AKG Acoustics K240 Monitoring Headphones

Got a deal on some of these 600 ohm out of stock beauties in mint condition and am about 3 hours into testing them. So far I am pleased with the quality and fit. Got mine hooked up to a Musical Fidelity V-can so there's no worries about power. When i first got them I hooked them up to my iphone and could barely hear them, even with the volume all the way up. I then realized how much more is needed for these and why they took the next generation k240's down to around 55 ohm. Once i burn them in I'm sure they will be a good casual listening can. Anyway, i couldn't pass up a good deal.

Why 600 ohm? Well I'm sure there's a reason to get them if you find some. I finally got my V-Can to near 11 o'clock, where it's normally at 9 o'clock or less with my AKG K701s. I think there's an advantage to being able to turn them up like hearing more of those imperfections when listening to studio mixes, hopefully not just for a future deafness. So far they are nice and nothing stands out in the lossless files I listen to, though I do like to give them a little EQing on iTunes which they seem to benefit from. Though they are not extremely bass heavy at any setting, I feel like I'm getting more of what was expected from those studio recordings.

Sweat is a small factor during long listening sessions with these. Also, can't imagine why they use a 3.5 mm plug, though my V-Can has a 3.5 mm output so it has worked out very well. I want to a-b them with my other headphones, but at the volume levels these need I will have to just listen for some time with them and then with the others I have in order to hear what I may be missing. I'm sure I'll always love my Yamaha YH-100 orthos the best of all my cans, and I don't really need these except as a throw around headphone, but we'll just have to wait and see how they burn in.    

Found these classic headphones at my local thrift store for 20$! I just had to pick them up immediately when I saw them. Lucky I was, they were in perfect working order, and also cosmetically in a good shape.

The sound?

When I first heard them, I was really surprised. Since they were "monitor" headphones I expected them to sound ear piercing, with little or no bass, but wrong I was. The AKG's have a natural warm sound with solid bass and plenty of detail.

So let's compare them against the 400$ Sennheiser HD600's, and see how they hold out?

Bass:

The AKG's have slightly more oomph than the Sennheisers, but the nature of the bass is very similar; it has a nice mid bass impact, but is never overpowering. However I find the Sennheiser's bass to be tighter, while the AKG's sound slightly "bloated" at times. Both have a bass rolloff at around 50hz.

Mids:

I find the Sennheiser's have slightly more "tight" mids, in a way they sound sharper, more accurate. Sennheiser also has the edge on instrument separation maybe due to this. The K240M sound slightly compressed in comparison.

Highs:

I found the highs in the HD600's to be somewhat cleaner, more "airy" and sparkly, than the AKG's. AKG's top end sounds slightly "grainy" in comparison.

Overall:

When compared with the HD600's, the K240M's don't sound bad at all, which is quite impressive considering the HD600's cost 4 times more.

This is just a quick review, I will edit this later. Now off to sleep!

Of my three AKGs (K271S, K240M, K280), those are my favorite.

They are very comfortable and also smaller and lighter than the closed-back circumaural AKGs. Being 600Ω cans, they are somewhat dependent on the source: My old JVC CD player drives them well, so do the powerful headphone amps of older mixing boards. With less powerful outputs, e.g. digital pianos, they work ok, with portable equipment not so much.

Their sound meets my taste for general listening very well. Overall they are balanced and pleasant with reasonable attention to detail. Bass isn't as recessed as e.g. on the K271 - for listening that's a good idea IMO. Also, they lead to relatively little ear fatigue, although the don't match the K271 in that respect.

I was surprised to learn that although it is semi-open, the K240 Monitor is very dependent on the condition of its ear pads. Flat pads impair sound quality and comfort, as the baffles tend to touch the ear. Also, the new velours pads from AKG pretty much destroy their sound - so it's a good idea to stick to the leather pads, they're cheaper anyway.

As it seems to be a general consensus that those are great phones, it's hard to make a real bargain unless you're very patient on eBay. Also, it makes sense to replace elastics, ear pads and the foam disks on the baffle right away - it really makes a difference in comfort and sound.

Anyway, considering that I paid about €60 for my unit, it is a fair price for cans that serve as workhorses and for relaxed listening as well. As I said, of the three AKGs I have, those are my all-time favourite.