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I think the 10% is correct too. The K702 just isn't as fun to listen to, but still good (I did prefer the K601). 1% difference is just crazy...
We'd have to all be morons to get a Q701 for a 1% difference and even go as far as post in it's own thread.
To me, it feels just wrong to even post in the other thread since it really just sounds like a totally different headphone. You say your new Q701 is nice and warm sounding and they'll laugh you right out of there...
I think the difference is actually much greater than going from an HD-580 (stock) to the HD-600. Even the HD-600 to HD-650. I would say it's similar to the HD-555 to the HD-598.
People say there is no way anyone who hates the K702 could like the Q701, but now I don't think this is true. Maybe.
10% might even be too low. No, seriously..I just don't want anyone going out and selling their K702's and getting a Q701 and being disappointed.
Maybe 1% is a bit too low too some people, but 10% is definitely do too high. Difference might not even be 10% between old K701's and Q701's, but new K701's and Q701's are virtually identical, difference is much smaller than between HD600 and HD650 for example. I haven't spend a lot of time with both, maybe half an hour with each in store before buying Q701 (which I bought mostly because of a removable cable), but as far as I heard, there was no difference, but what I heard is not important in this case. Now, maybe there is a difference after burn in, but still, 10% is A LOT when we talk about sound. Especially when we're talking about headphones that are made of identical parts and have been called virtually identical by anyone who's measured them side by side. Don't look at headroom graphs, their K701 (and K702) graphs are old. K701's have been revised twice, once probably before K702 came out, and once before Q701 came out, and that last revision of K701 are sold at the moment as Q701's. Look at Tyll's graphs for example. He measured both new headphones with identical gear, identical burn-in times and in identical conditions, and they were virtually the same, differences in frequency responses were less than 1 db and became even smaller after longer burn in periods.
I've talked to the guy who owns the store where I bought my Q701's, that store is also an official AKG importer for my country, and he has direct connections to AKG, has been using their gear for years and had K701's since they were first released. He told me personally that new K701's and old K701's are slightly different (more bass, less treble) but new K701's are identical to Q701's. Also, most importantly, whoever, including me, sent email's to AKG support asking whether there is a difference in sound, they got a "No" for an answer...now, if people who manufacture headphones know less than those who buy them, then we live in a crazy world.
The only difference is the badge on rear grill, and frankly, its just silly to think that it would make a big difference in sound. I mean, put your headphones on your head and play some music. Now put a finger on the grill and cover a portion of it. Do you hear a 10% difference in sound? No. You hear a much greater difference if you push on the headphones to compress ear pads and move the drivers closer to your hear, that is a difference (still not 10%), but covering a portion of grill makes virtually no difference and I would bet that if someone had their eyes closed and someone else sneaked up behind them and covered a portion of the grill, they wouldn't notice. I mean, on HD650's which have a completely opened back, I have to cover the entire grill with my hands to get a noticeable difference in sound. The point is, that little badge on the grill is the only thing that separates Q701 from K701, and it makes no difference in sound worth mentioning, and that is according to the people who manufacture these headphones and according to those who measured them.
I don't wanna offend anyone's opinion, but we get all kinds of weird exaggerations on this forum. People who hear a huge difference between K701 and Q701, but then they put a Q701's grill on K701's, and don't hear a change in sound...or something similar to that. That's because most of it is placebo due to our minds being filled with what to expect from new headphones. We "know" what they sound like even before we try them, just by reading comments, which is again, ridiculous. I personally don't take other people's impressions on sound too seriously, because it really depends on a person, and what someone else might hear, I won't, and vice versa....but the fact is, all the headphones I've bough so far have been very different from what I expected them to be after reading reviews or impressions.
