[chinesekiwi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by manuvajpai /img/forum/go_quote.gif From what I hear the supplied Op-Amps on STX are a bit analytical (LM4562). But you can swap them for a warmer one anytime you want. You should check out those om-amp rolling threads. I think some of the TI op-amps are pretty warm and you can order a free sample after registration. My recommendation is that you should move to other op-amps before moving onto a new sound card altogether. From what I hear, X-fi forte is pretty good already. Manu P.S. - Thanks for the info RicHSAD. Will get in touch once i get my card.

Well a couple of things wrong with this:

The default opamps are 2x JRC2114D's in I/V while the LM4562 is the buffer stage opamp only sued when you use the line-out

2) You do not want to add even more warmth to the AD700 via opamp swapping. It makes it extra fatiguing to say the least. e.g. my LT1057's in I/V do not bode well for the AD700's. In fact, a bassy opamp like the LM4562 suits the AD700 very well.

 

[RicHSAD]

I think I'm gonna get some OPA2228's sometime soon and see how they sound with my AD900s.

 

[manuvajpai]

Ah! Thanks for the clarification.

Can you explain one more thing, please? I thought warm sound is thicker and less focused on finer details and more on the gross ones. Wouldn't it be what is needed on treble-heavy and analytical headphones like AD700?

I find that my AD700 are a bit too sibilant at the moment. Will this go away with a cleaner source like the Xonar, or on more burn-in?

Manu

 

[RicHSAD]

I'm bit confused as well because I always thought the AD700s sounded thin, which as far as I know, is nearly the opposite of warm. I would think that a warmer sounding opamp/source would then be a good choice, but maybe I'm missing something?

 

[unclepauly]

I don't think the AD700 is warm in the highs at all, maybe in the mids though. Basically I'm trying to tame the brightness in the highs but not the mids or lows. There's got to be a way to achieve this. Although burn-in DID tame the highs with my old extreme music card, I upgraded to the forte and what do you know the highs are bright again(the added bass is nice though). I'm thinking there has to be an op-amp with warmer highs while neutral in the other areas. I'll check the op-amp rolling threads like was suggested.

 

[manuvajpai]

So I got my essence today. What a change! The soundstage increased and the sibiliance is almost gone. Bass is very clean and not so anemic now.

I am pretty satisfied with my AD700 now.

 

[Drumonron]

Just received the ad700s on 9/01/09 and right out of the box...painful sibilance...but they're burning in and after about 6 hrs the sibilance is gone and they're getting to sound nice....wide soundstage but by no means bass head phones. That's good for me, though because I seek balance. I'm going to keep letting them burn in...I'm very happy with the phones...extremely comfortable and nice sounding. You know, I've owned the w5000 and I'm thinking that these are 90 percent of the sound of that phone but better in the airy dept...soundstage, separation is very good....I'll post more after a few days of burn in though.

 

[moonboy403]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drumonron /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just received the ad700s on 9/01/09 and right out of the box...painful sibilance...but they're burning in and after about 6 hrs the sibilance is gone and they're getting to sound nice....wide soundstage but by no means bass head phones. That's good for me, though because I seek balance. I'm going to keep letting them burn in...I'm very happy with the phones...extremely comfortable and nice sounding. You know, I've owned the w5000 and I'm thinking that these are 90 percent of the sound of that phone but better in the airy dept...soundstage, separation is very good....I'll post more after a few days of burn in though.

At one point, I had both W5000 and AD700 in my possession and I really can't agree with that figure. The W5000 was very much superior to the AD700 in pretty much all aspects with the exception of soundstage width. Detail retrieval, speed, bass definition, soundstage width, and instrument separation were especially the downfall of the AD700 in direct a/bing with the W5000.

 

[manuvajpai]

@RicHSAD: Totally missed your op-amp comment. Do share with us how the combination turn out. I am also thinking of rolling my I/V op-amps. From what I have read so far OPA2228 and OPA2227 have good bass and very tube-like sound.

Check this link out, while not exactly pertaining to STX, it still has some interesting comparisons of the op-amps.
Op-Amp review page

P.S. - Sorry for hijacking the thread. It was getting cumbersome finding a good place to post this info. Hard to find things like these for the AD700 somehow.

 

[RicHSAD]

Thanks I'll be sure to read it. I still haven't ordered the opamps but I might do it this week, not sure. If I do, I will probably be ordering 2xlt1057acn8 and 2xOPA228p.

 

[fanta]

Edit: nm, delete post.

 

[Const4nt1n3]

Hi.

Can anyone share EQ settings for AD700?

 

[francisdemarte]

Just got these headphone delivered to me! My first REAL set of headphones! Did a quick trial of them on my Zune and they fit and sound great! I can't wait to get home and try them out on my Marantz

 

[unclepauly]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Const4nt1n3 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi. Can anyone share EQ settings for AD700?

I leave it flat and bump the lower freq up by two db.

 

[inf.h5n1]

Im looking for a pair of ATH for outdoor use, mostly buses. im not afraid of sound leakage, exept if even with decent volume that damages the sound.

does the ad700 good for buses and outside usege or should i go on the es7?
and another question, are they in about the same size or the ad700 are much bigger? (if someone have them both in same pic so i could compare it will be great)

thanks!