AKG 26 P?????(If you have used them before PLEASE POST!!!)

[Chronosoldier21]

Should I buy this or not? I listen to rock, pop, and rap. I wear glasses. I want slight isolation. I am 5'8 and put my un-amped Ipod MIni 2G in my pocket.
Thanks!

 

[Elephas]

Seems you are enthusiastic about the K26P; that's great.

I just bought an AKG K26P.

It's closed, and for its small size it isolates well. Not much leakage either.

I feel the sound tends toward muddy and boomy. Bass is heavy, but not the tight, accurate bass I prefer. It's dark-sounding, and highs are not as bright and clear as I would prefer. Compared to the open Sennheiser PX100 has stronger bass but also sounds more muffled.

Build and materials quality is ok. The headband has the tendency to slide to the smallest size, so you have to adjust it by pushing the black plastic tabs up every time you wear them. They're comfortable despite some clamping force, and won't slide off even with some vigorous head-shaking.

Wearing glasses with the K26P shouldn't be a problem. The driver housings are small enough that they won't press against the tops of your ears.

They come with a black cloth carrying pouch.

Similar headphones: PX200 and ATH-ES5.

 

[episiarch]

I agree with nearly all of what Elephas said. I've had mine for just a day, and overall I like them quite a bit. Unamped from an iPod I find them not too muddy and boomy, compared to other unamped portable headphones. With amplification I find them a bit too "phat" -- it's not a clean sound, but it's one that goes well with rap and some pop/rock. Bass is really nice for something this size -- very present, but not the overwhelming one-note bass you get in some phones. Sonically I prefer them to PX200 by a wide margin.

 

[philodox]

I owned them for a while and sold them to a coworker at work... the only reason I sold them is that I found I was using my K271S all of the time. The K 26 P is great for a portable headphone and my Wife really liked how they sounded out of her iPod. The friend at work who I sold them to is very happy. You might want to have a look over at Headroom to see what they have to say about this headphone as they have added it to their Top Ten Value List.

 

[Salt Peanuts]

I'm being lazy, so I'm just going to copy (w/ some editing) a PM I sent to another member regarding my impression of K24P and K26P - which was pointed out to me to be in line with HeadRoom's impression (guess I'm not deaf after all, lol).

I really haven't done any real compairson between them, but for their intended purpose (i.e., portable) and sonics, I feel K26P is a much better choice, at least for me. K26P gives much better bass and I think it gives better balanced sound. K24P can be bit bright at times with some songs and the fact they're open phone does put a damper on things as far as portability is concerned (for me). K24P does pack better, though, since their pads are much thinner. But overall, I don't think it's worth having both of them, unless one wants a pair of good and affordable open headphones for portable usage. I just happen to have both since I bought K24P first (K26P were out of stock everywhere at the time).

Another thing I really like about K26P is that they are so much easier to get a good seal than PX200 that I've tried briefly, and you can also adjust where they sit on your ears a bit to get less/more bass if need be. Oh, and they're cheaper. Yeah, headband may be tricky for some, but I've found that by extending it completely before putting them on makes it much easier in this regard.

 

[philodox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Salt Peanuts Yeah, headband may be tricky for some, but I've found that by extending it completely before putting them on makes it much easier in this regard.

That is how I got around that quirk as well.

 

[iancraig10]

They are VERY sensitive and go a lot louder than the Senn px100 or 200 at the same setting. This can lead to a little hiss coming from the mp3 player. You would be aware of it when it is really quiet.

However, strong bass performance and easy seal. Nice phones although a bit coloured for orchestral listening. I'm not always happy with the string sound. Good on pop/rock/rap though.

 

[atomic]

I too use the K26P's unamped with an ipod and find they work quite well. They are pretty isolating and are quite comfortable for me. They fold up quite nicely too. The sound is decent, yeah the bass is a bit muddy, I wouldn't recommend them if you only listen to classical music. But for rock and rap they're great. The cord is on the long side (4.5 or 5 feet) but there are ways around that. I was looking at this thing called a Smartwrap, might be a good solution:

http://www.sumajin.com/online.htm

 

[Elephas]

Here's the AKG K26P with Sumajin SmartWraps.

Note that the K26P cord is actually two cords joined together, making it thicker than other portable headphone cords.

 

[atomic]

nice pic! yeah, i think i'll be ordering a smartwrap.

 

[elrod-tom]

I got mine for Father's Day (I have great kids!!), and I like them.

Amped, in a low noise environment, I find them to be a bit rolled off and boomy. However, I listen at very low volumes, and use them mostly when isolation is important. With the volume turned up a bit (to aide the isolation a bit) they open up a lot.

I find that they have the AKG house sound, though a bit rolled off on the high and low end (particularly at lower volumes). I think they're a very good choice for portable cans if you need closed cans.

 

[episiarch]

Mine have spent the last week making the rounds of a few coworkers.

The consensus is: love the sound, hate the headband. The auto-retract thing (alluded to by Elephas and Salt Peanuts) makes people nuts.

Seems like it ought to be a solvable problem, though. A simple DIY project once one of us figures out the right approach.

 

[gshan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by episiarch Mine have spent the last week making the rounds of a few coworkers. The consensus is: love the sound, hate the headband. The auto-retract thing (alluded to by Elephas and Salt Peanuts) makes people nuts. Seems like it ought to be a solvable problem, though. A simple DIY project once one of us figures out the right approach.

Wasn't there a tip mentioned (maybe even by you), that it helps to open the band up to widest size before placing it on the head? or something in that manner.

 

[episiarch]

Yes, stretching it out fully works, but there's still a bit of fiddling involved once you put it on and have to slide it back down to the size of your head.

I've found a pretty good cure for the auto-retraction already. Obtain a small-sized binder clip. Slide it onto the headband outside of the black retaining clips (that is, to one side or another of the center section, rather than on the center section). Remove the silver "handles" from the clip. (This is easy to do, just squeeze them sideways and lift them out of their grooves.) Now the headband stays extended at whatever size you've set by the position of the clip.

I'll post pix when I get a chance. But it's very easy. Get a small binder clip and experiment for a couple seconds and I'm sure you'll get it straightaway.

 

[gshan]

Nicely done episiarch. I'm going to purchase these cans now because of your idea.