So I've been comparing these a bit more closely with my HD600's just to sort of verify how 'neutral' these were, cause I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off... and basically I found that while the K267 is
really nicely balanced, it has a bit more of a 'W' signature than a straight flat one. The most noticeable difference between the K267 and the (
remarkably flat) HD600's is in the low mids. There seems to be a dip in the low mids on the K267, followed promptly by a bit of a hump in the upper bass (giving it a nice punch). The upper mids also seem to dip however, as there seems to be some information missing between the [surprisingly upfront] mids and the air/treble on the K267's. It's harder to detect dips than peaks, so it makes sense that it took me a while to put my finger on it, but I'm pretty confident that this is what's going on with their sound signature. Can't wait for someone to do some official Frequency Response readings to confirm.
Now I'm thinking that the K267's actually sound more like 'improved' Amperiors (in terms of sound signature). The Amperiors are surprisingly well balanced (IMO), if a bit hot in the treble, but they have a really obvious 'W' signature. Meanwhile, the K267's sound signature is
much more smoothed out, with more mids, more treble extension and more bass extension while still carrying some of that Amperior bass punch. The imaging still falls short of the amperiors, but the K267's intimate nature is slowly growing on me (just a tiny bit, lol). If it wasn't for the different form-factor, I'd say the Amperiors are much more of a direct competitor than the other phones I compared, given the similar sound and price point.
I hope more people chime in to compare the K267 with the K167's, cause I'm interested in seeing if they really are as similar as people say. If the bass on the K167's is really right in between the K267's 'Club'/medium and 'Stage'/heavy settings, then I think that would actually be the most neutral bass setting for this particular sound signature. And you'd be getting that for less than half the price! That's pretty cool.
In other news: I should be receiving my stealth black M100's by thursday, so expect some more impressions around then.