[Quinto]

the K712 needs a powerful amp to reach its full potential, even more so than my HD650 or even my good old K501

 

[Me x3]

Is this headphone as picky with amps as some make it seem?

I woudn't say picky, but it needs quality amplification being a low impedance headphone with relatively low sensitivity.
An amp with very neutral and clear bass response, along with big soundstage and refined/clean treble is the best you can get for the K712 (IMO)

The wrong amp can make the bass sound slow or upper mids too forward or the treble too splashy.
I woudn't say it's picky because it works well with quality neutralish gear, unlike other headphones that "need" a particular coloration in the chain in order to sound fine.

 

[MorrisVentus]

Hm.. I got a question for all K712 pro owners, and would be appreciated if you can help.

When I did the bass shaker test with K712 pro on this website,
http://www.audiocheck.net/soundtests_headphones.php

my headphone was rattling.

I was using Schiit Uber Stack, and volume was at 2 'oclock, at high gain.

I got replacement, but that one was doing the same thing.

So I was wondering it is because,
1. it is not baked enough (did testing as soon as I got the item)
2. Volume is simply too high, because it does not rattle until at certain volume (1'oclock was fine)
3. just simple quality control issue.

Thank you for your time.

 

[Shoewreck]

@MorrisVentus
I did already share my experience regarding the rattling. I do think that's a QC issue and IME it's curable by burn-in.
You may do a visual check: just twist the cushions off, remove the foam disc (if there is one) and look for excessive glue on diaphragm perimeter. You may also check if the outer part of diaphragm distorts while rattling. That both was my case.
It would be wise to check if amp output voltage stays within headphone power rating. You should NEVER EXCEED 3.5 VRMS. My amp is capable of only 2 VRMS and K612 did rattle until burnt-in.

 

[393699]

I checked out that site and did the bass test. I did not experience any rattle on my K712 Pro at all.

 

[393699]

After I have no idea how many hours on this headphone, I have to say that I think this is the best you can get for an open back under 400 US. If I had to guess, I must have 250 hours on them by now. I still recommend the EQ set I posted previously for anyone who wants to take the sound of this headphone to the next level as well. I have received messages from a few people who have told me how impressed they are using this EQ with the K712 Pro. I hope all the owners of this headphone are continuing to enjoy theirs as well.


Pre-Amplifying: - 2

63Hz: + 0.5
80Hz: + 0.5
160Hz: - 0.5
200Hz: - 1
250Hz: - 1
315Hz: - 1
1.25kHz: + 0.5
2kHz: - 1
3.15kHz: + 2
4kHz: + 1
6.3kHz: - 0.5
8kHz: - 0.5
10kHz: + 0.5
12.5kHz: - 0.5
16kHz: + 0.5

 

[MrVitalic85]

I am actually curious about this. You should give my EQ set a try. This is my EQ for my K712 Pro. Let me know how you like it. It takes the sound of this headphone to another level.

160Hz: - 1
200Hz - 1
250Hz - 1
315Hz - 1
2kHz: - 1
3.15kHz: + 2
4kHz: + 1
8.5kHz: + 0.5
10kHz: + 0.5
12.5kHz: - 0.5
16kHz: + 0.5

Ok thx. I'm sorry I was away for a long time (life). I have tried these setting on ableton with 2 eq 8. Not bad. Maybe I'm to much used to my srh 440 for mixing or my amp is not powerfull enough. They are driven by an average phonic audio interface. I sended my focusrite scarlett 2i4 to repair because of a bad ic and its been ages since I used it. So maybe with that I will get better result. Thank you for the help. I will let you know. Anyway my only issue is with bass image. Otherwise its a brillant headphone.

 

[Jralston89]

Hey forum. first time poster.
I consider myself a smart guy, but this audio stuff makes me feel like a moron. Ill summarize and pray you guys can help and maybe give a recommendation.
-Have high end PC, NO SOUND CARD (MOBO Sabertooth Z170 S, REALTEK ALC1150 audio codec)
-Have K712 and schitt magni 3 in mail (from reading thought I needed amp to power these)?
Should I just be getting a Sound card?
80%game 20%music. Really just want great positional audio for my FPS games (PUBG, BF1) and at the same time feel immersed

There are SOOOO many oppinions and I understand why. Instead of getting less confusing the more you read, it seems to get more so due to those oppinions and more subjects that open up like 3D surround audio and what not, its hard to sort through what I actually need to
1. push the k712
2. get the best possible game audio and positional accuracy

ANY help would be greatly appreciated

 

[MorrisVentus]

Hey forum. first time poster.
I consider myself a smart guy, but this audio stuff makes me feel like a moron. Ill summarize and pray you guys can help and maybe give a recommendation.
-Have high end PC, NO SOUND CARD (MOBO Sabertooth Z170 S, REALTEK ALC1150 audio codec)
-Have K712 and schitt magni 3 in mail (from reading thought I needed amp to power these)?
Should I just be getting a Sound card?
80%game 20%music. Really just want great positional audio for my FPS games (PUBG, BF1) and at the same time feel immersed

There are SOOOO many oppinions and I understand why. Instead of getting less confusing the more you read, it seems to get more so due to those oppinions and more subjects that open up like 3D surround audio and what not, its hard to sort through what I actually need to
1. push the k712
2. get the best possible game audio and positional accuracy

ANY help would be greatly appreciated

First, Dac is not really necessary. If you have high end PC, I believe you have decent mobo. Mobo's these days have decent dac.

And honestly, if you want to get the sound card, I would recommend Schiit Modi or Modi Uber, since you have magni 3. Uber one you can be more flexible when you want to hook that up to your console.

But DAC wise, you won't really tell the difference. I have X370 MSI Carbon, which has ALC1220, but when I did A/B testing between Modi 2 uber and mobo, I could not really tell that much of difference.

and I do not understand what you mean by the push K712. K712 is best bet for gaming headphone. It has wide sound stage with details. I personally used it playing PUBG, and it was much easier to catch enemy location on different floors, compared to when I used apple earphones.

 

[393699]

In simple terms, your onboard audio will be your DAC. ALC1150 is okay, but you will get a better experience with using a nice sound card as your DAC. You would be connecting your headphone amp to the front speaker outputs on the sound card, or buying an external DAC, and connecting the headphone amp to that.

I would recommend the ODAC. It is fairly cheap, and nice and transparent sounding. The K712 Pro enjoys being connected to neutral or slightly warmish sounding DACs. You can take a look at the ODAC here.

https://www.jdslabs.com/products/46/standalone-odac-rev-b/

 

[Jralston89]

Okay, so i can go Mobo-AMP-K712
Or soundcard-amp-k712
Or Mobo-DAC-AMP-k712
Or soundcard to K712? is there any reason to even get the amp if i get a soundcard?
And any of these setups will work? without degrading the audio?

Thanks for the replys

 

[393699]

Sound card headphone amps are not great. For instance, I use a Creative Sound Blaster ZXR card as my DAC. This is a high end sound card. It has PCM1798 and PCM1794 DACs on it. These are 124 and 127 SNR DAC chips. These are very nice sounding DACs. I have upgraded all of the opamps on the sound card as well. This sound card has a headphone amp on it. However, it is far less powerful, and not as good sounding as my M-Stage HPA-2 headphone amp, which I also upgraded the opamp section in. I am in the group of people where I like having a high end internal sound card, and then connecting a stand alone headphone amp to it. The reason why, is it gives the best of both worlds for a headphone set up, and also a home theater set up. I do not use the headphone amp on the sound card at all. I connect my M-Stage HPA-2 to the front channel RCA outs on the sound card. When I am using my audio system, I unplug the headphone amp, and then connect my home audio system. I use the analog connections for 5.1 on the sound card. This set up allows me to switch between a headphone amp, and a home audio system, all while having an internal sound card as a DAC. Almost all external DAC will only allow you to use two channel. If you get a nice sound card, it will give you the option of 5.1 or 7.1, depending on the card. This may not matter to you, but it does to me. I only listen to music with two channel. However, movies using 5.1 analog connections are a must for me.

If you buy an external DAC, such as the ODAC, it will connect to USB on your motherboard. You will not be using your onboard sound at all.

 

[Jralston89]

amazing, thank you for that explanation, Interesting as i run a receiver in my house for my home theatre but thats a cool way to do it.
One last thing, if for that reason i want my PC to be a one trick pony, just sound amazing in game, with great positional audio with these k712, do i go external DAC or Sound card? I would like to keep my options open on whether using stereo or virtual surround, will a external DAC allow that?

Thanks again

 

[393699]

I am running a receiver. I have a Marantz which has the 8 channel analog inputs on it. This is why I am using the 5.1 analog outs on the sound card. I do not use optical for surround sound. It is rather compressed. The sound quality over analog using the 5.1 analog outs from the sound card to the receiver is much better. What receiver do you have ? If you have a receiver which has the 6 or 8 channel analog inputs, and you want to use it for home theater, a sound card is a much better option for you. I would recommend the Creative ZXR. Just make sure to order yourself a pair of LME49860 opamps for it as well to replace the crappy stock JRC2114D opamps used in the I/V Stage. This drastically improves the sound on the card. If you order, be sure to order from a USA or Canadian seller on EBAY. The chinese sellers are offering mostly fake opamps, and can't be trusted to ship you genuine opamps.

Regarding headphones, you honestly do not need to use "virtual surround" or anything else of that nature. That is all a gimmick. Headphones are a two channel device. It is meant to be used in two channel. The soundstage on the K712 Pro is huge. You literally can locate anything in music or in gaming. If a gun or footsteps are located 30 degrees to the left, or 55 degrees to the right, or above you, or below you, you will detect exactly where it is.

When you get the headphones, go ahead and try my EQ set as well. I have been messaged by quite a few people regarding my EQ. Several people here are using it on their K712 Pro.

Pre-Amplifying: - 4

160Hz: - 1
200Hz - 1
250Hz - 1
315Hz - 1
2kHz: - 1
3.15kHz: + 2
4kHz: + 1
8.5kHz: + 0.5
10kHz: + 0.5
12.5kHz: - 0.5
16kHz: + 0.5

This is a genuine seller for the opamps. You would need two of these.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/TI-LME4986...618651&hash=item25bdde8a2b:g:NmsAAOSwol5YxF1W

 

[Jralston89]

I have a marantz SR5010 but my entertainment area is to far from my pc to do something like that, i wish. When im in a permanent place that will be the plan. Ill try that the second my stuff arrives, never messed with that stuff, i assume EQ settings are in the volume mixer settings?

Thanks for all your help