Official K-81 DJ thread

[imp0ssibled]

btw does AKG sell the k518 earpads alone?

[cn11]

....and I love them so far! I've read tons of comments that say the're very dark and rolled off in the treble, but I'm hearing more than adequate detail in the upper end. Also, I've got the Denon 1001K's on hand at the same time and I much prefer the sound of the K81's. I hear the same amount of treble detail, and the bass reaches so much lower on the AKG's. Also the mids are more prominent and better placed with the AKG's- in comparison the Denons seem to have very recessed, distant mids. I attribute this positive reaction to my DAP possibly, the Sony NWZ-A829. I think there's some real magic happening between the two. The Mustang amp doesn't hurt either. Anyway, I look forward to more time with them as they burn in. These are wonderful for the price.

[supersleuth]

Originally Posted by cn11

....and I love them so far! I've read tons of comments that say the're very dark and rolled off in the treble, but I'm hearing more than adequate detail in the upper end. Also, I've got the Denon 1001K's on hand at the same time and I much prefer the sound of the K81's. I hear the same amount of treble detail, and the bass reaches so much lower on the AKG's. Also the mids are more prominent and better placed with the AKG's- in comparison the Denons seem to have very recessed, distant mids. I attribute this positive reaction to my DAP possibly, the Sony NWZ-A829. I think there's some real magic happening between the two. The Mustang amp doesn't hurt either. Anyway, I look forward to more time with them as they burn in. These are wonderful for the price.

I agree completely with that comparison- I too like the AKGs considerably better, which is why my purchase of the Denons turned out to be kind of a waste. (But they were cheap enough that I'm not that motivated to get off my lazy duff and unload them.)

[supersleuth]

By the way, Headroom now has a frequency response curve up for the K81. We all know that these measurements come with a lot of "ifs" and "buts", but... man, that is a VERY pretty-looking curve. If it's anywhere close to the truth (and it seems plausible to my ears), no wonder these little gems sound so much better than their price level.

[cn11]

To me the bass seems much better than the roll-off the graph suggests....But yeah, everywhere else, they look to be great according to that graph. Other than the bass my ears seem to confirm what's shown there.

[Ttvetjanu]

Since my thread has not yielded much, how are these headphones for exercise and jogging? How tight is the headband ? would they stay on well while running? pushups? How do you think the pads would respond to sweat?

Thanks!

[cn11]

Originally Posted by Ttvetjanu

Since my thread has not yielded much, how are these headphones for exercise and jogging? How tight is the headband ? would they stay on well while running? pushups? How do you think the pads would respond to sweat?

Thanks!

The headband is pretty tight, so I think they'd be good for running and exercising. In fact, I think I've read comments in this thread back a way where a user did those very things and said they were good. The tightness can be problematic for some in comfort though, however it doesn't bother me.

[Ttvetjanu]

Originally Posted by cn11

The headband is pretty tight, so I think they'd be good for running and exercising. In fact, I think I've read comments in this thread back a way where a user did those very things and said they were good. The tightness can be problematic for some in comfort though, however it doesn't bother me.

Sounds great. How do you think the pads would respond to sweat?

[supersleuth]

Originally Posted by cn11

To me the bass seems much better than the roll-off the graph suggests....But yeah, everywhere else, they look to be great according to that graph. Other than the bass my ears seem to confirm what's shown there.

I'm guessing that closed supra-aural cans may not seal too well on their dummy head. On the other hand, with acoustic (classical in my case) music the bass of my (defoamed) K81s has never sounded anywhere near so overblown to me as some descriptions of their sound claim. In fact it sounds pretty natural.

[Sherwood]

Originally Posted by Ttvetjanu

Sounds great. How do you think the pads would respond to sweat?

My guess is that they would get a little slick and slimy, being that they're fake leather. They wouldn't be too tough to clean, though, unlike velour pads. If you'd prefer velour, the velour HD25 pads fit the k81DJ quite well.

[shorty_a]

Hello, recently considered buying headphones sony xb-300 for the exaggerated bass, but enough reading pages of this thread I have decided to buy the AKG k518 DJ, but I doubt arises, I would like to make a change as to be able to use hands-free iphone, but not if it would be highly desirable to do so with the cable that comes in the headphones reduce the original audio quality, can anyone tell me?

Thank you very much and sorry for the English but this fact through the google translator because I speak Spanish.

this is an example.

+ YouTube Video

[Feather225]

I saw the AKG K518...its funny because we can lent it for free from the University Music engineer department ^ ^ gonna try one tomorrow...

[rjg_scotland]

Oh dear. Only a couple of weeks ago I didn't know of head-fi or the K518DJs and having read this thread in its entirety now look what's happened - I've ended up with a new pair of headphones! Is this just the start? Well, as I'm also now interested in getting a PA2V2 amp it might just well be! (My rockbox'd iriver H320 doesn't do all that bad a job at driving the headphones just that they're definitely better though my Audigy LiveDrive which has a good headphone amp in it.)

Anyway, I digress. The K518DJs are replacing the well used and now falling apart (don't drop laptops on headphones) pair of Sony MDR-V300s I had been using up until now. Out the box the sound of the K518DJs sounded sort of similar to how I used to listen to the V300's on my iriver - with the bass +10dB (+12dB on noisy diesel trains or buses or while walking in busy streets and the like) and the treble +4dB. So with no EQ the K518DJs are already sounding more to my taste. The V300's are quite muddy sounding anyway, hence the need to boost the treble a fair bit, so I didn't find the K518DJs all that bad sounding out the box as some might have. Still, I wasn't that happy with the sound so following the advice I left them to burn in, periodically checking on them. I'm now just past 20 hours and wow! When people say these things respond well to burning in they're not kidding! Even now I'm noticing a huge improvement - the highs have come out quite a lot and the mids are getting there (although I'm aware the mids aren't the strongest point on these cans). I did try the foam pads out just there but wasn't sure if I liked it at this time. The highs certainly did improve but possibly were a little too bright. I think I'll wait till 40 hours or so then experiment with them in or out and in different environments too, not just my quiet flat.

It's probably also worth me mentioning the comfort as people seem to have varying opinions on this. For me, they're not too small nor do they grip too hard, they're just as I like it. In fact I have my head band at only the No. 4 setting. These are the first headphones I've had where I've not had them at the lowest setting. I think I've probably got a narrower than average head maybe?

Here's some pictures of my K518DJs and comparison with the connector/cable of my V300s: AKG K518DJ Gallery

I notice that the connector on my K518DJs seems to differ from what I've seen earlier in this thread. Mine's equipped with this silly little thin thing which makes the supplied screw on adaptor pointless and I can't see it lasting very long. The cable is also rather too thin for my liking - although not too long - my V300s have an even longer cable, but it's thicker. This brings me on to a question for those who know more than me about cable: Is it worth swapping the cable from my V300s to the K518DJs? I've no idea if the V300 cable is better SQ wise. What I do know is it's thicker and uses rubber-like insulation which doesn't get tangled in knots and has no "memory", so it's a clear winner in that respect.


(click to enlarge)
Here's a picture comparing the connectors.


(click to enlarge)
And here's one showing the wires in the V300 cable.

See gallery for more pictures.

So, for those in the know about SQ and cable, what's your thoughts on swapping over the V300 cable? If it's not going to do anything or even make it worse then I'll probably just leave the stock one on for now until it inevitably breaks or I get fed up with it tangling up.

FYI I bought these from the very nice people over at Planet Gizmo for £34.99 + £3.99 delivery.

Edit: I'm now 32 hours into burn in and I have some more observations... I'm now listening to them with the pads out and the head band at No. 2, and yes it does bring out the high end, but the upper mid range is still lacking. Now this'll sound strange to a lot of people but at the moment I can get them sounding the nicest (to me) if I push the headphones slightly higher up my head - ie I could do with the head band going even smaller! There's still a full seal and all the bass when I do this. There doesn't seem to be nulls in the frequency range then. If I don't do that I find they sound better if I have them loud (too loud for my liking really). I think perhaps a combination of burning in more, EQing where possible, possible cable replacement and just plain getting used to them is needed.

Cheers,

Rob

[audigy]

...really enjoyed these while they lasted.

They lived on a hanger at my desk for about 2 years. They saw daily (but no hard) use.

Last month the right-hand cup just fell off. Seems the two parallel metal pins inside the main pivot sleeve that hold the pivot ate through the plastic head of the pivot. That, or the plastic had a factory defect.

Anyone else had this problem? How did you fix it?

Replaced them ATH-M50s after the loss. I like the sound, but would still prefer supra-aural for comfort (less sweating/heating). So still looking - maybe d1001s for supra or dt770s for circum? (only considering closed phones).

[webvan]

Anyone had a chance to compare the K-518 to the HD212 Pro? I find the HD212 have very muted mediums and highs, but better isolation than my K414P that really do it for me soundwise.