[Mad Lust Envy]

The design is another reason I wouldn't want one. The ODA sounds more appealing. I'd venture a guess and say it probably matches best with bass heavy headphones with smooth treble. Probably something like the XB500, lol.

Ironic, as it seems best suited with highly colored headphones.

 

[Katun]

Been comparing these to the DT880 the past few hours.
 
Surprisingly, they share a pretty similar sound. But upon further testing, I prefer the Q701 by quite an amount.
 
Looks like these are a keeper. Heck, I'd keep them just as a visual piece.

 

[ivantoar]

Quote:

Wouldn't the E10 + O2 be brighter than E10 + M-stage (since O2 is supposedly neutral and M-stage is slightly warm).  Regardless, I think your making the differences out to be bigger than they actually are.  They're all solid-state amps and the variation between "warm" solid-state and "neutral" solid state is pretty freaking small IMO. 
 
I'm not sure if the O2 will match the soundstage and dynamics of the M-stage (or future ODA), but if you go that route let us know how it compares to the E10 alone

Haha pardon my lack of knowledge and experience with audio related stuffs. I don't know how big will be the difference, or maybe I won't even know how big is the difference as I don't have that "golden ears". The way I got it was O2 is colorless so pairing it with headphone and DAC will only result coloration from headphone and DAC. While E10 is warmer than M-Stage, so pairing O2 with E10 and Q701 would result a warm sound. I guess I was wrong.
 
Let me rethink my decision. I still got a lot of time, probably months because I don't have the money ready for either amps. I blew my money off for the Q701

 

[shorke]

I missed this post somehow, it was impressive because I found them to be so bass light that I was surprised to hear some sub-bass and pretty deep extension too. I also haven't heard that many high end headphones, I'll admit. The D2000 had far more impressive bass overall out of the ones I have heard obviously, but that was a closed headphone and known for its bass response.
Quote:

Q701 and impressive sub bass = does not compute. That is their weakest area, easily. Mid bass is the area in bass I find them to do well in.
But ok.

As for the O2, I found it to be a fine pairing for the Q701s, I heard plenty of "micro-details" and the bass was as punchy as the Q701s could muster, and on the HD650s I have now, the bass is very punchy. Subjective review vs subjective review, but the point I'm trying to make here is that I wouldn't discount the O2 based on a completely subjective review since someone else can come along and feel differently. This is where measurements come into play and are helpful, but I really don't want to start an argument over this. I do agree it might not be the perfect fit if you are trying to color your sound for your Q701s though, and the design (as in front panel, not technical) is a bit awkward, I agree.

 

[lejaz]

Quote:

As for the O2, I found it to be a fine pairing for the Q701s, I heard plenty of "micro-details" and the bass was as punchy as the Q701s could muster, and on the HD650s I have now, the bass is very punchy. Subjective review vs subjective review, but the point I'm trying to make here is that I wouldn't discount the O2 based on a completely subjective review since someone else can come along and feel differently. 

X 2
It's a big mistake to read a review from Headfonia and assume it's some kind of objective truth, imo, especially when reviewers are throwing around very subjective terms like 'musicality'. It gets to be like reading a review in a wine magazine.  Their opinion isn't any more valid than the opinion of any forum member who's had experience listening with lots of different gear. The reviewer on headfonia has his/her own biases and subjective preferences which aren't objective truth.
 

 

[lejaz]

http://www.head-fi.org/t/570299/objective2-mini-review-and-discussion/90  For the sake of balance....some very interesting reading for those who are still considering the O2.....and some very valid criticism of reviews like the one in Headfonia.
 
 

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

Been comparing these to the DT880 the past few hours.
 
Surprisingly, they share a pretty similar sound. But upon further testing, I prefer the Q701 by quite an amount.
 
Looks like these are a keeper. Heck, I'd keep them just as a visual piece.

What vintage DT880 are they?
What impedance DT880 are they.
What vintage are the Q701?
I own both Q701 (purchased new summer of 2011) and DT880 600 ohm (purchased new Dec 2011).
 
 
Strange, very strange.
I have done a lot of comparisons with them with the same music.
The difference between them is night and day no matter what amp I use.
The Q701 are rather bright and bass light, the DT880 are what I would consider neutral with a touch of sibliance.
 

 

[Katun]

Quote:

What vintage DT880 are they?
What impedance DT880 are they.
What vintage are the Q701?
I own both Q701 (purchased new summer of 2011) and DT880 600 ohm (purchased new Dec 2011).
 
Strange, very strange.
I have done a lot of comparisons with them with the same music.
The difference between them is night and day no matter what amp I use.
The Q701 are rather bright and bass light, the DT880 are what I would consider neutral with a touch of sibliance.

Both were bought last week. DT880 is 600 ohms.
 
I think your interpretation of "night and day" is drastically different than stereotypical definition. These do indeed sound very similar. Q701 isn't bass light. In fact, they are nearly equal with exception of the DT880 extending just a tad lower. The DT880's treble is easily the more present of the two, with (like you said), a touch of sibilance. Between the two, I'd definitely say the Q701 is actually the more "natural" (not necessarily neutral) sounding. I actually tested both of them on the "Open Your Ears" album, and the Q701 kept coming out on top, with the DT880 on it's heels with some of the songs. Q701 is the smoother, more balanced, and more enjoyable DT880 IMO.

 

[HaVoC-28]

Strange no , i said about the same than Katun about my folders  former K702-DT-880-600 ohms .  It's your DT-880 that is strange 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Quote:

What vintage DT880 are they?
What impedance DT880 are they.
What vintage are the Q701?
I own both Q701 (purchased new summer of 2011) and DT880 600 ohm (purchased new Dec 2011).
 
Strange, very strange.
I have done a lot of comparisons with them with the same music.
The difference between them is night and day no matter what amp I use.
The Q701 are rather bright and bass light, the DT880 are what I would consider neutral with a touch of sibliance.

Both were bought last week. DT880 is 600 ohms.
 
I think your interpretation of "night and day" is drastically different than stereotypical definition. These do indeed sound very similar. Q701 isn't bass light. In fact, they are nearly equal with exception of the DT880 extending just a tad lower. The DT880's treble is easily the more present of the two, with (like you said), a touch of sibilance. Between the two, I'd definitely say the Q701 is actually the more "natural" (not necessarily neutral) sounding. I actually tested both of them on the "Open Your Ears" album, and the Q701 kept coming out on top, with the DT880 on it's heels with some of the songs. Q701 is the smoother, more balanced, and more enjoyable DT880 IMO.

I have to agree with Katun. The Q701 and DT880 are very similar to me. The DT880 has a stronger lower end, and screechier treble, making the Q701 a bit more natural, but it's not world's apart, I consider them both very balanced. They are still quite similar sounding, give or take a few things. The DT880 has a sharper upper range, while the Q701 has a mid to upper treble bump that can be fatiguing at times, but not as much as the 880 higher upper range.

 

[tdockweiler]

(science guys can just ignore this post instead of crying about it)
 
Anyone tried making their own cables for these yet? I finally found something I like more than stock. The Guitar-Cable.com CA-0363 (generic Belden I think) seemed to make it brighter than it should be, but still quite good. Maybe it's just more revealing? The ALO SXC was nice, but made it LESS warm, but more clear/detailed. Treble was smoother than stock somehow. Last night I made a Q701 cable out of Canare L-4E5C which is a higher capacitance Starquad wire. It's just 43 cents per foot and I even salvaged an old Mini-xlr plug to save another few dollars.
 
I've been listening to it all day for about 6-7 hours at work. No fatigue even with garbage tracks. Q701 with stock wire is kind of fatiguing with too many garbage tracks that seem to have the treble/mids cranked up. It's fine with good tracks. With this wire there's no point in the K601 anymore I think, unless I wanted a smaller soundstage. Q701 with Canare sounds a lot like the K601 in some ways. Kind of like a K601 but with larger soundstage, more detail and clearer sound. K601 is warmer than the Q701, but Canare gets it close to the mids of the K601. It seems the Canare adds more weight to some instruments and especially male vocals. Primus and The Black Keys are now halfway decent on the Q701. For some reason, very complex music with lots going on sounded so good. I was thinking the Canare was less detailed, but not really. It would not be a good match for those that find the stock Q701 warm enough. I DID...until I got my K601 out of storage and kind of got addicted to it's sound. This gave me the Canare idea since I know what that wire is like..sounds like poop to my ears usually.
 
The Canare seems to make the Q701 slightly warmer and a bit more musical. During gaming i've noticed there's a little less treble, but not any huge difference. I guess that's due to the higher capacitance, but not sure. Soundstage seems a bit smaller than normal.
 
The low mids now do seem a bit more forward sounding than normal and closer to my recabled HD-598. I usually hate Canare and it makes the HD-650 sound like garbage. I think it only works well with brighter headphones such as the DT-880 or Q701.
 
Mogami is more neutral than the Canare, but is very similar. I think Mogami would be even better, so i'll have to try that.
 
So for those that don't find the Q701 musical enough or find the K702 too cold and analytical, try making a cable from Canare for under $8. I bet it'd be the perfect wire for my Koss A/250 or a Grado SR-325is. No major changes, but does seem to make it sound a bit different. Improvement in sound is still under 5%, but not bad for some scrap wire I had laying around! I only do these recables for fun and it's not expensive.
 
BTW those RCA brand RCA to mini cables for $5 are good. Same with Monoprice brand cables.
 
If you want a fun experiment, try using Monoprice Cat6 wire to make an HD-600 or Q701 cable. I made an interconnect cable with it the other day and really love it. Annoying as heck to work with though and it's the ugliest cable on earth.
The soundstage of the Q701 is HUGE with Cat6 (before Cat5 is the same).

 

[Veiocity]

Hello,
I desire to replace my logitech g930 due to its terrible drivers and support (it takes approximately 15 minutes just to get the surround sound working before gaming) and I wish to know if the Q701 is a great contender for this. The headset would be used about 60 - 40 gaming and music. I generally play FPS (such as BF3) and RPGs (such as The Witcher 2) and mainly listen to alternative rock (such as muse) and a bit of pop. I like the sound of an open earpiece as I may actually be able to hear the phone ringing 

 (and perhaps I might actually be able to wear it while eating, doesn't work very well with a G930). I can afford a Q701 set-up with a Fiiio 9 (approx $320) but what I want to know is if it is worth the extra cash over, say, a corsair vengeance 1500 ($70 7.1 SS headset)?
I do not want to sacrifice quality but just how good is the Q701 for my requirements?
edit: the deal breaker for me and the AD700 for example is the fact that I am almost 100% sure it will be too large (I have a slim build and not a large head) but the g930 fits perfectly, does anyone know if the Q701 will fit correctly?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

The Q701 is HUGE.

Also, the Q701 is excellent for gaming. I use it with my Astro Mixamp virtual surround decoder, and works like a champ.

 

[KimLaroux]

the Q701 is huge indeed. When wearing it, you can actually see the cups on the corners of your eyes. 

 
All you would need really is some way to get Dolby Headphone between your game and the Q701. Can it be installed as a software before the sound card? I'm sure the Q701's massive sound stage would be awesome on games.
 
Though I would question it's comfort. Wearing it for hours while gaming is not something I would do. Not stock, anyways.

 

[chicolom]

Quote:

 
Though I would question it's comfort. Wearing it for hours while gaming is not something I would do. Not stock, anyways.

I do this, but I've padded the headband.  After doing that they're super comfy even after several hours.