SoundCarrier
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- May 26, 2007
- Posts
- 11
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- 0
Hi,
A few months ago I bought a pair of AKG K701 headphones. I love audio and was so excited about getting them, but to be honest I've been very disappointed
I find them to be harsh, cold and lacking in low end. To hear any sort of detail in the music, they have to be run at high volume levels, which I really don't like.
I know that these are very highly regarded headphones, so either they are just not to my taste or there's something else wrong (possibly the amplification). I would *really* appreciate your opinions this, as I'm at the point of selling the 701s and treating my brief foray into the world of high end headphones as an expensive mistake
My current setup:
Emu 1212m -> Balanced Cables -> Tapco 6306 Mixer -> K701
The 6306 mixer is basically a budget Mackie mixer which cost around £70 new. (I make music and use the mixer to control the volume of my main monitors.) I assume that its headphone amp is terrible, and not doing the 701's justice. I'm sure that some of you are recoiling in horror right now
Could the problems I've been having (cold, harsh sound, lack of bass, no detail at low volumes) be explained by the headphone amp? Could a good amp make such a big difference to the sound? I appreciate that these may be slightly stupid/obvious questions for you, but I'm new to the head-fi way!
I'm sure you will appreciate that after my initial disappointment, I'm reluctant to spend even more money unless there's a good chance that it will solve the problem.
I read about the Benchmark DAC1, which sounded very interesting, as it would allow me to get rid of the 6306 mixer, giving my main monitors the benefit of the new DAC and freeing up the analogue outs on the 1212m for other things. However, I've read on this site that some people find the DAC1->k701 combo to be overly harsh, which is exactly what I'm trying to get away from!
So, the question: could I buy a DAC and amp (or maybe a DAC containing a good amp?) for under £600 which will transform my headphones?
Sorry for the long post. Any help is much appreciated.
A few months ago I bought a pair of AKG K701 headphones. I love audio and was so excited about getting them, but to be honest I've been very disappointed
I know that these are very highly regarded headphones, so either they are just not to my taste or there's something else wrong (possibly the amplification). I would *really* appreciate your opinions this, as I'm at the point of selling the 701s and treating my brief foray into the world of high end headphones as an expensive mistake
My current setup:
Emu 1212m -> Balanced Cables -> Tapco 6306 Mixer -> K701
The 6306 mixer is basically a budget Mackie mixer which cost around £70 new. (I make music and use the mixer to control the volume of my main monitors.) I assume that its headphone amp is terrible, and not doing the 701's justice. I'm sure that some of you are recoiling in horror right now
Could the problems I've been having (cold, harsh sound, lack of bass, no detail at low volumes) be explained by the headphone amp? Could a good amp make such a big difference to the sound? I appreciate that these may be slightly stupid/obvious questions for you, but I'm new to the head-fi way!
I'm sure you will appreciate that after my initial disappointment, I'm reluctant to spend even more money unless there's a good chance that it will solve the problem.
I read about the Benchmark DAC1, which sounded very interesting, as it would allow me to get rid of the 6306 mixer, giving my main monitors the benefit of the new DAC and freeing up the analogue outs on the 1212m for other things. However, I've read on this site that some people find the DAC1->k701 combo to be overly harsh, which is exactly what I'm trying to get away from!
So, the question: could I buy a DAC and amp (or maybe a DAC containing a good amp?) for under £600 which will transform my headphones?
Sorry for the long post. Any help is much appreciated.