Is Akg k702 really a power hungry headphone ??

[Robbo99999]

I am now using Moode Player to do headphone EQ and Crossfeed with my AKG K702. It works great.

My audio chain is:
Flac-files/Spotify Connect/Airplay/mconnect Qobuz(uPnP) -> Raspberry Pi 3B running Moode Player 7.2.1 -> Topping E30 -> Topping L30 -> AKG K702 headphones.

I am using the new CamillaDSP, available in Moode Player.

I have made the following setup files:

headphone_AKG_K702_EQ_CamillaDSP.yml is pure headphone EQ, using the crinacle settings from AutoEQ.
headphone_AKG_K702_EQ_CamillaDSP_w_xfeed.yml is the same EQ as above, but with a Crossfeed filter behind.

To upload them, choose Configure -> Audio -> CamillaDSP Edit -> Pipeline configuration: UPLOAD
Then upload the two files one by one, and press SAVE (top of CamillaDSP Config page)
To use them, just choose the file under CamillaDSP Config: General -> Configuration dropdown list, and press SAVE (top of CamillaDSP Config page).

They are available here, if anyone is interested: https://github.com/jensgk/akg_k702_camilladsp_eq

Oratory has recently measured the K702 (he measured mine), so it might be worth trying an EQ based on his....the main difference between Crinacle & Oratory's measurement is the 5500Hz peak: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-akg-k702-has-been-measured-by-oratory.22992/

and here's a post of mine showing the specific differences between Crinacle & Oratory's measurement:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...as-been-measured-by-oratory.22992/post-770641

 

[jensgk]

Oratory has recently measured the K702 (he measured mine), so it might be worth trying an EQ based on his....the main difference between Crinacle & Oratory's measurement is the 5500Hz peak: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-akg-k702-has-been-measured-by-oratory.22992/

and here's a post of mine showing the specific differences between Crinacle & Oratory's measurement:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...as-been-measured-by-oratory.22992/post-770641

Thanks. I will have a look.

After reading your post, I had a look at some of the FR-graphs available for K702 and K701. I think that K701 and K702 are essentially the same.

Both the crinacle K701 and RTINGS K702 and K701 have the 5kHz bump, so maybe crinacle K702 is an outlier.

RTINGS's measurement here: https://www.rtings.com/headphones/tools/compare/akg-k701-vs-akg-k702/326/332?usage=20&threshold=0.10

 

[Robbo99999]

Thanks. I will have a look.

After reading your post, I had a look at some of the FR-graphs available for K702 and K701. I think that K701 and K702 are essentially the same.

Both the crinacle K701 and RTINGS K702 and K701 have the 5kHz bump, so maybe crinacle K702 is an outlier.

RTINGS's measurement here: https://www.rtings.com/headphones/tools/compare/akg-k701-vs-akg-k702/326/332?usage=20&threshold=0.10

Yes, it looks like the K702 Crinacle measurement is an outlier, but only regarding the 5500Hz peak for some reason. Comparing Crinacle K701 and Oratory K702 they look very similar in sharing the same peaks, but the tonality of the headphones are slightly different with the K701 being a bit darker, but they share all the same peaks. But yeah, Oratory K702 measurement looks a bit more accurate given comparisons to the Crinacle K701 measurement.....and also Oratory spoke to someone at AKG and they confirmed that there should be a bit of a peak at 5500Hz for the K702.

 

[jensgk]

I have uploaded new setup files for EQ and Crossfeed for the AKG K702 headphones, now with the Oratory1990 settings.
Available here: https://github.com/jensgk/akg_k702_camilladsp_eq

 

[parnarules]

After reading all the posts on this topic here at AD, I am still confused on what to do regarding power supply/amping 702s. I have been quite happy pairing my soundcard Audient ID14 with all the sets I already own (Yamaha RH5Ma/MT220, AKG K371, Beyerdynamic DT250, Koss KCS75, Creative Aurvana) or using them straight from my phone, but since I ordered the k702s I keep reading about how these truly shine with a good amp and dac.

I have been eyeing the Topping offerings (D30, L30, D50, NX4...) and although very tempting, I keep asking myself if the investment would be worth it, already owning the Audient.

Any advice would be very much appreciated. Many thanks.

 

[solderdude]

since I ordered the k702s I keep reading about how these truly shine with a good amp and dac.

It all has to do with how loud you need to go. If you never play impressively loud a phone will do.

 

[Robbo99999]

After reading all the posts on this topic here at AD, I am still confused on what to do regarding power supply/amping 702s. I have been quite happy pairing my soundcard Audient ID14 with all the sets I already own (Yamaha RH5Ma/MT220, AKG K371, Beyerdynamic DT250, Koss KCS75, Creative Aurvana) or using them straight from my phone, but since I ordered the k702s I keep reading about how these truly shine with a good amp and dac.

I have been eyeing the Topping offerings (D30, L30, D50, NX4...) and although very tempting, I keep asking myself if the investment would be worth it, already owning the Audient.

Any advice would be very much appreciated. Many thanks.

I once tried driving my K702 from my Z170A motherboard and I remember it sounding really muddy (and this was with the same EQ), whereas through my G6 DAC & JDS Labs Atom Amp it's perfectly fine. Here's my motherboard if it's of interest:
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/Z170A-KRAIT-GAMING-3X/Specification
Yes, so it sounded awful through my motherboard onboard sound, don't know why.

 

[Ufasas]

My latest upgrade. Lost an auction for Asus STX II, so I replaced Asus Strix Soar with EVGA NU Audio, which I won on auction for 100~ (new maybe 199,-), strix soar was around 60~. I think I found the best soundcard for k702, it trully shines with EVGA, I get more goosebumps with EVGA + k702 combo while listening music than any other card/BT dac/USB dac I had, speaking about games - positioning is absolutely clear, and soundstage still masive (like it was with Strix Soar), could be my actual endgame, I don't think there is a better sound in the world anymore, I sense the rest is just a waste of money, this is just a sublime sound now, been relistening of all favourite artists for 2 days straight, my ears enjoying old artists all over again, no Oratory EQ needed, no compressors needed, it just delivers straight outta box impressively. I've tried sound cards of price ranges between 24.99 - 199, the higher i went, the smoother and more lively sound was, wish I saved $ and bought something like STX II and k702 in year 2011-2014

 

[Robbo99999]

My latest upgrade. Lost an auction for Asus STX II, so I replaced Asus Strix Soar with EVGA NU Audio, which I won on auction for 100~ (new maybe 199,-), strix soar was around 60~. I think I found the best soundcard for k702, it trully shines with EVGA, I get more goosebumps with EVGA + k702 combo while listening music than any other card/BT dac/USB dac I had, speaking about games - positioning is absolutely clear, and soundstage still masive (like it was with Strix Soar), could be my actual endgame, I don't think there is a better sound in the world anymore, I sense the rest is just a waste of money, this is just a sublime sound now, been relistening of all favourite artists for 2 days straight, my ears enjoying old artists all over again, no Oratory EQ needed, no compressors needed, it just delivers straight outta box impressively. I've tried sound cards of price ranges between 24.99 - 199, the higher i went, the smoother and more lively sound was, wish I saved $ and bought something like STX II and k702 in year 2011-2014

It's good that you've found a good combo to drive your K702, but that isn't gonna fix the stock frequency of the K702......so I don't think people should expect "magical" things to happen if they combine certain gear with their K702 (or any headphone for that matter). Really the truth is that the DAC/amp drives the headphone properly or it doesn't, but it's not gonna fix the stock frequency response of a headphone - you need EQ to fix that (eg Oratory). Just wanted to put it into perspective for people, but I'm pleased you found a combination that drives your K702 without issue.

 

[Ufasas]

It's good that you've found a good combo to drive your K702, but that isn't gonna fix the stock frequency of the K702......so I don't think people should expect "magical" things to happen if they combine certain gear with their K702 (or any headphone for that matter). Really the truth is that the DAC/amp drives the headphone properly or it doesn't, but it's not gonna fix the stock frequency response of a headphone - you need EQ to fix that (eg Oratory). Just wanted to put it into perspective for people, but I'm pleased you found a combination that drives your K702 without issue.

Thing is, I've tried 5 headphones/headsets with music and EVGA, neutral, bassy headphones, gaming headsets (which were still good for music), and after few hours they become hurtful/fatiguing for the ears, it's not the case with k702, it was still fatiguing with Asus Strix Soar interestingly, that's why I would stay with k702 and a very good soundcard just to save my ears

 

[Robbo99999]

Thing is, I've tried 5 headphones/headsets with music and EVGA, neutral, bassy headphones, gaming headsets (which were still good for music), and after few hours they become hurtful/fatiguing for the ears, it's not the case with k702, it was still fatiguing with Asus Strix Soar interestingly, that's why I would stay with k702 and a very good soundcard just to save my ears

Yeah, that's cool, you can choose a headphone that sounds the best to you, or you can choose one with good properties which can be easily EQ'd - K702 is a good headphone, I've got two of them, so you can certainly count me as a K702 fan.....it used to be my favourite headphone, but 2 weeks ago I bought an HD560s which I'm using with an EQ based on Oratory's measurement and it's a close call between the HD560s and the K702, at the moment they're joint favourites. HD560s does bass and treble above 5kHz better (after EQ) and has a smaller soundstage than the K702, but the HD560s soundstage is very accurate even though it is a smaller soundstage than the K702......joint favourites, they are my best soundstage headphones out of the few headphones I have in my sig.

 

[Foulchet]

I may have hearing problems but even without a blind AB test, my K712 Pro sounds mostly the same with every sources. I mean maybe there are very small differences, but it is not especially different than other headphones. I need no more than 20-30% of my motherboard power to have a loud sound.

 

[Robbo99999]

I may have hearing problems but even without a blind AB test, my K712 Pro sounds mostly the same with every sources. I mean maybe there are very small differences, but it is not especially different than other headphones. I need no more than 20-30% of my motherboard power to have a loud sound.

It's probably gonna vary from motherboard to motherboard, I know my K702 sounded awful through my motherboard.....so I think in my case my motherboard audio is "broken" for my K702 somehow. But yes, I'm not the main guy comparing motherboard sound vs decent DAC/amp sound, I was just responding to an earlier post.

 

[Deckard01]

Hi is there any dongle dac/amp that can drive these cans or do I need to listen with the separate dac and amp that I have?

I am asking as I look forward to any portable solution capable to drive k702 from my PC.

Thanks

 

[Dazerdoreal]

Hi is there any dongle dac/amp that can drive these cans or do I need to listen with the separate dac and amp that I have?

I am asking as I look forward to any portable solution capable to drive k702 from my PC.

Thanks

In my experience is not as bad as they say. A stronger dongle can drive them.

Some people will tell you that you need a stationary amp to get them to "full potential" but I get them loud enough and I dont miss anything.

 

[Deckard01]

I am a bit confused as i was looking for something portable.

Mojo 2 is expensive so I can not afford it but i read that is a very good dac/amp. Do you know if may BTR7 is capable of driving those cans?

I am thinking of BTR7 as I do not say any dongle to be as good and powerfull enough as Mojo 2 or BTR7

Thanks

 

[solderdude]

BTR7 can supply 2V into the K702 so 112dB peaks, less so when EQ-ing to Harman.
Note: 112dB peak SPL is not the same as 112dBA average levels.

This means loud but not impressively loud levels.
You cannot use the balanced output from the BTR7.

You could also consider the:

#9038D | index

e1dashz.wixsite.com

 

[ZolaIII]

Hi is there any dongle dac/amp that can drive these cans or do I need to listen with the separate dac and amp that I have?

I am asking as I look forward to any portable solution capable to drive k702 from my PC.

Thanks

From half portable PC solutions (with some extras like proper decoding - stereo downmixing of supported Dolby formats and half useful DSP primary for gaming) that is not expensive while behaving good (measured performance) and enough power to drive those you could consider Creative Sound Blaster X G6.
Standard dongles which give 2V output will be enough for 92 or a bit more average dB SPL (as stated above) which is loud enough for most. It's always nice to have headroom for various reasons.

 

[Robbo99999]

Hi is there any dongle dac/amp that can drive these cans or do I need to listen with the separate dac and amp that I have?

I am asking as I look forward to any portable solution capable to drive k702 from my PC.

Thanks

From half portable PC solutions (with some extras like proper decoding - stereo downmixing of supported Dolby formats and half useful DSP primary for gaming) that is not expensive while behaving good (measured performance) and enough power to drive those you could consider Creative Sound Blaster X G6.
Standard dongles which give 2V output will be enough for 92 or a bit more average dB SPL (as stated above) which is loud enough for most. It's always nice to have headroom for various reasons.

Yep, I've got the G6, it's pretty portable in the context that he says he's gonna use it with a PC (I'm guessing a laptop considering he's mentioning portability) - so the CreativeX G6 is very portable in light of using it with a portable laptop. It's also enough to drive K702.

 

[Deckard01]

I was thinking something like ifi go link or go bar that is more expensive or BTR7.

I do not know if these options from ifi and fiio would be fine for 701 so as to do not raise the cost for mojo 2.