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PK1 - good overall? Or just good for earbuds?

post #1 of 8
12/29/07 at 12:28pm
Thread Starter 
I'm thinking of moving in a different direction with my office rig -- perhaps giving up my Headfive and DT990s in favor of a Pico (pre-ordered) and earbuds.

Reason in a nutshell: I need to be able to hear others trying to get my attention (yay, open cans), but want less sound leakage (boo, open cans).

So I've been reading up on the PK1, and its blend of reported sound quality, scalability with an amp, non-isolating properties (often a criticism, but in my case perhaps a plus) and comfort.

So do the PK1s sound good overall (when compared against regular headphones for the price), or are they really only good when compared to other earbuds?

Thanks for any info.
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post #2 of 8
12/29/07 at 1:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mchang View Post
I'm thinking of moving in a different direction with my office rig -- perhaps giving up my Headfive and DT990s in favor of a Pico (pre-ordered) and earbuds.

Reason in a nutshell: I need to be able to hear others trying to get my attention (yay, open cans), but want less sound leakage (boo, open cans).

So I've reading up on the PK1, and its blend of reported sound quality, scalability with an amp, non-isolating properties (often a criticism, but in my case perhaps a plus) and comfort.

So do the PK1s sound good overall (when compared against regular headphones for the price), or are they really only good (when compared to other earbuds)?

Thanks for any info.
I really enjoy my PK1s, and found they paired quite well with a Rockhopper mini^3, and a simple ipod. I went with earbuds for work for the same reasons as you, and since I'm only trying to enjoy some music in the rare moments I can at work, the sq of the PK1s was perfectly adequate. To expect earbuds to perform as well as full-sized headphones is silly, but I try to match headphone/iem/earbud to need. In my situation, earbuds are fine, as I don't get to listen to music often, and when I do, I'm often interrupted multiple times.

If you have a little more freedom and time to listen at work, I can also recommend the ATH-ESW9 as a pretty impressive closed, semi-portable headphone that doesn't leak badly if you listen at med to low volumes, while the isolation isn't such that you can't hear what's going on around you. I've had them for three weeks now, have taken them to work a few times, and the only problem that I'm now having is that my boss has taken a liking to them (he already swiped my SR60s a couple years ago) as have my co-workers ("Can I listen?"). You might want to check them out. They sound okay unamped, but so much better amped, why bother going without. I've been trying them out with a small selection of portable amps/sources and the sq varies quite a bit with every switch, which surprised me somewhat in that it's not been my experience for portable headphones to really reveal gear changes as dramatically. I'm expecting my pico late next week or early the following and am very curious as to how they'll match up.

Good luck with whatever you choose.
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post #3 of 8
12/29/07 at 1:35pm
With music playing you won't be able to listen to somebody who adress you. Maybe if they'll scream only...
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post #4 of 8
12/29/07 at 1:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by QQQ View Post
With music playing you won't be able to listen to somebody who adress you. Maybe if they'll scream only...
This isn't a problem unless you're listening more loudly than you should for any given situation. Both my PK1s and ESW9s are boss approved, but only if I'm not stupid with them. I know I need to somewhat hear what's going on around me, so I don't turn the volume up. That's one advantage to getting better quality headphones and pairing them with a good amp. You can still listen at low volumes and hear what you want to hear in the music. Crappy headphones require more volume to give the illusion of quality.
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post #5 of 8
12/29/07 at 2:20pm
No, they are more than great for an ear bud. If you can find it, see Kramer5150's review. And of course read the PK1/PK2 appreciation thread.

Otherwise, here is a small taste of the PK1 sound sig.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/dis...in-pk1-225471/
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post #6 of 8
12/29/07 at 2:50pm
i second the PK1/ Mini^3 combination. i have been really impressed by this pairing, and since the Pico and Mini^3 share the same AD8397 opamp, i'd be surprised if they didn't complement each other very well.
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post #7 of 8
12/29/07 at 3:25pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the suggestions and links. I'll (re-)read the above PK1 link and check out the ESW9. What I'm trying to avoid is (1) disturbing officemate sitting five feet from me with 990 leak or (2) feeling completely tuned out from world when I used previous canalphones like E2C or UE 4vi. Apple buds leave me some ear to hear what is going on around even when I turn them up a bit. So that, plus better SQ sounds ideal.

Any other thoughts?
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post #8 of 8
12/29/07 at 4:22pm
Try/Consider the Koss KSC75?
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