OK. I am ready to post some impressions on my K167 headphones, now that they've had about 8 - 9 hours of play time towards the break-in process.
When I initially received my pair this morning via FedEx Saturday delivery, I carefully opened the box by using a box cutter to simply make small cuts through the plastic wrap and the small circular clear plastic tabs to hold the cardboard together at key points. The headphones then slid out of the side of the box within their molded plastic shell. The 1/4" adapter was pre-attached to the cable, so there were no loose parts in the box, or rolling around. The headphones were held into the plastic shipping / display shell by three wire ties. Each tie can be untwisted from the back of the shell, and then the headphones can be lifted out.
I carefully realized how light the headphones were within my hands. The coiled cable was a bit of point that I took notice on, but didn't scoff it off. Instead, I'm using the headphones with an extension cable and will rarely ever have to extend the coil to achieve a longer length. I test fit the headphones onto my head. In my case, I don't have to extend the cups out any further using the extenders that are recessed into the headband. I also noticed the nice amount of padding / cushion that was built into the headband itself and would work to provide comfort on the top of the head while wearing them. During the test fit, as well as during listening sessions, I was able to conclude the comfort level was in the range of where the Fostex T50RP headphones are, when it comes to comfort. To me, the T50s are about the most comfortable headphones that I've ever owned. Other headphones have had a point or two that would tend to slightly bother me at one point or another.
I then went through a series of listening sessions. I'm using my Yamaha 2-channel gear to drive the headphones via the headphone jack. There are very few home audio items that have been sufficient in my experience with driving headphones. However, Yamaha - when it comes to modern day gear has been quite effective and I prefer using the Yamaha gear over many of the dedicated headphone amps that I have owned in the past. The Yamaha provides me with tone controls, a balance control (if needed) and a variable loudness control to dial in the tone that I desire to use ... especially for lower level listening. This ensures that the dynamic range of the sound is available, even at lower levels of listening. My music source is a Logitech Squeezebox Classic, which I use to retrieve files from my computer that are 320kb VBR MP3 files, or FLAC files.
Initially, I found that the upper end detail was a bit sparkly for the music I prefer to listen to. However, I can't say I was surprised by this as the detailed upper end frequencies has been pointed out a few times in this thread. Also, I do realize that there may be some sound change as the headphones break in, so this is not a deal breaker for me. For someone who really toes the line with a desire of a more neutral response and has gear that will not let them EQ the sound, then they may have an issue with how dynamic these headphones are. Again, though, it's not a deal breaker for me. Remember, it's always best to have a little more of something which you can reduce via tone controls etc. - as to go the other direction by adding something back in that isn't there is always much harder. Additionally, I used some craft felt and cut circles large enough to fit into the ear side of the cups and are held in place by the ear pads themselves. T{he use of the felt did not do anything to veil the sound at all. My intention of using it was to help by assisting at damping some of the upper frequency detail. Using felt that is simply inserted means that it only has to stay there as long as you want it to be there. I'll evaluate the headphones again in a week after using them more and determine if I like them with the felt either in place, or removed. Again, that decision will occur in a week for me after more break-in time has been allotted.
The total picture on sound? Well, as I bounced around and listened to some key music that I like to play when using a new pair of headphones to check the sound performance from many angles, a smile remained on my face. With many of the different genres that I was able to play through them, the K167s handled the music well. The mid-range capability is very good with these headphones as stated by others earlier makes most music sound "just right" and not lacking. The bass? Well, others have stated that initially the bass is a bit weak, but improves. However, even with these headphones being used immediately, I liked the bass that was there and the bass that I heard. It wasn't a "one note" bass either. It extended deep, moved well with the music and really showed its colors. The bass that was present had me really impressed because even in my home, I use an SVS subwoofer for my music listening. The SVS is not a boomy sub, but a sub that is capable of delivering bass just as it was meant to be heard, and felt. The K167s are that way, too. The don't interject some bloated bass that is there to cloud the music. Instead, the bass is there and responsive at the appropriate times in the music and is depending on which instruments are being used at the time. The bass is also present with vocals - depending on the artist. In this case, the bass makes their vocals seem even more realistic - as if one were listening to the artist live, and not distant in a recording where vocals can oftentimes seem distant.
When it comes to design and sound, the K167s have me really impressed. Normally, at this stage if there are a handful of things that are nudging me a bit, I can develop buyer's remorse. If a case of buyer's remorse sets in, then I'm often not too likely to be patient to see if anything changes. Yet, to get such a great sound from a nicely made headphone for the price of $200.00, I really don't see any case of buyer's remorse setting in for these headphones with me. Instead, I do see a place for them to remain in my collection and be used quite frequently.
So, from what I've written out here, one might think that these headphones are sweet as candy, right? Well, I think in order to be objective, one has to review all sides of an item and it has to be considered with a realistic set of expectations, yet to also take into consideration how a product will stand up and serve a purpose each day. While I do give the K167 points for the great sound and the fit which, to me, seems to be a very nicely designed fit for extended periods. But, there is a small nag that I do have to communicate, too. If there was just one wish that I could make for these headphones so that I could give them a full "10" out of a 10 score rating, it would be that the ear pads to have a slight bit more padding thickness. Yes, just another 1/4" in thickness would have been quite an improvement. While I don't have huge ears, but what I consider average ears, I do feel that there are times where my ears, or parts of them could be right up against the speaker baffle. If the padding thickness were just slightly more present, that would give these headphones an ultimate score. In the days ahead, I'll look over these headphones more to understand the methods used to secure the padding. I believe in my case, I might benefit by going forward with making my own pair of pads to use with these headphones using some real calf skin that I have, which is very soft. Used with a 1" high density foam padding, I believe I would be able to create the ultimate set of ear pads to go along with these great headphones for ultimate comfort.
In closed, I guess I should provide my thanks for the Harman Companies, as the parent of AKG for producing a great pair of headphones. While these headphones were created and the name of an artist was attached to them, I'm just happy that I have a pair of headphones that stands up nicely to my expectations with a great quality towards sound reproduction and the cost for such quality comes at a price that is affordable for many people. When I look at the competition in the $200 price point league, the Grado SR-225i comes to mind. Two years ago, I would have thought that at $200 the Grado SR-225i was an excellent performer for the $200 price point. Now, we have the K167 from AKG, which in my opinion doubles the performance of the SR-225i, yet keeps the price at $200. In all seriousness, I think the $200 AKG K167 should make a lot of other competitors in this price league a bit nervous. To get comfort and great sound for $200 certainly has to be a bit of an intimidation factor for those others who have offerings at $200 - $400, but may not offer as much as the K167 when it comes to comfort and sound quality. Finally, for those who might have owned a budge pair of headphones - let's grab the Brainwavz HM5 @ $120.00 for example. If a buyer were to just come up with $80.00 more and put it towards a pair of K167s, they'd feel that the improvement leap when it came to sound would be much more significant than just the $80 difference in price. Simply put, the sound increase is hundreds of dollars ahead of the $120 offering for a generic pair of headphones.
