[Fuzziekiwi]

Is it me or do people seem to exaggerate how much power these need..

 

[Za Warudo]

After seeing the group buy for the Q701 I am tempted to get these. I currently have the HE400 as my main listening cans and I have my M50 at work. Would these be a good complement? I can power these off of a e17 or my Schiit stack (Modi/Magni) at home. I presume the e17 will not be enough to get the most of out these correct?

These would not sound great with the E17. They do complement the HE400 well. I sold mine after getting the AKG because I don't listen to a lot of electronic music and the Q701 sounding better at everything besides that kind of music.

 

[Shazb0t]

Is it me or do people seem to exaggerate how much power these need..

I think that all this really means is that you need an amp to use them.  For the crowd that likes headphones that are capable of being played from an ipod and sounding okay.

 

[Stillhart]

Is it me or do people seem to exaggerate how much power these need..

I think the problem is that until you've listened to them on a powerful amp, you don't realize that they could sound even better.  Sure, the volume will be fine right out of your phone, but it's not going to sound as good as if you'd run it through a nice amp.
 
I thought they sounded amazing through my sound card before I got the Matrix M-Stage.  After getting the amp, my thought was "this is the way they were meant to be heard".

 

[SSandDigital]

Is it me or do people seem to exaggerate how much power these need..

Most certainly.  People forget these can be used for professional use and AKG for the most part, their audience are professionals.  Professionals don't have giant massive headphone amps like Head-Fi does.  Go with whatever sounds good to you, can't really knock the folks who do enjoy the Q701 with their big amps.  It's just enjoying the music, using a large amp adds to that enjoyment and will no doubt add to that placebo effect of better sound.  I doubt anyone in this thread would be able to tell the difference between two well designed amps, one smaller and affordable and one large and skyrocket price.  A good amp is suppose to just amplify the sound, nothing more.

 

[utee05]

These would not sound great with the E17. They do complement the HE400 well. I sold mine after getting the AKG because I don't listen to a lot of electronic music and the Q701 sounding better at everything besides that kind of music.

Thanks for the info. So you find the q701 to be a lot more comfortable to wear than the HE400? The one thing about the HE400 is that they do feel a bit heavy at times and I have to EQ to tone down the harsh treble. 

 

[Fuzziekiwi]

 

Is it me or do people seem to exaggerate how much power these need..

I think the problem is that until you've listened to them on a powerful amp, you don't realize that they could sound even better.  Sure, the volume will be fine right out of your phone, but it's not going to sound as good as if you'd run it through a nice amp.
 
I thought they sounded amazing through my sound card before I got the Matrix M-Stage.  After getting the amp, my thought was "this is the way they were meant to be heard".

Does your soundcard have an amp? I doubt upgrading to a Vali from Xonar DG will really help, in my case.

 

[Stillhart]

  Most certainly.  People forget these can be used for professional use and AKG for the most part, their audience are professionals.  Professionals don't have giant massive headphone amps like Head-Fi does.  Go with whatever sounds good to you, can't really knock the folks who do enjoy the Q701 with their big amps.  It's just enjoying the music, using a large amp adds to that enjoyment and will no doubt add to that placebo effect of better sound.  I doubt anyone in this thread would be able to tell the difference between two well designed amps, one smaller and affordable and one large and skyrocket price.  A good amp is suppose to just amplify the sound, nothing more.

 
If you think that an amp adds nothing but placebo effect, then you should sell your AKG headphones and get some cheap $5 earbuds because clearly all you're hearing with them is placebo effect too.  

 

[Stillhart]

  Does your soundcard have an amp? I doubt upgrading to a Vali from Xonar DG will really help, in my case.

 
Yes, every sound card has an amp, as do your phone and TV and anything that you can plug headphones into.  It's just a really cheap an weak one.  Same with DAC's.  
 
I've never heard the Vali or the Xonar DG so I can't say how the sound will improve with that upgrade.  I can tell you that my Sound Blaster Omni is a better sound card and I heard a noticeable improvement when I got a real amp.  I *guarantee* you'll hear the sound improve with the Matrix or an Audio-GD or anything in that $200-300 price range.

 

[Fuzziekiwi]

 

  Does your soundcard have an amp? I doubt upgrading to a Vali from Xonar DG will really help, in my case.

 
Yes, every sound card has an amp, as do your phone and TV and anything that you can plug headphones into.  It's just a really cheap an weak one.  Same with DAC's.  
 
I've never heard the Vali or the Xonar DG so I can't say how the sound will improve with that upgrade.  I can tell you that my Sound Blaster Omni is a better sound card and I heard a noticeable improvement when I got a real amp.  I *guarantee* you'll hear the sound improve with the Matrix or an Audio-GD or anything in that $200-300 price range.

bloop

 

[Stillhart]

  Mine has ohm settings. Would it be called a dedicated amp

Amusingly, I removed a snarky line from my previous response about how my sound card advertised "600ohms" like it meant anything.  It's mostly just marketing speak.  There are much more relevant metrics to the power output like wattage and VRMS.
 
My point is, you need something that puts out more power, not something with higher or lower resistance.  

 

[Fuzziekiwi]

 

  Mine has ohm settings. Would it be called a dedicated amp

Amusingly, I removed a snarky line from my previous response about how my sound card advertised "600ohms" like it meant anything.  It's mostly just marketing speak.  There are much more relevant metrics to the power output like wattage and VRMS.
 
My point is, you need something that puts out more power, not something with higher or lower resistance.  

Oh well, the DG has gain settings for up to 150 ohm headphones. 105 db SNR. I will get a Vali sooner or later but chances are I'll be returning it.

 

[Stillhart]

  Oh well, the DG has gain settings for up to 150 ohm headphones. 105 db SNR. I will get a Vali sooner or later but chances are I'll be returning it.

Again, it's not really about volume output.  You get fine volume out of your sound card or phone.  But an amp that puts out more power will control the drivers better and refine the sound.  It's really hard to explain without just listening to it (like most things on this forum).  It sounds more controlled, and detailed, yet more full as well.  I'll see if I can find my post in this thread from after I got my M-stage...
 

  Well my Matrix M-stage HPA-1 just arrived today!  I have no real point of reference for comparison as this is my first headphone amp.  Previously, I was running right out of my Sound Blaster Omni (and Recon before that).  Now I'm using the DAC on the Omni and RCA outs to the amp.  So far so good.
 
It's hard to explain the effect.  Things feel... less watered down?  More present?  It sounds like this is the way the headphones were meant to be heard.  I don't have much experience describing this stuff so I'm struggling.  Soundstage feels more defined, but I think that because the instruments just feel bigger/fuller now.
 
Even the bass feels better, more present but still nice and controlled.  I'm really really digging this!
 
The other thing I'm noticing is that super subtle things like fake record needle noises are more obvious.  I actually really don't like that fake vintage sound on these really clean and detailed headphones. 
 
Anyhow, thumbs up for now!  I can't wait to work my way through some of my regular albums to put this thing through its paces.
 

 

[i luvmusic 2]

At one point i just used the Audioengine D1 and it sounds good for me then the BravoAudio Ocean that is better and now i'ts the Littledot 1+.  

 

[Fuzziekiwi]

My friend has the recon, I didn't see any improvement with that.