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shawnsmith said:

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chris il said:

Ayer Acoustics sells a system enhancement disc with brown noise tracks which are the best I've heard. Easier on the ears than pink or white.

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why would you care if it is easy on the ears? do you burn in headphones by actually listening to noise tracks? I was under the impression the people that engaged in this silly activity just turned it on and walked away. I'll refrain from commenting too much on the silly $20 cd that magically burns in equipment faster.

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Didn't say it was magic. Just said it worked well. Get up on the wrong side of the bed or are you always rude and snotty?

since you didn't answer the question I'll ask again. if you don't listen to it why do you care if it's easy on the ears? does it taste good too?  I don't plan on eating it but I sure would sleep a lot better knowing that is was really delicious.

Is that supposed to be enlightening to the OP...or anyone else?
You're obviously just trying to antagonize the guy. Totally useless post.
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shawnsmith said:

since you didn't answer the question I'll ask again. if you don't listen to it why do you care if it's easy on the ears? does it taste good too?  I don't plan on eating it but I sure would sleep a lot better knowing that is was really delicious.

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Well, thanks for all the useful information and opinions folks!  Much appreciated.
 
I have to say at this point, that I'm somewhat perplexed by these phones.  With some tracks it sounds quite good, with others quite awful.  Vocals can still sound diffuse and too far away.  Interestingly, the bass sounds a bit exaggerated on several tracks; seems to me like a hump in the mid-bass region that sometimes overwhelms everything else, particularly vocals and other instruments in the midrange, since there still seems to be an area in the midrange that still seems recessed to me.  I've been playing a variety of music through them almost 24x7 in an effort to break them in; I probably have about 120 hours on them so far.
 
I'm still not going to pass judgment until I get the M-Stage amp that's on it's way, but may take a trip down to NYC to see if I can find a place that has some other phones that I can compare these with.

no it's not useless. He more or less advised the OP to buy a product that even that manufacturer admits to not knowing how it works, because it would make his phones work better. Part of his reasoning for recommending it was because the brown noise on the disc was easy on the ears. I'm getting after why he would recommend a product and use that as a justification, particularly if he wasn't even listening to it. It'd be like me telling you to put high octane gas in your sports car because it smells nicer than low octane gas. So yeah, it was intended to help the OP determine if he should spend his money on a product that Chris recommended.
 
oh and if I sound like a jerk it might have to do with the Private message I got from chris after my post.
 
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lejaz said:

Is that supposed to be enlightening to the OP...or anyone else?
You're obviously just trying to antagonize the guy. Totally useless post.
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shawnsmith said:

since you didn't answer the question I'll ask again. if you don't listen to it why do you care if it's easy on the ears? does it taste good too?  I don't plan on eating it but I sure would sleep a lot better knowing that is was really delicious.

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I'm the third owner of mine and I'm pretty sure they're well burned in by now....though I didn't put many hours on them myself. I'll continue with the burn in in hopes of improvement though. I'm still hearing the same issue you mentioned with the midrange... especially with some vocals and acoustic instruments. The hump you hear in the bass is actually in the upper bass I think (around 200hz) maybe lower mids. I noticed it when comparing them with the k240DF which seems flatter to my ears. The upper mids seem to have a peak as well, compared to the DF and other phones, making them seem overly bright. I have pretty much of a love hate relationship with them at this point....with some material they are heaven, with other material, purgatory at best. If I could find a phone with all their strong points and none of their flaws it would be close to perfect....and probably way over my budget. Look forward to your impressions once you get the m-stage...be sure to post them!
 
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gridlock said:

Well, thanks for all the useful information and opinions folks!  Much appreciated.
 
I have to say at this point, that I'm somewhat perplexed by these phones.  With some tracks it sounds quite good, with others quite awful.  Vocals can still sound diffuse and too far away.  Interestingly, the bass sounds a bit exaggerated on several tracks; seems to me like a hump in the mid-bass region that sometimes overwhelms everything else, particularly vocals and other instruments in the midrange, since there still seems to be an area in the midrange that still seems recessed to me.  I've been playing a variety of music through them almost 24x7 in an effort to break them in; I probably have about 120 hours on them so far.
 
I'm still not going to pass judgment until I get the M-Stage amp that's on it's way, but may take a trip down to NYC to see if I can find a place that has some other phones that I can compare these with.

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The way you put it here it makes sense. The way you put it in the previous post it sounded like you were just trying to be a smart ass. Point taken about the burn in disc
 
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shawnsmith said:

no it's not useless. He more or less advised the OP to buy a product that even that manufacturer admits to not knowing how it works, because it would make his phones work better. Part of his reasoning for recommending it was because the brown noise on the disc was easy on the ears. I'm getting after why he would recommend a product and use that as a justification, particularly if he wasn't even listening to it. It'd be like me telling you to put high octane gas in your sports car because it smells nicer than low octane gas. So yeah, it was intended to help the OP determine if he should spend his money on a product that Chris recommended.
 
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lejaz said:

Is that supposed to be enlightening to the OP...or anyone else?
You're obviously just trying to antagonize the guy. Totally useless post.
Quote:

shawnsmith said:

since you didn't answer the question I'll ask again. if you don't listen to it why do you care if it's easy on the ears? does it taste good too?  I don't plan on eating it but I sure would sleep a lot better knowing that is was really delicious.

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Although I perceive notable differences after burning headphones in, no headphone will turn into an "awesome" phone from a "trashy" one after burn-in. To me, it seems like we're hoping too much from that burn-in process. What matters is the sound signature and that will not change, no matter how much burn-in applied on a particular phone. I don't think a phone should require a 1000 hour burn-in process. If after the, say, 100 hours, you still don't like the K701s, I don't think you'll fall in love with them after 2000 hours. just my 2 cents 

Pretty hard to gauge the truth(or falsness) of the burn-in issue. One post a little while back claimed that they were almost magically transformed after something like 500 hrs. It reminds me of the UFO stories that still occasionally get into the news. Some retired air force officer claims that a UFO chased his plane for 20 miles  back in the '60's and then sped away at 200,000 mph. Do you believe him... or the skeptics? Best to go by your own experience I guess or some other ears you trust. Busy burning in with white noise as I type...hoping for the magical transformation after 500 + hrs.
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yuceka said:

Although I perceive notable differences after burning headphones in, no headphone will turn into an "awesome" phone from a "trashy" one after burn-in. To me, it seems like we're hoping too much from that burn-in process. What matters is the sound signature and that will not change, no matter how much burn-in applied on a particular phone. I don't think a phone should require a 1000 hour burn-in process. If after the, say, 100 hours, you still don't like the K701s, I don't think you'll fall in love with them after 2000 hours. just my 2 cents 

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lejaz said:

Pretty hard to gauge the truth(or falsness) of the burn-in issue. One post a little while back claimed that they were almost magically transformed after something like 500 hrs. It reminds me of the UFO stories that still occasionally get into the news. Some retired air force officer claims that a UFO chased his plane for 20 miles  back in the '60's and then sped away at 200,000 mph. Do you believe him... or the skeptics? Best to go by your own experience I guess or some other ears you trust. Busy burning in with white noise as I type...hoping for the magical transformation after 500 + hrs.

 

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lol, they all telling you stories, we are the real ETs

I'm in the same boat as you. I do love these headphones and they're near perfect to me for the price I paid. I now prefer listening to the HD-598 (and ATH-AD2000) over these. The only problem I have with the K702 is that the soundstage seems so huge that background detail seems to get lost in it and is very distant. Today in one song I'd hear a cymbal to the very far right and on the K702 it's much too distant and just not very present. Vocals overall seem fine. When I tried these for gaming I'd see a character right next to me holding a torch and they're only 3 feet away and on the K702 it feels as if they're 6-10 feet away. I just don't feel the soundstage is accurate. Imaging is also not all that great. I was comparing the imaging of the HD-598 and the K702 and on the K702 often I couldn't tell from which direction something was coming from. I've found imaging is also much better on the K601.
 
In a lot of my classical music so much of the detail seems lost or too distant. Mostly background detail. People say the K701 is some sort of detail monster, but I'm just not hearing it. Well, all the detail is there, but not very forward. Heck I can barely ever even hear recording hiss. Not that I always want that. My KRK has much more detail and it doesn't get "lost". The soundstage on my HD-598 actually seems better and not so artificially huge. It's nearly as good as the soundstage of my ATH-AD2000!! The big advantage the K702 has is that it's quite neutral to my ears and it's sound is pretty crystal clear. At least more than the HD-598, but not by much.
 
I think if they made something like the K601 with the treble and detail of the K701 it'd be a near perfect. I know I said that the K702 doesn't have a ton of detail, but certainly more than the K601! The K601 never made anything sound distant or further away than it should be. I guess maybe I just need to get a sextett. I'll probably keep the K702 since all these comments are me nit-picking. Not a huge deal for me, but kind of a small annoyance. I couldn't keep the K601 due to something on them annoying my ears. I think it was the forward lower treble and maybe the upper mids. The K702 sounds much more smooth to me and less fatiguing. Only specific music though on the K601 caused this though.
 
Do any versions of the K240 have the soundstage of the K601? Or more like that of an open headphone? Probably not. K601 was pretty good for gaming, K701..not so much. I didn't buy it for that though. I think as it is right now, I might prefer the K240 Studio, but of course I'm missing out on all that detail, but I can live with that. Sound isn't as clear of course either, but kind of expected for a $100 headphone.
 
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gridlock said:

Well, thanks for all the useful information and opinions folks!  Much appreciated.
 
I have to say at this point, that I'm somewhat perplexed by these phones.  With some tracks it sounds quite good, with others quite awful.  Vocals can still sound diffuse and too far away.  Interestingly, the bass sounds a bit exaggerated on several tracks; seems to me like a hump in the mid-bass region that sometimes overwhelms everything else, particularly vocals and other instruments in the midrange, since there still seems to be an area in the midrange that still seems recessed to me.  I've been playing a variety of music through them almost 24x7 in an effort to break them in; I probably have about 120 hours on them so far.
 
I'm still not going to pass judgment until I get the M-Stage amp that's on it's way, but may take a trip down to NYC to see if I can find a place that has some other phones that I can compare these with.

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yuceka said:

Although I perceive notable differences after burning headphones in, no headphone will turn into an "awesome" phone from a "trashy" one after burn-in. To me, it seems like we're hoping too much from that burn-in process. What matters is the sound signature and that will not change, no matter how much burn-in applied on a particular phone. I don't think a phone should require a 1000 hour burn-in process. If after the, say, 100 hours, you still don't like the K701s, I don't think you'll fall in love with them after 2000 hours. just my 2 cents 

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I observed all my headphones in burning in process, so the K701, K702, Q701 too. The most variances are in the first 10 ... 20 hours.
After the curve of variances level out, after 100 hours I cannot absolutly notice variances - I think my personal mental stage from day to day makes more variances in hearing.
 
The only way are - compare two equal headphones together .... one without one with burning in. Compairing by hearing and measure.
In second step both have 100 hour burning in, one runs on to 500 hours, the other wait, than compare both by hearing and mesasure too.
 
AKG self says to this thema ... after 100 hours there are no noticeable variances.

Hallelujah!  I have solved the problem!  Burn-in may have been responsible for maybe 20% of the problem, but the other 80% was due to some problem with the electronics driving the phones.  I am still waiting for the M-Stage to arrive, so in the meantime, have been using a Behringer SRC2496 fed by a long 20 foot plastic optical cable from the digital output of a Sonos box.  I decided to try an old Adcom preamp that also has a headphone amp built in that I had laying around in place of the Behringer.  But instead of running the long optical cable, I have the Adcom hooked up to the analog output of my Tact 2.2XP preamp, which also has a pretty decent DAC.
 
The difference due to this change was absolutely night and day.  Vocals no longer seem recessed, upper sparkle is present, and the bass is very good without the mid-bass hump that I heard before.  Unfortunately I'm not sure exactly where the problem was since I changed too many variables at the same time.  My guess is that it was either the 20 foot plastic digital optical cable, or the headphone amp built into the Behringer.  I also wonder if it's possible that the optical output of the Sonos was not strong enough to drive all 20 feet of the optical cable; I believe that plastic optical cables have quite a bit of loss over its length.
 
I'm really looking forward to the M-Stage to see what improvement that will make, but have to admit that I'm very happy now with the sound and wouldn't be upset if the M-Stage doesn't improve things further.  I just listened to Patty Larkin's, Stranger's World CD, and there was nothing in the sound that I could detect that I wasn't happy with.  It seems that with the right setup, the K702's are quite balanced, spacious, and beautiful sounding.