AKG 701's too loud for late listening at home
Sep 6, 2009 at 6:24 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 9

Icenine2

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My AKG 701's are zero good for late listening in the house. They are great phones but I'd wake up everyone. I'm really thinking about the Ultrasone 8's and selling the AKG's and my HeadRoom Home amp and buying the Ultra's in balanced and a bal amp too. HeadRoom or a GS 1 Head Amp. Or skip that and get a Grace or that new King Rex.

Thoughts? Thanks

Keith
 
Sep 6, 2009 at 6:33 PM Post #2 of 9
Do you all sleep viking style in the same bed? They're open, sure, but not "that" open. How loud do you have them tuned up?
 
Sep 6, 2009 at 7:25 PM Post #3 of 9
If you're listening that loudly, you're listening way too loudly. I'm assuming you're talking about people in the same house, not people literally lying next to you in a bed.

You're best off with custom iem's for keeping the sound 100% isolated in your ears and also matching the quality of top tier open phones. I don't think the Ed8 are in the same league as top tier open phones (HD800) or top tier custom iems (JH13 universal).
 
Sep 6, 2009 at 7:35 PM Post #4 of 9
k701s are pretty loud and I have the same problem... I sleep in a dorm though, so theres a bunk bed about 3 feet from where I listen to my headphones

Depending on how much you care about sound, you could use an EQ and lower the high frequencies, since those are the sounds that get projected really far. Opening a window or turning on a fan (adding some ambient noise) has worked for me too. If I do both of the above I can play fairly loud volumes without waking anyone up
 
Sep 6, 2009 at 8:16 PM Post #6 of 9
I've got them loud but not killer. When everyone is sleeping though you hear sound which no one here wants to hear.

When I was at University the RA knocked on my door one night because he could hear phones down the hall. Those were some old Senn's listening to ELP.

K
 
Sep 6, 2009 at 8:26 PM Post #7 of 9
They do get loud in a quiet room. Not something you can take to a library. The Ety 4s are a decently priced alternative if you can handle something in your ears. I use them for reading in bed with the Ms.
 
Sep 6, 2009 at 9:54 PM Post #9 of 9
Quote:

Originally Posted by Icenine2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I've got them loud but not killer. When everyone is sleeping though you hear sound which no one here wants to hear.

When I was at University the RA knocked on my door one night because he could hear phones down the hall. Those were some old Senn's listening to ELP.

K



I would suggest this approach: slowly turn up the volume from zero - when you can hear clearly, stop. Make sure you can talk to someone speaking in a normal voice and if you tap lightly on your desk you can hear it clearly. If you have to turn it down, your brain will adjust in a week or two. Of course, SPL meter is the best choice, but these are pretty simple options to make sure you're not killing your ears.

By the way, if someone could hear it down the hall, I'm pretty sure that's too loud
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