[soundlikes]

Quote:

Just curious, anybody got their Q701 with the AKG logo slightly slanted?
 
dL

From what I have red so far, all of them are like that. 

 
 

 

[dL.]

Here's my Day 2 Impression of the Cardas Fat Pipe cable.
 
First and foremost, there is definitely a noticeable difference between the stock cable and the Cardas in sound quality. The Cardas makes the sound slightly more forward, more aggressive. The dynamic range is slightly improved in the bass and the treble. Soundstage improvement is very minimal, maybe a tad bit wider and deeper but I haven't heard it so far.
 
The most impressive part about this upgrade for me is the improved clarity and detail. I always think my Q701 is sometimes a bit too smooth and flat, especially compared to the KRK 8400 or my previous Shure 940. Now with the Cardas Fat Pipe, it has turned the details up a notch. What's more impressive is that it still retains the smoothness of the Q701 without making it sound too overly bright and analytical.
 
Last but not least, I would not say it has made the Q701 more cold and analytical. It has the same warmth. The Cardas has made improved the Q701 in terms of detail, punchy, dynamic range (lows and highs). The best way to put it is it sounds like you have plugged your Q701 to a better quality neutral amp.
 
The ultimate question: Is it worth $200? No. But for those who love the Q701 sound a lot and want to get the most out of this headphone, then yes.
 
More impressions in a few days later. Feel free to ask me questions or ask me to test something (if I am capable of).
 
dL

 

[verde57]

http://www.headphone.com/accessories/cables/cardas-fat-pipe-for-akg-k702--q701--15ft.php
this?
are there any more options for cable mod??

 

[rhodan818]

the Q is slanted on both sides. The left side back of the Q points directly to the QLR cable entry 

 

[dL.]

There's the ALO Copper and SXC for K702 which also works for Q701. You can check their website out on the right side of the Head-Fi page.

dL

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

Here's my Day 2 Impression of the Cardas Fat Pipe cable.
 
First and foremost, there is definitely a noticeable difference between the stock cable and the Cardas in sound quality. The Cardas makes the sound slightly more forward, more aggressive. The dynamic range is slightly improved in the bass and the treble. Soundstage improvement is very minimal, maybe a tad bit wider and deeper but I haven't heard it so far.
 
The most impressive part about this upgrade for me is the improved clarity and detail. I always think my Q701 is sometimes a bit too smooth and flat, especially compared to the KRK 8400 or my previous Shure 940. Now with the Cardas Fat Pipe, it has turned the details up a notch. What's more impressive is that it still retains the smoothness of the Q701 without making it sound too overly bright and analytical.
 
Last but not least, I would not say it has made the Q701 more cold and analytical. It has the same warmth. The Cardas has made improved the Q701 in terms of detail, punchy, dynamic range (lows and highs). The best way to put it is it sounds like you have plugged your Q701 to a better quality neutral amp.
 
The ultimate question: Is it worth $200? No. But for those who love the Q701 sound a lot and want to get the most out of this headphone, then yes.
 
More impressions in a few days later. Feel free to ask me questions or ask me to test something (if I am capable of).
 
dL

Where did you buy it for 200 bones Canadian?
 
Interesting, Cardas is usually noted as adding MORE warmth. I've never tried the 'Pipe so what do I know anyway?

 
Signed,
Q701 Lover.
 

 

[Bonobo Loco]

Better or worse than the K701?

 

[tdockweiler]

Quote:

Here's my Day 2 Impression of the Cardas Fat Pipe cable.
 
First and foremost, there is definitely a noticeable difference between the stock cable and the Cardas in sound quality. The Cardas makes the sound slightly more forward, more aggressive. The dynamic range is slightly improved in the bass and the treble. Soundstage improvement is very minimal, maybe a tad bit wider and deeper but I haven't heard it so far.
 
The most impressive part about this upgrade for me is the improved clarity and detail. I always think my Q701 is sometimes a bit too smooth and flat, especially compared to the KRK 8400 or my previous Shure 940. Now with the Cardas Fat Pipe, it has turned the details up a notch. What's more impressive is that it still retains the smoothness of the Q701 without making it sound too overly bright and analytical.
 
Last but not least, I would not say it has made the Q701 more cold and analytical. It has the same warmth. The Cardas has made improved the Q701 in terms of detail, punchy, dynamic range (lows and highs). The best way to put it is it sounds like you have plugged your Q701 to a better quality neutral amp.
 
The ultimate question: Is it worth $200? No. But for those who love the Q701 sound a lot and want to get the most out of this headphone, then yes.
 
More impressions in a few days later. Feel free to ask me questions or ask me to test something (if I am capable of).
 
dL

Thanks for the impressions of this. I'm glad to see nobody mentioned the cable "snake oil" garbage yet.
 
I compared the ALO SXC and a DHC Q701 and much prefer the ALO SXC. I should have listened to the DHC a bit longer. I'm not a fan of DH wire at all, but I won't go there. I think it would sound amazing with a Sennheiser headphone though.
 
Glad to hear the Cardas cable retains the warms of the Q701. Every copper cable I've tried with the Q701 makes it less warm. I have no clue why. This is why I've stuck with the stock cable.
 
IMO a cable for ANY headphone has never made more than a 5% improvement in sound quality for ME. The greatest improvement was when I upgraded a HD-598 cable.
 
I bet the benefit of the Cardas cable will be much greater if it was soldered directly to the driver. Too bad it's so hard to do that with the Q701. It seems the benefits of Q701 cables are chopped in half due to the stupid internal stock wires.
 
I hate those stock Sennheiser cables. I think they're made to sound the way they do.
 
I wonder if the Cardas cables for the HD-600 make it even WARMER? I sure hope not or else I'd hate it.
 
One can make a Cardas cable as a DIY version for cheaper, but the wire seems to be hard to find and hard to work with i've heard.
 
 

 

[dL.]

the Q is slanted on both sides. The left side back of the Q points directly to the QLR cable entry 

I was talking about the "AKG" logo not the "Q" but interesting. Quality control nowadays, at least we know it's hand built.

Where did you buy it for 200 bones Canadian?
 
Interesting, Cardas is usually noted as adding MORE warmth. I've never tried the 'Pipe so what do I know anyway?

 
Signed,
Q701 Lover.
 

I got the Cardas via HeadRoom which is the only place you can get it afaik. I got charged tax and brokerage fee when it arrived.

dL

 

[toyman]

Wanted to check in. After a week or so of research I finally pulled the trigger on a pair of Q701s. Initial impressions are: 1) boy are they big. 2) boy are they comfortable. 3) boy, do they sound good. I know they need burned in, but I'm wowed right now, and it should only get better. Extremely detailed, not harsh at all, which I was concerned about. First song I played was James Blunt High. If my ears were going to bleed, that was the song in my collection. The mav dac seems to drive these well and I have a few opamps coming to roll. Quite a step up from my hd238's. This place is an awesome resource.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Only one of my AKG logos is slightly slanted. The other one is close to being right but still slanted but almost unnoticeable, unlike the other one.

 

[dL.]

Quote:

Only one of my AKG logos is slightly slanted. The other one is close to being right but still slanted but almost unnoticeable, unlike the other one.

Same here. Was it the left side that's slanted? I guess I should just leave it as this seems to be quite common.
 
dL

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Lol, no. It's the right side that is more heavily slanted on mine.

 

[dL.]

Quote:

Lol, no. It's the right side that is more heavily slanted on mine.

lol I guess that's what you get for hand built.
 
dL

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Doesn't bother me one bit though. I'm OCD when it comes to symmetry, yet this doesn't really irk me at all. Odd.