[Evshrug]

I will be listening along with Foobar on random and all of a sudden a track will really engage me.  The K712 Pro makes does this effortlessly and there are definite wow moments.

^ this. Certainly musical.

They've been doing well with gaming and virtual surround as well; Hopefully tonight I'll have time to swap for the Q701's angled pads (to angle the driver) and tube roll, see if that improves positional imaging on the K712. Not saying it's bad, but yesterday I played CoD4, A/B-ing between the Q701 and Sony MA900 between each match; the MA900 compared directly was a bit dull with less bass and treble extension (and perhaps analytical, but without the treble sparkle?), but it had great mids (poor man's HD650?) and somehow created surround imaging (including that center image you guys are talking about) almost effortlessly, and beat the Q701 for tactical, competitive gaming. The Q701 is no slouch, and virtual surround works very well on the Q701 (still learning the K712), but the MA900 had a better sense of depth. I'm suspecting that the K712 will have slightly more forward mids and therefore batter center imaging, but the pads (and the tube that helped before) ought to make it even better, so I have a headphone both exciting AND with top-notch imaging.

 

[devhen]

^ this. Certainly musical.

They've been doing well with gaming and virtual surround as well; Hopefully tonight I'll have time to swap for the Q701's angled pads (to angle the driver) and tube roll, see if that improves positional imaging on the K712. Not saying it's bad, but yesterday I played CoD4, A/B-ing between the Q701 and Sony MA900 between each match; the MA900 compared directly was a bit dull with less bass and treble extension (and perhaps analytical, but without the treble sparkle?), but it had great mids (poor man's HD650?) and somehow created surround imaging (including that center image you guys are talking about) almost effortlessly, and beat the Q701 for tactical, competitive gaming. The Q701 is no slouch, and virtual surround works very well on the Q701 (still learning the K712), but the MA900 had a better sense of depth. I'm suspecting that the K712 will have slightly more forward mids and therefore batter center imaging, but the pads (and the tube that helped before) ought to make it even better, so I have a headphone both exciting AND with top-notch imaging.

 
Right on. I'm looking forward to your impressions of the K712 with the angled Q701 pads. I agree, the K712 are great for gaming, both casual gaming and competitive IMO. They are now my goto cans for competitive counter-strike. Previously I was using the HD600 and DT880; the K712 are an improvement over those.

 

[zazex]

  It is not as if the K712 Pro is the best headphone I have heard.  I leave that spot for headphones like the SR-009 from the BHSE and LCD-3 through the m903, but for the price the K712 does some things so well.  It is a headphone that clearly shows how good reference material can sound and how other tracks in my collections are just not that well recorded, produced, or to my liking.
 
Sure it is a rehash in design, but at least AKG made positive improvements and is moving forward.  If the situation was reversed and the rehash was a step back we could discuss that in a different thread, but as it stands they are an improvement over the other headphones in the K7xx line and Q701.
 
I will be listening along with Foobar on random and all of a sudden a track will really engage me.  The K712 Pro does this effortlessly and there are definite wow moments.
 
Hope you all have a great weekend and I will be sure to post the K712 Pro vs HD800 review when I finish writing it.

To me, the three most notable differences between the Q701's and the K712's are:
 
The K712's have more and better bass.
The Q701's have a wider soundstage (but is it more accurate than that of the K712's? Not sure yet).
The K712's have greater detail throughout the spectrum.
 
Overall, I like the K712's more.  Their sound is a very interesting one; not easily described.
(At least not by me.) 

 

[tdockweiler]

I hope they reduce the price down to normal non-ridiculous prices. On Amazon they're around $470 which is nuts and good for a laugh.
I think some said they're available for $380 from Razor Dog Mad Bobs.
 
Once they hit $300 on Amazon i'll consider trying them. $350 Maybe.

 

[chicolom]

  I hope they reduce the price down to normal non-ridiculous prices. On Amazon they're around $470 which is nuts and good for a laugh.
I think some said they're available for $380 from Razor Dog Mad Bobs.
 
Once they hit $300 on Amazon i'll consider trying them. $350 Maybe.

 
I kind of doubt they'll drop to $300.  If they did, they'd infringe on the Q701 and K702 sales.
 
They'll probably get to $350 eventually though Razordog.
 
It's not like HD650s ever sell under 350-399.

 

[Evshrug]

I kind of doubt they'll drop to $300.  If they did, they'd infringe on the Q701 and K702 sales.

They'll probably get to $350 eventually though Razordog.

It's not like HD650s ever sell under 350-399.

This^
The older AKG flagships were always relative bargains, so now the new K712 is on a price level at intro equal to the long-standing Sennheiser and Beyerdynamic models. I think we should expect them to cost at this level, but still I feel they are more than worth this price.

K712 + pads from Q701 + tube roll testing delayed, because I had a lovely night with my girlfriend instead.

 

[PanpandaChan]

Chicolom (Chico? lol) brought to my attention that my K702 Annies seem to have come with K712 pads after I posted some pics in the Annies thread:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/626971/akg-k702-65th-anniversary-edition/3045#post_9861510
 
So I decided to check it out.... This is a crappy camera phone pic of the pads on my Annie:

 
vs. Chicolom's pics from earlier in this thread:

 
Just by looking at the inner seam and wall structure, it seems like I do indeed have K712 pads on my Annie..
However, it seems like the K712 pad walls are taller and narrower than the pads on mine. Hard to tell.
I measured the height of the velour pad wall from the outside, it was 25mm high.
Mine has a 0054xx serial number, so its pretty much the last few they'll make I think.
It also came with a different AKG sticker (See the post I linked to).
 
So I'm thinking now, that the K702 Annies were supposed to be exactly what the K712s turned out to be. Which is what a lot of people seem to think as well.

 

[NA Blur]

I updated my review with a Modified HD800 and stock K712 Pro comparison.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/akg-k712-pro/reviews/9482
 
To summarize:
 
The HD800 is more resolving, has better soundstaging, but lacks a little of the airy feel and bass slam of the K712 Pro.

 

[emertxe]

  I updated my review with a Modified HD800 and stock K712 Pro comparison.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/akg-k712-pro/reviews/9482
 
To summarize:
 
The HD800 is more resolving, has better soundstaging, but lacks a little of the airy feel and bass slam of the K712 Pro.

 
Too bad they were the modded HD800 =/ The original HD800 are even better technically... But big thanks, going to read it several times!

 

[NA Blur]

I will try to conduct an unmodded HD800 vs AKG K712 Pro review sometime next week.

 

[chicolom]

  I updated my review with a Modified HD800 and stock K712 Pro comparison.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/akg-k712-pro/reviews/9482
 
To summarize:
 
The HD800 is more resolving, has better soundstaging, but lacks a little of the airy feel and bass slam of the K712 Pro.

 
Thanks for the comparison.
 
Strange that you say the K712 is airier...

 

[BillsonChang007]

Guys! Got some sweet deals. AKG K702 ANV + FiiO E09K + FiiO E07K = US 333.33. Go or no go? It's selling locally here so no need for shipping

 

[chicolom]

Guys! Got some sweet deals. AKG K702 ANV + FiiO E09K + FiiO E07K = US 333.33. Go or no go? It's selling locally here so no need for shipping

 
 
That's a good deal.  That's a complete setup for less than what the headphones themselves cost new.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I'd jump on that immediately.

 

[BillsonChang007]

How's the resale value of the K702 ANV in the coming future like 2-3 years? According to the seller and his pictures, they look extremely new!