You could add coupling capacitors to the Magni to smooth things out to sound more like the microamp. I wouldn't mind doing a write up for you. Don't even need to mod the amp. Can make an adapter.

might be a good idea to read through *this*. Later sections explain possible scenarios for larger differences in sound.

So...I'm going to ask the stupidest question ever. I could have sworn that there was a high frequency buzz with the Magni when the wall wart was plugged into a surge protector, but none since I plugged the wall wart into, well, the wall.

Is this insane?! Is it possible? Is it testable whether there would be measurable differences? Maybe its burn in. Maybe its brain in. But I really think the Magni sounds a lot better plugged in the wall.

Now, I will duck for fear of flying objects...  Please don't take me to the woodshed over this; I am curious though.

Thanks for the informative and respectful answers to the above post, guys! What a great forum! 

I agree with you about Canare.
It's true that it's a bad idea to try to add warmth (or an impression of it) for a headphone with a cable.
The thing is though that the Magni + ODAC makes the Q701 sound as lean as i've ever heard it.
Now it still is warm, but thinner than on any other amp i've heard it with. I mean these amps aren't very colored to begin with and not warm. Maybe it's just that the Magni+ODAC is like a double whammy. I have like 6 random full sized CD players and none of them sound like the Magni+ODAC with the Q701. Maybe this setup is just way more transparent (well, duh).

This setup makes 100% of my other headphones sound exactly how they should sound, so it's strange how the Q701 sounds a bit different.


The Canare cable adding just a tiny touch of extra warmth to the Q701 is kind of nice. I mean in this case it's not dramatically altering the sound signature or anything (I know everyone knows this). I remember making it a long time ago and it take off the edge off my ear piercing Assault Rifle in Fallout 3. Ears playing tricks on me I guess. It's also interesting how when you make a headphone warmer my brain is fooled into thinking it's soundstage shrunk slightly, which is impossible. I got this with the difference with the Q701 vs K702 and when modding the DJ100.

So a $5 cable to make it closer to how I like it is no big deal for me.

I think Mogami has a similar effect, but overall it's a much better wire (good shielding etc).

I actually buy Monoprice and RCA brand cables sometimes. They're not too bad. Someone recently said Monoprice $2 interconnects have no shielding, but I think this can't possibly be true.

I know it's probably nonsense, but I generally avoid very low and high capacitance wire. I think the RCA brand stuff is somewhere in between. Cardas is supposed to be (According to their website) but maybe not. It's 45pF/foot. Stock HD-650 cable is 77pF/ft. The HD-600 is probably closer to store brand wire. I don't really know what i'm talking about, but I always though the differences were due to capacitance along with the amp/dac. I always like experimenting with budget wires from Redco or Markertek etc. My soldering skills are still pretty average.

I've always felt that most aftermarket cables changed the tone of my headphones somewhat (despite measuring the same). I still can't understand why Double Helix wire (got it free) makes my HD-598 sound harsh at times. I think it's perhaps just revealing more of what's in the recording. The 598 is never like this with stock. I had to switch to Mogami just to get it to sound like stock.

Technically the lowest capacitance wire is supposed to be the "best". I think Cat6/5 (for interconnects) falls into this category, but not 100% sure.

Someone can correct me if i'm wrong, but I think the stock HD-650 cable is probably very similar to Canare. I recabled my 598 once with an HD-650 cable. Let's just say that was amusing...

I always felt you can get the same results of a $200 cable with some 50 cents/foot wire with a little luck. Cat 6/5 is similar to ALO SXC. Probably hearing things.