AKG K44

I have a set of AKG K240'a and a set of AKG K271's (originals) and I'm looking into buying 6 sets of AKG K44's. I run a home based studio where I record and mix indie bands. In a studio setting there are 3 general uses for headphones and, ideally, you want 3 different types for those uses. Mixing/listening // Vocal booth monitoring // live room monitoring. For mixing and listening you want true hi fidelity, an accurate non-fatiguing sound you can reference from and enjoy. I'd never mix on K44's and that's not what they're for... I'd rarely listen to music with them either... they hold their own for their price point, but they are not really hi fidelity cans and to review as such is a little unfare. I use my K240's for that.

In the vocal booth you need 2 things... high fidelity to get the singer feeling great and in turn sounding great, and closed backs... the k44's are closed back and could be used here, but the fidelity will be a little lacking... I use K271's for the booth... they even have a cool little switch that turns off the speakers when you remove the headphones, eliminating any accidental feedback from being so close to a sensitive mic.

In the live room K44's shine! You need multiple sets of loud headphones to allow drummers and guitars to work in their naturally loud environment without struggling to hear their cans... k-44's are among the loudest studio headphones out there and IMo can not be beat in this setting... they're cheap so you can afford a set for everyone in the band. They're loud as f^@k so your bassist isn't going to be constantly asking for more... and all that considered, they actually sound pretty damn good for the price.

My 2 cents. :)

Cheers

i bought these to replace sennheiser HD25s i bought for a reduced $94 price and actually like the sound of these BETTER. they have deeper bass with less midrange brightness and aren't shabby in the detail department. their 2 greatest weaknesses are bass politeness and a little bit of treble enthusiasm that emphasizes siblants on some tracks. it isn't a bright sound unless you pair it with something like a bright sansa player, but it can really make extreme treble sounds piercing like on some techno tracks. if anything, i'd say they're closer to "ruthless revealing" in the treble than bright. most of the time they sound relaxed and un until you come across that one track with a really bright hi-hat sound you never heard before that all of a sudden jumps out of a track front and center.

the bass that is there is fast and detailed though like a really good pair of bookshelf speakers where i'd say the HD25s i bought sound more like minimonitors.

they are reasonably comfortable with a nice soft headband, but after a couple hours, the harder earcups start to hurt a little.

i really like the well rounded, reasonably flat EQed sound and really only wish for a little more bass and a little less treble on my sansa clip+, but they sound nice on a warmer cube C30 or my semi-pro ART UST dual-pre external soundcard.

the sound is pretty similar to $40 sampson SR-850 (AKG clone) phones overall though there's probably differences if tested side by side as the sampsons are semi-open vs closed designs. both phones have plenty of detail with neutral EQs other than some bass lightness making them great for critical listening and catching details obscured by other phones and both can play very loud without distorting at all.

for the price, i'd say the K44s are great overall and have a nice "fun factor" to their sound. give them some bass boost and they're downright satisfying to listen to.

These headphones are not mine, but my friends. I just decided to take a listen and since there are not alots of reviews of these headphones, I thought I would share my opinions. I apologize for my english, since its not my native language 

Comfort: These headphones have a self-adjusting headband which actually works quite nice and feels comfortable to wear. The earpads are cheap feeling plastic, and appear to be glued into the headphones.

I have not tried to wear these for longer than one hour, but they feel quite comfortable because of their light weight, and low clamping pressure.

These headphones are like 5 years old, and every time I visit my friend they are somewhere under his bed. They have been treated very badly, but are still in 100% working condition. My friend has also dropped them couple of times, but they have not cracked or anything so they seem to be quite durable.

Sound: I compared these to a pair of Koss Portapros, because these cans cost the same. To me, the Portapros sounded clearly better. The akg's have a slight midrange emphasis, which makes mid details easier to hear, but the overall sound is still 'muffled'. The akg's had also weaker bass. Highs sound slightly veiled, and they were more detailed in the Portapros. To be honest, these headphones were not a pleasure to listen to.

Btw: I ran these unamped straight out of my iPod. They could benefit from an amplifier.

Overall:

I would not recommend these headphones to anyone even if you got them for 15$. I recommend saving a bit more and buying something better.

I wanted some cheap cans for a bit of fun and got the K44s. I am delighted with them.

They are very plastic, very light, fit very well around the ear with the clever AKG self adjusting band. The leatherette pads are sweaty and I keep lifting them to air out my ears.

They are good for classical and jazz and retain that AKG strength of detail. The bass is tuned quite high and can be muddy and dull. Kick drums are a thud with little detail and the dynamics are OK. But that means they can also be considered for dance and heavy rock and they can rock when required. The midrange is lovely and clear with a nice dynamic to it. I would guess some would find them a bit too forward, but I like that. Single cymbal strikes are clear, but other cymbals can become one big tizz. If something is well recorded in the first place, it will shine through thee headphones. So they are all rounders with no major weaknesses and a nice midrange strength. I find them very musical and tap my foot and get goosebumps when listening to my favourite tracks.

For the £11 I paid off ebay they are great. I would rate them over the Sennheiser HD201 and 202 which are also over ear, closed back and cheap.

It is a shame they are quite large as they work really well unamped out of an ipod. Sensitivity is high at 32ohms and 115 dbV SPL. Add a FiiO and if anything they can be too much and the FiiO needs to be turned right down, losing some of its dynamic. Out of a X-CANV8P they really sing, again majoring on clarity. Their isolation from outside noise is OK and they do not leak much sound at all.

So for sound they are the best cheap cans I have heard. They are mainly let down by the sweaty ears problem.