[Shaffer]

IMHO, upgrading your transporrt is up there with putting little pointy things on the bottoms of your equipment or upgrading your cables.  You're talking about a difference that's so small as to be imperceptible to most people.  But some people swear by them.  For my money, I'd just find a CD player with the features you want and a digital out.
Thanks, I have to agree and now I'm on the lookout for a cheap cd player with digital out. Just have to decide on a dac

That's always the argument - "most people." Do most people buy audiophile accessories? That's just silly.

 

[Stillhart]

That's always the argument - "most people." Do most people buy audiophile accessories? That's just silly.

I'm sure at some point, we can all train our ears to hear the subtle distinctions.  But consider the equipment he/she has now.  With a fixed budget, there are other ways to spend that money that should give a more noticeable improvement.
 
Like I said though, IMHO.

 

[rawrster]

I don't really like the ear pads that come with the Q701. Has anyone tried the ones for the K601 or K501 and how they sound compared to stock?
 
I emailed AKG for price and the K601 pads are backordered but they have the K501 at a pretty reasonable price so might as well. It definitely isn't no $40 per either.

 

[metal571]

Do you guys think it would be worth it to get a Magni 2 Uber to put at the output of my Xonar DGX into these cans? I don't really need more volume, but if it would help with anything + future proof me for higher end stuff later, would it be worth grabbing one of those for now, in anticipation for adding a DAC later?

 

[Danpyre]

  Do you guys think it would be worth it to get a Magni 2 Uber to put at the output of my Xonar DGX into these cans? I don't really need more volume, but if it would help with anything + future proof me for higher end stuff later, would it be worth grabbing one of those for now, in anticipation for adding a DAC later?

I've heard that the Vali is a much better choice for this headphone.  

 

[rms141]

Is there a way to test the individual drivers? I think my right side isn't outputting at the same volume level as the left side. How can I diagnose and confirm that there's a problem?
 
Quote:

  I've heard that the Vali is a much better choice for this headphone.  

Heard from whom and where?

 

[Danpyre]

  Is there a way to test the individual drivers? I think my right side isn't outputting at the same volume level as the left side. How can I diagnose and confirm that there's a problem?
 
Quote:

  I've heard that the Vali is a much better choice for this headphone.  

Heard from whom and where?

From pretty much everywhere.  A lot of people are saying that the Q701's are the best headphones with the Vali, and I've heard that the Q701s pair well with tube amps.

 

[Rossy007]

  I'm sure at some point, we can all train our ears to hear the subtle distinctions.  But consider the equipment he/she has now.  With a fixed budget, there are other ways to spend that money that should give a more noticeable improvement.
 
Like I said though, IMHO.

I do agree, I posted this in the components forum but would like some input from this forum if it ok. So I am looking into the Cambridge Audio Azur DacMagic 100 but for an extra $50 I could buy their Topaz CD10 CD Player. I will be using CD's exclusively so would it be a better deal to get the CD player which seems to have a good DAC in it or buy the Azur DacMagic 100 and pick up a cheap CD player with digital output.

 

[Stillhart]

  I do agree, I posted this in the components forum but would like some input from this forum if it ok. So I am looking into the Cambridge Audio Azur DacMagic 100 but for an extra $50 I could buy their Topaz CD10 CD Player. I will be using CD's exclusively so would it be a better deal to get the CD player which seems to have a good DAC in it or buy the Azur DacMagic 100 and pick up a cheap CD player with digital output.

 
Sorry, I can't help here.  I don't know anything about those products.

 

[Rossy007]

   
Sorry, I can't help here.  I don't know anything about those products.

Thanks anyway, just read some reviews on the CD player and it seems to have a lot of mechanical problems so I will probably stick with their DAC

 

[Smugsie]

  From pretty much everywhere.  A lot of people are saying that the Q701's are the best headphones with the Vali, and I've heard that the Q701s pair well with tube amps.

+1 to this.

The Q701's don't pick up much noise compared to other headphones, so noisy tube amps are appreciated on the Q701!

 

[metal571]

Looks like I'll be dropping some cash on the Vali soon. Hopefully it isn't too much blasphemy to double amp it through my Xonar's output.

 

[Danpyre]

  Looks like I'll be dropping some cash on the Vali soon. Hopefully it isn't too much blasphemy to double amp it through my Xonar's output.

Doesn't double amping increase distortion from the amps?

 

[metal571]

  Doesn't double amping increase distortion from the amps?

I don't even know if I'd be able to tell, if we're talking about driver distortion. My ears are trained enough now to hear the difference in FR and also ringing/resonance but not sure what distortion would even sound like unless we're talking about clipping, which I would think would be easily avoidable. The DGX does already have a headphone amp onboard.

 

[Danpyre]

 
I don't even know if I'd be able to tell, if we're talking about driver distortion. My ears are trained enough now to hear the difference in FR and also ringing/resonance but not sure what distortion would even sound like unless we're talking about clipping, which I would think would be easily avoidable. The DGX does already have a headphone amp onboard.

Derp, the DGX is a soundcard.  You said "double amping", so I figured it was a low-power amp.  It should be fine.