AKG K 702 Headphones

Rating: 7.9
Sound 8.1

It requires either a full head of hair, or some other headgear if you want to use the K702 longer.

Click to expand...

Sound: 8.1

Handling: 7.5

Total: 7.9
Price: 130 €



Intro
With the K702, AKG has a reference handset for studio and mixing that is not only affordable, but also lives up to its ambitions. It is neutral with a warm tone and sounds very authentic, especially in voices, but also a bit sober.



Handling
Plastic, metal, leather, velour - the AKG K702 is a harmonious mix of different materials. Despite its protruding ear cups, it appears quite filigree and also of high quality. It also makes a robust impression which is necessary for everyday use in (professional) music production.

The K702 not only has "over-ear" written on it, the ear cups actually enclose the complete ear without it bumping against the case or the velour padding (can squeak when wearing glasses). Due to the open design this does not contribute anything to the isolation (almost non-existent), but it gives you a good wearing comfort, at least as far as the ears are concerned, although I would like the pads to be a bit more soft/yielding.

What AKG had in mind for the headband, however, remains a mystery. It adapts to the shape of the head with the help of rubber trappers, but it has very rigid, wide "pimples", which can quickly lead to headaches. They are very hard and do not offer any kind of padding. If they had simply been omitted, the K702 would certainly have been more comfortable with a flat leather strap. It requires either a full head of hair or some other headgear if you want to use the K702 for a longer period of time.

The cable is detachable and has a 3.5mm connector which can be adapted to 6.3mm (adapter included). The connection to the headphone (one-sided guide) is a mini-XLR connector.

Update: The newer production series probably have a flat headband, so the headaches are history.



Sound
Bass
The bass is not really fun in the sense of quantity. But it doesn't have to be and it wouldn't be very helpful if the bass was distorted for mastering or recording by a boost. It's quite sterile, but very accurate with a slight warmth that covers the signature. It is not at home in the absolute low frequency range, at least it is hard to locate. But you can feel that it exists if you hold your hand on the ear cups or press them closer to the ear. As a reference it is appealing, as a fun sounding source it is rather less so. However, it does not act anemic and has its musical side, only pressure is not built up.

Mids
Slightly shrill and slightly subdued. In direct comparison to the Q701, they lack a bit of assertiveness and you get the impression they're a bit washed-out, but basically they're clear and balanced, with a slight push in the upper mids that gives them energy, sometimes with too much commitment and aggressiveness (at increased volume). Tonally I can't blame them much, but I lack a little maturity and body. Voices and instruments sound mostly authentic, but not very exciting. Soberly describes the mids quite well, with pleasure in detail.

Trebles
The highs are rather sunny than shady children. However, they do not overdo it with brightness, but play very calmly and unagitatedly with a touch of warmth. They have a rather airy and transparent character, but I have to listen more closely every now and then to find details that are much easier to access, for example in the K812. Here, a little more attention has been paid to safety in order to remain as fatigue-free as possible. However, I don't have the feeling that information is being withheld from me, it just requires a little more concentration. The slight emphasis on sibilants should not be suppressed.

Stage
I don't want to generalize, but open headphones usually have an advantage in the stage extension from the design alone. The K702 is no exception and is indeed very spacious. However, I do hear slight weaknesses in the depth and also in the vertical. But in the width the K702 cuts a very good figure. But the price is high, because due to its non-existent isolation the headphone is more or less only usable in the studio or in your own 4 walls.

Imaging
Voices are placed a little more in the mix than in the foreground which gives you more of a feeling of being inside the music than in the audience. Wind instruments are more "In Your Face". Soundwise more is happening in the stereo image (width), without building up too many layers in height or depth, but you still get a well structured 3D image. The separation is a bit too strong on left/right and could be a bit more differentiated.



Outro
The AKG K702 scores with tonal accuracy, a wide stage and a neutral signature with a slight warmth. However, the mids can be a bit demanding, the highs might like to act a bit more lively and the bass certainly doesn't make any bass friends happy, but plays rather dry and neutral.

The K702 is certainly not a fun headphone, but rather serves as a reference even if it has room for improvement in all disciplines. However, I see it as competitive in its price range and technically and tonally competent.

The audibility can be a bit limited (depending on the genre) by the upper mids and the headband comfort. It is also hardly usable on the road if you like the people around you.

Thanks to Sattler Electronic Showtronic AG for providing the test headphones.
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For first, about AKG by Harman: (source Wikipedia)

AKG Acoustics (originally Akustische und Kino-Geräte Gesellschaft m.b.H., English: Acoustic and Cinema Equipment) was an acoustics engineering and manufacturing company founded in 1947 by Dr. Rudolf Görike and Ernest Plass, and headquartered in Vienna, Austria. AKG now exists as a brand owned by the South Korean firm Samsung Electronics and managed by Harman International Industries.
The products currently marketed under the AKG brand mostly consist of microphones, headphones, wireless audio systems and related accessories for professional and consumer markets.
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This is FiiO X5 III (3rd. Generation), my first DAP (Digital Audio Player), Excellent DAP & Amplifier.
I would like to test Astell&Kern SR15 A&Norma DAP.
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And coming up with review of these AKG:

First unboxing of AKG K702 with new cable

They are my first serious Headphones. The AKG K702 are a linear headphones. This means a linear sound without emphasizing any frequency. They are very neutral signature. For me this is a PRO and not a cons.
I pilot them with a FiiO X5 3rd Gen and the sound very well!
These are some specifics:
- Dynamic Driver (this means that the speakers themselves have a moving part, which corresponds to a general improvement of the sound).
- 56 Ohm, this means that to get the most out of these Headphones you will need a DAC & AMP Dedicated with minimum 150 mW of power over 60 Ohm to drive they very well (my FiiO X5III in High returns about 480 mWatt on 16 Ohm and about 225 mW on 56 Ohms on the unbalanced output with the 3.5mm Jack, so it is able to give all the potential that these AKG need!) Obviously if you have a smartphone, forget the 200mWatt!
I have an LG G4 and it can barely give >150 mW about 32 Ohm, let alone drive this type of headphones. It returns barely >90 mW of power, come on!
Then if you combine them with MP3s ... For me, now music should only be FLAC because you can not hear people who: "eh, enough that you hear"!
Music is art, my boys! And it must be heard well!. Instead of spending 200 euros for Beats these are much more realistic and enveloping than all the basses that the Beats returns!
Feel them with a good Amplifier and tell me ...
- Sound Range: 10 Hz - 39,800 kHz. They manage to give you the whole spectrum of sound in a linear and precise, the sound-stage is very broad, if not very large compared to the many headphones / earphones I tested.
THE SOUND: In classical music one can perceive the direction of every instrument, sigh, etc. I'm talking about emotions that I feel for the first time when I put them in the head...
I put Vivaldi - The Four Seasons in DSD64 (DSF) and the orchestra started! In the tracks you could hear the soloist breathing, in the violins touching the strings, the harpsichord was distinguished from all the instruments, the violets with all their splendor ... and the soloist then ... It was as if he were in front of you and you immersed in the orchestra!
Now I'm talking about James Bay's Scars (an extract in FLAC 24 bit 88 kHz from the album "Chaos and the Chalm"): James's voice in front of you, realistic and never intrusive; The guitar, the electric one, the organ of a unique naturalness! The battery is another pure realism, the detachment with the dishes and the percussion ... At one point everything mixes, but you can perceive every instrument, the voice among other things, spectacular! One reason why I banished MP3 and M4A from my life, compressed, crap that does not return nothing but compression and no realism if you hear with certain headphones (I do not speak of IEM but series headphones like these). These return any defect of the recording and the source listening, so if you consider buying these headphones: or because you are a sound engineer looking for something cheap but serious! Or because you are demanding in music like me and you know how to pilot them, because this question is important!
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AKG K702 Before arrived...


AKG K702 | FiiO X5 III & Lyn Stanley - The Moonlight Session (Volume One) | DSD128 from NativeDSD


Another shot of FiiO X5 III & AKG K702



About the Sound & Soundstage:
LOWS: Very accurate, detailed, expecially percussions. Are there, but not intrusive, Because they are Reference Class Headphones: I concentrate my review on the mids and the highs.

MIDS: Neutral Tonality, Transparent and Vivid Voice, expecially of Female Voices.
For example, the voice of Lyn Stanley is powerful, vivid and transparent tonality.

HIGHS: Very accurate, precise, airy, open and transparent.

The Soundstage is wide, than you listen any instrument, separated, clean, detailed, expecially in classical, jazz, and blues music, exp. in DSD Formats.
If you have a possibility to a native support of Direct Stream Digital formats you experiment a new dimension of space and stage. My FiiO, for example, supports natively DSD 2.8 MHz & 5,6 MHz (128 times of a CD quality).

These are my first pair of AKG headphones and I am very impressed. At first I was worried that the headband would not be comfortable, but surprisinly it is very soft. The sound stage is very large and impressive. I like that an amp is not needed for enjoyable listening, unlike my Hifiman headphones. The headphones are very neutral though, lacks energy. Would recommend because the sound is very clear though.