runnin17

Thank you for all the suggestions and the info about the Sextett's paired with a Pico. I will just have to try out the KSC75's, KSC35's, PX100's and maybe even the ESW9's to see what fits my taste the best. I have a pair of shure E210's that I like, but I honestly haven't listened to them enough to fall in love with them. So there is more listening to be done and who know, maybe my E210's will fund part of my Pico budget for later in the year.

Doh. Well then I guess I need to start looking for either a different amp or some different headphones. Maybe the AKG K270 Playbacks. Now the problem is finding a pair, hehe.

Well I will put it this way. I am currently a 4th year med student. I will be starting my general surgery residency next year. So that means I will be spending A LOT of time at the hospital away from any nice desktop amps. My residency will be at least 6 years and most likely a fellowship after that. So pretty much I will be away from home for extended periods of time for at least the next 6 years. I will probably be using the amp quite a lot also, whether it be with IEMs or full-size headphones.

That is a good point. I knew I was forgetting to ask a specific question about the Sextett's.

Would you look at that...a helpful post. Seriously, thanks. Looks like I have more reading to do. Appreciate the links. Before I offend anyone else, mods feel free to close this thread.

:o:o:o:o:o:o:o Man I wish I had the extra money right now and I would jump on it in a heartbeat. Too bad my recent acquisition of my Sextett's set me back a little. It will probably be a few months before I can convince the wife to sign off on the Pico, hehe. Plus I can then tell her that it is a birthday present to myself.

Well sorry to insult you . If you have a problem with my thread why post at all? Congratulations on being a douche! Anyway, back to the topic. Thanks for the suggestions on the AE-2. I will take a look at it. I really want to stick with a portable solution because I am already carrying around enough stuff with me. I also thought about whether or not I should spend the money on the Pico if I would most likely be studying when I use it; however, this portable amp purchase will probably be my only portable amp purchase for a long while. So I probably want something that I will be able to use with full-size headphones and IEM's. Just from all the reading I have done the Pico keeps coming up as one of the best overall contenders. When I think about it, I would much rather spend $400 on a Pico, than spend $200 on an amp that I be looking to upgrade in a year or two. I just started this thread, because I wan't sure if anyone had run into any other amps or amp/DAC combos that provided the same type of price and performance of the Pico.

Yeah, I really would need a portable amp. I already have a nice desktop setup, but I do a lot of studying outside the house.

Okay, so now that I have had my Sextett's for almost two weeks I have fallen in love with them. This means that my little PA2V2 is sadly not going to cut it as my only portable amp. Oddly enough, the headphone output from my Macbook Pro has better quality than the PA2V2. It is not as loud, but the PA2V2 was having trouble in the midrange and it sounded really bad. Anyway, back to the point. While I don't currently have the money to spend on a Pico, I want to know if I should just save up the money to get a Pico or save a little money and get an iBasso offering or something similar? I will be using my cans with my Macbook Pro mostly and every now and then with my iPod/iPhone. Cheers!

That's good to know. I will up the volume on my computer and use my amp for the volume to see if I notice a difference.

I wasn't aware that windows messed with the signal at all. Since I have my music library in FLAC on my computer I just run all my music from my computer. I haven't had any problems with the signal.

Mostly because it is easier for me to control the volume from my keyboard than having to turn to my amp all the time. Another reason is because the volume pot on my Xiang Sheng amp is not the highest quality part and I haven't gotten around to replacing it with an ALPS volume pot yet. So I just keep the amps volume at around 10-12 o'clock and adjust the volume through my computer. Just makes it easier for me. Oh yeah, one more thing. Got to use the 55x's while playing Halo 3 and COD4 through my 360. The detail is just as good if not better than my HD580's, but I am not quite convinced that the accuracy of the sound is any better. I can certainly hear more things, but I haven't been able to determine if the 55x's portray the correct distance when it comes to bullets flying past your head or footsteps around you. I got used to them after playing for a little while and was able to pick stuff out pretty well, but I am not sure if that is just because my ears became accustomed to the sound signature that fast.

CORRECTION: So I switched to my Sextett's to see the volume difference between them and the MB Quart's. I was surprised when I had to increase my computer volume to around 40% max to get the same volume as I was getting with the 55x's at 15% volume. So the Sextett's are hard to drive as expected.

So I read through EdipisReks' thread here, but I have already brought back one thread from the dead and decided better of it this time. So here is a new thread. Just got the MB Quart QP55x's yesterday. Got them through eBay for $45 shipped. Brand new, unopened box. I mainly got them for the velour pads to put on my Sextett's. Anyway, currently I have been listening to them and so far I am impressed. Build Decent quality, not as high quality as AKG or Senn's; but they should hold up to plenty of abuse. All plastic and retro looking. I won't say that they look "cool", but c'mon does that really matter anyway. The cord is higher quality than any Rat Shack cord, but not as good as the Beyer cords. Although, the 1/4" connector is the exact same one that Beyer cans use. The cable is coiled and for the price of the cans is better than I expected, but still not top notch. Comfort Honestly, one of the most (if not the most) comfortable headphone I have ever worn. MB Quart has the patent on the mechanism they use to suspend the driver enclosures. From what I can tell it is a set of elastic wires that allow the driver enclosures to basically float freely from the rest of the headphone. This allows the headphones to barely apply any pressure to your head, but still remain snug enough to give a good fit. Sound Okay, now to the part that matters. I will put it this way. They have a nice wide soundstage. Not K701 wide, but they would more than hold their own as gaming headphones. Plus they have more bass than the 701's. I have been on the lookout for the random glaring high's that Edipisreks pointed out, but so far I haven't gotten any eye popping cymbal sounds to come out of any of my jazz or rock tunes. They have enough bass to satisfy me, but then again I really didn't like the DT770's when I listened to them because the sound was so colored. I think the MB Quart's do a fair job of producing a neutral sound. The high's are a little forward in the sound, but I think that will go away with some burn-in. The mids are warm and are one of the strongest aspects of the headphone in my opinion. Plus, the bass is strong enough to allow you notice it when you need to, but not so strong as to overpower the rest of the soundstage. Are they giant killers, no. But they are nice, neutral headphones that have a laid back sound signature. They might just replace my HD580's for my gaming needs, but my Sextett's will still be used for everyday music. Oh yeah, as far as being hard to drive like Edipis pointed out. Honestly, I haven't had a problem driving them. I am running them from my computer --> Zhaulo 2.0DAC --> Xiang Sheng 708b tube amp. The 708b volume pot is right around 10 o'clock and my computer volume is at 15%. In comparison, I have to increase the volume pot to around 12-1 o'clock when using my Sextett's to get about the same amount of volume. So in reality they are probably harder to driver than the 100 ohm impendance makes them out to be. However, right now I am getting plenty of bass and I generally don't listen to my music that loud. I am listening to some Count Basie as I am writing this and the detail of the headphones is really nice. I am able to pick out a lot of the bass line that I normally cannot hear on my Sextett's. I will post more thoughts as I listen more. Cheers!

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