AKG Q460 anyone have experience with them? - Page 7

I'd like to hear people's setup right off their heads and on to mine. It'd be interesting to hear what other people consider "good sound". I bet 50% of the population would listen to vandaven's setup and say it's too bass light. The other 50% would listen to mine and say it's bass-saturated. Different strokes for sure. My sound sig is perfect. (for me) It would make some vomit and some wiggle their hips.

 

This is why this site is nearly worthless for product reivew. I read a few reviews on the q460 that said it had "plenty of bass" by their standards. I bought them and thought they were gutless in the bass dept. I also read that the k518LE was too boomy. Then I read other reviews saying the 518 was just right and the q series was not so hot. Who do you trust? LOL! I found the 518 to be daggum perfect for me. I'm glad I finally found them after so many IEM's and cans. They aren't huge in comparison to the QJ's...but tons better sound IMO.

 

I don't know why I keep replying with the same info...but I guess it's because I wasted so much $$$ on headphones that people recommended me.

 

 

I guess that's a tricky topic... On the one hand, personal reviews by end users, as well as many magazines or websites, are purely based on impressions and comparisons with other models. And such aspects of a review are HIGHLY personal, and always will be.

Then, again, you have the other side, which is specifications through measurements: frequency response, harmonic distortion etc.

Now, the really hard job for us is to analyze opinions and weigh things off for ourselves. Will the person who just invested 2500 $ in an esoteric set of headphones actually admit that it is a POS?

Also, the most linear equipment is not always the best sounding. In my job, I have come across many pieces of equipment in studios where you'd say "nope, can't sound good, specs say NO", but still exactly THOSE units sound terrific for a certain purpose under certain circumstances. 

It's almost like discussing over colors... all down to personal taste. Because it's your eyes... and in our case here it's your ears. 

 

Probably my work background makes some things (like linearity) matter more to me than to other people. I also distinguish between cans I use for work and cans I use for my private music enjoyment. Would I use a Q460 as reference for studio work? Never. Would I use it to listen to music while traveling? Yes. But only with treble boost, never linear. Still, in the *around 100 €* - field the Q460s were the best option for my requirements in that field.

 

 

Where are people getting replacement cables?

 

Can you get different cables, then what comes with them?

Replacement cables are available via Ebay, sold by Chinese vendors. The headphones come with a quite short 4-pin cable (with built-in iPhone remote and mic) and an even shorter 3-pin cable, both lengths are ok when used with mobile music players. The offered cable (you can find it on Ebay as "AKG K450 headphone upgrade cable" is supposed to be a bit longer and to make the Q460 (K450) sound better, apart from that it has a 90° plug. It's not really hellishly expensive and obviously thicker than the original AKG cables, one buyer commented that he believes it's a Sony cable. Most of the people who bought it seem to be very happy with it.

 

I ordered one, and once it arrives, I will post a comment on the cable here. Even if it won't improve the sound quality of the headphones, I consider it a good purchase, I don't have to solder my own 90° plug and it's obviously a longer cable, which comes in handy for some other applications. 

Thanks - I just got one.  Been looking for something like that.  I like the phones enough, but have not been happy with the included cables.  And as far as you know this should work with the Q460?

I suppose they should, as the plug looks the same and the Q460 was developed based on the K450 (or it is just a re-packaged version, as some might say - I won't discuss that now). As already mentioned, I didn't hold the cable in my hands yet, I will post once it arrived here and I tried it out. Apart from that: The more I listen to the Q460, the better they get.

Pangea, I received the upgrade cable today and reported my impressions in this thread: 

 

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/552447/alternative-cable-for-akg-k450-q460#post_7452780

 

Cheers,

VanDaven

The plug of the q460/k450 is not a regular 3.5mm mini? It's a custom 4-pin plug? Bummer.

That's the plug that connects the headphones to the cable, not the cable to the headphones out. Good thing about it is that it's locking so you can't accidentally rip it out of the hp's. It's actually quite good in comparison to the feeble connectors on a HD25, for example.

Hi Head-Fi experts!

 

I am was of those headphone noobs now looking for a new headphone. Since my head is not that big I was looking for a small closed (so the people around me won't hate me) headphone. The first pair to stumble upon was the Beats By Dre Solo HD. Nice design and pretty popular, but also pretty expensive. Then I came across the Sennheiser PX 200 II which are way better priced then the Beats. Last but not least (the reason why I'm here) the AKG Q460. A little more expensive than the Sennheiser but much cheaper than Beats. As you guys may have noticed these three headphones are quite similar design wise. That's kind of the design I'm looking for. Leading to the main question, which of those is price/quality wise the best? Or do you guys have some other suggestions? Since I'm from Europe (The Netherlands, pardon my grammar errors) I can't really give a budget indication because our regions have some price differences. 

 

Maybe important info. The main usage will be while traveling by train, bike or walking. I don't want to disturb the people around me, so a closed headphone is a must. I use them most of the time with my iPod Video (some five years old now) or with my Laptop (MSI CX620). The music I like differs from Indierock like Arctic Monkeys to Hiphop and Electronic. Dunno if it will be of major influence when choosing a headphone? 

 

Thanks in advance :)

Edited by Linius - 9/5/11 at 6:03am

Have a look at this photo: http://www.ecoustics.com/electronics/products/new/649116.html

There the Q 460 is labeled as Q 450, which may indicate that it is just a K 450 with other colour.

I just got a reply from AKG's Austrian customer support.

Here a translation of their reply:

 

 

I have my hands on with the akg k430, k450 and q460. but it seems that most people would really want to know the difference between the k450 and q460 other than the color and price difference. First comparison, they are almost the same in terms of sound quality, with very little difference. Other than the q460 needing more power to reach the volume of the k450.

 

Then i thought, the cable is not the same, that's not a fair comparison. If there is a difference, you need to use the same cable for both to be able to listen to it.

 

Well i have done just that and found there is a difference between the two. The q460's cable with the incline mic somehow makes it needing more power to drive to the same volume as the k450. Because of that, i used the cable from k450 on both headphones to find the difference in sound quality. It may come as a surprise, but their is a slight difference after all. The 460 sounds a tad more refined, having clearer highs, warmer mids, smoother lows compared to the 450. The 450 sounded loud, where mids were not so warm and lows were booming and highs not so controlled.|

That is how it sounds to me anyway. But i would like to see you guys experiment the same thing and give your opinions.

x2 

 

Thanks 

 

Safari on the ipad completely screwed up the quotes...but I was wondering if dikrac has the PX-200's or the 200 II's?

Also, did Linius ever pick one?

I've an old pair of original PX200's and love them very much for running. They're about as big as I'd like to go for that purpose and am wondering which of the Q460 vs PX200II would be better.

Thanks!