Received AKG K240s...
Jan 20, 2006 at 1:25 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 117

fewtch

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Received my AKG K240S today (55 ohms).

First impression... they sound nothing like what I was expecting. From certain posts, I was expecting a muddy/loose bass (ala Portapro-ish) along with plenty of coloration, but there's nothing of the sort to be found. They are much closer to neutral than I'd been expecting. For a pair of groovy/rock cans, I'd like a bit more bass than this!
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But this is just from the first 5 minutes of being on my head... more impressions to come.

P.S. they're light, and appear to be well built. Holding them in my hands, the fit/finish/appearance gives me very good vibes.
 
Jan 20, 2006 at 1:34 AM Post #2 of 117
I see what people mean about the treble... just not a lot of sparkle up top, although it's a pretty coherent headphone, which seems to be one of AKG's house sound benefits (coherency, I mean).

I'm also hearing a sort of shouty characteristic to the midrange. This is something I truly hope will go away after awhile, and it may be the make-or-break thing for me. Could just be my ears are overly sensitive today, dunno.

Soundstage (headstage)... not much to speak of. Dunno if I'd call this headphone intimate, it's more a sensation of lacking spaciousness than *having* something that could be called intimate, if you know what I mean. Disappointed here, there's no "magic" in the headstage presentation. I've been spoiled badly by DT880 and K501 (and previously HD580).

For the $69.99 I paid (less shipping) this is an extremely good sound. Wow, another amazing bargain to add to the stable...

P.S. it's amazing how spoiled I've become with soft earpads, between DT880, K501, HD580. Sticky pleather, ewwwww... any recommendations on better earpads that don't change the sound for the worse?
 
Jan 20, 2006 at 1:57 AM Post #3 of 117
LOL!
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... I gotta laugh, because 30 minutes into burn-in the shouty character I heard in the midrange is practically gone, and there are the beginnings of the dynamics and headstage appearing as well. In other words, there's a large difference in the sound now vs. out of the box.

Better give 'em at least 10-15 more hours before making any more comments or I'll really be looking foolish
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. Suffice it to say that the sound is beginning to creep out of the box and into the headphones. I have to laugh at those who believe burn-in is a myth, because the difference from just 30 minutes ago is absolutely drastic. Don't tell me "my ears burned in to the sound"... not in a half hour they didn't.
 
Jan 20, 2006 at 1:57 AM Post #4 of 117
Welcome to Team AKG K2xx
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Jan 20, 2006 at 2:05 AM Post #5 of 117
Quote:

Originally Posted by Julz
Welcome to Team AKG K2xx
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Thanks... if burn-in continues to proceed, I think I could love these cans...
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This is the fastest I've ever (started to) warm up to a pair of cans.
 
Jan 20, 2006 at 2:26 AM Post #6 of 117
I have no problem with the idea that one's ears can burn in within 30 minutes. You can get adjusted to volume really fast, I don't see why you can't get adjusted to frequency volumes relative to each other as well etc.

AKG sells replacement velour pads for $25 or so, they do not seem to change the sound. Some people have purchased them and they do not feel they are significant improvements in terms of reducing sweaty ears. I'm not sure if they said anything on comfort.
 
Jan 20, 2006 at 2:30 AM Post #7 of 117
congrats on the purchase! i really like mine now, especially after having performed some mods on them. for me, the lack of spaciousness made them really hard to listen to and it wasn't until they started opening up that i was able to use them for longer than an hour.
 
Jan 20, 2006 at 2:32 AM Post #8 of 117
Do go on, man!
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Oh, and just btw, I'm a fairly firm believer in warm-up - usually seems to be some 20 minutes for me, until I can really let myself fall into the sound...

Greetings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini

P.S.: Coming from the DT880 and K501 side, the need for some accomodation time to adapt to the sonical characteristics of the K240S would hardly surprise me, either. Personally, before the K240S came in, I had mainly used the DT531 after a longer period of K501 domination - so the Beyerdynamic probably took me over to the groovy side of sound.
 
Jan 20, 2006 at 2:45 AM Post #9 of 117
I'm actually surprised at the relative neutrality... probably about as much boost in the bass as there is recess in the K501. It's actually been easy for me to (start to) adjust to the sound -- nothing like putting on the Portapro, which instantly makes me feel like I'm drowning in bass. The Portapro is just excessive, the K501 is boosted but not overdone.

There's a definite and drastic difference between "straight out of the box" and mere 30 minutes of usage -- I'm positive this is due to the drivers breaking in, as short-term break-in is documented as happening with speakers as well. Never heard quite this much of a change before in a pair of cans.

I don't perceive the bass as loose BTW, although it's not exactly tight either. It's definitely there in a non-neutral quantity, but that's what I was wanting/expecting. The bass quality is pretty good though... nothing spectacular, just good. And these cans rock
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... tried UFO's "Strangers in the Night" (longtime favorite) and these cans rock as well as groove!
 
Jan 20, 2006 at 2:46 AM Post #10 of 117
Very well-written impressions, fewtch. I can really get a good sense of what these are like, especially as you reference many of the qualities that are mentioned in other reviews and go on to explain how you hear them.

Just curious - what kind of cable connector plugs into your headphone? Mini-XLR or 2.5mm?
 
Jan 20, 2006 at 3:16 AM Post #11 of 117
Quote:

Originally Posted by jpelg
Very well-written impressions, fewtch. I can really get a good sense of what these are like, especially as you reference many of the qualities that are mentioned in other reviews and go on to explain how you hear them.

Just curious - what kind of cable connector plugs into your headphone? Mini-XLR or 2.5mm?



Mini-XLR. These cans sound good enough to me that I'd definitely consider a cable upgrade in the future, BTW (but my DT880 and K501 most likely take precedence in that department, unless I could find a DIYer to do it cheap).

Quote:

Originally Posted by K2Grey
AKG sells replacement velour pads for $25 or so, they do not seem to change the sound. Some people have purchased them and they do not feel they are significant improvements in terms of reducing sweaty ears. I'm not sure if they said anything on comfort.


They'd at least be an improvement on stickiness, which started to happen as soon as my ears began sweating. I can put up with hot ears, but hot+sticky is a bad combination.
 
Jan 20, 2006 at 3:27 AM Post #12 of 117
New impression.. mids! Suddenly I noticed how sweet the mids sound on these cans. Liquid, detailed and musical. Now this is an area where the K240S just obliterates the Koss Portapro -- no contest. This is approaching K501 territory IMO, and without the lack of body you often get with those cans.

Count me as a big fan of AKG mids. It's funny, but I was never the biggest fan of midrange until I started hearing AKG headphones... used to have the typical "consumer" preference of some midrange suckout, probably because poorly done midrange is shouty, honky, dry and a whole host of bad things that detract from musical enjoyment. AKG just gets it right.

A+ to AKG for the K240S. IMO even somebody used to ultra-high-end cans could enjoy these... they just have that musicality that can be hard to find in the under-$200 category, with nothing offensively overdone (like aforementioned Portapro's bass, or treble on the cheaper Grados). If I had discovered these when I first came to head-fi, I might have gotten away clean with my wallet intact
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Jan 20, 2006 at 3:59 AM Post #13 of 117
i had a pair of AKG240S and the 271S and the only major thing I noticed different was the bass - the 240S had a lot more of it.

yes, even a few hours of burn in made a huge difference. I heard what you said initially about the mids and the soundstage and was like What!?
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Really, give them a few more hours... like tens more... even the treble comes through after a while. They're no where near as analytical as the DT880s and will never be, bt makes a lot of badly mixed but ultimately good rock songs sound really great. Classical's not that hot though, unless we're talking cello.... in which case they are HOT!
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