[80smusicboy]

  Oh man, now you got me worried that I made the right suggestion
Anyways, read some more reviews as I only have 2 ears
 
I hope you will like them if you are about to buy them, however don't forget to upgrade your source further down the road, so you can enjoy them to their fullest.
 
And yes, I find the Q701s very detailed and combining that with a big soundstage is a part of the reason why I like them.

 
Don't worry, I've been reading reviews about the Q701 all over the Internet. I read nearly all of them on Head-Fi and some other sites
 
I won't forget about the source, but first I'd like to start with the headphones. I initially thought about the FiiO E10 just to get started (USB powered DAC with integrated amp, even if not very powerful for so little money seemed nice), but maybe I'll jump to something a bit better.

 

[80smusicboy]

Decided to take the plunge on the AKG Q701 (black version) + Fiio E10. We'll see if it sounds good enough for me. I expect to be a bit better (and more powerful) than the headphone exit on my Asus UL30A (13,3" ultraportable). Still, this headphone exit is dead silent with the RE0s plugged in.

 

[BrezicR]

Great, please post your feedback, as I'm interested, how you'll like your new gear.
The Fiio will indeed be a bit more powerful and the sound will also be a bit better, but at least I didn't hear much difference. On the other hand, it's true, that I bought my Fiio E10 at the begining of my quest for better sound and my ears were not so trained at quality audio as they are now So I don't know, if now I woudn't rate it differently.
 
BTW, when I was looking for the Q701, the green one on Amazon were 50 EUR cheaper then the rest, but I never understood why (for a 50 EUR discount I don't care what colour are they). I wanted to buy them, but they didn't deliver it here in Slovenia . Anyway, I bought them from a alternate source and chose the white one

 

[80smusicboy]

The lowest I could find was 269€ and since there was no difference in price, I went for the black version. I will post my opinion when they arrive, after some burn in.
If I'm not satisfied with the E10, I can always sell it, or use as DAC for a more powerful amplifier and only then sell the E10 and buy a better DAC. I don't think I'll be buying new headphones for many years (I take very good care of my stuff - i.e. maintained my HD555 crack free while I had them).

 

[BrezicR]

It's a nice price. I paid 300 € from an austrian website, however on Amazon they were 250 € (the green ones - the one I couldn't buy). The Senn's were 320 €. I suggest you look on different Amazons (.de, .es, .uk, .it) as there are huge differences in prices. up to 100-200 €.
 
Anyways, I'm eyeing the HD800, but they cost a fortune and I have other expences at this point, so it may take some time, before I buy them

 

[80smusicboy]

Yesterday I had a note on my mail box stating that the delivery was attempted but no one was at home. I went to pick them up earlier today. I found the packaging to be too cheap looking for such an expensive piece of kit.
I then plugged them to my laptop, set the volume to 85%/90% and I didn't like the sound on those first 5 minutes. There was no bass and the highs were over the top. Then I had to go out and let them playing music. When I came back, several hours later, the difference was immense! The bass was there, with great articulation and highs are extended but never fatiguing! I think they sound perfectly ok right out of my laptop, but I expect them to improve a bit out of the Fiio E10. The soundstage is pin point sharp! I'm really happy with my purchase and I find them the over the head headphone equivalent of my Hifiman RE0, just the sound signature I enjoy the most (altough I did like the mids on my HD555, I prefer a more detailed sound).
 
Thank you for your recommendation! 

 

[80smusicboy]

Here in Portugal I saw an almost brand new HD 800 being sold for 500€. It's still for sale, actually!

 

[80smusicboy]

I have yet another question. Are the plastic bits that guide the headband adjustment very fragile? I'm being very careful and I don't have a big head, but still...

 

[BrezicR]

It had to be quite a shock then, when you first listen too them . And yes, I agree, the packaging could realy be better.
To me they sounded good already straight out of the box and after an hour or two they improved a little bit. If they sound good out of the laptop, wait that you improve the source . Especially with a better DAC/amp. The Fiio will make the bass even tighter and the sound will have more detail. At least that was the difference I heard when I first tried it. It just that the difference was not that big for me. For example my Music fidelity M1 DAC improved the sound a lot comparing to the Asus Xonar D2X sound card (which is acctually a quite good sound card). Anyway I'm glad you like them.
 
I'm using the Q701 for about half a year and I didn't find any problems with the plastic bits, and I use the headphones normaly. They seem relatively sturdy to me. I also like to take good care of my things and all of my headphones seem like they are brand new, so maybe somebody that throw them around would be a better source . Maybe you should buy a headphone stand. They are usually quite expensive, but I found some nice stands on ebay for cca 10€. I can post you a link if you want.
 
If you like also the mids, you can buy some warmer headphones later on to complement yours Q701. I have quite a collection now because of that . And if you are planing to upgrade your IEMs in a while, I strongly recomend the Sennheiser IE80. They are different then the Q701 - they are warm, with great deep bass but also detailed and with great soundstage. After more then a year I still love them.

 

[BrezicR]

  Here in Portugal I saw an almost brand new HD 800 being sold for 500€. It's still for sale, actually!

 
Say what? Then why didn't you buy it yourself insted of Q701? I would love to get my hands on that beauty

 

[80smusicboy]

The HD800 cost nearly twice as the Q701. I know it's a different league, but still... For that kind of price for a used headphone I would start to look at some Stax.
 
I don't think I'm going to get more headphones, unless these break. That's what happened to my main system, which has stayed exactly the same for 4 years. I just can't afford that.
About the IEMs, I'm not going to spend more that 100€, and only when the RE0 give up the ghost. It's just too easy to damage an IEM on the outside, so they can't be too expensive.
 
I'm now placing my headphones on what can be called a stand, so for now I won't be spending any more money. But thank you for your help and once more for your recommendation. They really fit the bill on the sound signature. 

 

[80smusicboy]

My Fiio E10 arrived today! It's a good looking and well built device. I'm using the line out to connect to my Creative 2.1 speakers (which also have a 24 bits/96KHz DAC of their own - SPDIF input) as I believe the DAC on E10 should be better than the eleven year old DAC on my Creative's. 
Regarding the performance with the AKG Q701s: it's what I expected it to be. There's no noise of any kind, and the sound doesn't seem to be all that better, but is now less constrained, more dynamic. I can listen in High Gain mode with the volume between 3 and 5 out of 8 depending on the recordings.
I'm very satisfied and I expect not to spend any more money on this kind of thing for a long while.

 

[80smusicboy]

Just pulled the plug on a pair of Sennheisers HD650, like new, for 200€. I was wondering how would the HD650s sound like, so... I will then sell what I like the least. The FiiO E10 is a bit underpowered for the HD650 but won't change its sound signature. If I don't like it, there's no point in buying expensive amps.
 
Let's see...

 

[BrezicR]

 
Great, you can do head to head comparison now. I wonder which of the two you'll like the most. As I said, the HD650 are a bit boring to me. Well we'll see.
 
 
Quote:

I'm very satisfied and I expect not to spend any more money on this kind of thing for a long while.

 
He he, you didn't last long 

 

[80smusicboy]

I've been using HD650 as I believe they're still burning in. According to the previous owner, they don't even have 20 hours on them. The HD650 clamp harder, but still I find them more confortable. The soundstage isn't as wide, but place instruments better. Detail wise, the Q701s win. On very good recordings they shine, with great highs and mids. The bass seems always a bit (too) light in comparison with my home system of reference (with just 2 way bookshelf speakers), but is very detailed and goes deep in frequency response.
I find the HD650 a bit easier to drive with my paltry FiiO E10 than the Q701, but only just. The HD650s are a much darker sounding headphone but that works well with the badly recorded 80s music I listen to. The Q701 become tiresome after a while, but to listen to Chris de Burgh (early 70s recordings - the 80s are awful), Dire Straits and Pink Floyd on them is fantastic! Still, the HD650 make everything sound all right and the added bass gives body to the music.
 
There's not a clear winner here, but I'll keep the HD650.