. That would be a start and later if I need to change the headphones, I can still keep the DACmini since its has a good DAC and AMP, it would drive mostly all headphones correctly. My assumption.
 
I am not into DSDs and never tried/purchased any. All the CD collection I have is now ripped to FLAC and stored in my NAS for easy and comfortable listening. I think 16/44Khz is still a good sampling rate that would impress me for long time. I do have some HD FLAC purchased from HDTracks (Dire Straits, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, etc) which sound great on my stereo speakers. But personally speaking there is a very small audible difference I find when I compare them directly with the CD version played from CD player. May be because the internal DAC of CD player isn't that good or may be I don't have golden ears yet. But I still doubt sometimes if a good DAC would make a difference to my ears which would worth a $500-1000.
 
So far I had selected the Aune X1s DAC/AMP combo and since it has DSD capability, may be in future when I will think my ears are turned golden and can make out difference, I will still have the DSD DAC to keep me going.