AKG K702 - imminent release! - Page 8

They will be mine....oh yes, they will be mine.

Haven't heard an akg that I haven't enjoyed in some way.

^
Yea...kind of like having sex...

They have same stupid padding along the underside of the headband. I'll pass

At least in one way they are a step down in performance. The 701's have four wires going from the 1/4" jack (AKG refers to it as a balanced cable) this allows the 701's to be converted over to balanced XLR using the stock cable.

It appears that the 702's use a single 3 pin mini XLR. This means that there is only one wire for the Return/ground. I can also imagine that modifying the other side to match would be difficult.

For the 701's AKG brags about them being balanced (They are if you consider balanced as discrete + and - wires), So how can going away from a balanced wire and inserting the extra connection of the plug improve the performance?

I'd say if your after higher performance the 701's are still the way to go, but without a doubt the 702's would allow for easier re-cabling.

I guess we'll have to wait and see how different re-cabling people approach this. Would be interested to hear it though.

You should still be able to mod those in exactly the same way the k701's are modded. Take apart everything down to the drivers, drill hole for the right side and remove the "mini xlr" part OR just use single entry by removing the mini xlr connector and soldering straight to the left driver and re-solder the right driver to the headband. It really doesn't seem like any more work than doing a k701.

Those hi-res pics make the plastic look a little cheap imo, I think I still prefer the k701 or 601 look.

Seems beautiful, but if it will sound the same as the 701s, then i pass...

wilashort, you don't like the k701s? What don't you like about them

Well,... the "lack" of bass of this headphone (specially impact/slam). There is some other things that i don't like in this headphone that i readed a long ago (but in this moment *i don't remember)..., Ah yes, it can be a little laidback, sterile/analytical/flat (boring) sound with lack of some body for my taste (specially in the bass).
His virtues, can be the mids, separation and sounstage/headstage (that i believe that it has a very big one), image, airyness.
That i can like in this model is his color. The design in this headphone is beautiful in general.

Boy, I have come close to liking the K701 in the past.

Maybe this dark blue version will help me get over the hump............

Again, this proves the relibility of my information source.... except some details.


Edit : hmmm 600 post!

You are correct (thank goodness) that the K701s lack bass slam. But you are so far off base with the "lack bass" quote. Bass slam is a coloration - something abhorent to audiophiles. The K701s have all the bass of whatever the recording you're listening to has to offer. If you don't hear bass via the K701s, look to your source (or upstream components) for the problem. I hear plenty of good, solid, tight bass - but not bass that overwhelms the music. Gee, kind of like real life huh?



I'll agree with you that the K701s can sound a little laidback. This is not necessaraly a bad thing. More mid hall than front row. BUT, they are not sterile/analytical/flat/lacking body. Again, they present what's on the recording without adding any additional colorations. If they don't meet your tastes that's fine. If there was one perfect headphone we wouldn't need this forum (which I for one would miss considerably).



Agreed. But notice that what you discribe as virtues are of the non-additive kind, while the negatives you list are of the additive kind. I think that's one of the problems with the acceptance of the K701s - that they are sooo neutral (in comparison to other cans) that they give the impression of boredom when the problem really lies with (in most cases) the source material itself. Given good source material the K701s are fully as good as anyone could/should want.

But hey, different strokes for different folks ya know. It's all cool.

I also tend to think that I might really love the k701s. I am really into neutrality and we have to all remind ourselves that the people saying sterile this, no bass that... are probably people that dont listen or appreciate live music and are probably more about coloration but then again looking at freq response graphs from headroom show that they are actually rich in the bass department, a smidge recessed in the mids, a little bright which tackles the leading edges but lack top end air. Boy, The confusion phew

I have to disagree on bass slam as coloration. Bass boom, sure, but not bass slam. Also, I think saying coloration is something abhorent to audiophiles is silly - some audiophiles sure, but that's more of a studio want. I've found in my experience that audiophiles will pay extremely large sums of cash for certain colorations because they're pleasing.

K701 lacks bass for my taste. Doesn't lack information, just quantity. For me, in real life performances the bass is much more present than in K701. Also, in the setups I've heard the K701, I find them to fatigue my ears more than almost any other headphone (Grados don't bother me).

Exactly ;D