Awful pairing...Oppo and AKG

[luckylion100]

Hi not long I purchased my Oppo HA-1 headphone, dac, pre-amp to partner with active speakers, Minidsp setup and BK subs.

I know the pairing of amps and headphones can be tricky but oh boy am i shocked at how awful the pair of relatively cheap AKG's fare. The headphones in question are an aging K550 and the Q701's. Both sounded fantastic through an O Dac connected to laptop, way better than one could have reasonably expected for such little outlay.

I feel these headphones simply aren't up to the task and the Oppo is demonstarting this with startling brutality.

Obviously the Oppo PM -1 is a great match but could anyone recommend a pair or type of headphpne able to take me to headphone nirvana?

Thanks for any pointers.

 

[bigboss]

Depends on your budget. Oppo's headphones are supposed to be very good.

 

[insider9]

That's going to be a great head-fi setup. I'd wait for Dale as he's the expert. That's not in my league so I won't be suggesting anything.

In the mean time stating budget would be good. Also do you want to stick to AKG sound or do you fancy a change? Would you rather go closed back or open? Any particular musical styles that you listen to more than others?

 

[rich51080]

Get a Chord Mojo as it works well with the AKG K550.

I found the Oppo dac to be poor. The Mojo wipes the floor with it.

 

[luckylion100]

this is now my fourth attempt at replying, sadly the site keeps freezing on me.

Big Boss my budget would be no higher than £650. Lots of saving mean time though...

Rich I'm sure the mojo is excellent but using it as a pre-amp was a non starter for me, it looks like a rather unportable 'portable' device, I thought it suffered from an identity issue but sure the sound produced is amazing. Remember I'm not talking about the Oppo HA-2 but it's much bigger brother the HA-1. That's a price of £400 in the UK for the Mojo compared to a RRP of £1200 for the HA-1. I know price isn't anything but I'd be gobsmacked if the Mojo was that good! Totally different beasts in my opinion....

Insider9, I'm also a massive Pearl Jam fan in fact Ten was my first ever CD purchase. I like rock, most metal but as I get older my tastes have varied to extremes I never would have thought possible. It's easier to say the genres I dislike, country, folk, R & B, charts and Jazz. So I suppose I'm lookimg for a set of headphones that is well rounded and accomodating to most genres. I want to shy away from AKG now i felt ripped off with the Q701 (paying a premium for a green cord and a Q logo stuck on the side of the headphone)....

Edit: I should add I'd like some headphones that accept balanced cables from the Oppo.

thanks again all.

 

[dalethorn]

Get a Chord Mojo as it works well with the AKG K550.

I found the Oppo dac to be poor. The Mojo wipes the floor with it.

Chord DAC/amps are sublime. I haven't heard the K550, but I found the K553 to be excellent, and it's a very low cost headphone to use with Chord amps. The fit of the headphone may affect the sound, and also consider that short-term evaluations of a headphone probably won't be enough to know whether the sound will be satisfactory long-term. Lastly, I try to use plastic or pleather earpads as much as possible, since they don't usually absorb sweat and oils, so the sound won't change much as they wear.

 

[luckylion100]

so for me, Chord Dac/headphone amps are a non starter. I'm primarily using this as a pre-amp with what I hoped/read was a half decent headphone amp. The Chord Mojo never was an option, no matter how good it sounds. Look at the difference in connections between the rear panel of the HA-1 and the Mojo... need I say more. I have active speakers and the oppo is centre stage of my system. If I'd been in the market for the baby Oppo HA-2 I'd have gone home with the Mojo.

Today I'm able to test the Oppo with the dac in place, due to issues in connectibity I've only been employing the Oppo with a bluetooth feed, it was awful. I'm hoping better quailty source file will improve things a little.

I'm interested in taking a gamble on the US only availble Monoprice Monolith M1060's.

Dale I agree re the fit of a headphone, neither my AKG's are great and adjustments are definitely required.

 

[paulkebab]

the Oppo's the runner up was the Fostex TH900. I realise those are out of your price range but the cheaper models might work for you, def worth a listen.

 

[luckylion100]

the Oppo's the runner up was the Fostex TH900. I realise those are out of your price range but the cheaper models might work for you, def worth a listen.

Thanks for the suggestion, will look in to them.

Just as an update the Oppo HA-1 is faulty and being replaced on Wednesday. Spoke to their technical whizz James Soanes and seems the quality of out put I was gettig from the headphone section was well below par, Other issues too, but dont want to bash Oppo. Superb customer service, could have talked to the gentleman all day, would have bought him a pint or two. ;-)

Budget can go higher, will just take a little longer to save.

 

[paulkebab]

don't spend a penny until you get the Oppo back. Glad to hear their customer service is up to scratch as it should be for a premium product. Hope it sounds a lot better on its return and maybe you won't have to get the wallet out again 🙂

 

[luckylion100]

comes tomorrow, so shall have a decent listen and post my observations.

 

[pi-electronics]

actually you can try piduet which I personal use for a long time. The sound is perfect and also the connection never has a problem.

 

[luckylion100]

Beats?

 

[luckylion100]

recommendations thanks for that. Can see the headphone section is alive and well. Oh Oppo issue sorted, actually sounded pretty good with the AKG's lastnight but still to my ears with this amp, not a good pairing.

 

[camcroft]

recommendations thanks for that. Can see the headphone section is alive and well. Oh Oppo issue sorted, actually sounded pretty good with the AKG's lastnight but still to my ears with this amp, not a good pairing.

Then you definately must get some piduets *biggrin*

 

[spiny norman]

actually you can try piduet which I personal use for a long time. The sound is perfect and also the connection never has a problem.

Other chopped meat products are available. Reported.

 

[insider9]

recommendations thanks for that. Can see the headphone section is alive and well.  Oh Oppo issue sorted, actually sounded pretty good with the AKG's lastnight but still to my ears with this amp, not a good pairing.

Then you definately must get some piduets *biggrin*

*lol*

The ironic thing is they're not even available on the UK market.