[spyrko]

Hi, i have NI Audio 8 DJ soundcard and i want to buy a K701 but i'm not sure if amp in this card will be enought for K701.
Thank you

 

[Shadorne]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spyrko /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi, i have NI Audio 8 DJ soundcard and i want to buy a K701 but i'm not sure if amp in this card will be enought for K701. Thank you

Firstly if you are a DJ then you should get closed headphones so that you can block out more of the ambient sound (save your ears and make less mistakes).

Secondly - I believe this sound card outputs pro audio levels providing up to 9.7 dBu on all channels. In all likelihood the headphone amp is a good one to.

Only question is can your PC handle it all - does your PC have a robust power supply? Running 8 channels at 10 dbu into various loads could be quite a current drain - not to mention things might get overly toasty hot in your PC.

 

[spyrko]

Thanks for answer,,,
I have Sennheiser HD25 for DJing and I need K701 for production and mixing.
There are headphone output specifications:

Load Impedance16 Ohms – 600 Ohms
Maximum Output Level (100 Ohm load)1,55 V RMS (load 100Ohm), 3,1V RMS (no load)
SNR (weighted)93 dBu
THD+N (100 Ohms)0,016%
Frequency Response +/- 1 dBu10 Hz-40 kHz

I haven't PC but new MacBook Pro and I'm using for production only headphones output, nothing else.

 

[Shadorne]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spyrko /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for answer,,, I have Sennheiser HD25 for DJing and I need K701 for production and mixing. There are headphone output specifications: Load Impedance16 Ohms – 600 Ohms Maximum Output Level (100 Ohm load)1,55 V RMS (load 100Ohm), 3,1V RMS (no load) SNR (weighted)93 dBu THD+N (100 Ohms)0,016% Frequency Response +/- 1 dBu10 Hz-40 kHz I haven't PC but new MacBook Pro and I'm using for production only headphones output, nothing else.

The AKG K701 are around 65 Ohms, 105 db SPL/V sensitivity. So you'll get a maximum of 1.55*65/100 = 1 Volt which equates to 105 db SPL, which is borderline in my book (assuming you need headroom for heavy bass etc). The specs may be conservative but I think you might find them slightly limited dynamically when testing your mix at higher levels (I assume your mix has to work at high levels and if you do your production at lower levels then you might mix overly bass heavy due to equal loudness contours - frankly you should do final mix on speakers and use headphones just for checking details - it'll save you time in the end not having to rework things

)

 

[spyrko]

Thank you very much for detailed answer

So, do you think that K701 is good choice for this audio interface? Do you have any good idea for solve this problem? Any cheaper Amp?

THANKS

 

[Shadorne]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spyrko /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thank you very much for detailed answer So, do you think that K701 is good choice for this audio interface? Do you have any good idea for solve this problem? Any cheaper Amp? THANKS

Many people recommend the EMU 0404 USB but I cannot at all understand why - it has a headphone output impedance of 22 Ohms in the headphone amp and jitter is not especially low (it is a great device though and low cost for what it does but not what I would place on par with superb headphones like the AKG K701). Why do people like it so much? The only thing I can think is that with the typical modern low impedance headphones then you may end up with poor damping factor and therefore extra boomy or heavy bass (which might equate to preferable sound - seeing as more is better -

). The other possibility is that it just a great sounding OP Amp output - ignoring specs, as specs are not always reflective of what everyone likes.

My suggestion would be to connect your existing soundcard analog output to a Benchmark H1 Headphone amp - this will get you great sound. However, if you go that far - why not try to find a used Benchmark DAC1 for around $600 - it comes with the same awesome headphone amp built in and has outstanding jitter rejection capability, as is widely publicized.