Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Headphones (full-size) › Just got my AKG K702s and Valhalla. Headphones sound like crap..... grr...
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Just got my AKG K702s and Valhalla. Headphones sound like crap..... grr...

post #1 of 37
1/7/11 at 4:18pm
Thread Starter 

I spoke with Jason @ Schiit, and he said i need to run these for about a week or so straight, to break them in, with the volume knob around the 11:00-12:00 position....

 

I plug my ATH A700's into the Valhalla, and they sound AMAZING turned up about the 2/3 position on the amp. No distortion at all...

 

the K702's sound like complete crud at that volume level.... Will breaking them in fix this? because I'm extremely unimpressed. To the point of sending them back.

Reply

Gear mentioned in this thread:

post #2 of 37
1/7/11 at 4:23pm

Reports are you need to break in the 702's for about 6-10 weeks. I kid, but supposedly they do require more than average burn in time. I say, unless you listen to them upon first purchase and not again for the next 300 hours, the burn in (if there actually is any such thing) will be so gradual you almost certainly won't notice it.  

Reply
post #3 of 37
1/7/11 at 4:33pm
Thread Starter 

If that's the case, it has to be a defect in these headphones. I literally just listened to Man in the Mirror in FLAC. 929kbps 44100Hz @2048 Samples... These headphones are FAR less superior to my ATHA700s. The highs, lows, mids...everything.... Given, i have about 10 hours on the A700's (unampped) but they sounded fine out of the box... 

 

And i just sampled the first minute of "The Pot" in flac... no comparison...

Reply
post #4 of 37
1/7/11 at 4:37pm
Maybe you just don't like the K702. I didn't really like them. But if you could describe more what you mean when you say "sounds like crap", people could offer more assistance.
Reply
post #5 of 37
1/7/11 at 4:42pm
Thread Starter 

sorry... okay.... the highs and the mids sound decent, but the bass distorts pretty bad. i mean, these headphones have no bass... at all... i mean, i love bass, but i wasn't looking for a heavy bass headphone. these were twice the price of my ath's, so i figured it would have at least the ammount of bass they do, if not more. but what I'm getting, literally, my iphone ear buds have just as much bass if not better. honest.. another thing, with my a700s, with the amp at the 12 o'clock position, they are louder then the 702s.

 

but my a700s sound better all around right now on this amp. mids, higs, lows (are much better)

Reply
post #6 of 37
1/7/11 at 4:44pm

AKG K70x headphones require a long burn-in - about 300 hours - really.  My K701s started out very rough sounding in the treble and very little bass.  They gradually change.  Somewhere in the first 100 hours or so the bass came in very full and bloated and then gradually cleaned up to become very tight and clean.  The treble cleaned up.  By about 200 hours they were getting pretty good but continued to smooth out subtley but noticeably until up around 300 hours.  You don't hear anything like the true headphone sound until they are properly burned in.  Don't judge them by what they sound like out of the box.

Reply
post #7 of 37
1/7/11 at 4:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaggothReborn View Post

sorry... okay.... the highs and the mids sound decent, but the bass distorts pretty bad. i mean, these headphones have no bass... at all... i mean, i love bass, but i wasn't looking for a heavy bass headphone. these were twice the price of my ath's, so i figured it would have at least the ammount of bass they do, if not more. but what I'm getting, literally, my iphone ear buds have just as much bass if not better. honest.. another thing, with my a700s, with the amp at the 12 o'clock position, they are louder then the 702s.

 

but my a700s sound better all around right now on this amp. mids, higs, lows (are much better)


Bingo !!  Same reason I didn't like them.  That's the "treble" emphasis that both they and the 601's have.

 

For a lot less money, I like the K240S (Mk II) a lot more.  And the old K240 Sextetts?  I think they totally stomp the K701's.


 

Reply
post #8 of 37
1/7/11 at 4:47pm
If you are hearing actual distortion, then that would be worrisome. But if the sound is just very bright, with too little bass, that mig well improve with burn in, although the K702 is not a bass heavy headphone.
Reply
post #9 of 37
1/7/11 at 4:49pm
Thread Starter 

really? humm... i hope you're right... I'm sure you are lol.. because, honestly, the way the sound out of the box, the sound like complete *insert curse word*... and with the amount of great reviews these have, they cant be this bad... sad thing is, i cant return them :( if not, ill be reselling them here... but I'm sure they will clean up. *crosses fingers*

Reply
post #10 of 37
1/7/11 at 4:49pm

Other than burn in, A700 is a CLOSED headphone, while K70x is almost completely open. Maybe you just like closed headphones better.

Reply
post #11 of 37
1/7/11 at 4:51pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin Brown View Post



Quote:
Originally Posted by DaggothReborn View Post

sorry... okay.... the highs and the mids sound decent, but the bass distorts pretty bad. i mean, these headphones have no bass... at all... i mean, i love bass, but i wasn't looking for a heavy bass headphone. these were twice the price of my ath's, so i figured it would have at least the ammount of bass they do, if not more. but what I'm getting, literally, my iphone ear buds have just as much bass if not better. honest.. another thing, with my a700s, with the amp at the 12 o'clock position, they are louder then the 702s.

 

but my a700s sound better all around right now on this amp. mids, higs, lows (are much better)


Bingo !!  Same reason I didn't like them.  That's the "treble" emphasis that both they and the 601's have.

 

For a lot less money, I like the K240S (Mk II) a lot more.  And the old K240 Sextetts?  I think they totally stomp the K701's.


 

 

humm...  like i said i love bass, but.... i mean.... these have absoutlly none out of the box.
 

 



Quote:
Originally Posted by Skylab View Post

If you are hearing actual distortion, then that would be worrisome. But if the sound is just very bright, with too little bass, that mig well improve with burn in, although the K702 is not a bass heavy headphone.


well, the bass distorts. the higs and mids still sound "decent"

 

would it be okay to leave these running for literally, two weeks straight without a break?

Reply
post #12 of 37
1/7/11 at 4:53pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arctia View Post

Other than burn in, A700 is a CLOSED headphone, while K70x is almost completely open. Maybe you just like closed headphones better.



that is true... i was actually amazed how much i could hear with these headphones on.

Reply
post #13 of 37
1/7/11 at 4:54pm

Doesn't sound right. K702's bass should be lean, but also extremely clean. If it's distorting, I'd RMA asap.

Reply
post #14 of 37
1/7/11 at 5:09pm

Did you do your research before buying these? It is very well documented that the K701/702 are very bass lean. Granted...the bass should not be distorted. I think I did read somewhere someone else had the same issue and it resolved itself with burning in. 

Reply
post #15 of 37
1/7/11 at 5:19pm
Thread Starter 

i did do research on these. i was torn between the HD650's and these. Ill just try to burn these in and go from here...

 

I'm having a horrible day... 

 


Edited by DaggothReborn - 1/7/11 at 7:15pm
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Headphones (full-size)

Gear mentioned in this thread:

Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Headphones (full-size) › Just got my AKG K702s and Valhalla. Headphones sound like crap..... grr...