Schiit Lyr + AKG k701 in pro/home studio enviroment

[cbkimpi]

Hi, I have almost the same combo. My chain is Mac optical out->Schiit Bifrost->Schiit Lyr which drives a K701. It sounds great but IMHO, the Lyr colors the sound too much. It's awesome for casual listening but probably not great for critical mixing.

If you can stretch your budget, you could try the Burson HA-160 which works really well with the K701's. I use that for checking mixes on my cans. I've also tried using the K701's straight out of an Apogee Duet 2's headphone amp and that works reasonably well too for checking mixes. Good luck.

[tempo63]

thanks for the reply. if it colours the sound, then it's definitely not the right choice for me. i also been considering buying a new interface. if either the apogee or an rme 400 solves the headphone amp problem, i might go with that.. any opinions on it? which interfaces have the best headphone amps?

[tempo63]

i checked the prices of the Burson HA-160 and it's a bit over my budget, so something either cheaper, something more compact solution in the same price range (like an interface) would be cool

[cbkimpi]

If you're looking for a compact solution, the duet 2 is worth looking into as it comes with a decent headphone out. You might find a used one closer in price to a Lyr. You'd be giving up some i/o vs. the Focusrite though.

[tempo63]

I can actually get an rme fireface 400 firewire for quite cheap. is the headphone amp any good in that?

[cbkimpi]

I had an RME FF800 but sold it before I got my K701's. I did use the headphone out a lot on it and remember it being pretty good with an old pair of Sony 7506's. But those are a lot easier to drive than the AKG's. I'd test out the RME with your AKG's before taking the plunge. Maybe you can find one in a local shop.