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chinesekiwi said:

Thanks Tyll for the measurements. Invaluable service.
 
 

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A pleasure, mate.  Nice post!
 

nice review
 

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acix said:

With the K-702 I can easily hear, and feel the 20hz. Maybe the other hps have to much sub, or over powering sub bass, or lower mids, and this make you think the K702 lack some sub-bass. Looks like this is a big common mistake here.  

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As long as the headphone driver can reach 20Hz, you can feel 20Hz. My hearing is limited to 25Hz however (tested properly and also via test tracks such as Heartbeat on HD Tracks' Open Your Ears test album, the last tone is 20Hz).
 
The sub-bass in the K701/ K702 is recessed compared to the other frequencies. It doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
 

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Originally Posted by roBernd /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
The K601 on the other hand started rolling of where the K701 was still good to go...
 
I doubt that - maybe you're used to the smallish midbass hump of the K701?
 
hell, even my Etymotic HF5 have more bass. If there was a K601 with K701 bass I'd love to own this hybrid. (the Austrian produced models might be different though???)
 
Considering how rolled off the treble is in the HF5 that isn't very surprising, it should sound like it has more bass because the balance is set that way.  The K601 is a very accurate headphone, it doesn't try to emphasize anything - only produce what's there.
 
I'd like to see a China v. Austrian measurement of the K601 - but I seriously doubt major differences would be found.

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Responses in bold.
 

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robernd said:

The K601 on the other hand started rolling of where the K701 was still good to go... hell, even my Etymotic HF5 have more bass. If there was a K601 with K701 bass I'd love to own this hybrid. (the Austrian produced models might be different though???)  

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That is very strange. I do like the K702/K701, but I'm one of those that are OK with admitting they do slightly lack bass, but I don't care one bit. I don't even know if I'd ever think I'd put them into the category of being bass light though. That's more like the AD700. I think obviously it can vary between amps. With my amps I am perfectly happy with the bass on the K601. I actually prefer the bass on the K601 over the K702 I had. When I got my K501 I expected it to be extremely bass light, but in fact with my setup it feels as if it has more bass than both! What the heck?! All of them sure don't have much bass impact at all. Again, I'm sure specific gear can improve this.
 
As for the bass roll off on the K601..I found the graph below. Now I don't know if there is variations between pairs, but it's possible. While I'm at it, I dug up this old K501 graph. If you haven't tried the K501 you should! I love mine and wish I had tried it much, much earlier. Now, the K702 does a lot of things better, but for my music preferences the K501 is quite addicting and what I prefer. I think it's safe to say I like it more than the K601, but I'll have to compare them more. It's weird how one can hate the soundstage of the K702, but absolutely love the even larger soundstage of the K501! I think the mids have a lot to do with it. I think so far the K501 has the best soundstage I've heard. Despite it's size it doesn't feel abnormal or artificially huge.
 

 

 

 
 

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tdockweiler said:

 

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I bought my K601 with great expectations due to exactly this graph. But like I explained earlier there was less bass and an earlier roll off although this graph tells another story.
Plus... this graph looks far to ridiculously good to be true. seriously, there is close to no fr-graph on headroom which can compare to THIS.
 

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chinesekiwi said:

 

The sub-bass in the K701/ K702 is recessed compared to the other frequencies. It doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
 

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lol... yes, the K701 sub-bass is recessed compared to the Pro-900.

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robernd said:

I bought my K601 with great expectations due to exactly this graph.

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Try a different K-601.

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robernd said:

 
signed +1,
concerning the K601... I bought it a month ago to get rid of the excessive K701 7k pitch (I like my highs and upper mids neutral or recessed ) but the only available models were the new China produced models. After a month of burn-in and testing on several rigs, comparing them to my Sextetts MP and my K701 I absolutely hated them.
I never had a problem with bass on the K701, which could reach real low, lacked impact but the bass was great. The K601 on the other hand started rolling of where the K701 was still good to go... hell, even my Etymotic HF5 have more bass. If there was a K601 with K701 bass I'd love to own this hybrid. (the Austrian produced models might be different though???)
 
But in the end both the K601 and Q/K700 series lack body... so I still prefer my Sextetts, but miss the K701 detail and soundstage.
 

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Well... maybe one day you can try out the Violectric V-100, definitely a warm body to my K702 and still keep a good level of detail and the sound stage is more 3D. But for my music production I still checking to buy the Phonitor .

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robernd said:

I bought my K601 with great expectations due to exactly this graph. But like I explained earlier there was less bass and an earlier roll off although this graph tells another story.
Plus... this graph looks far to ridiculously good to be true. seriously, there is close to no fr-graph on headroom which can compare to THIS.

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Owning the K601 and K702, the graph is really accurate.  I don't think the Chinese version would be substantially different honestly, but that's me.
 

The OP used the E9 to drive all these headphones?  Only the E7 should have been used to drive the K701 and therefore should have been used when comparing all three.  The widely differing opinions on bass for the AKG is likely, at least in part, the direct result of amp imedance and since it is the only low impedance headphone of the three, it kind of invalidates that part of the comparison.  This is an electrical fact.  Less bass extension.  Vastly inferior drive dampening from the amp, etc, etc.

Too bad the E7 can't actually drive the K702 well, if at all.
Very few portable amps can. I made the mistake of trying this too much in the past when I didn't have a clue. Maybe some of the more expensive ones can.
Supposedly the K702 is one of the hardest budget headphones to drive well. For me it was just as picky with amps as the HD-650.
The E9 can drive it, but I still found it benefits from an even better amp.

But the E9 has too high an impedance for a 55 ohm headphone.  The E7 is near 0 ohm.  As long as the E7 gets loud enough, it should have enough juice and the proper damping with the AKG.

Have you tried the AKG K702 with the normal, non bumpy headband?
 
Also the Fidelio X2's? I just got those, but I might think they are too much bass for me. If you've tried them, how are they compared to the DT 880's in fatigue when listening? I'm not gonna buy Sennheiser agian this time, both my HD 555's broke same place. :S

hat was one of the most direct reviews I have read. I feel satisfied for some strange reason. 
 
Great review/comparison! I'm glad you are happy with your choice!