[Arkady Duntov]

I am PC gamer, need an desktop amp for  my K7XX, any suggestion? I was looking towards Fiio Olympus 2?

That's what I use and I like the sound.

 

[DavidA]

  The reason I mentioned Fiio is because - it is SO CHEAP , shipping is mostly free and reviews are good. I'll check the prices for MDHA.

What's is your budget?  For me a Project Ember, BH Crack or Lyr2 work really well with the K7XX.  A friend uses a Aune T1 with good results and the ability to roll tubes lets you tune the sound a little and if you need more power then you can still use the DAC section of the Aune T1 and feed the output to an amp.

 

[HiraiMomo]

nfb-15 vs aune x1s for these? Just looking to buy an amp/dac combo for around $250 to get me started but I'm not sure what to get, 

 

[cel4145]

The NFB-15 will have plenty of power to drive the K7XX, and then some.

 

[loki993]

Different amp for my K7xxs? I currently use a JDS Element for my headphones and I guess the best way I can describe it is clinical. It doesn't color the sound AT ALL..it just provides pure clean power..I can make them as loud as I want. I guess this is what we all strive for but I want something a bit more.....fun....any other recommendations for a amp that won't break the bank?

 

[DavidA]

Different amp for my K7xxs? I currently use a JDS Element for my headphones and I guess the best way I can describe it is clinical. It doesn't color the sound AT ALL..it just provides pure clean power..I can make them as loud as I want. I guess this is what we all strive for but I want something a bit more.....fun....any other recommendations for a amp that won't break the bank?

If looking for a fun sound out of the K7XX might want to try a tube or hybrid amp, on the more economical side would be something from Garage 1217.  I have an Ember but its overkill for the K7XX.

 

[loki993]

If looking for a fun sound out of the K7XX might want to try a tube or hybrid amp, on the more economical side would be something from Garage 1217.  I have an Ember but its overkill for the K7XX.

I game with them too and I was thinking accuracy would be a concern with tubes...but then again I have all the accurate power I can handle with the Element...

lol there is such a thing as overkill with AKGS?

 

[DavidA]

I game with them too and I was thinking accuracy would be a concern with tubes...but then again I have all the accurate power I can handle with the Element...

lol there is such a thing as overkill with AKGS?

For the 7 series AKG I think anything over $500 on an amp or DAC is overkill since they don't seem to scale much with better gear, unlike the Senn 6XX, 700 and 800/S series which many say will scale up will better gear and I have to agree.  I got to hear the Sennheiser's and some AKG 7 & 8 series headphones on a friends high end gear which included a Liquid Gold, Liquid Glass, EC Balancing Act, MHA-100, AudioGD Master 9 & 11, Metrum Musette, MHDT Pagoda and Stockholm2, Yggy, WA22, Red Wine Audio Isabellini, and a few other amps and DACs and the Senn's did scale with this high end gear but this is so far in to diminishing returns territory.
 
As for accuracy, tubes can sometimes be just as accurate as SS, it really depends on the design of the amp and what is accurate to you might not be for others, same goes for the definition of a neutral sounding headphone?  Many would say the HD-600 is one of the better definitions of a neutral sounding headphone but to me its a bit harsh in the mid treble.
 
When I used to game a lot my headphone of choice was the HD-700, great sound stage and positional audio and since they are easy to drive they work great out of the sound card without the need for additional amplification.  Also good for late night when watching movies from the headphone jack of my HT receiver.
 
At the end of the day the only person that matters is you, if you are happy with your setup then all is good

 

[trappedintime]

My balanced K7XX's have sounded better as I've gone up the chain. I feel like they perform extremely well over XLR with the Liquid Carbon and Ragnarok. I can't really say how they scale up compared to Sennheisers, but I think if you do the balanced mod they probably scale up with higher end gear pretty well. My balanced K812's still have better imaging and a larger, airy soundstage, but the bass response is pretty similar with both amps across a number of DAC's (Teac UD-501, Sony UDA-1, Oppo HA-2), and the Ragnarok especially has brought out more bass detail with them than say the HA-1 or Teac UD-501 headphone sections.

 

[Ljanmi]

To power up my new arriving AKG K77XX I have 4 choices now - Monoprice Desktop Headphone Amplifier, SMSL sApII Pro, X3ii od Fiio?

 

[DavidA]

  To power up my new arriving AKG K77XX I have 4 choices now - Monoprice Desktop Headphone Amplifier, SMSL sApII Pro, X3ii od Fiio?

With my X3ii the K7XX will get quite loud but its not the best sounding setup, I've never heard any of the other amps you have listed so I don't know how they will pair with the K7XX but I have enjoyed the K7XX with tube amps more than with SS but its also my preference so it might be different for you.

 

[loki993]

For the 7 series AKG I think anything over $500 on an amp or DAC is overkill since they don't seem to scale much with better gear, unlike the Senn 6XX, 700 and 800/S series which many say will scale up will better gear and I have to agree.  I got to hear the Sennheiser's and some AKG 7 & 8 series headphones on a friends high end gear which included a Liquid Gold, Liquid Glass, EC Balancing Act, MHA-100, AudioGD Master 9 & 11, Metrum Musette, MHDT Pagoda and Stockholm2, Yggy, WA22, Red Wine Audio Isabellini, and a few other amps and DACs and the Senn's did scale with this high end gear but this is so far in to diminishing returns territory.

As for accuracy, tubes can sometimes be just as accurate as SS, it really depends on the design of the amp and what is accurate to you might not be for others, same goes for the definition of a neutral sounding headphone?  Many would say the HD-600 is one of the better definitions of a neutral sounding headphone but to me its a bit harsh in the mid treble.

When I used to game a lot my headphone of choice was the HD-700, great sound stage and positional audio and since they are easy to drive they work great out of the sound card without the need for additional amplification.  Also good for late night when watching movies from the headphone jack of my HT receiver.

At the end of the day the only person that matters is you, if you are happy with your setup then all is good

Personally I don't think Id ever spend over 500 on an amp regardless of what I'm using them for..like you said diminishing returns..it's just not worth it. I was trying to find something around the same price as the element. I hear a lot of people recommend the Lyr but its a bit more than I want to spend..but it definitely checks all of the other boxes. I actually really like the idea of the Ember and the fact that you can put nearly whatever you want in it butt he power output of the Lyr is definitely sexy.

Then one you get into tubes you get into the obsessions of buying tubes...and they becomes expensive.

The more I think about accuracy its not that huge a deal..what I absolutly need to preserve though is soundstage.

 

[DaveLT]

  To power up my new arriving AKG K77XX I have 4 choices now - Monoprice Desktop Headphone Amplifier, SMSL sApII Pro, X3ii od Fiio?

the sApII Pro is your best choice
 

Personally I don't think Id ever spend over 500 on an amp regardless of what I'm using them for..like you said diminishing returns..it's just not worth it. I was trying to find something around the same price as the element. I hear a lot of people recommend the Lyr but its a bit more than I want to spend..but it definitely checks all of the other boxes. I actually really like the idea of the Ember and the fact that you can put nearly whatever you want in it butt he power output of the Lyr is definitely sexy.

Then one you get into tubes you get into the obsessions of buying tubes...and they becomes expensive.

The more I think about accuracy its not that huge a deal..what I absolutly need to preserve though is soundstage.

Power is not everything. The Lyr does power but uncontrolled power.

 

[DavidA]

Personally I don't think Id ever spend over 500 on an amp regardless of what I'm using them for..like you said diminishing returns..it's just not worth it. I was trying to find something around the same price as the element. I hear a lot of people recommend the Lyr but its a bit more than I want to spend..but it definitely checks all of the other boxes. I actually really like the idea of the Ember and the fact that you can put nearly whatever you want in it butt he power output of the Lyr is definitely sexy.

Then one you get into tubes you get into the obsessions of buying tubes...and they becomes expensive.

The more I think about accuracy its not that huge a deal..what I absolutly need to preserve though is soundstage.

The price of the Lyr2 is deceiving since I actually spent almost double the price of the amp on tubes, went a little nuts at first as you are very aware of.  As for the output power of the Lyr2, only time I noticed it when I use my HD-560, it just sounds better on the Lyr2 than the Ember.
 
Sound stage really comes in to play for gaming (positional audio) and for large scale orchestra classical music, for most other genres of music the sound stage is not a must have for me.

 

[loki993]

Power is not everything. The Lyr does power but uncontrolled power.
 

Not sure what you're getting at here....are you saying the Lyr isn't good? if so what makes you think that? Do you have any other suggestions?

The price of the Lyr2 is deceiving since I actually spent almost double the price of the amp on tubes, went a little nuts at first as you are very aware of.  As for the output power of the Lyr2, only time I noticed it when I use my HD-560, it just sounds better on the Lyr2 than the Ember.

Sound stage really comes in to play for gaming (positional audio) and for large scale orchestra classical music, for most other genres of music the sound stage is not a must have for me.

Right which is exactly what Id be afraid do.

do you think the Lyr has a good soundstage? It would be silly to get these headphones with a great soundstage and positioning and then ruin it with an amp....