Which headphone amp should I use? I have a Yamaha AG06 mixer and AKG Pro K-702 headphones.

[TheGwardian]

Which headphone amp should I use? I have a Yamaha AG06 mixer and AKG Pro K-702 headphones.

 

The audio volume on these headphones seem kinda low, so I assume I need to look into a headphone amp?

 

I don't know anything about headphone amps and how they work, so I'm really leaning on your guys recommendations. Budget is $200.

[rice guru]

27 minutes ago, TheGwardian said:

Which headphone amp should I use? I have a Yamaha AG06 mixer and AKG Pro K-702 headphones.

 

The audio volume on these headphones seem kinda low, so I assume I need to look into a headphone amp?

 

I don't know anything about headphone amps and how they work, so I'm really leaning on your guys recommendations. Budget is $200.

for $200 you can get some big hitters in dac and amps. if you are getting an amp getting a dac will ensure the signal the amp is amplifying is clean 

for around a $100 or less you can get the grace design sdac from massdrop,  topping d10, d30, or a the schiit modi.I rock the topping d10 myself. all listed from cheapest to most expensive. I use the d10 myself.

for another $100 you can get a great amp. the only amps I reccomend for a $100 are the jds labs atom the best measured amp around this price meaning it sounds super clean and impresses many reviewers but built out of plastic but it sounds so good for the price everyone is willing to overlook it. The other amp I would reccomend is my amp that I rock and love It's built like a german designed it and sounds awesome. doesn't measure as well as the atom but many reviewers say they sound very similar. and is more powerful. so basically if you want something that touts the best numbers grab the atom but if you care about build and knob feel sounds almost as good as the other one grab the liquid spark. Im partial to the liquid spark myself but I did listen to both before buying and liked the liquid spark better. 

 

[rice guru]

here were my impressions of the liquid spark after upgrading from a fiio e10k which I would say sounds better than modern mother board audio significantly enough that you can hear the difference. 

 

[TheGwardian]

13 minutes ago, rice guru said:

for $200 you can get some big hitters in dac and amps. if you are getting an amp getting a dac will ensure the signal the amp is amplifying is clean 

for around a $100 or less you can get the grace design sdac from massdrop,  topping d10, d30, or a the schiit modi.I rock the topping d10 myself. all listed from cheapest to most expensive. I use the d10 myself.

for another $100 you can get a great amp. the only amps I reccomend for a $100 are the jds labs atom the best measured amp around this price meaning it sounds super clean and impresses many reviewers but built out of plastic but it sounds so good for the price everyone is willing to overlook it. The other amp I would reccomend is my amp that I rock and love It's built like a german designed it and sounds awesome. doesn't measure as well as the atom but many reviewers say they sound very similar. and is more powerful. so basically if you want something that touts the best numbers grab the atom but if you care about build and knob feel sounds almost as good as the other one grab the liquid spark. Im partial to the liquid spark myself but I did listen to both before buying and liked the liquid spark better. 

 

All righty so if I get a d10 and a liquid spark, how do those connect to my Yamaha AG06 mixer?

 

I'm completely new to audio stuff, the mixer itself was pretty advanced stuff to me.

 

Currently I just plug my headphones into the headphone plug in the mixer.

 

Looking at the liquid spark & d10, they seem to have these red and white cable inputs?

 

Basically, what cables do I run from my mixer to...wherever?

 

Currently, I just run audio from my mic, PC#1, PC#2, and computer monitor into the mixer. Then I plug the headphones into the headphone plug.

 

What the mixer looks like right now:

 

 

 

 

 

[rice guru]

14 minutes ago, TheGwardian said:

All righty so if I get a d10 and a liquid spark, how do those connect to my Yamaha AG06 mixer?

 

I'm completely new to audio stuff, the mixer itself was pretty advanced stuff to me.

 

Currently I just plug my headphones into the headphone plug in the mixer.

 

Looking at the liquid spark & d10, they seem to have these red and white cable inputs?

 

Basically, what cables do I run from my mixer to...wherever?

 

Currently, I just run audio from my mic, PC#1, PC#2, and computer monitor into the mixer. Then I plug the headphones into the headphone plug.

 

What the mixer looks like right now:

 

 

 

 

 

damn dude I complete;y missed that part of your post. if that is a usb mixer you wont be able to connect the d10 to your mixer. because the topping only takes a digital signal  and makes them analog which is purely a DAC in this case taking usb to rca. usb mixers have their own built in dac. but what you can do with the liquid spark is to take a  3.5 mm cable to rca plug it in to where you would plug in the headphones and take the rca cables to the liquid spark and from there it's just plug your headphones into the front 1/4 inch port  in play. all the liquid spark will do is take that signal from the mixer and amplify it. the d10' rca ports are purely for out puts. be warned though if the source has any audible flaws the amp will amplify it.

 

 

EDIT: to make my explanation of how to plug it in less rambly without the d10 . from mixer headphone out ------3.5mm/ 1/4 inch male to rca male cable---> liquid spak input---->akg k702

[TheGwardian]

6 minutes ago, rice guru said:

damn dude I complete;y missed that part of your post. if that is a usb mixer you wont be able to connect the d10 to your mixer. because the topping only takes a digital signal  and makes them analog which is purely a DAC in this case taking usb to rca. usb mixers have their own built in dac. but what you can do with the liquid spark is to take a  3.5 mm cable to rca plug it in to where you would plug in the headphones and take the rca cables to the liquid spark and from there it's just plug your headphones into the front 1/4 inch port  in play. all the liquid spark will do is take that signal from the mixer and amplify it. the d10' rca ports are purely for out puts. be warned though if the source has any audible flaws the amp will amplify it. 

Ah awesome, sounds good! I'll order the liquid spark and give that a try then. Basically just want to increase the volume and give these headphones that are more neutral a better lift in sound.

 

I have ground loop isolators literally all throughout my audio setup, anything that has audio, has a ground loop isolator attached to it before it goes into the mixer. USB and 3.5mm ground loop isolators. So that should ensure that everything is clean, I think.

 

 

[rice guru]

13 minutes ago, TheGwardian said:

Ah awesome, sounds good! I'll order the liquid spark and give that a try then. Basically just want to increase the volume and give these headphones that are more neutral a better lift in sound.

 

I have ground loop isolators literally all throughout my audio setup, anything that has audio, has a ground loop isolator attached to it before it goes into the mixer. USB and 3.5mm ground loop isolators. So that should ensure that everything is clean, I think.

 

 

thats great! would love to hear back from you when you get it to see if it is what your looking for. I love mine and always vouch for it when I can. this amp has a long history of development and it definitely sounds like it. hopefully you will like it as much I do.