[mrk]

How do you like your NAD D 3020?
Do you think it works well with the Q701s?

Yes no problems at all. I think the "NAD Sound" goes really well with the signature of the Q701. Plenty of power.

 

[Chris J]

Yes no problems at all. I think the "NAD Sound" goes really well with the signature of the Q701. Plenty of power.

Thanks,
I was considering getting the D 1050 DAC!

 

[jasonb]

Does anybody know which color wires are what on the stock Q701 cable? I want to try to hook my Q701 straight up to some speaker taps. The colors are red, yellow, and white. Does anybody know which is ground, left, and right?

 

[ThurstonX]

  Does anybody know which color wires are what on the stock Q701 cable? I want to try to hook my Q701 straight up to some speaker taps. The colors are red, yellow, and white. Does anybody know which is ground, left, and right?

 
A multi-meter will solve your mystery.  Best $7 you'll spend 

 

[jasonb]

   
A multi-meter will solve your mystery.  Best $7 you'll spend 

I have my multi meter out and ready. What do I do to find out?
 
If I did it right, 
 
white = ground
 
red = right
 
yellow = left

 

[jodgey4]

Put it on continuity mode... when you touch the tips together, it should beep. Then, just touch the bare end of one wire and then touch each pin with the other probe until you get a beep. If yours doesn't have this feature, just check for a resistance of about an ohm as an indicator you have both ends of the same wire.

 

[jasonb]

Working. My Q701 is hooked to the speaker taps of my Emotiva Mini-X. 50 watts x 2 at 8 ohms of power into these puppies. 
 
Volume at about 7 - 8 o'clock on the dial is it. Tomorrow mornings task it to get some banana plugs to make switching between headphones and the speakers quicker and easier. 
 
I had no qualms about cutting up the supplied 20ft cable, so I figured I might as well try it. 

 

[Ashade]

  I have my multi meter out and ready. What do I do to find out?
 
If I did it right, 
 
white = ground
 
red = right
 
yellow = left

 
Ups, late... Well, somebody will appreciate it.

 

[jasonb]

 
 
Ups, late... Well, somebody will appreciate it.

I googled an image of that earlier when I was figuring it all out. 
 
I've had it hooked up and have been listening for almost 2 hours now. It sounds pretty magical. I did not expect this to work this well. 
 
It gets loud at the 8 o'clock position on the volume knob so there is barely any throw on the knob, but the knob has fine enough control to dial in the volume I desire so it works just fine. The other option at my disposal is to set a negative preamp level in the Equalizer APO program I use for system wide EQ. If I set a -6dB preamp level it gives me a bit better control of the volume which lets me bring it up to about 9 o'clock on the knob. It is dead silent with the music paused, so no unbearable hiss to speak of. 
 
The sound is ridiculous. I haven't really used my Q701 in a long time, but I don't remember them sounding quite this good. Huge soundstage, great imaging, killer bass impact(for a Q701 anyway) and tons of detail. EQ'ing them with Equalizer APO is nice as well. I added just a touch of extra sub-bass, have a very narrow mild cut at 2k, another cut centered at 7k and then added a touch of sparkle centered at 14k. 
 
Tomorrow the plan is to find some decent banana plugs for both the headphones, and my speakers so I can hopefully swap between the two a bit quicker. 

 

[Ashade]

  I googled an image of that earlier when I was figuring it all out. 
 
I've had it hooked up and have been listening for almost 2 hours now. It sounds pretty magical. I did not expect this to work this well. 
 
It gets loud at the 8 o'clock position on the volume knob so there is barely any throw on the knob, but the knob has fine enough control to dial in the volume I desire so it works just fine. The other option at my disposal is to set a negative preamp level in the Equalizer APO program I use for system wide EQ. If I set a -6dB preamp level it gives me a bit better control of the volume which lets me bring it up to about 9 o'clock on the knob. It is dead silent with the music paused, so no unbearable hiss to speak of. 
 
The sound is ridiculous. I haven't really used my Q701 in a long time, but I don't remember them sounding quite this good. Huge soundstage, great imaging, killer bass impact(for a Q701 anyway) and tons of detail. EQ'ing them with Equalizer APO is nice as well. I added just a touch of extra sub-bass, have a very narrow mild cut at 2k, another cut centered at 7k and then added a touch of sparkle centered at 14k. 
 
Tomorrow the plan is to find some decent banana plugs for both the headphones, and my speakers so I can hopefully swap between the two a bit quicker. 

 
That happens to me every time I put them on again. Man, you made me take them and start to listen them...

 

[mrk]

Thanks,
I was considering getting the D 1050 DAC!

I guess the D 1050 has its uses with headphones with much higher impedance  but for the AKGs  it gets very loud at -20dB and almost unbearable. Once -20 is fully lit you'd probably damage/affect  your ears for long periods of listening at that level.

 

[jasonb]

 

 
 
Got 8 banana plugs at Home Depot for $21. Not a great bargain, but I didn't want to wait for shipping from Amazon or Monoprice. I checked my local Radio Shack first and they had nothing of quality that wasn't overly expensive. Got home and hooked the speakers up to banana plugs and the headphones as well. It works very well and only takes maybe 20 seconds to switch between headphones and the speakers. 
 
I didn't notice it last night, but did notice it today, there is a very very very slight hiss, not bad at all and you really have to listen for it. The hiss is no louder than the fan noise from my laptop anyway. It's not dead silent, but it's very close and definitely tolerable. 
 
I'd like to shrink wrap the ends to make them look a little cleaner and be a little stronger, but that is for another day. 

 

[mrk]

Headband mod completed
 

 

 

 

 
 
Good comfort levels restored

 

[ruthieandjohn]

I am SOOO enjoying my AKG Q701s I got about 5 days ago! I had been looking for them, then saw a great head-fi.org deal on the "better" K712s, which I got.
 
They were never exciting, though they had more bass.  But after I traded them away, I STILL hankered for the Q701s.
 
Got new ones and find them SUPERB!  Not sure whether it is the fact that I also got the PHA-1 iPod portable DAC and amp and have been using it a lot with them, or the fact that they are Lime Green!!

 

[toolio]

I am SOOO enjoying my AKG Q701s I got about 5 days ago! I had been looking for them, then saw a great head-fi.org deal on the "better" K712s, which I got.

They were never exciting, though they had more bass.  But after I traded them away, I STILL hankered for the Q701s.

Got new ones and find them SUPERB!  Not sure whether it is the fact that I also got the PHA-1 iPod portable DAC and amp and have been using it a lot with them, or the fact that they are Lime Green!!

These remain near the top of the list of my favorites. I have two pairs because I live in two different locations. I'm not a bass head, and I appreciate the detail these headphones offer. For many types of music I prefer them to my Sennheiser Hd600 and my HE400s. Nothing to do with lime green, because both of mine are black, lol.

For the price, they're a great bargain. Ignore the price, and they are still a great headphone