[jimmers]

Quote:

so how is that "chinese amp " ? is it any good ? match the o2 ? also where can i find o2 for a fair price (without the need for batteries)

I like it so much I bought a second one for work, great at home with ODAC and HD650 (hardly use O2 anymore with this setup), at work with Hifimediy Sabre DAC and Q701. I must admit I'm not a fan of Q701 - this set up was the first where I appreciated it's qualities. 
re O2:
If you can solder ...  get board, component kit, case and power supply from:
http://www.headnhifi.com/
that's what I did, cost me around $40 plus $8 postage without power supply ($15 at the time, but I already had a suitable one) and it's excellent service. Or you can buy made up there too.

 

[demontux]

hey is this a swiss company ? i bet the shipping to israel will be expenssive also all the corrency changes, from ILS to US DOLLAR to CHF might be pricy on the creditcard. i can solder but i will screw it up, i want to but a full unit. there is any DIY guys here that sell o2 units ? 
 
also how about this unit ? http://head-direct.com/Products/?act=detail&id=49
 
its so hard to know whats the best to buy, also im hoping there will be significant quality upgrade with proper amp (hope i dont pay 100$ for a placeebo effect )

 

[Brooko]

Quote:

its so hard to know whats the best to buy, also im hoping there will be significant quality upgrade with proper amp (hope i dont pay 100$ for a placeebo effect )

 
@demontux - although the Q701 sound perfectly good (loudness) out of a reasonably powered portable source (I can get mine 'loud-enough' from my iPhone) - here's the science behind why they benefit from an amp - http://lsirui.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/k701-vs-hd650-electrical-measurement/
 
It's worth reading.
 
EDIT - and if you want a desktop dac/amp idea with plenty of power - can I suggest the Audio-gd NFB 15.32.  It's well outside your $100 budget - but my suggestion would be to save longer and get something decent.  The 15.32 is great value for money (http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/NFB15.32/NFB15.32EN.htm)

 

[jimmers]

Quote:

hey is this a swiss company ? i bet the shipping to israel will be expenssive also all the corrency changes, from ILS to US DOLLAR to CHF might be pricy on the creditcard. i can solder but i will screw it up, i want to but a full unit. there is any DIY guys here that sell o2 units ? 
 
also how about this unit ? http://head-direct.com/Products/?act=detail&id=49
 
its so hard to know whats the best to buy, also im hoping there will be significant quality upgrade with proper amp (hope i dont pay 100$ for a placeebo effect )

I'm in Australia, so I don't know whether it would be dearer for the short hop to Israel. I paid with paypal I think, anyhow I wasn't slugged with mega fees. You can always email him about this, he's very helpful.
As for the Q1 Amplifier and FM Radio it looks like a toy (and not a very good one, except for the case; if you like that kind of style) from the limited specs for a solid stater, the sort of quality thing you'd get at kmart or such, and it would appear to be for 120V only; and I believe Israel's voltage is more in the 230V range..

 

[jimmers]

Quote:

Not a very fair comparison.
The O2 costs more than the E7, almost twice as much.
The O2 is slightly more expensive than the E17, but the E17 is an amp and a DAC.
I own a few FiiO products, and for the money, I have no compliants. Yes, I have better sounding amps and DACs than my FiiO amps and DACs, but they cost more.

You can run an O2 off a Wall wart, the batteries are not absolutely necessary.

Actually I was comparing the O2 with the Chinese RSA style amp, if anything.
I said "E7 was quite good with Q701". When I first got a FiiO E7 I was so impressed (with px100), as an all in one, I bought them as Christmas presents for 3 of my friends who were looking for better computer sound.

 

[Slaphead]

I was not a great believer of burn in, well at least not past the first 10 hours or so of use, but I'm now around 70 hours of use into the Q701 and these things keep getting better and better. They've lost the hard edge they had a first and now produce a lot more detail. The treble is to die for now, not overly harsh, but well rounded and musical. The bass has become more extended with greater information - drums sound exactly like drums, midrange and vocals are no longer hard and overly forward, but are now in balance with the rest of the sound. The overall sonic signature hasn't changed, but the headphone has morphed into a far more cohesive whole IMO.

I'm pretty sure it's not my ears that have burned into the Q701s as my reference headphones, as in the ones I use the most, are the HD25s, and the sound from these hasn't changed at all, bar the first couple or so hours of use.

I'm beginning to think that if I want something that's going to be noticeably better than these (which at the moment I can honestly say I don't) then it's going to cost big time.

 

[koiloco]

Quote:

I was not a great believer of burn in, well at least not past the first 10 hours or so of use, but I'm now around 70 hours of use into the Q701 and these things keep getting better and better. They've lost the hard edge they had a first and now produce a lot more detail. The treble is to die for now, not overly harsh, but well rounded and musical. The bass has become more extended with greater information - drums sound exactly like drums, midrange and vocals are no longer hard and overly forward, but are now in balance with the rest of the sound. The overall sonic signature hasn't changed, but the headphone has morphed into a far more cohesive whole IMO.

I'm pretty sure it's not my ears that have burned into the Q701s as my reference headphones, as in the ones I use the most, are the HD25s, and the sound from these hasn't changed at all, bar the first couple or so hours of use.

I'm beginning to think that if I want something that's going to be noticeably better than these (which at the moment I can honestly say I don't) then it's going to cost big time.

+1000.
 
This is the reason, I went to HE500 as my 2nd purchase after the Q701 which I still have and use daily.  Q701 is really great for the price.
I am still curious about how much better HD800 is in comparison to Q701.  I will find out soon at the next meet.

 

[Evshrug]

Anybody have opinion to offer on the NuForce Icon iDo? 99.99% of all my music listening (all of it the past few months) is using my iPod as a source, and I've never tried comparing DACs (I tried to compare with a borrowed ODAC, but it didn't work with my computer). Here's the page link for the curious:
https://www.nuforce.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=25:icon-ido&Itemid=1421

@demontux - although the Q701 sound perfectly good (loudness) out of a reasonably powered portable source (I can get mine 'loud-enough' from my iPhone) - here's the science behind why they benefit from an amp - http://lsirui.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/k701-vs-hd650-electrical-measurement/

It's worth reading.

EDIT - and if you want a desktop dac/amp idea with plenty of power - can I suggest the Audio-gd NFB 15.32.  It's well outside your $100 budget - but my suggestion would be to save longer and get something decent.  The 15.32 is great value for money (http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/NFB15.32/NFB15.32EN.htm
)

Seems like the first link will be a cool read, will get around to it. I heard an improvement of $120 amp over built-in or $30 amps, but not much to talk about at prices above that in my personal experience. My experience isn't exhaustive, but I'm hesitant to spend over $150. And I'm pretty happy with my tube amp, so I'd probably just be looking at the iDo as an iDevice DAC with a line-out. Any other suggestions for that desire?

 

[demontux]

first of all i want to thank everyone here that are helping me! thanks a lot and i really appriciate your time and help. (jimmers thanks for the advice and brooker thanks for the info!)
as for burn in, i dunno if its you getting used to it or its a scientific fact, but yes the Q701 sounds really really good. special with acoustic musics they make you cry.
 
i dont consider my self as a "high end" audiophile, but i do like perfection in sound for the cost and value.
 
in israel i think that the V is around 230-240V so the "europe nation" electricity adapter should work just fine, however i dunno if for more then 100$ i will benefit more then buying dunno... something else. also i dont know if "DAC" is needed since i want to use the headphones for PC Games as well and im not sure dac support all the "fency" gaming serround headphone sound and stuff.
 
i just finished my degree and im not loaded with money i would like to get an honest opinion from someone who had simple amp and then bought something like what you guys recommended for me and tell me if the quality changed dramatically.. and well worth the 100$ (think about it from my POV since i am not a super duper audiophile, a small change will not justify this purchase for me)
 
also was wondering what do you think about the XONAR DG as soundcard and as a change for buying a DAC ?  it cost around 60$ in israel (thats the cheapest option :\ ) 
 
again thanks a lot for all the help  
 
BTW as for the article, i dunno if the K701 and Q701 are the same, ppl tend to say that they are but not based on their own expreience when i first bought the Q701 everyone told me they have no bass and sound boring, but the Q701 have a very good and "life like" bass and sounds really really musical fun and accurate... so i guess AKG might have changed something there not just stampped quincy jones and that it... maybe they changed the waveform or something
 
still considering jimmers "E7 Black bird SR-71A XP4"  but i cant find any review on this product online

 

[Evshrug]

Demontux,
I could live with Q701 pugged straight into a source, still good, but with good amping the sound feels more spacious, distinct, and the power of bass and mids (not necessarily louder) makes it more fun. Your personal value may vary from mine, but things sound flat and dull when I go back to plugging my Q701 back into my iPod's headphone jack, so much so that unamped I tend to reach for a different headphone (but prefer Q701 + amp).

 

[demontux]

my current "AMP" is PANASONIC SA-CH350.. dunno if it say anything to anyone... it does however improve the bass of the sound, it also have a VBASS boost... is it consider to be a "good amp" and buying a dedicated one is not needed ? http://images26.fotosik.pl/1/dcadfc7431c491d6.jpg

 

[Brooko]

BTW as for the article, i dunno if the K701 and Q701 are the same, ppl tend to say that they are but not based on their own expreience when i first bought the Q701 everyone told me they have no bass and sound boring, but the Q701 have a very good and "life like" bass and sounds really really musical fun and accurate... so i guess AKG might have changed something there not just stampped quincy jones and that it... maybe they changed the waveform or something

I owned both Q701 and K701 and compared both at same time out of same source. IMO they are virtually same. Q701 were very slightly bassier - but I put that down to physical differences .......
- K701 bands were slightly looser so Q701 definitely had more clamp
- Q701 pads were also firmer
There is also question of whether the button has a sonic effect.

Essentially though - IMO they are almost identical (changes are small)

As to your other question ..........
- Yes they still sound good to straight me out of an I-device
- It's not until you hear them amped properly that you realise that they have more bass ability than the I-device can provide (explained better in that article I linked earlier)

So get the headphones - you'll still enjoy them unamped or through a weak amp. And they will scale better once you can afford a better amp later.

 

[Stalker81598]

Quote:

+1000.
 
This is the reason, I went to HE500 as my 2nd purchase after the Q701 which I still have and use daily.  Q701 is really great for the price.
I am still curious about how much better HD800 is in comparison to Q701.  I will find out soon at the next meet.

 
The presentation of the HD800 is similar in regards to frequency response but far more refined in every aspect. I find the Q701 a bit grainy and sibilant compared to the HD800. The 701's treble peak is much higher. Soundstage and imaging on the HD800 is second to none. Both are similar in regards to soundstage size but the 800's positioning is much more coherent. When switching directly from the HD800 to the Q701, it sounds artificial and metallic. The HD800 is the most natural and transparent headphone I have ever heard.
 
Overall they are similar in many ways but the HD800 is technically far superior. The differences are not subtle.

 

[Evshrug]

Stalker81598,
But I've read that the HD800 has a hot treble response, fatiguing even. Thoughts?

 

[Stalker81598]

Quote:

Stalker81598,
But I've read that the HD800 has a hot treble response, fatiguing even. Thoughts?

 
I find the treble on Q701 far more fatiguing than the HD800. If you are used to a warmer headphone like the HD650 you might find the HD800 a little bright, but by comparison the Q701 would be downright painful. I don't find HD800 to be that harsh, especially with a good copper cable.