AKG Q701 Review - Page 3

cause Q is hella more better yo

Quote:

Originally Posted by DjAmTraX 

The lowest price model is the K702. What would anyone spend more money to get the K701 or Q701?

Some people have their reasons, but not I.

I heard the 701 at a head-fi meet a year ago and it was clearly superior to my K240DF, even with background noise (happy head-fiers enjoying their Macallan as well as their metal toys). But I had had to replace the DF's cable at considerable expense ($70) and didn't want to go through that again. 

So I sprang for the 702 with detachable cable. I like the deep blue-black better than cream color for phones anyway. Lime green is for kids with Mohawks.

When the brand new K702 arrived, I listened to one single (classical) piece with both DF and 702 and decided to advertise the DF on Ebay -- it was not in the same league. It's inconclusive whether burn in has improved the 702 drivers.
 

I've had a couple occasions since then to compare my 702 and other people's 701s and have a hard time discerning a difference. There may be one (or more), but negligible to my ears.

The one thing that really sucks on the 702 is not the bass but the headband. The 701's band is much more comfortable. I rigged up a cushion made of old sock with foam strip inside to solve the problem. Search on k702 headband for that issue.

Kevin,

Your last post on the Q/Vahalla combo is exactly the difference I heard with the Q/Lyr. I also have a Vahalla, but the Lyr gave the Q better drive and more detail. However, the Vahalla is still a good partner to the Q. I look forward to your opinion once you hit your target burn in. I found that after 50 hours I could hear a slight improvement, and after 100+ hours they really settled in nicely.

Quote:

Originally Posted by macbob713 

Kevin,

Your last post on the Q/Vahalla combo is exactly the difference I heard with the Q/Lyr. I also have a Vahalla, but the Lyr gave the Q better drive and more detail. However, the Vahalla is still a good partner to the Q. I look forward to your opinion once you hit your target burn in. I found that after 50 hours I could hear a slight improvement, and after 100+ hours they really settled in nicely.

I'm going to add to what I posted this morning.  Yes, there was a definite change from what I was hearing yesterday.  All good: more lows and and settled down highs.

a) Now I'm wondering if the K701's I had were burned in?  I.e., pummeled into submission.    Most of you know that the AKG logo changed from what I think of as the "3 leaf" logo, to the block letter "AKG".  The K701's I had, I got from a fellow Head-Fier, and they had the older 3 leaf logo, so I assumed that they were indeed burned in.  But maybe not.  I hope to hook up someday with renlute above and compare to his K701's for a better sense.

b) So just now, I directly compared vs the lowly K240 Mk II.  I hate to say it, but I still prefer this one over the Q701.  The Q701 is headed in the right direction, and I do need to burn it in some more to see if it continues to improve, but if I still hold that the Q701's highs are a little too bright and there still isn't quite enough bass for me, the K240 Mk II "fixes" both those issues for me.

c) The Q701, in spite of the green, has the same dang cord as the K240 Mk II, and presumably the K240S too.

d) I posted in the Valhalla thread, that directly compared to the CKKIII I have, that I admittedly just simply adore, the Valhalla is just plain brighter (and not in a good way) vs the CKKIII.  I am told that that should change with more hours on the tubes.

Stay tuned !!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mochan 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin Brown 

EddieE- Please post what you hear between them all.  I am also the impression that the K701 is identical to the K702, but that the Q701 is quite probably different.

Forget the Q701. I once tested two different K701s and the K702 side by side. All three sounded different. Surprisingly, the one that sounded most different was one of the K701s!

The older model K701 (serial in the 1's) was a bassier and sweeter sounding version of the newer K701 (serial in the 4's). The K702 sounded closer to the newer K701 but was a bit brighter.

I am assuming whatever the Q701 sounds like, I am willing to bet it doesn't sound the same.


Incidentally, this might be why even using the Sparrow you aren't getting enough bass -- some K701s are bassier than others.

I do believe AKG designed the Q701 to have more bass presence than the old K701/2 because that's what most people are saying.

If this is true you could avoid finding a bass heavier 701/2 model and settle with the Q.

 What type of music are you guys using the AKG's for? From what I read it seems like such a love/hate relationship many people have with these phones.

Agreed. And I am usually a skeptic. If we don't hear a difference between new-in-box K701 and well burned-in pair, we need to see an audiologist. But did I notice they went back to non-removable, single wire? 
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin Brown 

I hesitate to post this.

 

Really hesitate.

 

If some of you are familiar, I really disliked the K701's I had.

 

When I first got them, seriously, I thought there was something wrong with them, they sounded so bad to me.  (No, there wasn't anything wrong with them, I just couldn't understand all the love they get here for how unbalanced they sounded to me.  No bass, and that treble emphasis that to me made them sound waaay too bright.  Fatiguing, harsh, brittle, you name it.)

 

 

There was a thread here a while back that stuck in my brain.  I don't just burn in headphones, I pummel them into submission!! 

 

So overnight last night, I let them play random tracks about 25% louder than I would ever listen.  Quite loud in other words.  But no, no danger of blowing drivers or anything.  Just ... really loud.  With the Valhalla because I wanted to burn that guy in too.

 

I took a quick listen this morning, and it was like a different headphone !!  The bass was a little more up front, but the treble had really settled down.

 

I need to do some more listening tonight when I get home.  I'll try them with the CKKIII, but that'll be next week in that I have that amp here at work.

 

I do plan to hook up with a buddy sometime in the next few weeks to compare the Q701's with his K701's.  Will be curious ...

 

Crap.

I expect variation between headphones from Grado.  But AKG too?

FWIW, I am convinced that the Q701's I have now do have more bass than the K701's I had, but ... oh well.

Someday I might get a Q701 to replace my K701 if it breaks for some reason. Not likely though. As it is, I'll probably just explore new headphones if I ever need to replace my K701. Although a bassier K701 is something I definitely want to have. Part of the appeal of the K701 to me though are its looks. I *really* like how the K701 looks, prefer it to the K702. The Q701 looks pretty nifty but doesn't have that classic K701 look with the brown leather and white finish and gray accents.  Green is my favorite color but the "sewer green" color of the Q701 kind of puts me off. It's not entirely "ick" but not my first choice of green.

And yeah the K701s are definitely a love/hate thing, but you know I listen to chillout music on these and I still like listening to this kind of music on these. But too much electronica really doesn't agree with these. Still with a bassy warm amp backing them these can play just about anything. 

One question if you wouldn't mind: I am thinking about buying these headphones, and I will use them on my computer, iphone.... , my question is if these headphones have something like noise isolation, because I just wanted to hear the music :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by rafnhy 

 

They are open-back phones, and you will hear almost all background noises... and no iPhone is able to drive em without an amp.

I feel like you should look into low impedance closed back phones like Denon AH-D 2000.

Well, maybe a little late, but I'm also one of the lucky ones owning a Q701.

It was one big step from my ripped apart Apple in-ears (It looked like it was attacked by a Snow Leopard ;) ), but the first time I tried the Q701 on my iPod I was just like: 'where's the sound?'

The Q701 needs a good driver and if you have one, it'll be a treat to listen to. On the road I use my new Sennheiser HD25-II Adidas Originals.

Let's say I made great progress in my listening experience since May last year