Post by elysion on Jan 16, 2015 19:47:49 GMT
I've started a new attempt with the K702's a few minutes ago. My memory was not very accurate though: They are excellent for understanding speach. Here the K702's are really above the line. I've tested them for a couple of minutes with the built-in head-amp of the Xonar Essence STX. Beside remembering now that speech is excellent with them, I got no new findings. Bass is almost inexistent and bass heavy music (or movies) sound wrong. The K702's are beasts to drive and according to Miguel, the K501's are even harder to drive. No suprise I didn't like the K501's too much (even with X-Can V2+V3). On the Xonar Essence STX, you can choose from three resistance settings: below 64 Ohms, 64-300 Ohms, 300-600 Ohms. And guess what? I'm using the same setup usually with the DT990 Pro's and a resistance setting for 64-300 Ohms. I did not change the volume settigs. Results: Below 64 Ohm the K702's are almost not hearable, 64-300 Ohms and they are still too quite. With 300-600 Ohms, the are approx. on the same loudness level as the DT 990 Pro's at the lower resistance setting. IIRC, the K702's are rated at 62 Ohms...
When I did like the K702's more (long ago), I've used them with the V3 and the Philips E88CC Special Quality tubes, which gave a bit more bass. I remember also that I was listening too loud for a couple of weeks back then. To appear on their best, the K702's need a good tube amp IMO and a loudness level, which is at least for me uncomfortable. Speech is already good with mediocre amplification and a lower loudness levels.
You're probaly right with the K501's. Most likely they are not your cup of tea. I'm very pleased with the DT990 Pro's and the HD650's however (like you). The driver variants in the HD580/HD600/HD650 series don't make much difference IMO. I have very old HD580's with the older drivers (IIRC old=white, new=black), but I clearly prefer the newer HD650's (more bass and they sound "cleaner").
In my case, I don't see much need for modding the HD650's, because I'm almost perfectly satisfied with them, as long as I use them with the built-in head-amp of the Xonar or the Neco Mosfet/Bossfet amps with AD8610. I'm somewhat oversensitive to high treble and so the HD650's and DT990 Pro's fit well with me.
I'm seeing a new future for the K702's: Maybe I'll use them as "headset" powered by a V3 tube amp for voice chat.
One test example today was the Englisch audio track of a ripped DVD. I've had minor problems to understand some voices with the DT990 Pro's, but everything was perfectly understandable with the K702's. Beside speech, everything else was better with the DT990 Pro's. The K702's also overemphasise some other details too much.
HD650 pads are a rip-off, but they are washable more than once with good results. DT990 pads offer more bang for the buck, but washing them gave bad results. I've replaced the pads of the DT990 Pro's already once and I guess the next change is not too far away. Still a bargain considering how much (and long) I've used them.
I'm hesitating to buy more AKG 'phones. Even it the AKG's mentioned by you are better overall, I guess they won't fit as well as the HD650/DT990 for me. Many headphones in my armory are used far too seldom and it seems to be a good decision to focus on 'phones that will see more use.
When I did like the K702's more (long ago), I've used them with the V3 and the Philips E88CC Special Quality tubes, which gave a bit more bass. I remember also that I was listening too loud for a couple of weeks back then. To appear on their best, the K702's need a good tube amp IMO and a loudness level, which is at least for me uncomfortable. Speech is already good with mediocre amplification and a lower loudness levels.
You're probaly right with the K501's. Most likely they are not your cup of tea. I'm very pleased with the DT990 Pro's and the HD650's however (like you). The driver variants in the HD580/HD600/HD650 series don't make much difference IMO. I have very old HD580's with the older drivers (IIRC old=white, new=black), but I clearly prefer the newer HD650's (more bass and they sound "cleaner").
In my case, I don't see much need for modding the HD650's, because I'm almost perfectly satisfied with them, as long as I use them with the built-in head-amp of the Xonar or the Neco Mosfet/Bossfet amps with AD8610. I'm somewhat oversensitive to high treble and so the HD650's and DT990 Pro's fit well with me.
I'm seeing a new future for the K702's: Maybe I'll use them as "headset" powered by a V3 tube amp for voice chat.
One test example today was the Englisch audio track of a ripped DVD. I've had minor problems to understand some voices with the DT990 Pro's, but everything was perfectly understandable with the K702's. Beside speech, everything else was better with the DT990 Pro's. The K702's also overemphasise some other details too much.
HD650 pads are a rip-off, but they are washable more than once with good results. DT990 pads offer more bang for the buck, but washing them gave bad results. I've replaced the pads of the DT990 Pro's already once and I guess the next change is not too far away. Still a bargain considering how much (and long) I've used them.
I'm hesitating to buy more AKG 'phones. Even it the AKG's mentioned by you are better overall, I guess they won't fit as well as the HD650/DT990 for me. Many headphones in my armory are used far too seldom and it seems to be a good decision to focus on 'phones that will see more use.