AKG 702's and FiiO E7 DAC/AMP

[NdMk2o1o]

So I am going to invest in some better headphones, currently have the AKG 514's and am really taken by the AKG 702's, I want to know will getting a relatively low priced DAC/AMP such as the FiiO E7 do these justice?

 

[AhokZYashA]

Nope,
K702 is a relatively hard to drive headphones, and it needs some good desktop amp to sound it best,

You'll need something like E9 for the K702

 

[Widjaja]

Been thinking of upgrading my HD202s to something from AKG.
The novelty of the strong bass of my HD202s has worn off.
Just need to find some stereo DJ headphones since I do recordings.

 

[AhokZYashA]

For upgrades from the HD202, AKG K181DJ should be a good aption

 

[NdMk2o1o]

Nope,
K702 is a relatively hard to drive headphones, and it needs some good desktop amp to sound it best,

You'll need something like E9 for the K702

Do I need a seperate DAC with the E9 as it looks like its an AMP only

 

[NdMk2o1o]

Do I need a seperate DAC with the E9 as it looks like its an AMP only

Actually can I buy the E9 and use my Xonar DX as the DAC?

 

[Frederik S]

They are very hard to drive well. A solid state amplifier like the E9 might be enough. The E9 has mini jack line-in so you can use a line output from the Xonar to feed it.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

They are very hard to drive well. A solid state amplifier like the E9 might be enough. The E9 has mini jack line-in so you can use a line output from the Xonar to feed it.

So in response to my question, is the E9 with my Xonar going to cut it? sorry dont mean to sound blunt, its just I am not an audiophile and this will be my 1st foray into a highish end pair of phones and an amp

 

[Frederik S]

I think the E9 is perhaps a bit underpowered to drive the AKG K701/2s but it will make noise.

Usually the AKG K701/2s shine with very powerful amplifiers, but I think the combination is ok.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

I think the E9 is perhaps a bit underpowered to drive the AKG K701/2s but it will make noise.

Usually the AKG K701/2s shine with very powerful amplifiers, but I think the combination is ok.

Can you recommend anything in the sub $100-$150 mark that might be better?

 

[Frederik S]

I think that the some of the cheaper Little Dot amplifiers might be better, but with that budget it is hard to find anything that is well suited for the K702s. Perhaps try and Google the amplifier and see if any of the reviews include a test with the K702s and a comparison with the E9.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

Sorry turns out its the 701's I am getting not the 702's does this change anything <DOH>

 

[AhokZYashA]

701 and the 702 are exactly the same headphones except of color and removable cable on the 702

if you can bump up the budget a bit you can get a matrix m-stage at about $250

oh, and the little dot 1+ will probably drive the 701 well,

 

[NdMk2o1o]

ZOMFG........ have ordered my AKG 701's today, managed to get them from a german store for £175 including delivery, have also bought a cheap tripath ta2020 amplifier on ebay, only thing is it is shipping from HK so may take a while to get here.

Should I burn these in before listening to them or??

 

[AhokZYashA]

yup, burn them in first,
K701 takes approx 150-200hours of burn-in

after that, you'll set,
congrats on getting one of the most transparent headphones around,

 

[NdMk2o1o]

yup, burn them in first,
K701 takes approx 150-200hours of burn-in

after that, you'll set,
congrats on getting one of the most transparent headphones around,

So I have the headphones, amp, and am going to buy an 3.5mm to phono cable and connect the amp to my Xonar DX, am I set?

Also how do you recommend I burn them in, just medium volume constantly or should I raise it sequentially until it gets to a decent level?

 

[Frederik S]

Just use them and leave them playing at normal listening volume when you do not use them. If you have a pink noise sampler you can use that, but I doubt that it will make much of a difference.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

Just use them and leave them playing at normal listening volume when you do not use them. If you have a pink noise sampler you can use that, but I doubt that it will make much of a difference.

Been doing a LOT of reading up on the 701's and they seem to shine at 300+ hours Can't say I wont listen to them until then but as this is my first foray into high end headphones then i would assume even out of the box they won't sound that bad. Am aiming to stick them in a box with a couple of pilows for a week though, so hopefully will be able to comment on before and after

 

[Ra97oR]

I just listen out the box, and leave them playing pink noise when not using them. I say don't bother waiting 100's of hours before hearing, you might actually notice some changes.

 

[WhiteNoise]

Audiophiles everywhere argue the benifits of burn-in and rarely agree one way or the other. Myself I would say burn in does help but by all means use the cans out of the box. Let them burn in while you use them.

The K701's are a nice choice and though not my first pick I would still love to own a set and most likely will. I do have experience with the K701 though and in my experience I can say they are a slightly forward sounding can with a natural sound stage. Highs are wonderful but lows are lacking though clean. These cans sound wonderful with classical (instrumental) music as well as acoustic music. They work well with rock but not as good for jazz, pop, techno and rap. IMO. They lack the punch that I prefer in my cans.

I hope you enjoy these and if anything you might find yourself craving something even better now that you'll have tasted higher end audio listening.

I myself own a handful of cans but my main go to pair would be my modded Grado SR325is cans. Pure audio bliss....for me anyway.

My tip of the day: Always buy used when you can. Buying from a site like Audiogon means buying more expensive kit at a price point you can handle and letting others break equipment in for you. I buy mostly new but when I see something special used I'm not afraid to spend the money if I have it. You can get some really special equipment this way. Like the $1600 Rotel CD player I have...and only paid $225 for at the audiogon auction page.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

Audiophiles everywhere argue the benifits of burn-in and rarely agree one way or the other. Myself I would say burn in does help but by all means use the cans out of the box. Let them burn in while you use them.

The K701's are a nice choice and though not my first pick I would still love to own a set and most likely will. I do have experience with the K701 though and in my experience I can say they are a slightly forward sounding can with a natural sound stage. Highs are wonderful but lows are lacking though clean. These cans sound wonderful with classical (instrumental) music as well as acoustic music. They work well with rock but not as good for jazz, pop, techno and rap. IMO. They lack the punch that I prefer in my cans.

I hope you enjoy these and if anything you might find yourself craving something even better now that you'll have tasted higher end audio listening.

I myself own a handful of cans but my main go to pair would be my modded Grado SR325is cans. Pure audio bliss....for me anyway.

My tip of the day: Always buy used when you can. Buying from a site like Audiogon means buying more expensive kit at a price point you can handle and letting others break equipment in for you. I buy mostly new but when I see something special used I'm not afraid to spend the money if I have it. You can get some really special equipment this way. Like the $1600 Rotel CD player I have...and only paid $225 for at the audiogon auction page.

I would rather buy new and i don't think I would ever contemplate spending more on a pair of headphones than these, though I am not an audiophile i just want nice clean and natural sounding music so i can't see myself being tempted to go for anything "higher end" after hours of reading endless reviews I am sure that after a few hundred hours these cans will be unbeatable by anything in the same price bracket and also stand up to some of the more expensive $1000+ range phones.

They came this week though not had a proper listen to them yet, my amp won't probably show up for a week or so but i will have a good listen to them tonight for a few hours at least, even out of the box the audio quality compared to my low end/mainstream AKG 514's is much nicer, though they will shine with the amp as they are probably 1/2-3/4 as loud just plugged into my Xonar DX

 

[WhiteNoise]

Enjoy!

 

[NdMk2o1o]

Enjoy!

I am breaking the suckers in, 4 hours down, 296-396 to go before total audio bliss lmao and defo need my amp, they are seriously underpowered plugged into my source direct, frustrating!!

 

[AhokZYashA]

oh, ive tried driving the K701 from an ipod.
the sound it produces is like its coming from a tin can.

really bad.

plug it to a proper amp, it shines.

 

[Ra97oR]

K701 is one of the hardest headphones I have owned to drive correctly.

Sure, it have sound coming out plugged in an iPod, but it sounds nothing like it is amped properly. It really need a beefy amp to shine. The FiiO is not exactly what I call a powerful amp, but it is still better than nothing. The FiiO use the same headphone amp chip that Essence uses, so its not that powerful.