A few days on from my previous posting, and my AKG K701's now have between 70 and 80 hours burn since I received them, on top of whatever use the previous owner gave them (not much, as far as I'm aware)
They're great, and sounding better (I think).... but not for everything I listen to.
Last night I listened to a number of tracks from Eva Cassidy and Joe Bonamassa through my Musical Fidelity XCan 2 tube amp. On the whole I was stunned at the clarity and detail, as well as being happier than I previously was with the bass response. I couldn't have want more from a set of headphones.
However...
I listen to a lot of rock, as well as other stuff. Even on Joe Bonammasa's album where the acoustic/vocal tracks "Around the bend" and "Richmond" sounded amazing, I then moved onto the title track, "Sloe Gin"
This starts with some slow keyboards, bass with a nice depth to it, and then the vocals come in. So far so good (actually, so far so great!). But when I'm expecting a punch in the ears when the band comes in fully, and Joe does his stuff on the guitar, I still feel wanting for more. Switching over to my Grado SR80's (they're not even the SR80i's), I'm hearing more of what I want... More body, more life, and more excitement.
It sounds to me that the AKG's aren't too happy with busy stuff, whereas the Grados just get on with it. I think the AKGs are winning on detail on some of the acoustic and less busy jazz and blues tracks, and that perhaps the recoding quality of busy rock music is not as good as is typical for other genres.... after all, rock can be very much about impact and not detail.
So the question for me remains, what do I prefer listening to my most favourite music on the most... AKG K701 or Grado SR80. The answer is currently still the Grados.
Another factor is (sorry to all you audiophiles for saying this), that for convenience, listening to tracks on my MP3 player (a really good sounding unit from Sony... the NWZ-A728) is a reality. In most cases both headphones work great. However, as I live in the UK, some of the things we buy have to meet with the approval of the EU law makers. I purchased a Sony NWZ-A845 a while ago, which I expected to be at least as good as my other Sony unit, but with the capacity to hold more tracks. To my disappointment, it doesn't go very loud.
The reason Sony explained to me is that the EU law placed a limit on the volume these things can produce. So Sony needed to oblige, and there is no way this can be bypassed. What this means as far as my Grado and AKG listening goes, is that my Grados as perfectly happy humming along at a volume level of 22-25 out of 30. However, as the AKG need more juice than the Grado, even with that MP3 player set to max (30), the AKGs are about as loud as the Grados are at 22. However, there is no headroom for sudden dymamics in the music, as they're already running at maximum, and therefore sounds a little compressed at times. Damn!
So, if like, me you also use MP3 players, you might want to consider my comments on how these two pairs of cans behave. Also, if you have the need to pack your cans and MP3 player into an overnight bag, the Grado's present no problem, even in their own case. But the AKGs take up a LOT more space, so that option for me is going to be a little more cumbersome in the future.
I'll persist with burning in the AKGs in the hope that there is more to come from them. If that happens, I hope it's a lot more body and openness. If not, I'm likely to remain a Grado man, and will consider upgrading to something like the SR225i's (I just wish Grado made them at least "look" they were worth the money, as I really could so without the comments I'm bound to get over their appearance when compared to my SR80's!)
Comments welcome......