AKG k702 amp

I pulled the trigger on some AKG K702s because i found a sale for new ones for $200, i got lucky and bought the second to last one :).

I was wondering what amp i will need for this, i was also wondering if the asus xonar would power them or if ill need a seperate amp for all their glory.

Depends which Xonar you have. Is it the Xonar DG? Or the Xonar Essence ST/STX? If your card is any of those two, then you should be fine. If not, then you will need an amp for those cans. I'm not sure what are good ones, but the Fiio E7/E9 combo is received pretty well at Head Fi. You could also just get one at a time, as they are both amplifiers on their own.

I dont have either, because i figured i would buy headphones and get a sound card after. I really just want a sound card that can power them because i already got eyefinity and swan speakers, so my desk is really full already and i dont think i would have room for a seperate amp.

Hm... In that case, get the Xonar Essence STX if you can. I would stray away from the Xonar DG, as I honestly don't think the sound processing capabilities of the card would do the K702's justice. Either that, or you could just go with a cheap headphone amp like a Bravo V2 and stick it out until you can afford a good sound card.

Ok, well what would you advise then, i dont have a budget, but kept below 300 for a sound card would be nice xD

Ok, well what would you advise then, i dont have a budget, but kept below 300 for a sound card would be nice xD

edinsftw

If that's the case, then the Xonar Essence STX would be your best bet. It would definitely be able to drive your headphones as well as give awesome sound quality.

Ok, well what would you advise then, i dont have a budget, but kept below 300 for a sound card would be nice xD

edinsftw

The Xonar Essence ST (Think its better than the STX) or a Bravo V2 tube amp (ebay.) With the Bravo you'd be able to use on other sources like consoles too. Though after a year or so you have to get a new tube, which you can tune to different sounds with different tubes.

I use the Little Dot mkIII with my K702s, its as if they had been made for each other.

http://www.littledot.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=815&sid=83e00ca00d0b82ab6dd5517d6a8e4d20

You should take a look.

I use the Little Dot mkIII with my K702s, its as if they had been made for each other.

http://www.littledot.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=815&sid=83e00ca00d0b82ab6dd5517d6a8e4d20

You should take a look.

NVIDIATI

@NVIDIATI and/or ChubbyGuy: Is there any reason not to use something like the Headphone DAC from Parts Express (right)? It should work with just about any digital out from the on-board card, right? I know it's probably not audiophile, necessarily, but would it drive a decent set of cans? Or would you be just as well off getting a dedicated card at the price (I know the entry-level Xonar is sub-$50). It looks like it puts out some decent power at 60 mW into 16 ohms, but the k702s are rated at 62 ohms with a max of 200mW (at that resistence the DAC isn't going to be putting out much power), so maybe it's just too little power for the big guys?

I know little about headphone amps; I come from a car audio background originally, so it's tough gauging power for headphones when you're used to everything at 2, 4, or 8 ohms and 100 to 1000Watts RMS. :P

Happy gaming,

Boz

Well I'm not to sure how good of a DAC that parts express one is, but I'm sure as an amp its relatively weak. With headphones its key to have as little distortion as possible. The K701/K702 are beefy headphones and to get the best out of them you want clean power all the way through. On paper the K702 don't seem like they need too much power, but in reality they can be difficult to drive.

I use the Little Dot mkIII with my K702s, its as if they had been made for each other.

http://www.littledot.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=815&sid=83e00ca00d0b82ab6dd5517d6a8e4d20

You should take a look.

NVIDIATI

I need to ask how awsome are the k702s? Im not a bass guy, and i heard that they somewhat lack in bass but its still pretty good im guessing?

[QUOTE="NVIDIATI"]

I use the Little Dot mkIII with my K702s, its as if they had been made for each other.

http://www.littledot.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=815&sid=83e00ca00d0b82ab6dd5517d6a8e4d20

You should take a look.

edinsftw

I need to ask how awesome are the k702s? Im not a bass guy, and i heard that they somewhat lack in bass but its still pretty good im guessing?

I use the Little Dot mkIII with my K702s, its as if they had been made for each other.

http://www.littledot.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=815&sid=83e00ca00d0b82ab6dd5517d6a8e4d20

You should take a look.

NVIDIATI

[QUOTE="NVIDIATI"]

I use the Little Dot mkIII with my K702s, its as if they had been made for each other.

http://www.littledot.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=815&sid=83e00ca00d0b82ab6dd5517d6a8e4d20

You should take a look.

Mozelleple112

Ok, well ive got the AKG k702s now and i have to say they sound quite amazing without an amp even, i cant wait to see what they sound like when i get the xonar stx.

Ok, well ive got the AKG k702s now and i have to say they sound quite amazing without an amp even, i cant wait to see what they sound like when i get the xonar stx.

edinsftw

Ok, well ive got the AKG k702s now and i have to say they sound quite amazing without an amp even, i cant wait to see what they sound like when i get the xonar stx.

edinsftw

Hey there, edinsftw, I did a bit of digging for you just because I've been educating myself in the headphone arena in general. I'm going to say that you should be fine with the headphone amp built into the card:

The high Impedance (Z) headphone amplifier used on this card is the Texas Instruments

TI6120A2 which provides better then 120dB dynamic range, a SNR of 120dB and a fast Slew Rate of 1300 V/µS add the fact that this amplifier circuit is swinging from -12 V to +12 volts and we have a serious high fidelity power source for demanding headphones.

The THD+n graph from the specification sheets show impressive results and this amplifier chip has very low distortion within the audio bandwidth. (Guru3D

• TI6120A2 spec sheets from Texas Instruments: TI6120A2 (PDF)
• Asus Xonar STX Manufacturer Page

Looking at the circuit design of the board, the caps that it's using, the EMI/RFI shield; I'd be more worried about a secondary amp introducing noise into the system. To summarize: It's a damn nice card built specifically for audiophile headphones. The k702s are rated at 62 ohms with a max of 200mW, which might mean about 100mW RMS (AKG does not specify). Regardless, the card is putting out a very clean signal with 80 mW at 600 ohms, which means it will put out even more power with the k702s rated at 60 ohms. Clean signal, lots of power, happy listener.

I would suggest reading the Guru3D review in detail; it has some tips about settings in the Asus software you might find useful, including gain settings (Normal, to match the 60 Ohm gain of you AKGs). Also, if you have a dedicated MOLEX, be sure to use it (avoid piggybacking).

If I ever upgrade my headphones I'll have to put some serious thought into getting this card.

Boz

I don't know much about those fancy soundcard, but I did read lot's and lot's of good reviews from people using this AKG k702 with the Heed Canamp too. NVIDIATI seems to know a lot's about that pair of headphone and wouldn't be afraid to buy whatever he recommend for them.