Headphone amp?

Battle Points: 153
Ive got the AKG712 pro headphones, but too be honest, the sound is pretty shitty..lots of deep low is missing etc.
Did some research and to get the best sound out of it, people use it with an headphone amp.
But ofcourse i use it with my audio interface, but that doesnt seem to really 'amp' it. So how can i workaround this?
Is there something i can attach between the headphones and my AI?
 
Battle Points: 153
I use the PreSonus Studio 24c, not sure what Ohms it matches. Yes im of course aware of the ' true sound' headphones like this give you, but I've read many times that its real power hungry and a must to boost it. That way it really brings out the life of the phones and is way less dull as it is now.
 
Battle Points: 153
Will you need an amp?

Most certainly yes. The K712 has a somewhat low impedance at 62 Ohm but is also incredibly inefficient at around 84-88dB; even lower than the K702 at 91dB/mW. What is Headphone Impedance? [Explained]

It’s important to note that nearly all websites advertise AKG headphones by the Volt for whatever reason (105dB/V), but this tends to confuse people because they end up thinking it’s very sensitive when it’s not. What is Sensitivity in Headphones? [Explained]


In short, the K712 is not Sensitive at all (read: it’s incredibly inefficient) and does need a bit of power to get pumping. I wouldn’t go ape sh** over it though, as the “Power-Hungry” claim parroted by everyone and their Grandma over the last 5-10 years is a bit overdone like.. you guessed it, your mom’s effing meatloaf.

And, these are by far the most comfortable headphones I own. Wonderful, with or without glasses, you can wear it for hours on end without feeling pressure.
The sound is as expected very good, but also a bit light on the bass side. At first I thought this was due to too little power from the outputs used, but even with a dedicated headphone amplifier the bass remains a bit light. Fortunately, the iFi ZEN CAN has a bass boost function that fits well with this.

On the one hand, this appears to be a very capable headset for its money, as I was able to notice through the various reviews that I have seen and read. But ATTENTION, when I first used this unit I was disappointed as it seemed like the sound was absent and my expectations were too high. In the end it turned out that these headphones absolutely have to be used with a headphone amplifier in order to appreciate their qualities. I eventually had an O2 amplifier made (so that the neutral character was guaranteed) and now these headphones really come into their own. The variety of sound frequencies seem much more discernible, and the sound doesn't 'print'.

Few reviews i picked up real quick to show what i mean
 
Battle Points: 153
I did some diggin today, and seems i gotta power up this little badboy badly, to get the real sound out of it. It seems there are amps that you can link to your audio interface (didnt know about this until now)
and ofcourse prices vary...so ill be looking into this whats the best one within a decent price range :)


my attention for now goes to the Presonus HP4, as my monitors and AI are from Presonus aswell and i like it to be a 'set' but reading myself into this first before i buy one....to be continued :)
 

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