A new reference from AKG? - Page 3

Yeah I've come to know that when people, especially someone experienced like you, describes a headphone as being only good with a few genres it always means it's a highly colored and flawed headphone.  You may say that I'm generalizing, but it seems to always be the case...

 

The headphones I'm interested in are the ones that are described as "all rounders" and people often say they are "boring" because they are used to being "excited" by more colored phones. 

don't forget bass light. lot of people are use to accentuated bass and when they hear a headphone with an actual close to flat bass to sub-bass response they're automatically classified ''bass light'' and boring.

I don't agree with you on that one. 

Yeah, but what headphone these days (still sold new) are not somewhat colored? Not many. There are very, very few headphones these days that are really a good "all around" headphone. Even the SRH-940 is as colored as the K550 (maybe not quite as bad) and that's considered a studio monitor! The only ones that come to mind are the HD-600, maybe the HD-598 and the Q701. I've yet to hear a headphone that's GREAT with every genre. I think the KRK KNS-8400 is, but people think I'm crazy.

 

I myself try to find a headphone that's well balanced. I do prefer something that's very slightly warm (Q701) and has good mids. I'm willing to give up some bass or treble for better mids. I'm ok with mids that are very slightly forward as long as it's doesn't butcher the music.

 

I think the only headphones that don't seem to touch my music and make it better than it really is, is the Q701 and KRK KNS-8400. If the song itself bores me to death, those headphone won't try to make it sound any better (like the SR-225i). When i want a headphone that's a little less forgiving and can take the edge off badly mastered music, I use the HD-598. I remember when I had the DT-880 it seems to somehow make half my music sound bad. I had to go and weed out all the garbage tracks. People never agree on if that headphones neutral or what. I  think I want just a tiny bit more coloration to my music. It's rare for me to think a headphone is too cold and analytical, but the DT-800 was for me. I did love it for electronic music though. It's mids just didn't do it for me though. Just preferences.

 

I don't think anyone on here (even me) knows what neutral bass sounds like. I think my DJ100 has slightly boosted bass and everyone seems to call it bass light! I even heard that about the M50. If you look at graphs, the D2000 is supposed to have very neutral bass, but it sure doesn't sound like it.

 

Based on your comments, I bet you'd love the KRK KNS-8400. Probably the most neutral sounding headphone I've heard yet and even more so than the Q701.

 

 

 

 

 

how did i know you were going to say that for some reason? and i kinda rethought what i said after i typed it too.

according to Tyll's measurements... the K701 shows no apparent signs of burn-in after 300h+
 ---> this is no voodoo and the about the only solid proof for any side to argument with.

 

The whole deal with amps to drive them is ...well they are bright and need a dark amp to tame the peaks.

 

The bass is okay, but the lower treble is what is killing the phone for oh so many of us.

Also it's just plain STUPID from AKGs... wait, HARMAN, to keep these hilarious headband bumps after two whole itterations of basically the same headphone (K702, Q701).

Why not add the K601 headband? Well almost anything different would do better than this!

 

I have only one idea why they stick to the headband and keep mocking us... pure unholy rage and a giant troll in the top bracket of Harman's design department, loathing our pure maiden heads... or something similar close to this.

 

Edited by roBernd - 2/6/12 at 12:45pm

How can something lack bass and be flat at the same time?  This is one of the most absurd notions in all of head-fi and beats the idea of burn in by quite a bit.  If it lacks bass, it is NOT fat.  Period.  Flat = flat.  ie not lacking bass.  And flat = not analytical.  Flat = not bright.  Flat means it has no sonic character like that. 

 

Or that's what it should mean.  It's fine if you want something bright, basslight and analytical for some sort of work or or analyizing music, but if it sounds that way, it is specifically not flat. 

 

It's like saying a photograph has a blue cast, which means it's balanced because for some reason color balanced = blue cast.  Nope.  You can choose to have a blue cast for some artistic or other reason, but if it has a blue cast, it is inherently not color balanced. 

 

don't confuse the person now. i guess people find the bass light if it's flat due to the bad compression of modern music and you know how dubstep is so popular around here. lot of dubstep has no sub-bass and badly compressed and have boosted bass to mid-bass to make it sound impactful and strong. people expect stuff like that from a headphone and to have a speaker-like impact with everything not just certain music. if people actually heard pair of good speakers in a dead room you'll notice the ''impact'' involves highly on the dynamics or how the song itself was recorded. people just like and use to accentuated bass from modern day speakers(even lot of studio monitors are bass heavy over neutral since design around modern recording) and automatically assume it's ''bass-light''. it's hard to explain but that's how i kinda get the feeling. headphone though with flat bass will provide rumble and impact if it's there. that's what i was trying to get at earlier when i said ''don't forget bass-light''. am i making sense? sometimes i wonder if i am or not.

The k550 is a reference headphone to a large extent in my view.

 

1) Firstly it's properly closed. Properly isolating. Properly non leaking. And in this department I'd call it of reference quality

 

Not some audio technica 400g monster that leaks a fair amount and isolates little. And is stupidly uncomfortable

Not a denon that is virtually open 

Not a shure 940/ ultrasone pro 900, where deliberately the manufactures have comprimised at the isolation front in favour of the sound quality.

 

The akg k550 has gone through none of these comprimises and hence they call it 'portable.' It's no way portable in the direct sense, but for it to be used on a plane OR A LIBRARY say from an ipod- that's definitely acheivable. Repeat, they are not meant to be worn when jogging. This isn't what the working definition of 'portable' reads as here. Anyway, it isn't nothing new by the way- beyerdynamic have played it the exact same way with their t5p and t70p headphones.

 

 

2) Secondly, to find the fit was a bit picky for me at first. I insist that when the bottom cups press against the underside of my ear they sound much better than when I feel them pushing exclusively above my ear. More bass, more impact, greater dynamics and the notes become more thicker in general. Their ergonomics are wonderful though. Extremely comfortable for all head sizes and ear shapes.

 

 

3) Thirdly, they are in no way overpriced in this market. I bought them new from amazon uk just when they were released (no pre-order) and it cost me £229. SQ wise, they smash the living daylights out of the £160 dt770/600. Easily beat the shure 940's and the immensly dissapointing £800 beyer t5p. They beat  the £130 akg k271 in musicality and (from memory) the a900. I couldn't get a fit with the ath w1000 so i returned these fast (awful ergonomics and isolation, but okayish on the leakage front). There are other true closed headphones it competes against i know, but don't care to find out about these. Only the £1300 ultrasone edition 8 beats these- after the pads have been throughly worn in though.

 

4) I can't understand why akg seems to have become close to a bose/beats. Admittedly I was peeved off about their delay in release, but I've got much more anger towards beyrdynamic. £800 for tosh is a bit too much I think. The bass holes in the dt770/600 make it compete with beats pro headphones. That'd probably be a good contest.

 

5) I can understand why there has been an underwhelming interest of these on headfi. Not many of you guys seem to need a truley closed full size headphone. If you don't need the isolation and non leakage, then stay away from all those that happen to have these characteristics- as to achieve this there has been a comprimise in SQ somewhere.

 

I'm impressed with the akg k550. I have no reason to be biased towards them, only reason to be biased against them- for being awful with the release date of this headphone.

 

And for those who have never complained about the bumps ?  

 

I hate 3d Wings from AT , but many like it . 

 

every one have is conception of flatness too .

 

AKG will peraphs release a K1001 or not , if they something interesing great if not there is many other headphone brands ^^

Edited by HaVoC-28 - 2/6/12 at 5:25pm

if they do it'll probably be neon purple and endorsed by someone like eminem. ''get your k1001 pros. ample bass and noise cancellation to da roof!''