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K701, sibilance???? - Page 5

post #61 of 81
9/7/07 at 6:39pm
my K701s are heavily broken in and recabled with black dragon and there is no harshness or brightness to them; at least, that i can detect.
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post #62 of 81
9/7/07 at 8:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sieg9198 View Post
A question for the AKG K701 owners, I heard a lot of people saying that they are very sibilant, do you feel the same way???

If so, any solution to it??
First day or so, yes. Not now, after 5 days of running in. YMMV due to amp though. I use a simple Behringer mixer's phone amp.

They do need to work at "live level" though to sound right, I feel. Meaning A LOT of external noise (music)!
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post #63 of 81
9/7/07 at 8:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roam View Post
The K701 is excessively sibilant by nature, and the only way to fix it is with an excessively mushy and rolled-off system. Fitz is 100% correct in his assessment of the K701, it doesn't sound like an AKG.
Sounds like a very rushed assessment!?
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post #64 of 81
9/7/07 at 8:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pfloding View Post
Sounds like a very rushed assessment!?
I gave them a couple months, and I was using a pair that already had a decent amount of burn-in before I got them. If you consider that "rushed", so be it. After all it's not as though I have much experience with other AKGs.
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post #65 of 81
9/7/07 at 9:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fitz View Post
I gave them a couple months, and I was using a pair that already had a decent amount of burn-in before I got them. If you consider that "rushed", so be it. After all it's not as though I have much experience with other AKGs.
OK, do you mean sibilant as in "resonances in the treble", or just a tilted frequency response that emphathises higher frequencies? (Or something else.)
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post #66 of 81
9/7/07 at 10:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pfloding View Post
OK, do you mean sibilant as in "resonances in the treble", or just a tilted frequency response that emphathises higher frequencies? (Or something else.)
I'm not sure what you mean by resonances in the treble, but it's been my observation so far that the newer varimotion drivers have a greater tendency to emphasize sibilance versus older AKG drivers. Even the K501 has a slight peak in the treble relative to it's virtually identical predecessor the K500. I haven't heard enough of the newer phones to be able to say with any certainty that it's a general trend with the evolution of the varimotion drivers though.

It's also been too long since I've listened to the K701 to try to describe the specific details of the treble with any accuracy, and I never took any measurements on it for archival purposes. Perhaps the treble and sibilance are at the same level as other AKGs, but it just stands out now since they don't have the classic AKG midrange? Who knows. I don't really have the desire to listen to the K701 again to see exactly what the cause is. All I know is I didn't like the K701, and I don't think anyone will doubt that I normally like AKG phones.
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post #67 of 81
9/8/07 at 12:06am
Simply put, the k-701s are a high resolution, revealing headphone, most CDs are recorded HOT and most amplifiers will pass that along to these phones. Treat the source of the problem and that's what will be heard. The MHDT Labs NOS DAC was the solution in my early experience... There is nothing 'mushy" about my system and the k-701s simply sound fantastic plugged into it!

Nothing wrong with disagreement in terms of taste, but lets get the principals of audio reproduction as noted on other audio sites as to why certain speakers present as they do. IT is the system they are placed into!!!! Along with the personal preferences (ear shape?), and sensitivities of the listener...

Certainly there is no universally heard one sonic size or preference amongst Headphones or any transducer...

No suprise at all some will not like what others like and prefer... Try it, don't like it, move on to something else by having further identified the sonic signature of your upstream gear and ones personal preferences...
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post #68 of 81
9/8/07 at 12:41pm
I use my 701's regularly and have no problems at all. Perhaps its a source or amp issue. Have used with both tube and SS amps without problem.
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post #69 of 81
9/8/07 at 12:53pm
I use my 701's regularly and have no problems at all. Perhaps its a source or amp issue. Have used with both tube and SS amps without problem.
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post #70 of 81
9/8/07 at 1:55pm
I suppose differences in the outer-ear could affect the sound, which would make blanket statements about how a headphone "is" hard to make?
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post #71 of 81
9/8/07 at 2:29pm
First hand experience, for me:
There is sibilance when using the Beresford DAC
There is NO sibilance when using the MicroDAC

(Source and amp stays the same.)

I believe if I use a darker amp I won't get sibiliance for either DAC. It is all a matter of synergy.
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post #72 of 81
9/8/07 at 5:19pm
I've never heard the K701, but I've certainly heard excess sibilance with certain sources and my speakers. If the K701 is true to the signal that is fed to it, I don't see why it would not put out what it's given. The source is one of the first things you shoud look at for sibilance problems, IMHO.
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post #73 of 81
9/8/07 at 8:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sieg9198 View Post
A question for the AKG K701 owners, I heard a lot of people saying that they are very sibilant, do you feel the same way???

If so, any solution to it??
I have been breaking in my AKG K701 continuously since I have bought them to reduce the sibilance sparkle peak that I noticed that they have. My pair has over 300 hours burn-in time now and the sibilance did seem to diminish.
But overall I can still detect it and it is easily noticed when I do direct A/B comparisons to other phones like the Senn HD600/650 and now the Grado RS-1. I am hoping it will diminish further as it breaks in even more, but I think this is the sound signature for the K701. It depends on the source material you are listening to also. There are times the sibilance is not there nor noticable at all and everything sounds airey, transparent and balanced. Then there are times when you detect that slight sizzle or sibilance, especially on things like cymbals, high-hats, high-pitched snare drum hits... all tend to sound less real due to the elevated peak in the lower highs range. So yes, I do notice the K701 sibilance. It definitely has a peak up there somewhere. Some like it, some don't. I personally prefer it were tamed... hopefully with longer burn-in and age the resonance will change it. Other than this one flaw and the wee bitty weak mid-bass, it sounds really transparent and nice.
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post #74 of 81
9/8/07 at 8:09pm
Just wondering if anyone knows if there are any fake k701s around and where to avoid buying from? I'm getting one this month and am afraid I might get an inferior k701
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post #75 of 81
9/8/07 at 8:26pm
unbiased=good point - I agree with him.
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