[ThurstonX]

I respect your fidelity to the Qs. I share your sentiment despite that I am now listening to my K7XXs that arrived yesterday (which are putatively K712s in black). I am loving these so far but know that the Qs have their own unique signature to offer, which is why I shall happily keep them.
 

 
I'm curious how your K712s are K7XXs.  Have they been modded somehow, or are you referring to the similarities in the K7XX/Q701 drivers?  Or are they not K712s?

 

[Liu Junyuan]

I'm curious how your K712s are K7XXs.  Have they been modded somehow, or are you referring to the similarities in the K7XX/Q701 drivers?  Or are they not K712s?

Lol. Well i am too. I have never heard the K712s or the original Annies. Initially, people on thr K7xx thread surmised these were recolored Annies, based on the suggestive description on Massdrop's site. But the memory foam pads, some have claimed, resemble those of the K712s, with some chiming in they are indistinguishable from the K712s they already own. Because the new Annie comes with the K712 pads, and because the change in pads brings the Annie much closer to the sound sig of the K712, perhaps both parties are right.

To mitigate the hassle, I am assuming the K7XXs are K712s/Annies, which explains my parenthetical remark.

 

[ThurstonX]

Ahhh, LOL, I didn't realize that the K7XXs were their own thing.  I'm so out of it 

  Yes, that's seems like a safe assumption.

 

[Liu Junyuan]

I'm curious how your K712s are K7XXs.  Have they been modded somehow, or are you referring to the similarities in the K7XX/Q701 drivers?  Or are they not K712s?

Sorry, I did not directly answer your question. No, they have not been modded. These are stock and they are not the same as the Q701. I believe they are K712/Annies (based on what I just posted), which is why they were a stunning deal for 200$.

 

[Liu Junyuan]

Ahhh, LOL, I didn't realize that the K7XXs were their own thing.  I'm so out of it :rolleyes:   Yes, that's seems like a safe assumption.

No worries. Your question is helpful.

P.S. I am still loving the cable you sold me for my HE-500s.

 

[ThurstonX]

No worries. Your question is helpful.

P.S. I am still loving the cable you sold me for my HE-500s.

 
That is a great price for the K7XXs, whichever they actually are.
 
Glad to hear it 

 

[Chris J]

I own K702. Like you, I have no trouble hearing a noticeable difference. I'll go so far as to say that I can't believe this even a point to be debated, it's that obvious.

 
As I said earlier, I compared a FiiO E09K headphone amp to a Matrix M Stage headphone amp.
They can both output approx. 400 mW into the Q701.
 
Guess which one sounded better.

 

[Rossy007]

With the great advice from the people in this thread, it looks like my front end may be the biggest problem so my new question is.....new, higher quality CD player (about $500) or a transport & DAC?
 My head is spinning from the selections so any advice on where to start would be great. I can go up in price but wanted some left over just in case I have to upgrade my little dot 1+

 

[Rossy007]

I have a few CD players I am interested in and was wondering what everyone thinks, or should I post this in a CD forum
 
Azur 351C

NAD C 516BEE

 

[Stillhart]

Sorry, I don't have much experience with high end CD players anymore.  You might check AVS Forum for more expertise on the subject if you can't find enough info here.

 

[tvnosaint]

I use an oppo DVD player. It sounds as good as the $1200 quad from my home system . You can get a used one for about $100. A Dac is crucial. The parasound zdac has an amp and dac with 3 digital input. $300 bucks. It's pretty solid. But I agree a pc based system could be a lot easier and cheaper. On mine I use a Geek out ($200) I have the 450 but the 720 is the recommendation . Just a Great device for the money. It's a dac amp that plugs in the USB and works wonders

 

[Stillhart]

I use an oppo DVD player. It sounds as good as the $1200 quad from my home system . You can get a used one for about $100. A Dac is crucial. The parasound zdac has an amp and dac with 3 digital input. $300 bucks. It's pretty solid. But I agree a pc based system could be a lot easier and cheaper. On mine I use a Geek out ($200) I have the 450 but the 720 is the recommendation . Just a Great device for the money. It's a dac amp that plugs in the USB and works wonders

 
My Oppo DVD player died.    I don't know when they stopped making them, but I'd just caution you to grab a more recent one if you're going to to that.
 
Also, check the classifieds here.  I know I saw a SACD player for $100 recently.

 

[Oktyabr]

Lol. Well i am too. I have never heard the K712s or the original Annies. Initially, people on thr K7xx thread surmised these were recolored Annies, based on the suggestive description on Massdrop's site. But the memory foam pads, some have claimed, resemble those of the K712s, with some chiming in they are indistinguishable from the K712s they already own. Because the new Annie comes with the K712 pads, and because the change in pads brings the Annie much closer to the sound sig of the K712, perhaps both parties are right.

To mitigate the hassle, I am assuming the K7XXs are K712s/Annies, which explains my parenthetical remark.

I was curious and emailed AKG/Harman about replacement pads.  They don't actually list a part number for the K7XX yet, specifically.  This is the content that they did send me:

"5021871                $47.55each pad                 CUSHION, K 612,K 712,K702_Anniversary"

 

[Stillhart]

Ouch, price went up.  

 

[Liu Junyuan]

That is a great price for the K7XXs, whichever they actually are.

Glad to hear it 

Yes, it really is. I have not listened to any other headphones since these arrived. I am, however, quite curious about the new Fidelio X2s and Koss SP330s (Tyll is a formidable marketing vehicle).