Gatorized Caiman, my first impressions

[Aturion]

This is a bit late but... thanks Werner for your help

I may be picking a Lyr, I can easily spend money going to classical concerts, standing at the first rank, I know you can't equal this emotion with electronic gear but I wan't to get as close as possible

[Werner Berghofer]

Mohammed,

I may be picking a Lyr

again: Congratulations, great choice! According to all my sources the Lyr is an excellent match for the AKG K701, much more suitable than the Valhalla. I’m quite sure that the Lyr also performs outstanding with other high-end headphones, should you ever feel the need or just the curiosity to try another model.

I’m really looking forward reading your impressions when using the K701 with your headphone amplifier.

In case you’re interested you might want to read what Head-Fi member “grokit” has to say about the combination of the Schiit Lyr and the AKG K701.

Werner.

[idc]

Steven,



well, this is not exactly an engineer’s statement, but it’s common wisdom in inaugurated circles that the AKG K701 are pigs to drive. Obviously the same cannot be claimed for your Superlux HD668-B.

Werner.

The K701s are 62 ohms and 105 SPL, the Superlux are 56ohms and 98 SPL. There should be very little difference between them in what is needed to amp them.

SPL and ohms need to be taken into account. As a rule of thumb an SPL over 100 is easy to drive as are ohms under 50. As a comparison the AKG K350 in ears are 16 ohms and 121 SPL, which means they hardly need amping at all.

I think the K701/2 image of hard to drive is not really born out by the figures.

[Werner Berghofer]

Ian,

T62 ohms and 105 SPL […] 56ohms and 98 SPL […] an SPL over 100 is easy to drive […] 16 ohms and 121 SPL

holy cow! If I only had the slightest idea what the acronym SPL stands for I certainly would feel much better ;-)

Werner.

[webby]

Ian,



holy cow! If I only had the slightest idea what the acronym SPL stands for I certainly would feel much better ;-)

Werner.

Sound Pressure Level?

[idc]

Yes, sound pressure level, or the volume you get from a set amount of power. So for the same power out of the amp you get a higher volume with the K701 than the Superlux, but not by much.

[Werner Berghofer]

Ian, Lee:

sound pressure level

Many thanks, now I’ve learned something new.

However, I still don’t understand why Steven’s preferred position of the Caiman’s volume knob most of the time is something between 10 and 11 o’clock when listening with his Superlux HD668-B headphones, but others like Mohammed or me have to turn it at least to the 2 or 3 o’clock position when using AKG K701 headphones.

Werner.

[Fi-Wi]

Yes, me neither since that would be contrary to the theory Ian refers to.

[idc]

There are various answers,

differences in the manufacturing of the volume pot

headphone makers not being too accurate with their specs

the hearing preferences between the various users

and finally neither ohms not SPL can be looked at in isolation as to how loud a headphone will sound.

[Reid Malenfant]

There are various answers,

differences in the manufacturing of the volume pot

headphone makers not being too accurate with their specs

the hearing preferences between the various users

and finally neither ohms not SPL can be looked at in isolation as to how loud a headphone will sound.

Isn't the headphone output of the Caiman an operational amplifier? If so it won't really like driving low impedances & by that i mean less than 600 ohms. It may well be able to supply a reasonable amount of current, but usually this is limited to about 20mA.

I think you are assuming that the output impedance is pretty low (which it won't be with an op amp) so it's quite possible that the volume control will need to be turned up much higher with low impedance headphones than your data would suggest