AKG K702 65th Anniversary Edition - Page 77

No longer a part of the club after today, sending mine back due to the right driver and I was going to just exchange but then they offered me a refund so I took it, having tried them I think I will be able to hold out for a no bump version of the K702/Q701 if it ever comes.

I'm curious as to whether or not modding the stock non-anniv pads, or swapping some (typically cheaper) non-AKG pads in, would result in an attenuation of the bass in non-anniv models.

#1418 arrived today... first impressions without burn-in (I believe more in brain- and pad-burn-in than driver-burn-in anyway...) are very good, spacious and delicate, nice female voices with good, structured bass. If anything I miss a bit of sparkle in the highs compared to my T5p. The latter also goes deeper and stays cleaner at the real low end while the AE has more upper bass and sounds warmer overall (i.e. voices are more upfront and fuller). Nevertheless the AE's bass is clear, punchy and its easy to follow basslines.

The K550 shares more traits with the T5p than its brother K702 (i.e. a bit brighter, less upper bass).

I've never heard the original K702 or the Q701 but the AE offers enough bass for my taste (even for EDM, which I mainly listen to when using headphones).

Overall the K702 really shines when there are voices and/or space involved. They complement the T5p quite nicely, which tends to over-analyze titles that should simply rock (not an issue with EDM, but things are sometimes a bit too exact with simple pop/rock titles like the one by Robbie Williams listed below). This is in part also due to the different bass emphasis I'd say.

Btw that's the first headphone where I switched to high gain on the Leckerton... Any comparisons should be taken with caution: the volume was not corrected by more than ear.

Titles used (256Bit AAC or Apple Losless):

"Housewife (feat. Miss Kittin)" by Oxia

"I'm a man" by Hot Pants Road Club

"Other Side (J Paul Getto Remix)" by Timo Graf

"Hypnotized (John Jacobsen Remix)" by Thomas Gold & Chriss Ortega

"Call My Name" by Hunter_Game

"Morning Rush" by Audiofood

"Melancholisch Schön" by 2raumwohnung

"Als Ich Fortging" by Rosenstolz

"Mehr Nehmen" by Die Fantastischen Vier

"Come Into My World (Fischerspooner Mix)" by Kylie Minogue

"In The End" by Linkin Park

"She's My Lady" by Louie Austen

"Sing It Back" by Moloko

"Let Me Entertain You" by Robbie Williams

"Movie Star" by Róisin Murphy

Leckerton UHA-6SII fed via USB out of a Macbook Pro.

Quote:

Originally Posted by plakat 

#1418 arrived today... first impressions without burn-in (I believe more in brain- and pad-burn-in than driver-burn-in anyway...) are very good, spacious and delicate, nice female voices with good, structured bass. If anything I miss a bit of sparkle in the highs compared to my T5p. The latter also goes deeper and stays cleaner at the real low end while the AE has more upper bass and sounds warmer overall (i.e. voices are more upfront and fuller). Nevertheless the AE's bass is clear, punchy and its easy to follow basslines.

If any headphone requires burn-in, it was the original K701/K702. I owned two pairs- one was used for several years and had hundreds of hours, then later I got a like-new pair (demo unit) and it sounded a bit congested until 20-30+ hours when it opened up.

The K702/65 seems to come with some factory burn-in, though. It sounded very good to my ears right out of the box.

I haven't heard the T5p but you're describing it just the way I would describe the K701 vs. the K702/65. Less warm, more treble presence/sparkle.

i am buying a akg(k701,k702,Q701 or a 702 annie) but i dont know which one yet

which one of the akg has more low low low (sub)bass extension.

I dont need quantity or volume

i want quality (very) low (sub)bass extension. Which one of these has the best low bass in quality and in hearing different

kind of low bass?

Hilarious, so AKG FINALLY made a bumpless headband for the K701, but they want twice the price for it?

LMAO, what a clown company AKG has become.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aizura 

Hilarious, so AKG FINALLY made a bumpless headband for the K701, but they want twice the price for it?

 

LMAO, what a clown company AKG has become.

You mean AKG*

by Harman

Quote:

Originally Posted by viralcow 

 

If any headphone requires burn-in, it was the original K701/K702. I owned two pairs- one was used for several years and had hundreds of hours, then later I got a like-new pair (demo unit) and it sounded a bit congested until 20-30+ hours when it opened up.

 

The K702/65 seems to come with some factory burn-in, though. It sounded very good to my ears right out of the box.

 

I haven't heard the T5p but you're describing it just the way I would describe the K701 vs. the K702/65. Less warm, more treble presence/sparkle.

I've experienced a similar effect with PA speakers (those things using hard suspension) when I bough a second batch of the same monitor speakers: the first 30min or so they sounded distinctly different. But to cut that discussion short: if I don't like a headphone more or less as it comes it's going back... If I do like it and its loosing some raw edges with time -- no objections ;-)

Maybe I'll look for a chance to compare the AEs with a K701/Q701... might be more different than I thought as the AE is not anything I'd call cold (an attribute often given to the K701 at least). Interesting... So: No, the price difference is not just the headband ;-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nion 

i am buying a akg(k701,k702,Q701 or a 702 annie) but i dont know which one yet

which one of the akg has more low low low (sub)bass extension.

 

I dont need quantity or volume

i want quality (very) low (sub)bass extension. Which one of these has the best low bass in quality and in hearing different

kind of low bass?

Can't comment on the K701/Q701/Standard K702 but you might want to take a look at the K550 as well: in my opinion it has a better subbass presentation than the K702 AE as its upper bass is a bit leaner and therefore makes it easier to hear down low.

Quote:

Originally Posted by plakat 

Can't comment on the K701/Q701/Standard K702 but you might want to take a look at the K550 as well: in my opinion it has a better subbass presentation than the K702 AE as its upper bass is a bit leaner and therefore makes it easier to hear down low.

ok, but i want a open hp, and its not that i am looking only for quality bass. i want quality in every range and i prefer an large soundstage also.

I had the dt880 , which i loved (only a bit too much treble maybe) but i disliked the clamp pressure. These akg sound alike i think.

But dt880 had  a very good textured ow sub bass (extension) which i loved.

I think the k701 or the Q701 has the best textured neutral quality low sub bass (extension) without boosting it too much or am i wrong?

Just got my K702/65 this afternoon (#647), listening to them as I write this post.  Some observations:

• Fresh out of the box, they sound pretty good.  I don't have any other AKG headphones on hand to do a comparison, but from memory I would agree that the K702/65 has a moderate increase in bass response when compared to the K701 (the 8-bump version).  Other than that, I don't think the sound has changed much -- still the same wide soundstage, same transparency, same sharp imaging, same forward mids, same sparkle and clarity in the treble.  Apart from the bass, I'm not sure I'd be able to tell these apart from the 8-bump K701.  Hard to say though, as I don't have the K701 here for side-by-side comparison, and I don't have a particularly good amplifier for these at the moment.
• For me, comfort is improved a little over the K701 -- this is more a function of the headband than the ear pads.  I wouldn't say the new memory foam pads are any more comfortable for me than the old pads, but the bump-less headband is a step in the right direction.  I also think the K702/65 has a little more room for people with bigger heads than the K701 -- probably because there aren't bumps.
• I have a bit of a mechanical issue with my K702/65.  The small grates on the outside of both ear cups (the ones with the K702 logo on them) are a little loose, and they rattle a bit when I move my head around.  I never had this problem with any of the other K701s or K702s that I had in the past.  I can easily fix this with a bit of Loctite or hot glue or whatever, and it's not a big enough issue that I'd send the headphones back as defective.  But on principle, it irritates me a little that I'd need to fix brand new $400 headphones out of the box.
• I tried the K702/65 on both my Schiit Valhalla and my cheap-o Yamaha integrated stereo receiver (RX-497, headphone output, not the speaker terminals).  Interestingly enough, they sound much more balanced to me on the Yamaha.  On the Valhalla, they sounded too aggressive in the upper mids / treble range.  I guess the lesson here is that a solid state or hybrid amplifier is probably the best way to go with these headphones.  Not really surprising that they wouldn't fare well with an OTL tube amp, given the impedance of the headphones.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with these.  I was expecting a bigger difference versus the K701 -- but I already liked the K701, so that's not a bad thing for me.  The extra bass is a welcome change, particularly considering that AKG didn't seem to sacrifice any of the midrange or treble performance to get it.  I'd say these are a pretty balanced headphone and, when compared to competing brands, I'd say they're a good bargain at $400.  Are they a good bargain compared to other x70x models?  That really depends on the listener, but for me I'm not sure they are.

Keep in mind these are early impressions, straight out of the box, with only about two hours of listening.  At the very least, I will hang onto these for a few months to see if / how they change over time.  That will also give me time to get an amp that's a better match for these headphones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sophonax 

• I tried the K702/65 on both my Schiit Valhalla and my cheap-o Yamaha integrated stereo receiver (RX-497, headphone output, not the speaker terminals).  Interestingly enough, they sound much more balanced to me on the Yamaha.  On the Valhalla, they sounded too aggressive in the upper mids / treble range.  I guess the lesson here is that a solid state or hybrid amplifier is probably the best way to go with these headphones.  Not really surprising that they wouldn't fare well with an OTL tube amp, given the impedance of the headphones.

 

Not surprising, Yamaha home theater receivers (and integrated's for that matter) are generally warm sounding and sort of forgiving. I'm sure it sounds better than the Valhalla albeit probably not extracting as much mico-details/dynamics.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dleblanc343 

Not surprising, Yamaha home theater receivers (and integrated's for that matter) are generally warm sounding and sort of forgiving. I'm sure it sounds better than the Valhalla albeit probably not extracting as much mico-details/dynamics.

Yep, you're right.  With the K702/65, the Yamaha sounds more balanced though moderately less detailed and dynamic.  My Valhalla has its place -- driving high impedance headphones like my DT880/600.  It's not at its best with low to middling impedance headphones like the AKG.

Here's an interesting observation -- call me crazy, but the K702/65 is much more comfortable for me when I put it on backwards!

This is due to the asymmetrical headband.  When I put it on the "right" way, the headband sits further back on the top of my head, where my head is more curved.  This way, the front edge of the headband is the only part supporting any weight, and it digs into my head a bit.  I tried rotating the headphone front to back to fix this, but it didn't help.

When I put them on backwards, the headband sits further forward on my head, on the flatter part, so the whole headband is supporting the weight.  I tried to illustrate this to give you an idea.

The great part about these headphones is that, since the pads aren't angled anymore, you can put them on whichever way you want.  I don't know about you, but I'll be wearing mine backwards from now on -- maybe I'll just switch the RCA's on the back of my amp to get the channels back the right way.