[Nick-firestorm]

Hey everyone, i have a pair of AKG K701 and a Xonar STX soundcard. I'm searching for a proper AMP to power the phones, because i read here that the STX' amp is not enough to drive the k701.

I'm thinking of :

1) Buying simply an Amp? audio-gd C2C or littledot MKV? Is the Xonar's DAC enough to drive the phones?
2) Buying a DAC+AMP, the Compass? Is the DAC of the compass better from that of the Xonar's?

Thanks

 

[kunalraiker]

Audio Gd DAC-19 DSP1 and New C-2

 

[Nick-firestorm]

Heh, forgot to mention, i don't want to spend a fortune

That combination makes my STX useless..is the extra DAC so much better from the one the STX has?

 

[vvaffles]

instead of buying a dac/amp combo, you should look into an entry level amp, such as the udac, which will set you back 100 bux or less. and maybe look into a ckkIII as your desktop amp for the k701s, from my experience (which isnt a lot compared to the other guys here) ckkIII is an awesome companion to the k701s.

on another note, buying separate dac and amp allows you to upgrade easier down the road, whether that is a good thing or not is up to you to decide

 

[stang]

See if you can get the Heed Canamp, MKVII+ or even Burson HA-160 for a good price. Personally, I would probably stick with the STX DAC for now and get something like a Little Dot DAC_I (pairs wonderfully with the MKVII+) and go balanced with the K701

Some good DACs include the uDAC (cheap), Matrix Mini-i and Little Dot DAC_I, Audio Gd DAC-19 DSP1 and Lavry DA10. The Benchmark is probably too bright and detailed for the K701.