Official K-81 DJ thread - Page 171

Ah, I just recently joined and was beginning to be scared that I'd have to spend a bunch of $$ until I'd be satisfied. At the moment, my only pair of closed headphones are the Sennheiser HD201 which I purchased last week. I'm a student and money is tight so I was looking at a decent pair of closed headphones to sit down a study with. The K81 really caught my eye, and I'm very close to ordering. If you could please elaborate about these other headphones that may be better for the money I would really appreciate it.

Thanks.

Well, prices vary, and what's in the same price range to me might not be to you, but if you're interested in closed 'phones in the same "general" price range, you'd also want to look for the Equation RP-21, the Audio Technica ATH-A700 and the Audio Techinica ATH-ES7. Those all cost more, however, especially if you can pick up the K81dj for 50 bucks.

At that price, nothing can touch it. For under $100 (used), any of the above stand a decent chance, especially if you don't like VERY pronounced bass.

Ah ok, thanks for taking the time to respond to my post. Those other headphones look nice, but I think I'm going to try out the AKG's first. I see them new for around $70, would my best bet be to buy them used right here on Head-Fi?

Yeah, if you can find them used it's the way to go

So how are these phones for Electronica/House/Techno?

I definitely need a pair of phones with bass, but not overbearing or muddy.

Aside from that I listen to some Rock and Punk, would these be fun, good all around headphones for the type of music I listen to? If not, could anyone recommend another pair (open or closed - it doesn't matter).

Been using these as my main DJ phones.... Not going to lie. I love them. (:

They are overbearing. And they're muddy unless the foam inserts are taken out. And even then they're somewhat unclear until the cushions are swapped for open doughnuts. And even then they'd benefit from a recable.

With the Minibox-D amp, a Final CD caused sickness. And it's not exactly bass-heavy music.

Not to but I really feel the bass pressure subsides once you get them stretched out and pull out the foam. After 100-200 of on-the-head use, you end up with a nice headphone. I still love mine, 1 year later.

So would these be a good, fun headphone upgrade from Portapros?

Seidhepriest, I see you have both, could you compare the sound between the two?

Though you didn't solicit my opinion, I have heard both side by side out of great equipment. I prefer the k-81 in every way, though I also prefer the KSC-75 to the Portapro. The bass, especially, is much more present.

Don't worry, any opinions are great!

Would you recommend good equipment/an amp for the k-81? I will really just be plugging these into my computer, and for a DAP my Samsung S5.

Perhaps, but they still have a "stiff" acoustic tuning. Even with open cushions, they're hard-hitting.

They're not as heavy out of a regular player, but with an amp they can turn into a pneumatic drill on a percussion-heavy track.

The Porta-Pro here have the Dave's Thoughts - Home debassing mod, sweeter sound... The K-81 are defoamed, with open Technics cushions.

The K-81 are hard-hitting, they've a "stiff" acoustic tuning - square holes in the enclosure grilles, tuned to bass. Maybe they'll get better with a similar hole-drilling mod. No "sparkling" high frequencies or quick dynamics, the K-81 are boomy no matter what, but this must be what people love them - they can create a "bass contour". Bass & low/mid-midrange are most defined. The K-81 have a certain "closed room" character. They're DJ headphones, and so the K-81 "ambience" reminds most of a warehouse-style club. Not much airiness, but there's a good deal of ambience anyway. It's just that it's closed-room ambience character, and that's exactly the opposite to K-240, which are airy, open, huge in space. The K-81 are tuned slightly to "loudness", bass and treble over midrange.

Porta-Pro with the hole mod aren't anything that special, they've been gathering dust. The hole mod also makes them more sensitive to power - they distort more easily. The boominess and a portion of the bass are gone, they're better at midrange and have a sweeter, more coherent sound, especially noticeable with female vocals and such.

Unamplified, the K-81 do have more power and weight to the sound than any other headphones, and that is what makes them popular. They can produce more substance off a portable player's output. Amplified though they become rather obnoxious... Final's "3" CD was sickeningly bassy on the go with the Minibox-D, and that was mentioned exactly because Final has no percussion (only guitars, and rarely a bass guitar).

K-81 or Porta-Pro? Really neither. Both will improve with a recable, but resoldering is tricky, cables are fixed. The K-81 have pretty good isolation though. But here there're the AH-D1000 - also closed, and with much better sound, so they've become the "street" headphones instead. And for smallish foldable headphones there're the OVC HC1000. And there're the K-240 Studio too...

[Update]

Resoldering is straightforward for the Porta-Pro, terminals under the plastic "lids" on enclosure backsides. The K-81 are a bit trickier. A stiff twisted-pair cable joint doesn't fit easily to the soldering terminals on K-81...

For an upgrade from Porta-Pro... Well you can't go wrong with Denon

Something like AH-P372 (foldable) or AH-D1000. AH-D1000 are quite the upgrade. AH-P372 cost about the same as K-81 ($50-60), AH-D1000 are some $25-50 (sometimes depending on colour...) more, and very worth it.

OVC HC1000 are a tad "more of the same" as Porta-Pro, tiny foldable headphones, but they've a much better clarity. Also very sensitive and fast.

Those new Yuin clip-on headphones ought to be good, the G-series. Head-Direct only has the high-end G1, but search for "Yuin" on EBay, and the G2 will show up... The G2 are around $50.

[Update]

Apparently the G2 on EBay are Yuin demo samples, pre-production, not authorised for sales, and different in sound from the final product. The G2 won't be out until later in November.

Anyone seen the K518LE? I just got the orange version to replace my current K81DJ. I'm sure they're cheaper these days; I paid £35 for these when I recall my original K81DJ purchase being £45, and this store is selling the non LE K518 at £30 too.

I'll be glad to get rid of the severely warped headband, which somehow happened leaving it in the car's glove compartment on a hot day, and it's been annoying to fit ever since. I don't think I'll stretch them out as much to start with this time either, as perhaps that contributed to the warping too and I just didn't realise, plus they've become pretty lose as a result of that or the warping.