AKG K702 65th Anniversary Edition - Page 76

If you're happy with the bass and comfort of the Q701, and the upper mids dont bother you, I don't think the Annie is gonna be a logical investment. If you want a warmer, smoother tone with more bass, then yes.

Seriously, if you dont listen to a lot of music with bass emphasis, you won't be very impressed compare to what you have.

Just ordered a pair of these from Razor Dog Audio -- my first headphone purchase in almost two years.  Turns out these are the headphones that have finally led me out of Head-Fi retirement

 

The K701 was my first "serious" headphone.  I enjoyed them quite a bit -- I listen to a lot of acoustic music, and I still think the K701 offers some of the most engaging sound I've heard with acoustic guitar.  High-distortion electric guitar, though -- not so much.  Kind of like getting stabbed in the eardrums with icicles, and they always had me reaching for the volume control with that kind of music.

 

Since that first K701, I've been all the way up the headphone price chain and back down again.  At one time or another, I owned most of the modern flagships -- the HD800, T1, LCD-2, HE-6, Edition 8, and even the Sony R10.  Many of these flagships proved more versatile and well-rounded, but in most cases I found the K701 to be more compelling with acoustic music.

 

At the end of that long and expensive journey, I came to the conclusion that the $500-or-less segment is the place to be for me.  I think these headphones offer most of the performance of the big flagships at a much more reasonable cost.  Spending more really never made the music more enjoyable to me, and unfortunately it took me a few thousand dollars to realize that.  Hence, two years ago, after selling most of my other headphones, I stepped out of the Head-Fi game with my DT880/600 and Schiit Valhalla, and I've been content with this setup ever since.

 

...er, that was until CanJam at RMAF this past fall.  There, I heard a balanced K701 playing on a Bryston BHA-1, and I was blown away.  That setup took the K701 to an entirely new level IMO.  Spectacular dynamics and a smooth tonal balance...it was definitely the best setup I heard there short of the SR-009 rigs.

 

Then I see that AKG released this anniversary edition, with some interesting sonic revisions and some fixes for many of the comfort issues I had with the K701 in the past.  I couldn't resist, so I waved goodbye to my $400.

 

My expectation is that these K702 Annies will be a better all-around headphone than the K701, but I'm afraid that they may not quite be able to match the transparency and sparkle that I enjoyed so much with the K701.  Either way, I will probably end up getting a K701 anyway, just so I can reterminate it and run it balanced from the Bryston amp in the future.

 

Thanks everyone for the impressions and reviews so far!  I'll let you guys know what I think of the Annies when they arrive -- though my initial impressions probably won't be of much value, since I lack the proper amplification for these headphones (the Valhalla will do a passable job, but there are certainly better options for the x70x series).

 

P.S.  Regarding 2enty3's review and the difference he noted in cable thickness -- I think most of this difference results from the fact that the K701 has a four-wire cable, whereas the K702 has a three-wire cable.  That's why the K701 is an easy headphone to convert to balanced operation -- you can just lop off the 1/4" connector and solder on a 4-pin XLR.  Unfortunately, with the x70x headphones that have the detachable cable, balanced conversion is a much more intensive and invasive process.

 

This kinda sounds like where I am. Except I never went to the flagships. I stopped at the HE-500/SRH1840. Despite being almost three times the cost, the K701 did things better that I just couldn't get over.

 

Maybe I should just get a top-of-the-line amp instead of trying more expensive cans.

The Annie is the HD650 of the AKGs. It's not going to sparkle like K701. It's smoother, definitely.

From read only, there is definitely an fun sig added in Anniversary edition that replaced linearity and balanced sound of K701/702, especially K701.

You can recable K702 with any cable you want, making balanced or single end, just avoid that stupid datachable thing and solder direct to the drivers and like Sophonax wrote, AKG seem to benefit from it very much.

Rolling of datachable cable helps a little, but because inside wire construction still the same, the results will never be at the same level as with fully recabling.

 

Waiting for Sophonax impressions...

 

THX

Is there any difference between k701 and k702? 

Well for one thing the 701s cable is hardwired while the 702 is detachable.

 

Hahahaa I really like this allegory. Sounds like something Ty from innerfidelity would use :D

 

By the way I was able to compare Bayer T1 against my annies in Lehmann linear amp last weekend. I have to repeat my impressions on the T1s. They sound silky smooth and balanced. Very nice cans, but just not worth over twice the price of annies imo. 250 ohm DT990s, on the other hand, sounded very good for the price. Also tried the custom one pro and what can I say... they sure are LOTS of fun, but I definitely won't be changing my K550s to those bass monsters :)

 

How does the Bass of the Annies compare to the HD650 or HE-400's? Impact, depth, quantity and etc. I have very limited experience with AKG but what I did hear was pretty good! Great clarity and sound stage but the model K240 MKii is a lower model with little to no bass so they had to go back but I still liked what I heard just wish they had a lot more bass. The K702 was on the table but still didn't think it would have the impact I needed so I'm hoping these can fill the void.

Its more impactful than Q701 for sure, maybe on par with the HD650 if memory serves me correctly. Definitely not on the oebel of the HE400 exceot maybe on very small ranges of mid bass. The Annie is a very neutral headphone, with a tip towards smoothness. The Q701 in comparison is very neutral with a tip towards mids, and slightly less bass than I personally think is neutral. On the other hand the Annie has a slightly colorization in bass, but mot far off from neutral. If you know the HD650, you can expect a similar response with more treble and soundstage, and less mid emphasis.

Just got mine, #663.
I dove in the deep end and got these over the Q701's as I felt as though the bumps would have been something that would have affected me.
I'm very new to the world of Head-Fi and got these to compliment my Pro900's and can say that I absolutely love them - thanks to everyone for their reviews and recommendations.  They do have more bass impact than I was expecting, however combined with the increased soundstage and balance they have introduced me to another side of my music.
Unfortunately I not familiar with the terminology well enough yet to properly describe the sound, however I can say that these headphones were a great addition for me as a newbie.  I'm driving them through my E17.

Great impressions and you may have just sold me on them...

 

Oh and welcome to head-fi and as always... sorry about your wallet

I really like these, but I am deciding to sell mine. The fit isn't quite right on my head, they are a bit too big! Probably the last thing I expected. I am really more of a speaker guy, but I was hoping these might fill a gap in my music listening. Here are some of my thoughts.

 

System:

Computer or Squeezebox3 -> Channel Islands VDA2 dac w/ PS -> Channel Islands VHP2 amp w/ PS.

 

Music Preferences:

My collection has been digitized into FLAC. Multi-genre: largely electronica (big beat, ambient, lounge, chill, house, new age), downtempo, indie, alternative, jazz, reggae, hiphop and rap.

 

Build:

These are great looking. Love the color scheme. I don't mind the plastic, picking them up I never thought cheap looking or flimsy. The ear cups are very comfortable and I like the velour material. I use them in my cold basement, 60degrees maybe, they have a little clamp putting them on, but when they warm up the headphones are too big and want to sit low on my face, feels like they are hanging on my ears sometimes. The headband is a leather strap, and while not uncomfortable, it may be about my only disappointment. Some nice padding wouldn't hurt, and in my case...might make them fit more appropriately. The cable is great, I haven't had any problems with it. While I thought I might want a shorter cable, it doesn't give me problems sitting at any length from my source.

 

Sound:

Awesome. These perform how I had hoped. I find their response to be balanced in my system. They are great all rounders for not only music, but movies and tv. I was always shy to try the previous iterations of these due to reported lack of bass response and perhaps aggressive treble. I prefer a more laid back warm sound. These sound fairly neutral in my system, which I would describe as having a neutral sound anyway. They in many ways sound like a great pair of bookshelf 2ways. I love the soundstage width. Imaging is great. I might prefer a deeper presentation, I get a more front row presentation as to opposed further back in an auditorium. It doesn't really bother me much in a headphone presentation sort of way, and I love the wide left/right spacing. Center image is good. At no time did I feel fatigue from their sound. Bass is good, again, similar to a 5" 2way bookshelf speaker...doesn't make it all the way down but doesn't leave you wanting much. I don't think bassheads need apply though. They are driven well in my system stopping short of ear bleeding levels. For those who like to listen to LOUD, these might need a beefy amp.

 

Comparison to Denon AH-D2000:

I have been rocking the D2000s for about a year. A few of their shortcomings really bothered me though and hence my purchase of these. All my purchases are meticulously researched before hand, I pulled the trigger on the Anni's pretty fast though as the AKG K/Q70xs always sounded up my alley. My problems with the D2000s are as follows: I hate the cord!, while they do bass well I don't find them particularly great for electronica, they rarely sound hifi, and I might prefer something that isolates less as I listen at night and need to hear if the kiddos wake up. The comfort is very high and better than the Annis for me, I normally wear them without the cups extended at all. With the Annis, I love the cord, they do great with electronica, and these sound hifi. My FLACs sound great on the Anni's. On the D2000s, FLAC sounds better than MP3 or Pandora, but not a real wow factor.The D2000s sound fairly balanced maybe slightly U shaped on my main system, but the midrange is always a bit recessed. If I bring the volume up to where I like the midrange, you do start hearing problems like the driver needs to be dampened. I started to see where Markle mods were developed. I like the D2000s best out of an ipod w/ flac or iphone w/ pandora. On my computer, the D2000s sound terrible with music, V shaped with harsh treble and loose bass. Source matters! The Anni's give great wow in my main system. They isolate more than I thought, and really aren't much different than the D2000s in this aspect, although they do leak a bit more sound. The Anni's just present themselves as better phones with high fidelity music in my system. I didn't try the Anni's much from my computer or iphone.

 

Final Thoughts:

Great phones! Wish they fit better! I am going to sell them and my VHP2. I am willing to live with the D2000s and maybe recable them to something more portable. In the end, I still prefer just turning on my stereo!

 

Favorite Review Track:

Yello - La Habanera

Edited by keenween - 2/5/13 at 11:31am

The 65th has a little more, if not the same amount of bass as the K240 MKII. Like I said in my review, they share a nearly identical sound signature, but the 65th wins in clarity, soundstage, and everything else.

 

If the K240 was toooo bass light, then I don't think the 65th will solve anything.

 

Pretty sure you should! :)