Introduction
I have owned these headphones for four years now. These were my first decent pair that I researched before buying. Before this I had just bought inexpensive headphones that happened to be in the shop at the time or used ones that were bundled with something. For me, the £80 (approximately) that I paid for them was a huge leap and they were basically my introduction to this hobby. As such, it pains me to give them three and a half stars as I am fond of them, however they have a flaw that not all people will necessarily encounter but it detracts from them significantly for me.
 
Notes
As this headphone has been around for some time, there is no shortage of photographs and descriptions of what is included, so I have forgone that part of the review. I will say that despite the plastic build mentioned by others, I have had no issues with durability. My original earpads are also in good condition despite many hours of use contrary to a couple of complaints I have found elsewhere on the internet about the pads cracking and the foam breaking apart. YMMV in this regard.
 
I have spent the majority of my time using the vinyl pads as de-fluffing the velour pads became tiresome. With this particular headphone, I personally found the sound differences from pad to pad to be relatively minor unlike with a closed back headset which I own where the sound changes completely between pads.
 
I purchased these headphones as a general purpose headphone. My hearing is quite sensitive, so the majority of my listening has been done at what many consider to be low volume. I have used them for music listening, movies, gaming and with guitar multi-effects units for silent practice. As far as sources go, I have used them in conjunction mostly with my PC soundcard which is a Sound Blaster Omni 5.1 surround (USB). I have also used them with a Mixamp Pro Gen 2, a Fiio X1, (briefly with) a Little Dot Mkiii (I'm currently awaiting its return) and my Galaxy S4. I feel the Galaxy S4 and perhaps even the X1 wasn't bringing out the best they have to offer. Despite their low impedance I found that they required only very slightly lower volume settings than the HD600s for the same perceived volume. As they are generally described as a neutral sounding headphone I will compare aspects of them to the Sennheiser HD600 as this seems to be the headphone most people use as a reference for neutral (with a hint of warmth).
 
Review
The first thing that struck me when I first used these was how pristine the sound was in comparison to a budget headset I had been using. At the time I was playing Killzone 3 and was in an area where it was snowing. I remember hearing the crunch of snow underneath my character's feet and how lifelike it sounded. I then switched back to the headset and comparatively it sounded as if it was being muffled under a pillow. I then decided to listen to some music.
 
Despite the huge improvement in clarity compared to what I was used to, they never sound harsh or sibilant. They will however expose a poor recording. They are brutally honest and will not sugar coat a recording unlike the HD 600s which are quite forgiving. I would definitely say they sound more like an open headphone despite their semi-open categorisation. Overall I would say it has a leaner sound in comparison to the HD 600s which is more full bodied, but I certainly wouldn't call them bright.
 
No one frequency band interferes with another and it is easy to follow individual istruments. The bass is taut and detailed, though slightly aloof. The HD 600s by comparison immerse you in its bass whereas you never feel like you are being engulfed in the same way with the K240 MKiis. While they can reproduce some sub bass, they don't seem to dig quite as deep as the HD600s. The mids are this headphone's biggest strength. Somehow they manage to be incredibly detailed and textured whilst simultaneously warm and smooth. I'm not sure how they manage to acheive this as I would have thought you'd have to trade-off warmth and smoothness for detail and texture, but apparently not. I feel that the highs may be slightly rolled off, but for me this isn't to the detriment of the headphones. There is enough up top that you don't feel it's missing but it never becomes unpleasant. This is a headphone that is very easy to listen to for hours on end. One thing that contributes to this can be viewed either as a pro or as a con. They aren't the punchiest headphone in terms of dynamics.
 
Here is the negative part. The positioning of audio cues is completely different to any of the other heaphones I have subsequently tried. In video games for example, this manifests itself by sounds that should be coming in from 45 degrees off centre coming in from somewhere around 50-55 degrees. In music, hard panned sounds actually sound as if they are coming from slightly behind me. Music that has panning effects where a sound moves from left to right can occasionally sound as if it is passing behind my head. With certain recordings it can actually make it sound as if the centre instrument/vocal is wider than it should be. Similarly, in recordings where there is nothing dead centre but two sounds slightly left and right of centre, it can create an empty sounding spot in centre where in other headphones the left and right share the centre with just a bit of stereo separation. This makes sparse sounding recordings sound incredibly sparse. On the other hand, this does make it incredibly easy to isolate instruments and follow them individually. The one issue this does present is that music isn't as cohesive as it is on the HD600s. So it is a plus for analysing music, but detracts from musicality and identifying directional cues in video games.
 
It took me a long time to identify what the problem is, but I think it is due to the way the headphones sit on my head in relation to my ears. Due to the small earcups, to accommodate the height of my ears I must have the tallest part of my ear dead centre (even then my ears touch top and bottom). This means that the driver sits further towards the back of my head instead of being positioned directly over my ear canal. Also, due to the lack of clamping force, I think the earcups sit in a position that don't angle the drivers towards my ear canal. Perhaps this wouldn't be an issue at higher listening volumes where more sound fills the earcups and makes the sound less directional (I'm speculating here), but for me personally it is an issue as I don't enjoy listening at high volume.
 
I have decided to give my K240 Mkiis to my mother as she is much less critical of the problems I have with them and positioning of audio cues is not as important for her usage. I've not measured her ears but it may not even be an issue for her if the cups fit her ears better than they do mine. Despite its many strengths, since becoming aware of the problems I have with this pair of headphones they are all I notice now when using them. I would love to try another AKG headphone in future (I'm interested in the K712 Pro) based on the strengths of this one, but I would certainly need to try before I buy.
 
I hope someone finds this review valuable.

Still use it as my main pair, currently trying to find a replacement. But totally happy with my choice. Generally the treble is lacking and it was overall the audio quality was a downgrade from my previous set of cans which was the Grado SR80i but the high level of comfort totally won me over. 

Like many others, it seems, these are my first pair of good headphones. Going into my audio engineering college program, I needed a pair of headphones and these were one of the ones they recommended. They looked amazing, and were guaranteed to be the best pair of headphones I'd heard, so I got them!
 
What's in the box? You get the cans, two sets of pads (one pleather, one velour), two cords (one long straight one, and one coiled) with gold-plated 1/4" jacks, a gold-plated 1/8" screw-on adapter, and a large AKG sticker ().
 
How do they feel? In a word: comfortable! After using plenty of $30 Sony headphones with terrible plastic headbands that start to hurt like hell after 20 minutes, wearing these AKGs was such a pleasure. I'm able to wear the K240 for as long as I want or need to. After using both, I've decided I like the velour pads more than the pleather. I have a pretty small head and the velour pads seem to be a tiny bit thicker, which results in a more snug fit for me. That said, the way these are made, I imagine anyone would find these comfortable and well-fitting. The headband is kind of hard to describe in words, but it honestly doesn't even feel like there's anything on top of your head, which is the biggest contribution to their comfort.
 
Regarding portability. . . Since I use my K240 for school as well as leisure, they see plenty of travel on a daily basis. This is where these headphones fall a bit short. The headband is absolutely amazing when it's on your head, but it definitely wasn't built to sit around your neck. In reality, whenever I take these headphones with me, I've got them on my ears. The semi-open backs enable to me to hear what's going on around me just fine, and it's more comfortable to have them on than around your neck. If you're looking for a pair of on-the-go headphones, these are sadly not for you. However, taking them from place-to-place isn't such a bad experience.
 
What's the sound like? The mids and highs really shine through with this headphone. I find that female vocals especially sound really great. The stereo spread is good and gives you a good soundstage. If you haven't had a pair of decent cans before, yes it's true, you will start hearing parts of songs you may not have noticed before. It's a great feeling, and after listening to music on these for a while you'll start to feel like you're finally listening to music the way it's supposed to be heard. The sound isn't very fatiguing either, but I guess that's a personal thing. I find that I can listen to music longer on these than any other headphone I've tried in the past before feeling like I need a break.
 
Bass heads should probably look elsewhere, but that's not to say these don't deliver any bass at all. I find the low end to be. . . "appropriate." Yes, there are moments where I wish there was a bit more punch and impact, but the sound can be very warm depending on what you're listening to. A slight boost in the low end of your EQ can help warm it up to suit your needs. If you're totally into genres like dubstep, hip hop, or other heavily bass-oriented music, you might find these frustrating at times. That said, I've listened to everything from acoustic to electronic to drone metal on these and it's all sounded great.
 
Perhaps the biggest hurdle with the sound is being able to drive it. Since I'm still somewhat of a newbie, I don't have a headphone amplifier yet. Plugging the K240 directly into your iPhone will not give you amazing results. You'll have the volume at max and it won't be quiet, but it definitely won't be loud. I have a stereo receiver at home, and plugged into that the K240 really comes to life. If you've got a headphone desktop or portable amp, you're set. If you don't have any kind of amplifier to accompany these, you'll only get half of what they have to offer. I would say you probably don't need anything too intense to power these things well, and there are some pretty cheap entry-level amplifiers that I expect will work fine.
 
Are they worth it? For $175-$300, depending on where you find them, I'd say these are a good deal. I actually spent more than I probably should have on mine. I got them for ~$280, but with a lifetime parts and labour warranty (which I will likely never use, bleh). Even at that price, I consider it money well spent, because these headphones instantly got me interested in the audiophilia scene.
 
The bottom line is that this should be read as a success story. I love these cans and hope that this review encourages another aspiring audiophile to choose these as their entry headphone.

After getting a FiiO e10, to bypass the crappy onboard sound on my computer, I was looking for some headphones to replace my Sennheiser HD485's and to kind of justify the purchase of the DAC/amp. After perusing the forums I noticed a trend about the AKG 240's, they pop up only now and then as a recommendation, but, at the same time, they seem to be consensually regarded as solid headphone. This sparked my interest  as some other more recommended models (such as the M50) seem to be cast in a hype light, users generally usually either really like them or have a special dislike for them. So what makes them such consensual entry level cans?

I guess comfort play a big part in this and, in my view, these headphones are very comfortable. They are light and the pads are big, perfectly circumaural. The adjustment mechanism is seamless, as you just slide them on your head and that is it, no further specific adjustments are needed. My head, apparently, is rather small and the headband barely slides along the rails, so I can foresee some adjustment for people with smallish size heads, as the phones won't sit properly and might slide off with movement. In my experience they do slide off a bit with sudden or continuous movement especially in a downwards motion, such as reading or writing.

Now about the sound, the first I noticed when hearing them was that it has a much classier bass than the HD 485, which has a very boomy bass, it might not be as strong as the Sennheiser but I feel that it is quite powerful, without interfering in the mid range, very contained especially upon comparison with the HD 485's.

As for the mids, clear, forward and engaging. To my untrained ears, they seem very smooth and detailed.

If I were to stop here considering I was looking for a headphone purely for watching films, it would be a, as our eastern friend might have said, 'great success'! Particularly if you factor in the generous vertical soudstage, IMO, it didn't feel very 3-dimensional though. Having said that, I also wanted an all-round musical headphone.

But when it comes to highs, again in my (beginner's) experience they seem to cutoff very early (if there's one thing these headphones are not is harsh). This does not let you engage in some particular music genres, such some types of jazz and classical. But the fact these headphones are darker also has a flip side as I can have long music sessions without fatigue, or just have the music playing as background for hours and hours. The only music that actually did not sound good to me through these was MGMT, I don't know why exactly but some of the songs came through as very distorted.

I have to mention I am bit puzzled as to why these are considered studio headphones. Although they are detailed they seem to be lacking on the treble department. I can see them being great at radio stations for example, but not for mastering sound. This is not in itself a bad thing, I for one, would label them as detailed fatigue free headphones. And as such, I can see as it as consensual quality entry level headphone. You don't get the full spectrum of sound , but you get hours of enjoyable music listening (and movie watching) in a comfortable package, and I believe it is indeed a nice first 'good' headphone, because of its particular signature I now have a clearer idea of the kind of sound I want to try next. From reading the forums I am thinking a Grado or Grado-like headphone along with the AKG K240 would make a great 'budding audiophile' pairing, and provide a bit of insight to what sound you might want from your headphones.

I paid 110 euros ($140) for these, but as I am comfortable with the pleather (the velvet pads are still in the box) I might as well could have bought the Studio version which is cheaper. I definitely recommend the 240's as a starting point - wish I could have payed a little bit less though (who doesn't ).

The headphones have had about 200 hours of use, I did not notice any significant effects of burn-in (which was done mostly with me listening to music ), but then again I was not looking for them.

This is my first review and I am not audiophile, so pardon in advance for any (un)technicalities and/or ranting.  Hope you enjoyed it and that it is of some use. Leave me a comment below.

I see a lot of reviews on here saying that they are "super smooth" in the mid range... Well I will tell you, the mid range is very interesting on these headphones... But it is definitely harsh. I always need to roll the volume back to accommodate this one peak in the mid range which dominates the spectrum. Don't get me wrong, they sound very exciting and fun to listen to, especially for music with reverbs. They show up due to the brightness. Bass is lacking, as is obviously inherent in using the term "bright". The best impression I can give is that they have a sort of "analog drive" to them which is very 70's sounding, and the I have a feeling that the mark 1's would have the better, more pleasing version of this. What I am saying is that in this sort of bright classic sound, an older original pair would hopefully not have the sort of sterility of a modern pair. 
 
I believe these were originally found in studios for musicians to perform with, and that makes sense, because they are very "exciting" sounding... They make your performance sound a bit more golden. DEFINITELY not neutral, as some reviewers have been saying. Neutrality to me would mean that each instrument coming through the speakers would be indiscernible from the actual real-life instrument. A truly neutral pair of headphones would give the impression that musicians were performing in the same room as you. This is not the case with the K240's. Physically, they are very comfortable but sound-wise, they could hurt your ears easily at. They are probably some of the more fatiguing headphones out there. That being said, even after 5 years of use I am finally putting them through an intentional burn-in period of loud use in hopes of softening them up.
 
Another consideration is their structural build... You would think that the headband would be a hollow tube with a wire through it, connecting the two earpieces... This is not the case. The headband itself acts as the bridge between speakers. The speakers are soldered to each end. At each cup, the headband splits open in sort of a "Y", which rests in a little plastic bed, and gets clamped in position between the speaker and the little round plastic piece with the logo on it. On the ends of this "Y" are the speaker connections, soldered. Don't get me wrong, I think the headband is really cool and a brilliant bit of design, if I can say that prefaced with the fact that I do not have a broad idea of what is "good" design - the headband is not actually in itself at fault. The problem is that the wire connections WILL break with use. The plastic beds on the "Y" will crack from twisting, leaving the cups to twist a little more than they should. When they bust loose like this, it leaves the extremely thin wires inside prone to constant bending and eventual snapping. I had to fix mine by taking them apart, gorilla gluing the plastic pieces back together, leaving it for 24 hours, then soldering the connections back on. It's just a design flaw which I encountered after about 5 years of ownership.
 
Hope this serves as a cautionary tale. By all means, I encourage you to buy these headphones, because they are a lot of fun, have an interesting sound, and will give you years of enjoyment. Not to mention being a staple in recording studios. I am just saying, make sure to send your warranty card in, because with this design, it is only a matter of time before the damage I mentioned becomes present. Thanks for reading.
 
JMak

These were my first pair of quality headphones. and overall, I find them to be very good.
 
They are very comfortable, and they come with 2 different set of earpads, pleather and fabric. It also comes with a coiled cord along with a straight cord, which allows for flexibilty in different situations.
 
After finally being able to compare the quality of the 240's versus A700's and XB500's, i have found the errors in my previous review. The 240 actually has a rather nice amount of bass so most songs have the kick they need. For People who enjoy the Hearing Guitars scream or enjoy soothing vocals, these are a great pair for you. Even for the Heavy Metal, Headbangers; there's enough bass for you to rock your head to screeching guitars and lose your mind.
 
Of course these go well with Pop music too. Since pop relies mostly on vocals and mids, these help accentuate the best part of the song. Jazz also plays along with these rather nicely, mostly due to the clean, crisp, sound created by the semi-open design. The sound stage is above average but nothing mind blowing.
 
Some tips and info for new audiophiles though:
semi-open does leak quite a bit of sound, so it could be a disturbance to others.
An amp might be needed, for it is rather quiet.
Not the most portable pair. Possible, but rather bulky.

Some of the cleanest mids you'll get for the price point. Possibly the perfect entry-level cans for music lovers who want a neutral sound signature.
 
Bear in mind that most AKG cans are not bass-centric. For bassheads, the K240s may turn you off. Surprisingly, I've grown accustomed to the lightweight bass that the K240's offer. Sure, its bass may be overly mild, but you'll hear the rest of the soundscape with a clarity you will not expect. I listen to these cans with the Cowon J3 which appear to give the K240's more "oomph". However, if you want the kind of "punchy bass" that audiophiles talk about, look elsewhere. 
 
Tracks observed:
Omnia - The Fusion
Dash Berlin - When You Were Around 
 
Outside of bass, the K240's are amazing. I fell in love with the mids, especially after the first month of burn-in. When I introduced the K240s to Adele, it immediately replicated the songstress's warm register with ease. Of course, the K240's struggled with Whitney's five-octave range, but it wasn't too shabby really. It was at this point that I understood the K240's. The K240's manouvres soundscapes with steady agility, and uses that same technique to tackle both the low and high registers.
 
Tracks observed:
Adele - Someone Like You
Whitney - I Have Nothing
Whitney - I Will Always Love You
 
One other thing I'd comment on is that these headphones are miraculously comfortable. After 2 hours of usage, I almost forgot I have them on. They are surprisingly lightweight.
 
Note that the K240's require a driver. DO NOT pair them with your smartphone. I have owned them for a year and mostly pair them with the Xonar Essence STX and Cowon J3. My library is mostly FLAC which I play on a non-EQed Foobar2000.

I am new to higher end headphones, so I might not know all the correct wording, but I will do my best. Before I got these AKG's, my headphones where a set of Bose Tri-Ports, a old set of Realistic  on ear phones made by Koss, and a inear set of Pure Sound 8mm's. These AKG's are fantastic. Great definition and clariety. I do not like overpowering bass, and these don't have it. I feel it is about perfect.Highs are clear without being harsh. Mids are amazing, i love guitar sound from these. sound incredable. same with piano. with the velour pads, my ears touched the inside pad. i took p strip of napkin and rolled it up and stuffed it under the back half of the pad. not to much or it could pull off the pad. it raised the pad enough i  no longer touch the side. problem solved. i listen to all kinds of music, but since i got these, i spend more time listening to jazz, smooth jazz, and classical. they sound so amazing through them. of course all music does. well i do not listen to metal or rap, so i don't know about them. when i first got them i used a Fiio E6. i then got a Fiio E11. drives them just fine. as a source i use a Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0. i want to start using a netbook for music and get a dac. but i need to find info on how using those work. ( any recomended reading on that? book, website, whatever.) as you can tell, this is my first review. any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
as for the AKG's, get it.
 
thanks for reading,
 
Bill

First off, I am by no standards a veteran audiophile: I have only, within the last half-year, started my journey into the world of hifi sound.
 
To begin - the positives. The mids were stunning, a quality that extended up through the highs. The bass, some call it lacking and some plenty, was just right for me, I call it proper.
 
Like the reviewer above me, I also found the shallow cups a bit uncomfortable, but it was nothing unmanageable. Their size is fine for home use, but portable use isn't really practical.
 
The sound stage and instrument seperation is wonderful. I regularly listen to my favorite classical pieces over and over and just focus on certain instruments each time.

Well that's my two cents, but everyone likes their own sound, so if you think the k240 mkii's are for you, go for it! If you don't like them you can always put them up on the forums here and odds are someone will buy them.

Review on the AKG K240 MK. II

It's been a while since I wrote up a review, and well...I'm back again with another write up! 
 
 

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Introduction

Lately, I've been on the prowl for a pair of headphones that offer the open/semi-open back design, as I was curious about these types of headphones. Coming from a pair of V-Moda M100's, I was really after a quality alternative to the closed-back, bassy headphones. A wide soundstage and a clean sound has been something I like to look for when it comes to buying an audio product, whether it be an amp or a pair of IEMs/Headphones. I was talking to a friend a while back, and I've been recommended to check out the AKG range, in which I did, and I was pretty happy with what I had found! If I had the cash, I'd happily fork it out for a pair of AKG Q/K 701/702, but sadly, I only wanted to play around with only approx. $200 this time round, so the AKG K240 MK. II were my pick of choice. But thankfully I didn't follow the crowd and grab a pair of Q/K 701/702, because these K240's are a stunner of a deal! They were a pair of cans that had relatively good reviews here, on Head-Fi, as well appealing to my eyes with their detachable mini-XLR to 3.5mm cable, so from there, I quickly searched around for a local seller in Australia.
 
Maybe after a week or so of hunting, I came across this store that goes by the name of, Store DJ. I visited their website to have a browse around for what else they might have, and to my surprise, they had quite a wide range of headphones! It was an easy site to look around, and seeing that they were local to me (Melbourne), I decided to just pick up the phone and give them a call to get a hold of these cans to save me from the hassle of dealing with the wait of the emailing process. I surely did not make a wrong decision when I decided to call these guys up, because their service was pretty awesome, I'll give you that. They were very friendly to deal with, and had my stuff shipped out momentarily after receiving my bank transfer as a form of payment. The only hiccup we had here, was the fact that my payment was sent just before the weekend, so I kind of had to wait off the weekend as they weren't working to be able to send my product off, but that doesn't really matter, haha. 
 
I know in Melbourne, Australia, us Head-Fi'ers have a few local audio stores, so if you guys don't already know about Store DJ, check them out, because I haven't heard of them before, but after my encounter, I'll recommend them to any one of you Melbournians who are in need of headphones. They have quite a lot, as I had mentioned earlier. 

 
Oh, and I forgot to mention. Free shipping, guys! The process was pretty swift, and we all love free shipping, haha.
 
Here are the links to the products:
The AKG K240 Mk. II Headphones - https://www.storedj.com.au/products/AKG-K240MKII
The UDG Hard-Shell Case - https://www.storedj.com.au/products/UDG-U8200BL
 
 
Something else that I aimed to achieve from buying these headphones, is that I wanted to make a neutral & natural sounding rig, consisting of my C5, which I find is neutral, and this AKG headphone, which many state to have a "natural" sound.
 
Anyways, enough of my background on these headphones, and now, it's time to get to my pictorial unboxing!
 

 
 

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Unboxing

Here's a few pictures I took whilst I did my quick unboxing of the product, and apologies for not having proper lighting, as it was a rainy day, and so  I had to do the photographing inside the house. 
(All photos from this unboxing/review were taken with a Nikon L310)
 

The beast in it's plastic wrapping!

The back of the box

Opened box!

What is found inside the box

Plastic wrapped velour pads! (Yay!)

Unwrapped, naked, velour/velvet pads

Some literature for you to read, and a huge sticker to stamp on your forehead

Coiled cable with 3.5mm to 6.3mm adapter

Stripped of it's plastic exterior packaging (With 6.3mm adapter ON)

Now, with it's 6.3mm adapter OFF

 

The beast, itself! (With it's super long straight cable)

Here's a headphone case I also picked up from Store DJ to conceal my K240's

Pretty quality case, I'd say. Very good hard case.

Here's more angles of it

What's found inside the case - More literature, and a remoavable zip compartment

The AKG's in the case! (Just need to tuck in the mini-XLR connector socket of the headphones, and you'll be set!
 
So, as you can see, the headphones come in your typical cardboard box, but it does come with a fair amount of accessories, so I was satisfied with that.
 
Now..time to review this pair of headphones!
 
 

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Review

 

Specifications

I'll start off with the specs for those who are interested.
 
(I couldn't find much specifications on the internet in regards to these headphones, but this was the best I could find)
 
I should mention, that through this review, I used a rig, which includes: The iBasso DX50 as the source and the JDS Labs C5 as the amp (being a 55 ohm headphone, I felt an amp was necessary to get the best out of them).
 

Build Quality & Design/Comfort Factor

Build Quality

To start things off, these headphones are of alright build quality. Coming from a pair of V-Moda M100's, I'll say now that my opinion on the build might be rather bias in a way, but I will try my best not to
 
Putting the plastic complaints aside, I found these headphones to be of decent build. Although being made of plastic, they also feature some metal accents to their structure, as well as a nice leather/pleather/faux leather headband. They do feel somewhat sturdy in the hand, and would probably last a few light drops, before cracks and tears will appear; but obviously, I'll do my best not to let any of that happen
 

Coiled cable being photogenic. 

Coiled cable attached to the headphones
 

The included cables appear to be very durable, as they are thick, and have a strong, rubber-coating to protect them from the external environment. From the mini-XLR male plug, to the 3.5mm jack; both are very standard in terms of appearance, but are very solid when it comes to build. Not to mention, the strain relief on the jacks are a very nice touch, as the design of these are made to endure a lot of bending! Although these cables feel slightly hard, they are still, nevertheless, flexible. I am currently using the coil cable, and I do like how it's tightly wound, although many will argue otherwise. 
 

There, you can slightly see the recessed, 3-pin mini-XLR port

Mini-XLR connected the port on the headphones

 
The pleather/leather/faux leather earpads that came with the headphones, along with the velour pads, have a very quality form and feel factor. Very soft in the hands, and on the ears, and I found the velour pads to be of exceptionally high quality materials. 
 


 
There's not much for me to say about the build, other than that, so I'll continue on with the Design Factor.
 

Design/Comfort Factor

 


 

Design...These cans definitely have your usual "AKG" look, which is not a bad thing, because I do support this type of unique design. The headband, and the cabling from one cup to the other, is done very discretely, so to speak, which makes this headphone look somewhat modern, as well as having a touch of vintage. The way in which AKG made the little holes, encircling the centre of the ear cup, was a nice touch to the "semi-open" style. Much better than a massive, gaping hole with grills, although I too, like that design also. With the addition of the metal accented circle around these little holes, it adds a bit of coloration to the overall appearance of the K240's - otherwise, these headphones would be very monotonal in terms of colour, and that wouldn't make for a very interesting design. 
 
The headband, although does not contain any padding or made of real leather (not too sure on this one), still gives this headphone a nice sleek look and feel. Aside from not being padded, the headband offers great auto-adjusted comfort when the headphones are worn, so all is good when it comes to this. 
 

Bird's Eye View of the headband

Side-View of the headband (Sorry for the dust particles that can be seen! Was hoping my camera wouldn't pick that up, haha)
 
Being an over-ear headphone, these are bound to offer extreme comfort - in which they do. The earpads, being my favourite part about the headphones (more so, the velour pads), were easily found to be comfortable for hour-long listening periods. 
 
As said in my Build Quality talk, it is very well made, in terms of design AND comfort. Looks great, and feels great. I especially appreciate the added velour pads. Soft and extremely comfortable, and also contributes to the improvement in sound quality, is indeed, a very good bonus. The faux leather/leather/pleather earpads were also soft and comfortable, were no match to the velour pads.
 
Now, the cable. Very simple, yet effective design. Looks elegant as can be, yet functions just as well as any other high quality cable. Solid as well as being flexible, was something I really liked about the stock cables. They feel nice in the hand, and do not feel like they will break after a short period of usage. 
 
Overall, under this sub-topic, I was very happy with the build (for most parts), the quirky design structure, and the amazing comfort. Really is a headphone to consider when you're after a fancy looking pair, or just want something that sounds classy. Speaking of which, time to tell you guys what I thought about its sound quality!
 
 

Sound Quality

Here's the part where I struggle to use "audiophile" terminology to make my best attempt at telling you guys what you should expect from these headphones
 

 
In short, I'll say these headphones sound very natural and spacious, as well as being very clean and clear, due to its semi-open back design, in which it allows a lot of air flow into the holes on the side of the ear cups. They have a very good melodic rhythm and tonality, as well as having distinguishable layering within the space between each instrument. Somewhat, these K240's will pass for being analytical sounding, as they are very transparent, and the bass is not all up in your face, and not only that, but the resolution of the sound is pretty astounding. 
 
Before I bought these, I always feared that any open/semi-open back headphones would offer a thin mid range, but I was dead wrong in that respect.
 
Instead of explaining it all here, I will do it under each range (Lows/Mids/Highs) below...
 

Lows

To me, right off the bat, I found the low range to be rather lacking than usual. It just isn't there, but this does not necessarily mean it's a bad thing. I am aware there are people out there who are not a fan of bassy headphones, so these might be for them. Although, the sub-bass is almost completely depleted, the soft bass-punch is, and it is pretty mellow. Probably not the headphones for bassheads, but it will do for any listener who want to not be fatigued after hours on end. Its entire low frequency is just very subtle, so it'll assure you will not be having any headaches from the pounding bass, of let's say, the M100's. There's not much to speak about this range, as like I said just then, it's kind of "missing". 
 
Since I'm coming off from a pair of bass monstrosity, aka, the M100's, I was easily not impressed by what the AKG attempted to pump out, as "bass". In saying so, this did not mean I was just going to let myself down with these bass-lacking cans. I was kind of happy that I chose a pair of headphones that sound different from the M100's, because that was my intention in looking for a pair like these. Obviously, being well adjusted to the M100's, it was expected of me to find some way to bass boost these AKG's to give them a better kick than what they offered. This was where my JDS Labs C5 comes in, because that neutral sounding amp houses a Bass Boost switch, which I used with these K240's, and guess what? My K240's now sound even sweeter with that "oomph" from the bass boost. It wasn't too boomy, but it just gave the AKG's the life it had required to fully satisfy me. 
 
Some might be wondering by now, why I named this review, "The Definition of Tranquility", and it is really kind of because of the lows which make me say the sound gives the appearance of tranquility. Just so free of harshness, and smooth (without the boost of an amplifier)..especially the mids which I will now go on to. 
 

Mids

This is where these K240's really shine. Their thick, full-sounding, rich and creamy mids is where it is at! AKG totally did it right when they came to this frequency range. (Kudos to AKG)
 
Well, it should be known that the mid range of these cans perform flawlessly! It is just so smooth, and natural, it really puts you in the mood, like you were listening to your artists singing in an theatrical scenery. Very lively sounding, and it was a good thing, I was wrong about the mid range, when I said it might be lacking. For me, especially with R&B singers, and more so, female vocalists, sound superb with these headphones. The details within the vocal are brought out, and well textured, such as to when you hear the rasp in the singer's voice, or when they just finish the ending of a word, you'll pretty much hear these minor feats. But vocals is not just the only thing it brings out. The acoustics within a track is much more natural sounding. It doesn't sound too thin and metallic, but it does give the "strumming" experience. I'm not too sure if I'm making sense there, but what I mean in simple form, is that the layering is done right, so you'll hear the separation between each instrument/string being plucked, and hence, it doesn't sound all clustered together. Those were the few things that really stood out to me. 
 
To be full-sounding is one thing, but to flow is another. And well, these AKG's do just that. They allow the mids to flow freely, and that's what really gives the headphones an edge in smoothness. 
 

Highs

Sparkle, sparkle! Because that's exactly what the high frequency range of the K240's do. They do make these headphones sound bright, and that is a good thing for me, because that's the type of sound I prefer. A touch of glimmer, and it sounds fresh as a pine. The cymbal clashes with these headphones sound so crisp, it would be hard for one to not resist. Besides that, I'm not too sure what else could be discussed here, as what I planned to say, was mentioned above, and really, all that should be noted about the highs, is that these headphones are relatively treble-happy, so bright in that case, and that's all there is to it for me. 
 
 

Brief Comparison to the V-Moda M100

 
Alrighty...Here's something I wasn't originally going to do, but because the C5 gave the K240's such a good boost in bass, that I felt it was alright to compare these to the basshead's, and my beloved, V-Moda M100's. 
 

 

Sound Quality

Now that the bass is comparable, let's begin with the lows.
 

Lows

Well, this is easy. This round goes straight to the M-100's, because there isn't anything to compare it to. The bass of the M100's just hits so hard, with such texture and clarity, and no muffle; it really isn't worth comparing to the AKG's attempt at having a touch of bass.
 
Round Winner: V-Moda M100
 

Mids

This is can be a close battle, although the K240's mids are just much more detailed, and rich in thickness, that it in a way, can make the M100's sound a bit thin and of less cleanliness. 
 
Round Winner: AKG K240 MK. II
 

Highs

Hmm...both cans are great performers when it comes to refreshing highs, and to be honest, I can't exactly put my finger on choosing between these two. I'm sure most will say the AKG's will take the winning in this category, but I'm still on the fence, so I'll throw this down as a tie. 
 
Round Winner: AKG K240 MK. II & V-Moda M100
 

Brief Overview

So in the end, I'd say it really comes down to whether you'd want a "house party"/basshead sound (M100), where the experience is fun and engaging, but may get tiring, OR, an "orchestral/theatrical" sound, where it is forever mellow and soothing (K240 Mk. II), but it lacks the "fun" factor, which I know, is important to some. 

 
 

Build Quality

Well...I don't even think this part was necessary, haha. The M100's will be taking this one home, because it may as well be the king of the hill when it comes to military-grade durability. 
 
Round Winner: V-Moda M100
 

Brief Overview

It's true. This round wasn't even needed. There was no competition.
 
 

Design Factor

For this part, I think it strongly comes down on preference, because although some will prefer the vintage-style look, some others will disagree and say that the sleeker, sharper look is preferred. It really isn't something for me to determine, but for the sake of my comparison, I'll say they both appeal to me equally, in very different ways.
 
Round Winner: AKG K240 MK. II & V-Moda M100
 

Brief Overview

Like I said - Preference is what will get people through this stage. 
 

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Summary/Conclusion

It's time to sum up my review, because I'm sure most of you's probably didn't bother reading down to here (and for those who did, thanks, and I'm kinda tired myself after sitting her for nearly five hours..coming to the end of my second review. I'm rather happy with myself now! 

 
The K240 Mk. II...a stellar pair of headphones that has a lot to offer, especially if you are one who appreciates your vocals, and do not want to pay an excessive amount just for a pair of K/Q701/702, these headphones will do just fine. With its well refined treble, juicy, thick mids, and a gently bass hit, these are quite the headphones for anyone who is not a basshead. 
 
 
That's another review to my collection!
 
PS: Any errors and/or flaws that you may spot in my write-up that I might have missed - please do inform me about it.
 
 
Over & Out,
SkyBleu-

 
 

I'm professional musician and I bought it for my home studio. I own also Sennheiser HD 449. From my perspective It might be difficult to mix and master on these AKG if you are not used to them because they are heavy on bass and middles, sound is not balanced. HD449 are more suitable for that purpose because they are more balanced. I still use AKG in the end to check if song makes even more impression in good headphones. Anyway, If buy them for listening to the music - they are the best. The sound is brilliant - good mids, punch in the bass, very clean highs.

Do take note that this is solely my opinion and I don't represent the individual tastes of every Head fi'er out there. YMMV

The Infamous AKG "Sextetts". Courtesy of Whitney Dafoe Photography,

"It speaks for itself!"

AKG is an already established company that focuses primarily on the manufacture of radio equipment in Austria. Starting from humble beginnings, AKG started from the ground up, producing the D12 microphone in 1953 with the ability to pick up on wider bandwidths. Soon after, AKG started to amass a wider following amongst the radio-industry crowd. In the years to come, AKG would soon branch out into headphones, developing the venerable AKG K240 "Sextett" and other oddball renditions.

Fast forward to 2017, and AKG is now a subsidiary company under the Harman Audio group. Focusing primarily on pro-audio, with its reference grade headphones such as the K812, AKG is widely regarded as one of the industry giants. And yet, the K240 (do take note that this is a revised model) is still available for purchase to this day. In an already crowded low-fi market, models that serve as a low cost to entry are a dime a dozen, with competitors spitting out headphones on the yearly. Competition is stiff, and companies are eager to be the next big thing. Has the K240 aged well to this day or is it a cheap relic from a time forgotten?


Price:
I live in Singapore and I managed to snag a pair of the AKG K240 Mkii's at 99 SGD (approximately 70 USD) from Lazada Singapore. Do take note that there are no audible differences between the K240 Classic and K240 Mkii's (apart from differing color variants and accessories).


Package:
Right out of the box, we have:

1 X AKG K240 Mkii (Blue)
1 X Mini XLR Coiled Cable
1 X Mini XLR Regular Cable
1 X Velour Earpads
1 X AKG Sticker + Warranty Card

For 99 dollars, this is a pretty sweet deal. For such a low cost, we're pretty much set out for life with this pair! Overall, a generous package from AKG.


Build Quality/Comfort:

At 99 dollars, I didn't have any overblown expectations and I'm glad I didn't. I was pleasantly surprised by the overall build and comfort.

Weighing in 240 grams (without the cable), the headphone is ergonomically designed, fitted with the already signature AKG Styling that we've all come to love over the years. The rounded earcups sit snugly on the head with just the right amount of clamp. The self-adjusting vinyl headband allows the headphone's weight to be evenly distributed across the head.

The detachable connector on the left feels sturdy, showing no signs of loose pins. The build, while plasticky, feels sturdy enough for heavy usage. Every part of the headphone can be replaced easily, with a market of readily available parts. Do take note that the K240's are manufactured in China, unlike it's pricier counterparts (Q701, K712, K612). Do not let the aforementioned fact affect your judgement, the K240's are still a fine pair of headphones.


Amping:
Impedance: 55 Ohms
Sensitivity: 91 dB SPL/V
Maximum Input: 200mW


My pride and joy!

Make no mistake, AKG's are notoriously power-hungry beasts (ala the K240 "Sextett" with its power-sucking 600-ohm impedance). The K240's are wired to be more "consumer friendly" but even on my Aune X1s, the volume knob has to be turned past the 12 O clock region. Like Sennheiser, AKG focuses on Electrical Damping to achieve more nuanced movements on the dynamic driver diaphragms, with an ideal damping factor. My guess; it has something to do with it's large XXL Varimotion transducers.

Back to the topic at hand, the K240's responds well to a powerful amp section. More juice= More control. It clearly shows with the K240's. Paired with the Fiio K1, the K240 reaches ample listening volume but it doesn't exactly shine. When it's powered by my Aune X1s, the headphones really sing, with added control on the mid-bass section. Go for power with the K240's.


Sound Quality:
Source:

• Spotify Premium (Highest Quality)
• Aune X1s
• Fiio K1
• Denon DP300F Turntable

Tonality:

• Liquid/Rich Mid Range
• Rolled-up Mid-Bass/Sub-Bass
• Extended Highs
• Decent 3D Soundstage

After using the K240's as my daily drivers for the past 5 days, the K240's can be characterized as a mid-centred headphone, with layered mids and a phenomenal vocal range, the likes I haven't soon in a headphone at this price point. The somewhat forward treble is bordering on the threshold of sibilance without overstepping the "boundaries".

The highs are well extended, without the stiff peaks that accompany cheap headphones. The highs are a tad brittle, however, lacking shimmer for more excitement. These are most definitely tuned for the "studio engineer" in mind, with its lack of coloration

The main detraction, however, is its bass section. The bass leaves nothing to be desired. Its mid-bass punch is present but lacks the thick sub-bass to back it up. It's a flabby, sort of dry bass reminiscent of balanced armatures and their characteristic lack of air movement.

While the soundstage isn't going to win any awards, the K240's prove to have decent imaging. Picture your head as a 3D reference ball. Each instrument remains grounded in a circular soundstage. The soundstage isn't your typical "out of head" experience with an oval soundstage but rather, it is more in line with what you'd expect from a semi-open pair of cans.

Featured Track:
Jonny Lang- Still Raining


The perfect companion track, Jonny Lang's raspy howls paired with the reverberation of tube amp blues riffs perfectly compliments the mid-section of the K240's. The realistic imaging adds a layer of forwardness, akin to sitting in front of a live stage performance.


Are the AKG's a fine wine?
There are so many headphones to choose from today. But the K240's stood the test of time and are still considered to be an industry standard by many recording artists and studio engineers. Sometimes, you can't beat the old timers. I'd give the K240's my highest recommendation if you're looking for mid-focused listen.

It is my first pair of good quality headphone, it just turns me in to an audiophile within weeks.
 
The headphone is very comfortable, it comes with a 3.5mm to 6.2mm adapter, two sets of earpads, straight cable and coil cables.
 
It sounded muddy when it was plugged directly to my laptop after the headphone already run for 200 hours, having a look in head-fi and i got the FiiO E17
The amp clears up the sound and its more dynamic. Vocal is very clear from this headphone, the sound stage is quite wide and no punchy bass.
 
Recommend to listen to Jazz, vocal and instrumental. 

I love these headphones. I have been using little earbuds for a while, and they have been quite good, for earbuds, but I decided that I needed better headphones for both listening to music and operating the soundboard at my school. I just received them in the mail today, and have been listening to them for the past three hours straight. They are a little soft on my ipod, (duh) but far from inaudible, due to their high resistance, but that is to be expected, and amplifiers are readily available possibly as a future purchase. My laptop volume is at 22%, and it is very comfortable. Since I have started using these, their burn in has started to really make a difference, and the sound quality is getting even more amazing. I can also still hear some outside noises very quietly due to the design of the earpieces, so I can hear other things, but it is easy to tune it out. This is good for me, because I like knowing what is going on around me, but I can see it being a problem for some people. This is my first major audio purchase, only done because of a massive 60% sale on amazon, but it is definitely worth it. Listening to Phillip Glass, I can hear every instrument as though I were at a live performance. Dubstep is also very good, with very strong bass, but not overpowering the uppers, rock is also great, thanks to the amazing range of the phones, and the quality of all ranges of the head phones. Listening to "Paint it, Black", I noticed a lot of guitar riffs I hadn't been able to hear over the lyrics. Country and Pop are about the same as rock, a lot of harmonic details coming through. Some songs which use extreme left/right splits in effects can get a little disconcerting because of the extremes of one ear to the other, but that is probably the intended effect that I have been missing out on all these years. Used with my electric violin, I could hear the tones much more clearly, and it sounded great. OK, so I love them, if that wasn't clear, but in all fairness, they are a huge step up for me, and I am probably missing things I am used to not having. I do have good tonal hearing as a result of nearly 14 years of violin playing, so I would say I am qualified to judge audio quality, but on what is to be expected from headphones, I am not an authority.
 
Would most definitely recommend.
 
EDIT: today, the cable connecting headset to audio source decided that it would just stay there forever, leaving me with a functional, but annoying pair of headphones. I am not going to attempt to open them up until I know what I'm doing, but it is still annoying to lose use of one of the cables included with these headphones. Sound quality has only gotten better as the headphones burn in. 

FURTHER EDIT: cable was just busted, I read up on schematics, cracked it open (carefully), and fixed the problem. connector had a bad release catch, so it's unusable, gonna send it back in for replacement if I can. Other cable works perfectly, and everything else is good. Glad to see it wasn't a headset problem.

Yes first set of quality headphones, the sound just keeps getting better and better, burn in went nicely, responses to bass better every time I use them,


Only problem I have with is that the low resistance (55ohms) and my big amp don't like the low end at high volumes, they defiantly go loud enough to do some damage with little distortion in the left speaker with bass overall very pleased next set is going to be the AKG 702's


I had the choice between discounted M-audio Q40's and these I chose these for the pure over better sound and comfort vs Q40's nice kick in low end but they where very tight on my skull/ears thus only wore the for about 30minutes or so with my ears bloodshot and hot as the Akgs I can wear for hours on end without an issue also had chance to test them out before I bought anything sat in the store with nice powered amp couple CD's weighting out the cons/pros of each set

EDIT- added:

Well only real difference apparently is the rating (55ohms vs 600ohms) I think the 600 are more suited for actual studio work, working much more powerful amps/desks so they can pushed higher for louder volume to see how it sounds at that sort of volume (check for distortion and impurities), also I think the quality is about the same, AKG made these to replace the 600 version, but as for real-world applications home use..etc the 55ohms version is better for low-powered devices (ipods, cellphones, mp3's, crappy pc sound cards (lol)  etc..), also IIRC, the 600 studios have been discontinued, this is what managed to found just did bit of research, but either way I recommend any "audiophile/studio-phile" headphones be powered by a decent amp, which drastically increases your overall enjoyment of the headset and making it much more worth the cash.
 
 

I found these phones in the local classifieds. Basically unused... I dunno if Audiphiliacs accept a lifetime of musical sound gear experience as righteous enough. I also have a pair of Alesis active monitors, but these are my first real headphones.  Oh wait what about the stream of them I used as a child for keyboard lessons and jamming. 
 
I'm having trouble faulting these suckers. They've sent me scrambling for better connections to the digits man! These do not show their potential with an ipod or sound card. I guess I don't need to tell you guys that!
 
Warm. On the head. It is summer, but these pads are like nice gloves. They'd be great for a snow storm. Semi Open though, so the wind....
 
The musician stands beside me with these AKG headphones, as long as the recording is high quality.
 
Even low quality stuff is more fun, for a short while.
 
Dare I look for a better sound then the MKII??
 
Since I found these 'used' I paid $120 for them.
 
5 stars for value.