quicksilver96
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2005
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I build a pimeta about a week ago or so and have been using the AD8610/20 combination since it was built. My LM6171/72s came in today so I took the liberty of doing a little comparison testing with a friend. The pimeta is running of 22V of STEPS power, has opamps biased to into class A, and is running stacked OPA634s in high BW mode. Was not running bass boost or crossfeed circuitry at the time of test. Headphones used in test were unmodified K701s, unmodified Senn 600s, recabled and Kramer modded KSC-75s (shame we couldn't field some grados too for the test...next purchase SR-225s...)
Chip impressions:
AD86x0 (~53mA @ Idle) -
K701s - Detailed, bright, slightly analytical sound, exhibited the K701s sparkle and instrument seperation very well (in a good way)
600s - Lifted a bit of the Senn veil that I remember, didn't really help the "3-blob" soundstage though IMHO, warm, not as bright and sparkly as the 701
75s - while these HP are good for the $ I really hate putting them in a comparo with these other 2 beasts as they sound a quite muddy at the bottom (especially after coming from 701s) and harsh at the top. The 86x0 really doesn't do anything to help these phones out.
LM617x (~51mA @ Idle) -
K701s - Helps bring out the bass impact in this phone at the expense of a little seperation and soundstage, warms and relaxes the sound
600s - A little to mellow for me, the upper bass and midrange seems a little too accentuated, really seemed veiled with this chip in, will say it complemented ambient jazz/electronica fairly nicely though.
KSC-75 - Holy bass, decent tempo, sound is very fun and amusing but sounds like someone cranked up the bass eq, smoothed out the harshness in the treble range, bassheads try this combo out. Might sound sweet (or rediculous) with beyer 770s if your into that
Unless you are on a super tight budget, there is really no reason to prefer one of these chips over the other in terms of price vs performance. Personally I like the AD86x0 with my 701s, this may be too analytical for some people and the LM617x smooth this out and give a nice boost to what some would call a thin bass response on the 701s. The differences between the chips are not nearly as great as the differences between headphones but rolling opamps can help cause subtle changes to taylor a set of phones that are already close to your personal preference.
Edit - Anybody have any different buffer recommendations that are pin compatible with the OPA634?
Chip impressions:
AD86x0 (~53mA @ Idle) -
K701s - Detailed, bright, slightly analytical sound, exhibited the K701s sparkle and instrument seperation very well (in a good way)
600s - Lifted a bit of the Senn veil that I remember, didn't really help the "3-blob" soundstage though IMHO, warm, not as bright and sparkly as the 701
75s - while these HP are good for the $ I really hate putting them in a comparo with these other 2 beasts as they sound a quite muddy at the bottom (especially after coming from 701s) and harsh at the top. The 86x0 really doesn't do anything to help these phones out.
LM617x (~51mA @ Idle) -
K701s - Helps bring out the bass impact in this phone at the expense of a little seperation and soundstage, warms and relaxes the sound
600s - A little to mellow for me, the upper bass and midrange seems a little too accentuated, really seemed veiled with this chip in, will say it complemented ambient jazz/electronica fairly nicely though.
KSC-75 - Holy bass, decent tempo, sound is very fun and amusing but sounds like someone cranked up the bass eq, smoothed out the harshness in the treble range, bassheads try this combo out. Might sound sweet (or rediculous) with beyer 770s if your into that
Unless you are on a super tight budget, there is really no reason to prefer one of these chips over the other in terms of price vs performance. Personally I like the AD86x0 with my 701s, this may be too analytical for some people and the LM617x smooth this out and give a nice boost to what some would call a thin bass response on the 701s. The differences between the chips are not nearly as great as the differences between headphones but rolling opamps can help cause subtle changes to taylor a set of phones that are already close to your personal preference.
Edit - Anybody have any different buffer recommendations that are pin compatible with the OPA634?
