AKG K 702 Headphones

For first, about AKG by Harman: (source Wikipedia)

AKG Acoustics (originally Akustische und Kino-Geräte Gesellschaft m.b.H., English: Acoustic and Cinema Equipment) was an acoustics engineering and manufacturing company founded in 1947 by Dr. Rudolf Görike and Ernest Plass, and headquartered in Vienna, Austria. AKG now exists as a brand owned by the South Korean firm Samsung Electronics and managed by Harman International Industries.
The products currently marketed under the AKG brand mostly consist of microphones, headphones, wireless audio systems and related accessories for professional and consumer markets.
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This is FiiO X5 III (3rd. Generation), my first DAP (Digital Audio Player), Excellent DAP & Amplifier.
I would like to test Astell&Kern SR15 A&Norma DAP.
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And coming up with review of these AKG:

First unboxing of AKG K702 with new cable

They are my first serious Headphones. The AKG K702 are a linear headphones. This means a linear sound without emphasizing any frequency. They are very neutral signature. For me this is a PRO and not a cons.
I pilot them with a FiiO X5 3rd Gen and the sound very well!
These are some specifics:
- Dynamic Driver (this means that the speakers themselves have a moving part, which corresponds to a general improvement of the sound).
- 56 Ohm, this means that to get the most out of these Headphones you will need a DAC & AMP Dedicated with minimum 150 mW of power over 60 Ohm to drive they very well (my FiiO X5III in High returns about 480 mWatt on 16 Ohm and about 225 mW on 56 Ohms on the unbalanced output with the 3.5mm Jack, so it is able to give all the potential that these AKG need!) Obviously if you have a smartphone, forget the 200mWatt!
I have an LG G4 and it can barely give >150 mW about 32 Ohm, let alone drive this type of headphones. It returns barely >90 mW of power, come on!
Then if you combine them with MP3s ... For me, now music should only be FLAC because you can not hear people who: "eh, enough that you hear"!
Music is art, my boys! And it must be heard well!. Instead of spending 200 euros for Beats these are much more realistic and enveloping than all the basses that the Beats returns!
Feel them with a good Amplifier and tell me ...
- Sound Range: 10 Hz - 39,800 kHz. They manage to give you the whole spectrum of sound in a linear and precise, the sound-stage is very broad, if not very large compared to the many headphones / earphones I tested.
THE SOUND: In classical music one can perceive the direction of every instrument, sigh, etc. I'm talking about emotions that I feel for the first time when I put them in the head...
I put Vivaldi - The Four Seasons in DSD64 (DSF) and the orchestra started! In the tracks you could hear the soloist breathing, in the violins touching the strings, the harpsichord was distinguished from all the instruments, the violets with all their splendor ... and the soloist then ... It was as if he were in front of you and you immersed in the orchestra!
Now I'm talking about James Bay's Scars (an extract in FLAC 24 bit 88 kHz from the album "Chaos and the Chalm"): James's voice in front of you, realistic and never intrusive; The guitar, the electric one, the organ of a unique naturalness! The battery is another pure realism, the detachment with the dishes and the percussion ... At one point everything mixes, but you can perceive every instrument, the voice among other things, spectacular! One reason why I banished MP3 and M4A from my life, compressed, crap that does not return nothing but compression and no realism if you hear with certain headphones (I do not speak of IEM but series headphones like these). These return any defect of the recording and the source listening, so if you consider buying these headphones: or because you are a sound engineer looking for something cheap but serious! Or because you are demanding in music like me and you know how to pilot them, because this question is important!
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AKG K702 Before arrived...


AKG K702 | FiiO X5 III & Lyn Stanley - The Moonlight Session (Volume One) | DSD128 from NativeDSD


Another shot of FiiO X5 III & AKG K702



About the Sound & Soundstage:
LOWS: Very accurate, detailed, expecially percussions. Are there, but not intrusive, Because they are Reference Class Headphones: I concentrate my review on the mids and the highs.

MIDS: Neutral Tonality, Transparent and Vivid Voice, expecially of Female Voices.
For example, the voice of Lyn Stanley is powerful, vivid and transparent tonality.

HIGHS: Very accurate, precise, airy, open and transparent.

The Soundstage is wide, than you listen any instrument, separated, clean, detailed, expecially in classical, jazz, and blues music, exp. in DSD Formats.
If you have a possibility to a native support of Direct Stream Digital formats you experiment a new dimension of space and stage. My FiiO, for example, supports natively DSD 2.8 MHz & 5,6 MHz (128 times of a CD quality).

If you're not sure whether these are worth the money or not, they are.
 
I've had these for a month or so now and I absolutely love them, I bought these to reference with while producing/mixing tracks down and now I barely use my monitors, they translate really well!
 
They're comfortable to wear and are really quite light, I think they look great and feel like they're really well made (The made in Austria sign is pleasing, and its nice to know that some parts of these are hand-made)
I've not tried them straight out of an iPod but they were powered comfortably by my DAC (NI Komplete Audio 6), I've since purchased an objective 2 amp.
 
With the amp they sound sublime (using FLAC files), the soundstage opened right up and they just sound so real, I use these to listen to everything from Boards of Canada to System of A Down and I couldn't be happier with them, I'm unsure why people say they have no bass because there is plenty of bass, to me it sounds exactly how bass should sound. it is present although not bloated and it is very crisp and quick.
The mids are perfectly present although not quite in your face and the Hi-mids and treble are excellent, very open and pleasing.
 
The instrument seperation is awesome, if the track is decent no frequencies are smeared although they aren't that forgiving and are still very useful tools for people like me who like to produce music and live in an apartment/with girlfriend.  If you're listening to a bad quality file or a poorly mixed track they will definitely let you know, yet they somehow really really compliment stuff that has been mixed well (Hence why I wrote 'Flat yet Still Musical' can't really put it any other way).
 
The burn-in period is quite long, but they still sound great straight away but they just keep getting better and better, even now mine continue to sound better.
I still run Pink, White and Brown Noise through them at a Mid-Hi level for a couple hours a week.
 
Although they might be a bit pricey for somebody who isn't quite into headphones they are well worth the money, definitely recommend them to anybody who wants to hear music how it is supposed to sound, or somebody who wants to be able to trust the mixes they make on their headphones!

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Me: I am a 21 year old student living in a small town in India. I would like to call myself a music enthusiast, rather than an audiophile. I was inspired by music since childhood, and as the time passed, the passion of music grew in me, and that subsequently led me to join Head-Fi. Eventually, I found the pleasure of listening to music mainly by the HD600 and recently, by the seductive LCD2 headphones, and realized the true components of recorded music. I usually like to listen to Indian Classical Music along with Bollywood songs. My main listening genres include classical, vocal, instrumental, jazz and sometimes pop.  With time, my sonic preferences have very much grown. I avidly admire transparency, accuracy along with neutrality, which has led me to review the prestigious K702 headphones.

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Intro:  AKG Acoustics (Akustische und Kino-Geräte G.m.b.H) is well recognized, established & one of the oldest audio brand specializing in the area of audio & headphones. They are headquartered in Vienna, Austria.  The ‘K’ series line is a very popular and long running headphone offering from AKG. They have a specific vision in making their products: Their products should last long and should employ quality engineering for precise and accurate sound reproduction, with state of art cutting edge technology. All the headphones are designed by their engineers in Austria. Few headphones are manufactured in China. The K702 headphones are one of the best headphones AKG has ever produced. These are studio reference headphones. The pair I will reviewing belongs to latest batch & current year manufacturing.
 

 
Founded in 1947 by Dr. Rudolf Görike & Ernst Pless. Originally, their main aim was to provide technical equipment for cinemas: loudspeakers, film projectors and light meters. Their business slowly expanded and AKG started selling car horns, door intercoms, carbon capsules for telephones, headsets and cushion speakers. The first AKG microphone was used by radio stations & Theaters. AKG developed its first patents, the moving coil technology and the principle of mass load membranes, allowing its products to have extended frequency ranges. With the creation of the D12 microphone in 1953, AKG achieved international fame, setting the standard for voice transmissions. Being the world's first dynamic cardioid microphone, it possessed excellent sonic qualities for that time, making its way into radio stations and recording studios from across the world. The product was improved through subsequent upgrades, spanning the famous C414 and C12 microphones. In 1994, AKG was acquired by Harman International Industries, and they later setup AKG USA’s headquarters in California.
 
In 2010, AKG Acoustics received a Grammy Award for the work the company has done in the recording field.
 
 
Specifications of K702:
 

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Let us see what the K702 has got for us,
 
Packaging and Accessories: The K702’s arrive packed inside a cardboard box. Once the box is flipped open, The K702 is seen resting. Nothing fancy, basic accessories included. But each and every part has a premium quality and feel to it.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
List of accessories in the box, which include the following:
 
Headphone Cable: About 2.5 meters long, terminating in 3.5mm.
 
¼” Screw on Converter: To plug in the K702 in the 6.5mm headphone jacks.
 
User Manual: Contains instructions to operate the K702 and other warranty information.

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Design and Build: The K702 has a great build quality. The K702 weights just about 235 grams, one of the lightest headphones by weight available. To achieve this, metal parts are very much avoided, and construction is mainly using high quality fibre, which are light but very strong.
 

 
AKG headphones use suspended headband technique, which has its own advantage. There will be no need for manual adjusting as per head size. They are auto adjusting, and avoids a lot of hassle. The headband has a foam-pleather base with no bumps, very accurately angled. It is attached to an elastic thread which stretches the headband up and down.
 
 

 

 

 
The K702 is a fully open headphone, hence has vents for air intake at either side of headphone. Driver shell rotates about its own axis to fit various types of human skulls.
The whole headphone is supported on by the two parallel outer headband beams, which are flexible. These also carry wiring for opposite driver (right)
 

 
Cable has a very good build. It is straight, flexible and does not get tangled. I could not notice the presence of any microphonics. Plug is straight and gold plated. The stock cable does a great job in transferring signals along with great transparency. The cable on headphone has three pins, and is configured for single end termination; balanced mode mode is not supported.
 

 

 

 

 

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Comfort:  K702’s are very comfortable to wear, even for longer sessions. These feel extremely light on head. Clamp force is very pleasant after few hours of break-in from a new headphone out of box.
 

 
The earpads are made up of velour, are high quality ones & does feel plastic and do not cause irritations or itching. The Space inside the earpads is also great, good amount of depth and good sense of space. These provide very good ventilation for our ears even in hot tropical climates. These ear pads are very firm in nature, which ensures in consistency of delivery in sonic performance, and also in durability of the pads themselves. The earpads can be removed to clean or replace with a simple anti-clockwise horizontal twist.
 

 

 
One of the most comfortable headphones both by design and by weight.

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Sound:  The K702 has a very neutral sonic character. ‘Accuracy, Transparency Details’ are the key terms. The presentation here is in such a way that, emphasis is given on mids and highs for optimal listening, while lows take a backseat.
 

 
Burn in: These improve a lot with time. Let’s say a playback of 50 hours provides audible improvements, along with softening of earpads and a relaxed clamping force.  Bass prior to break-in is slightly more sterile, and eventually it becomes increased in body, Mids will sound more open, the slight peak in upper mids which was present before, eventually flattens out. Highs which more smooth, soundstage opens already excellent, becomes more airy with precise instrument placements.
 
Lows: are very accurate, tight and refined; but doesn’t has a strong impact. Depth is moderate. Less in quantity comparatively. But the K702 is a reference headphones, focus and precise attention is required on mids & highs.
 
Mids: Neutral, very detailed & transparent.  With a appreciably natural tonality.
 
Highs: Very are clear, airy & detailed. Very transparent as per the recording.
 
Soundstage: The K702’s soundstage is very airy, spacious, and fully circular 3D life like soundstage. Imaging is again spatial, with instruments placements very accurately positioned.Component/instruments are clearly and vividly separated and explained in a very detailed manner. According to my observation, these headphones are very neutral, and accurately represent the given recording. Given its transparent nature, I can say the K702’s are not forgiving to poor recordings. Hence these are revealing and resolving.
Special mention here is about K702’s ability to respond.
 
The membrane of K702’s driver is extremely fast & responsive. It is very quick, delivers sound without any delay, almost like a planar magnetic headphones. No other headphone around this price range can compete with the speed of K702. Overall The K702’s offer a reference quality and vastly uncoloured and transparent sonic performance.
 
The K702 headphones are widely used by qualified & experienced professionals across the globe in precise. This may alone vouch for the K702’s highly regarded performance.

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Comparison: Let us take a look at other popular & well performing headphones available in similar price point.
 
Sennheiser HD600: A widely loved and a long standing headphone which extremely reliable and durable. It is fully modular. Sonically it is neutral has a nice quantity bass which is fairly accurate; Mids are forward. Highs are smoothened out with very less grains or harshness. Highs are present in just the right amount to keep the music alive. But when compared to K702, HD600 behaves as more of a musical headphone rather than a reference professional headphone.
 
HD600 indeed does comparatively lack soundstage width & air, but inturn has fuller soundstage. HD600 does not quite retrieve the detail due to its thicker sonic presentation. HD600 is also one of the most comfortable headphones, is also light in weight & ergonomically designed.
 
Beyerdynamic DT880: Again a long standing headphone offering from Beyer. Widely used by professionals across the world. The DT880 will be comparatively inferior in design mechanism; do observe the headbands, wiring connection methods and fixed cable. It also offers slightly lesser comfort due to shallow clearance inside earcups making ears to touch the inner surface. Also the DT880 is not modular, it does not have detachable cables, and hence maybe troublesome in long run.
 
DT880 is also very transparent & accurate in terms of sound quality for professionals aswell as for music hearing. Bass delivery is perfect (for reference) in DT880. But it has a slightly recessed mids and comparatively harsher higher frequencies.
 
The K702 has greater amount of comfort, relaxed clamping force of all, lightest by weight. Going by sonic performance, the K702 has the higher ability in terms of transparency, accuracy, resolving power, detail retrieval, imaging, and soundstage. The only drawback in sound deliverance is in terms of bass, which is a touch less in quantity than optimal. The K702 requires a good headphone amplifier & is relatively difficult to drive.
 
The K702 offers overall better technical sonic performance & can be considered as a reference in the whole comparison.

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Amplification: These K702’s are rated at 62 ohms and are not designed to be power efficient or run by weak sources and hence need a dedicated headphone amplifier for optimal performance delivery. The K702 very much appreciates amplifiers which are revealing or transparent with powerful current output. Ideal amp/dac with a good match for K702 include: Objective2 combo & Schiit M2 Stack. Matrix M-Stage is also proven to have great match with the K702. All these devices are very much affordable and are easily available.
 

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Conclusion:  The K702 headphones are exceptionally performing headphones for the price offered. The K702’s are very neutral & presentation is in such away, and one can easily figure out the flaws in a recording. This type of presentation will be very useful for mastering or critical listening, and utility for musical pleasure is also appreciable.
 
The K702’s will be my favourite pair of headphones for both leisure music listening aswell as for critical listening. K702 is an engineering marvel by AKG engineers, I must admit. These provide superficial performance considering their offering price. These deliver a breathtaking sonic performance. These deliver exactly what is fed into them, thus making the K702’s a technically ideal headphones.
 
I would highly recommend K702 to any person would like to truly realize the components of a recording & hence the music itself. I find the K702 to be a technically far more superior than other headphone available in this price point.
 
Pros:
 
1) Reference Sound quality: Sound presentation here is very neutral, and is very much helpful for critical listening as well as for casual musical pleasure.  K702 is very responsive, with great speed. With sheer amount of transparency & speed, the K702’s are simply one of the best performing headphones one can access get today.
 
2) Build Quality: AKG K702 is very well engineered and designed. It is wisely built, by using efficient materials which provide a very durable life for the headphones.
 
3) Comfort: These are feather light, one of the lightest & most comfortable headphones available.
 
4) Value: AKG K702 puts up an extremely good performance for a fraction of its worthy price. This makes K702 a fantastic purchase for all.
 
Cons:
 
Bass: Is a touch less in body and quantity when compared to other headphones. But going by quality, accuracy or deliverance, it is absolutely fine.
 

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I have been an AKG fan since I started recording back in 2002. The AKG K702 model is a great addition to the lineup and I highly reccomend themto any serious listener.

Fantastic Reference Headphones, fantastic sound clarity and definition. The soundstage is the best! Incredible detailed sound and instruments separation.
Not for everyone. Bass can be a little weak in some tracks. Hard to drive

I have had these for several weeks now. I find them amazing. 
 
Comfort:
A bunch of people have mentioned the bumps on the head band. These drove me mad to the point of wrapping a cloth around the band! But, it is leather, they break in and then are very comfortable. I guess you are expected to own a pair of these for a long time. Now they are broken in, I can spend (and do spend) entire days listening to them whilst coding.
 
Sound In General:
The stage is amazing. They are reference, so the sound is clinical. I can see why some people would find them fatiguing; I drive mine from a little dot mkiii value amp. If I drive them from a solid state amp then the sound is not so easy to listen to. My guess is that these headphones make no effort to improve the sound supplied at all. That is exactly what you want with reference cans!
 
Sound Stage:
It is big, but not stupid. Sometimes you get the idea that you are listening it loudspeakers on your ears, which is slightly annoying. I suspect this is due to the big size of the drivers. Most of the time, it is very much like listening to infinitely accurate speakers in the room. Actually, I use a digital effects unit to add a tiny bit of reverb' quite often, this really makes the listening experience like sitting in a living room listening to top end speakers.
 
Bass:
This is completely accurate. If you want a _lot_ of bass you are going to have to add this yourself, the headphones will not do that. They are reference, boosting the bass would be stupid. I use a sound processor to add bass if I want a lot. They take a lot of bass, but that does need a lot of drive. The amazing thing is that even with stupid quantities of bass, the middle and top remain unaffected (if you use a really good amp).
 
3Wires:
Yes - these do not have balanced input. Do I care - no! Balanced for the steps between processors are a good idea but for these I don't see the point.
 
Build:
These are not beautiful. The are not shiny. If you want to take pictures of yourself holding them and looking cool - you will be disappointed. They are are quite sturdy. I would not take them on the road. If I compare them to the my Sony monitors - they Sony's are much much stronger. 
 
Sound Isolation:
Do not use these as monitors! The leak like nothing else ( apart from maybe K1000s but I don't have that sort of money).
 
 

 
Great reference-quality open-back-headphones, big sound stage, accurate reproduction, detailed.
 
If you have a great recording, you will hear detail you may not have heard before. My digitally recorded version of 4 Seasons, done in  a good sound room, it excellent, you are there.
 
If you have a poor recording, you'll know it.
 
As to the base issue, my pre-amps have built in equalizers and my equalizers have equalizers so its not a show stopper for me. If you crank up the bass, these will bump with the rest of them.
 
 

If you want a natural sound with realistic vocals and soundstage, tight bass, sparkling highs without being fatigued, and a headphone who can reveal the true quality of the recorded music, and comfortable to be worn, K702s will get you there perfectly. Also the cable is detachable, opening up another opportunities to scale up K702's sound quality with cable upgrades.
 
But there is two requirements that is a must for K702s to shine and sing :

1. First, you'll need to invest a really good DAC/amps, started at twice the price or even higher. The higher the better of course, since I myself paired my K702s with Chord Hugo (http://www.moon-audio.com/chord-electronics-hugo-dac-headphone-amp.html) as pure DAC, and added Creek OBH-11 (the little hidden gem) headphone amps to improve the bass section and add more depth. The Sound? For example: Listening to Katy Perry - Spiritual is just Divine 
   
2. Second, you have to be patient
   
    , since K702s also need lot of burn-in time, and changing with time, like a shoes, better worn, better comfort, for K702s, better used (burned-in), the better sound quality you'll get, in my case I hear substantial differences after 1000++ hours of usage

 
If you don't meet those two requirements, I honestly can't recommend K702s for you or it's ok if you can bear ~10% - 15% of K702's true sound while topping up your saving to purchase a really good DAC/amps.
 
On AKG over-ear headphones line, I've tried K550, K701, K702, K702 65th anniversary and for me K702 is the best out of those and since the newer version of K702s are without bumps, the comfort or pain because of those bumps is no longer an issue anymore, now I can wear K702s for hours and as long as I want. Great job AKG 
 
That's all in my humble opinion.
 
Thank you for your time. 

Having never heard open-back headphones before i was looking forward to being able to hear mixes as they should be with accurate stereo representation and i wasn't disappointed.
 
I can only compare the AKG K 702's to a pair of KRK 6400's and studio speakers such as KRK RP6 G2's. Compared to the KRK headphones, as expected the sound reproduction is much more detailed with greater separation between instruments and nothing getting lost in the mix.
 
For mixing on the move or when you don't have access to studio speakers the K 702's are possibly as close as you can get to being able to mix accurately with a nice flat frequency response.
 
For music the K 702's may be a little cold and analytical to some. The lower frequencies are not emphasised so while being clear and well defined, they sound lacking compared to more commercial headphones that i have listened to such as Dr Dre Beats but no more lacking than the KRK headphones. Compared to studio speakers as to be expected with headphones, being just as accurate but lacking in impact.
 
At the time of writing this review i have just been using the headphone output of my macbook pro 13" and my iPhone 4. The headphones are powered well and have enough volume, but i feel they would probably benefit from a good headphone amp, i tries using a Pod XT which gives out a lot more volume than needed but doesn't sound like it improves on overall sound quality.
 
Out of the macbook pro 13" and the iPhone 4 the SQ is slightly better with the iPhone which has led to me ordering an Apogee One, did consider a Fiio e17 but as a sound engineer i prefer the option of having a microphone and instrument input as well.

Fantastic Reference Headphones, fantastic sound clarity and definition. The soundstage is the best! Incredible detailed sound and instruments separation.
Not for everyone. This is a very honest headphone: very analytical sound, bad recordings will sound bad, good recordings will sound fantastic pleasant. Bass can be a little weak in some tracks. Hard to drive, amp needed.

So I have essentially re-p[purchased a pair of K702s, in as much as I previously owned and sold a pair of K701s
 
I had got rid of the K701s because I just wasn't using them much, due to the fact that I'm basically bald and found the bumps on the underside of the headband quite uncomfortable.
 
I came back to these after a very disappointing experience with a pair of Beyerdynamic T90s - I know some folks love them, but they did absolutely nothing for me.
 
With the smooth, non-bumpy headband and removable cable, the K702 is pretty much my perfect set of 'phones.
 
I really rate the build quality and design and find them supremely comfortable now the headband bumps are gone, and they look much better in black.
 
For me, the sound is the perfect balance of lightness of touch and detail through the treble, while having enough 'body' to the mid-range to make the most of any vocal performance. The bass has enough punch to be convincing, but never overblown.  Overall I would call them a very neutral headphone, erring towards the slightly analytical rather than lush sounding.
 
I know many have said they need an extended burn-in period, but I found they sounded great right out of the box, so if they continue to improve, I will be in for even more of a treat.
 
I have found them to be a particularly fine match for another recent purchase, a CEntrance DACport. This fine little class-A USB DAC/Amp has been around since 2010 but is now available for just over half it's original price, which frankly makes it a total steal.  The class-A smoothness of the DACport perhaps works at the perfect balance for cool neutrality of the AKGs.
 
Finally I must just comment of cost and VFM.
 
The K702s can be found brand new from Amazon for £159 ($250) and I picked up a perfect Amazon Warehouse pair for £130 ($200). Frankly this is an amazing value considering either their original price or any of the significant alternatives.
 
So to sum up, great sounding, comfortable, well made and fantastic VFM.  I'm delighted to be back in the AKG fold again and intend to hang on to these until they, or I fall apart.

After burning in the K702 sounds me very similar to my K701
I had a K702 for test 2009

Beautiful detailed and analytical sound provide a well balanced and easy listening experience. This, coupled with a huge soundstage, put these headphones at the top of my list. 

After putting these headphones on and listening to music on them for the first time all I could do was listen and smile. These were absolutely stunning in terms of sound quality everything sounded just right natural and real. every frequency from bass to highs sounded so detailed and proper not too much of anything just the right amount of bass and the right highs and mids. I have never heard music with such an amazing sound stage or unbiased sound. I have heard the HD595s and did not like them but have not compared these to the HD 600 or 650s yet.

Can you have too much of a good thing? Going by the various threads and reviews of the K702s, yes. These cans give you so much detail it is not true. Sounds appear that have never been heard before in the background of familiar tracks. That satisfies some and manages to irritate others. i did not understand that until recently.
 
When I first got my K702s I only had open backed headphones. But the demands of family life and travel meant that my next few purchases were closed backed to limit noise leakage, of which the K702s have loads.
 
I then got used to the deeper more bloomy bass, in your head sound and echo like resonance of closed backed cans.
 
Returning one day after a few months of no use, when home alone to the K702s, I realised how dry then can sound. The lush sound had gone, replaced instead with 'put you in the recording studio' levels of detail and clarity. I kept taking them off because I thought I could hear noises in the house. That was caused by the big sound stage and that detail flooding back again.
 
For me that is superb, But I can understand why for others it is too much.
 

In few words: cheap, great neutral sound, very well built headphones and Soundstage is really great. I love to hear classic music and these were made to be classy. Also love caribbean rythms and let me tell you AKG found a really good detail con percussions and guitars. I found a lack of deep shocking bass, but theres a really defined bass it doesn´t looses any detail. The highest frequencies get some distortion, but the midrange is what they do best.
 
Great headphones, you need a lot of power to run them fine. I use a Schiit Audio Valhalla and a Cambridge Audio MagicDac100. I could say all together do a very descent job!.
 
Cheers,
 
Miguel V.

These are my first pair of AKG headphones and I am very impressed. At first I was worried that the headband would not be comfortable, but surprisinly it is very soft. The sound stage is very large and impressive. I like that an amp is not needed for enjoyable listening, unlike my Hifiman headphones. The headphones are very neutral though, lacks energy. Would recommend because the sound is very clear though.

I like the AKG k702, they are pleasant to listen to, do a good job of positioning, very airy and open.  Sound is very balanced for the most part, but could use a little more bass (might also be my amp, I don't think my littledot has enough power for these or the hd800s)
 
I like them 99.7% as much as my HD800s (out of this source) if that gives you any hint!

Admittedly, I may be a bit overawed by these; they reproduce sound so much better than what I had been using; seems I can hear more with these than with the other headphones I had. I must further admit that I enjoy listening critically and the music is only sometimes incidental to me. Very pleased, of course, with my purchase; wouldn't have bought them otherwise.

And yet, of every headphone I've ever owned, heard, lived with, worked with...you name it at a sane price range, these are the ones that time and time and again I come back to when I'm testing out new gear.  That should basically say it all.  When I want to know what, on average, a new DAC or amp (especially a new amp) is worth, these are the first cans I run through them.  Because if it can do these justice, it's looking good for pretty much every other hard-to-drive can in my inventory (and there are a few).  I also use these pretty much exclusively for tracking and mobile editing. 
 
And as much as I want to malign their lack of apparent musicality, I nevertheless end up using them for my own personal listening pleasure more often then I'd like to admit (which may just have something to do with my being used to how they sound, but we'll leave that aside for the moment).  I'm the kind of person who likes neutrality, detail retrieval and subtlety.  Given that I lack a solid tube HPA at the moment, it may well be there that there is warmth and musicality lurking in these yet, but given that, on average, my choice for high-end listening is usually between these and HD-650s, I usually end up choosing these because at the end of the day I feel like I'm being hoodwinked, bamboozled by the Senns.  So many of the tracks I know and love I've heard as studio masters running through studio monitors.  I know what they were, for all intents and purposes "supposed" to sound like.  And, with that context, they never sound the way they "should" for me quite like they do with K702s.  For 200 bucks street, all other qualms aside, that's a mighty huge achievement.