[DangerClose]

Does the Q701 soundstage depth benefit much from an amp that costs less than they do?  They sound great out of my Xonar DG and a couple old receivers, but I haven't plugged them into anything fancier or well-known.  
 
The soundstage is wide and has so much separation, but is relatively flat and lacks 3-D'ness.  The 3-D'ness is ok, and I'll think something sounds good, but I'll switch to DT990 or Senn HD580 to hear a certain movie scene or something again, and I'll think, "oh, that's how that should have sounded, the sounds moving forward and backwards better and with more layering."
 
To put the question another way, these will never match the depth of a Sennheiser 580 (600) or DT990, right?  Even if I could get the 701 to have the depth of the 580 and 990's as they sound out of a Xonar DG, that'd be great.

 

[jodgey4]

They don't have the depth of stage of the Senns, but the imaging can improve with a better DAC IME. More relaxed stage and natural placement.

 

[Liu Junyuan]

  Does the Q701 soundstage depth benefit much from an amp that costs less than they do?  They sound great out of my Xonar DG and a couple old receivers, but I haven't plugged them into anything fancier or well-known.  
 
The soundstage is wide and has so much separation, but is relatively flat and lacks 3-D'ness.  The 3-D'ness is ok, and I'll think something sounds good, but I'll switch to DT990 or Senn HD580 to hear a certain movie scene or something again, and I'll think, "oh, that's how that should have sounded, the sounds moving forward and backwards better and with more layering."
 
To put the question another way, these will never match the depth of a Sennheiser 580 (600) or DT990, right?  Even if I could get the 701 to have the depth of the 580 and 990's as they sound out of a Xonar DG, that'd be great.

This is kind of an issue with the K701 and Q701, sort of like you have these wide search lights coming from your ears without as much depth. 
 
The K7XX addresses this problem imo, if you want to stay on the AKG route. I love both.

 

[1-MiC]

Well I've been away from head-fi for like a year, had a lot of reading to do. Mainly because my left driver on my Q's is crapping out.

The left driver had a slight rattle with lower frequencies so I had sent them in for repair. They came back and then eventually the left driver starting making a crackling sound. They were still under warranty but I was a little upset with the whole situation and just put them on the shelf for a while. Seems I left them there a couple months too long and now my warranty is expired. I started using them again, but the crackling has gotten much worse. Now I'm stuck trying to decide if I should 
 
A.) Send them in for repair? They quoted me about $60 labor, $50 for parts, and I'm sure with shipping I'll end up spending around $130-$140.
B.) Buy a pair of 612's for the same price new, with a warranty, or even less used.
C.) Spring for the 712's.

I love the sound of the Q's but from what I've gathered, The 712's have improved a lot of the things I could nitpick with the Q's. The 612's seem to be more of a side-step, with some pro's and con's across the board. 
 
All I know is I'm down to just my Senn HD518's which are ok, but i miss the AKG sound, very much. That being said, anyone selling their Q's??

 

[SpiderNhan]

You could look into getting a K7XX. It's a $200 headphone based on the AKG K702 65th Anniversary and Massdrop has been selling them exclusively. There might be some for sale in the classifieds.

 

[allets]

Since I got in on the K7XX drop, I thought I'd dispense my Q701 to try mods on. I was cutting and dampening with great results until I eventually blew one of the drivers haha. Something I noticed was that it was possible to remove the drivers out of the cup without too much difficulty.. change the headband and carve your own cups with wood or whatever. That would be interesting. I'm a bit obsessed with modified headphones lately and the Q701 fell victim to my lack of experience.

 

[1-MiC]

You could look into getting a K7XX. It's a $200 headphone based on the AKG K702 65th Anniversary and Massdrop has been selling them exclusively. There might be some for sale in the classifieds.

I actually did just that, and i think I'm sold on them.

  Since I got in on the K7XX drop, I thought I'd dispense my Q701 to try mods on. I was cutting and dampening with great results until I eventually blew one of the drivers haha. 

You are laughing at my pain  

 

[allets]

 
You are laughing at my pain  

 
Sir, I'm only laughing at myself. I have shaky hands and I ended up putting a puncture in the driver while trying to improve the dampening!
 
I hadn't read your post until your reply to my post and I see you're having issues with your drivers.. I wouldn't repair.. don't the Q701 cost nearly as much as those repair costs? not worth it I think.. I would wait for the next AKG K7XX drop but if you can't, the options you've listed seem good.

 

[Draulius]

I've done a lot of reading about the Q701 compared to the AD900X. From what I understand, if you have an amp the Q701 almost always is the better performing headphone?
 
Thanks.

 

[CaveManta]

Originally Posted by Draulius /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I've done a lot of reading about the Q701 compared to the AD900X. From what I understand, if you have an amp the Q701 almost always is the better performing headphone?

The Q701 is better overall at acquiring details in music when well amped. It's like a detail monster. But it does have some bright treble, which some hate.
The AD900X may be better for some people because it's more mid-oriented, and it has more kick in its bass. Not necessarily more bass quantity, mind you. Just moar kick.
 
The AD900X's biggest weakness is its cable, in my opinion. It sucks! Otherwise, it's a great headphone!

 

[Zombie_X]

After years of using AKG's, I've come to the point where I feel amping them doesn't give big improvements in them as much as I thought they used to. I own a K601, K501, Q701, K701, and K7XX (has not come yet). I used to believe there were massive difference with amping, but there really isn't to me anymore. All my headphones improve with amping, but it's nothing major. Now this mainly applies to my AKG's.
 
With my AKG's, they do improve with a good amp, but ti's not a major as I used to believe. Swapping back and forth from my X1 to V200 yielded good results but it wasn't night and day different. Of them, the K501 required to most juice and improved the most.
 
I know orthodyanmic headphones require a lot more power to drive to good volumes, but they don't sound that bad unamped. Though I don't have much experience here.

 

[DangerClose]

  I've done a lot of reading about the Q701 compared to the AD900X. From what I understand, if you have an amp the Q701 almost always is the better performing headphone?
 
Thanks.

They're both good, but different.  The AD900X has sound everywhere, but it's diffused and unfocused.  I'm surprised it gets praised so much for shooter games with such bad imaging.   
 
The Q701 is incredibly focused, sounds are separated.  Lacks depth.  Things sound a bit fake or not alive because they sound 2-D.  
 
There's no question that for me the Q701 is the "better performing" headphone.  Though the lack of depth, and I guess lack of "emotion" in its sound eventually makes me unsatisfied when trying to enjoy them for an extended period.  

 

[kman1211]

  They're both good, but different.  The AD900X has sound everywhere, but it's diffused and unfocused.  I'm surprised it gets praised so much for shooter games with such bad imaging.   
 
The Q701 is incredibly focused, sounds are separated.  Lacks depth.  Things sound a bit fake or not alive because they sound 2-D.  
 
There's no question that for me the Q701 is the "better performing" headphone.  Though the lack of depth, and I guess lack of "emotion" in its sound eventually makes me unsatisfied when trying to enjoy them for an extended period.  

The Q701(and it's kin such as the K712, etc.) are one of those headphones where it's depth is quite dependent on the system. I've heard them sound very 2-D to very 3-D. The K7 series are honestly strange headphones. I personally think they sound best on tubes because I found them to bring out depth in their sound. 

 

[Draulius]

I've read claims that the Q701 has the best soundstage compared to the AKG K line. Is this true? I didn't think they were much different.

 

[Zombie_X]

The K701 and Q701 soundstage is the exact same in my AB testing. If there is a difference, it's not audible.