[soyama]

Hello.
 
Just received this set today, figured I'd order it due to pleasant experiences with AKG earlier.
I used to have a AKG k324p set, must be the set I've been most happy with, until my westone 3's.
 
So This is how they look.
 

 
My source is a sony S639F.
This is just a pre-made post, I guess.. After some small listening here at work, I'm not very impressed.
 
It has had its moments, but overall, not so great. After using my westone 3's for a while I can't help but say the sound comming out of the K 390 NC's are missing something..
 
I'll put in some time listening over the next few days, and a lot of burn-in.
Lets see how these evolve.
 
On a side note, something I can comment on atm is: The noisecancelling unit should be removable for sure. its a pain to have there, it pulls on your ears when not fastned, and I suspect it will slip off normal t-shirts easily.
I'll verify this in a bit when I go home for the day, with this clipped on.. Also for those that care, I'm sure it will look stupid
 
Updates will follow.

 

[soyama]

Well, I can see there are little interest around these, for good reasons I guess.
 
The phones haven't been put to burn-in much, I've used them sporadicly, however.. I lost the motivation for it.

The reason is simply the Noise-cancelling device, it makes the phones itself un-wearable while moving about, high microphonics, the clip on the NC device slips off the shirt and the weight pulls at the ears, disturbing the soundimage.
 
When sitting still the phones are quite ok to use, I believe they will change with some burn-in, but at the moment ( used a few hours ) they sound like one of those old speaker-horns, the highs are very high, focused, and they tend to take away the focus of the other frequencies.
 
They seem to be playing very clearly, but the middles are not so forward as they should be, the bass is not very tight, they focus too much on the highs.
I seem to recall this was the case with my old AKG K324P's too, those changed with burn-in.
 
However as I find these so un-cooperative under use, I'm returning them as a dissapointed customer. Why so hasty, after so little testing, after so little burn in? Mainly because my Westone 3's are superior in all aspects, less microphonics, better sound image, way more comfortable when wearing, looks are superior on the westone 3's if any care.
 
I believe AKG made a huuge mistake when they made the Noise-cancelling device sit so high up on the cables, as well as making it a fixed unit.

A few comments on the noise-cancelling function itself, well it works But it alters the sound image, it sounds less alive when you turn it on, and when riding the buss to work I experienced it made some throbbing sounds when the buss geared up, not entirely pleasant.
 
Well, thats it I guess, it will leave people who are interested in these phones something to think on I hope.
As a finishing line, I can tell you I've sampled the IE8's and the TF10Pro phones, these are way preferable to the K390 NC's. As the westone 3's In all ways.
Even the TF10pro's are better comfort while wearing, I use the smallest tips on all these phones, and the akg's is designed in such a way they require some finesse to put in proper place.
 
I will keep listening to these while the firm process my return-request, if the sound image changes alot, I'll update
Feel free to shoot in a question or 2.
 
(Im a review noob, thanks for your time)

 

[Mochan]

I tested these out last weekend. They are very good! I like them very much. I do wish the NC module was replaceable, but no biggie. I clip it to my shirt and have velro on it, and the iPod attaches to it, normally I clip a nano here and now I clip the nano on the module and the module on the shirt. Works great.

Best NC I have ever heard, better than even the QC3.
Also the first NC I have heard with good, sparkly highs.

Sound is relatively smooth but still has some grain, especially with NC on.
Good, full bass and pleasant highs. Mids are ok, for an AkG I expected more from the mids, though.

I like the sound better than the TF10, and I like the tf10. Tf10 has better highs but these are a smoother sound all in all and I like this kind of sound sig better.

 

[rv1030]

I own the AKG K370ALU. At first I didn't like them at all. too harsh for my tastes. they did sound ok with the treble reducer eq of the ipod though but i wished they would sound good without eq.  anyway i tried burning them in and listening to them on and off for about a month then finally kept them in my drawer when tried monster turbines.
 
I recently took them out again and i was pleasantly surprised that most of the harshness was gone.  i could listen to them without eq and without using foam tips to soften their sound.  i guess that continuous burn in then long rest actually made a difference.  and they are very comfortable to begin with.  i am comparing them now to my IE7s which are still breaking in and they actually sound smoother right now.