[greggf]

I agree with artguy, BUT, he really loves the K701 sound. Those of us still deciding might hold the headband's comfort against the 701. (Or the HD650's monster head clamp against it! The HD600 somehow seem more comfortable despite its seemingly similar design.)

But if you love the 701, start with the mink oil!!

 

[spinali]

With all respect to some pretty ingenious solutions here - and equal respect for a great headphone - the "mod" approach deserves more attention.

This is the usual size of the K701:



But if you wrap a rubber band around the sliding portion of the phones, it expands to maximum size. Done on both left and right, the combined size is surprising.


It's hard to imagine your head even touching the leather headband. Try listening with these 3+ additional inches of clearance!

 

[Artguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spinali /img/forum/go_quote.gif With all respect to some pretty ingenious solutions here - and equal respect for a great headphone - the "mod" approach deserves more attention. This is the usual size of the K701: But if you wrap a rubber band around the sliding portion of the phones, it expands to maximum size. Done on both left and right, the combined size is surprising. It's hard to imagine your head even touching the leather headband. Try listening with these 3+ additional inches of clearance!

I like it, except for how it looks. I just got back from the hobby store, and tried to find something to slide over the headphone rails (the round parts). But O rings require you to be able to slide it over the rail, and I cant/dont want to do that. A Split ring could work, but would have to be a perfect fit. I just want an invisible mod that you cant even see, but other than that, you are right, this does float the cans on your ears with not much of anything touching your noggin. Any other ideas that are resversible and not apparent to the eye?

 

[grain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Artguy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wait, dont touch that scapel! I know exactly what kind of pain you feel. For me it was just that one bump directly at the top of my head. Here is what I have done. Remember when you were breaking in that new leather mitt, and you massaged oil into the leather, and shaped it by forming it around that baseball, with your hand in the glove? Well your head is the Ball, and the headband is the glove. You just have to break the leather in. First, take some leather conditioner and massage it into the top and the bottom of the strap. Then, start to flex the leather, so that you soften it up. Start at one side of the strap and flex the band by pinching the leather into a "V". Move over 1/2 inch and do it again, all across the headband. Also, massage, and flatten with your index finger and thumb each bump by itself. All of this, using the massage oil of the leather conditioner. If you are like me, you will have enough energy to do this several times, as that little bump hurts, and was my motivator. I also let the conditioner soak in as I left the HP at night, so that it really got some lubrication and softening. If you do this right, you should start to see some wrinkles on the top of the leather band, mostly between the bumps which are on the opposite side. This made them VERY comfortable for me as I wear them all day. By the way, I have plenty of hair left, so that helps as well, I am sure. Now, follow the other posters advice and extend the little elastics to where you need them and put a small piece of tape carefully around the rod, so it wont go beyond that point, which loosens the pressure a lot. Bottom line, my 701s sound great and now I dont have to pay for that perfection with a sore head. Yeah...

Thanks man, I was just getting back on to this forum to let you all know that I have sorted the problem... reading your post now, Artguy, and that sounds interesting with the leather conditioner... but I've just been massaging the leather without any, and i'm already feeling the comfort... haven't been counting the hours used yet, but its clocking up and they sound just great....
no complaints at all now, I reckon that headband just gets comfier with age - i take back all the moaning about the design!!

Thanks to everyone again for the advice.

The 701s are already proving indispensable as I mix and master my first EP, which should be pressed onto vinyl quite soon

 

[highmesa]

I just got the K701s. I knew at once that the headstrap was uncomfortable, and my immediate thought was that I would return the headphones. By comparison, the Sennheiser HD600s were blissfully comfortable right away.

I must say it seem odd that while so many people are talking about the discomfort of the 701 headstrap, AKG could have alleviated the problem by installing actual cushions on the underside of the headstrap. By now there ought to have been a response from AKG. I am guessing the AKG executives and development team all have full heads of hair (I do not).

I would say the bumps on the underside of the 701 headstrap are soft in the same sense that a car dashboard is soft.

Part of the fun of the 701s is that they look great. It would spoil that to attach rubber bands or padding or anything else. I can't imagine that massaging the leather will fix the problem for me, and if I tried that and it did not work then I might have trouble returning the headphones.

Another factor is that the sliders are at nearly full extension when I wear the headphones. My head is fairly large I guess. There isn't much space for additional padding or for pushing the sliders further.

I like the sound of the 701s so much, even right out of the box, that I am nearly desperate to find a way to wear them comfortably. I expect I will probably return them, however.

 

[estreeter]

I have no idea why AKG opted for the bumps on the 701 headband - what were they thinking ? The 601 doesnt have them, and they are the most comfortable headphones I have ever had the pleasure of placing atop my large, egg-shaped noggin !

 

[K_19]

Seriously, if you plan to keep the K701 and not sell it or whatever, CUT IT OFF. Very easy to do, and if you are concerned about how it will look on the bottom after, re-polish it or something like that.

It's the best thing I've ever done for my K701. After cutting off the bumps its by far the most comfortable headphone that I have (well, maybe after AD700).

Those bumps are not going to get any softer. It's not made of leather and no amount of breaking in won't do it any good (though maybe your head might break in!

)

 

[priest]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kukrisna /img/forum/go_quote.gif my headband only bugged me on day 1 - after that i never noticed it

Ditto for me. I found that after a few hours of use, it almost completely stopped bothering me. I never notice it any more. Just give it some more time. (Hair doesn't help by the way -- I have a full head, and at first the bumps drove me crazy too.)

 

[highmesa]

This is great getting immediate feedback! An old thread, too.

I'm tentatively interested in the surgical option. K19, did you mean cut off the bumps individually, or cut off an entire layer that includes the bumps? What kind of knife did you use? Would you be willing to post a photo?

Another option would be to return the headphones now and wait/hope for AKG to release a new version sans bumps or with soft pads. When I sent away for these headphones, I was not looking for a project.

The consensus seems to be that the plain headstrap on the K601 is comfortable. I can believe that, because I thought the plain headstrap on the Grado was just fine, though as I recall the material was more pliable than the AKG material. (The Grado earpads are another story.)

Hey, thanks everybody for participating in this thread. I just found this forum, and this is my second post.

 

[Calypso]

It is also possible to loosen the elastics on the side. But it´s not especially pretty to look at.

 

[highmesa]

You people post great photos!

Calypso, does the white cap just pop off with pressure? I tried pulling it off, and it stayed in place, and I am afraid to try more pressure unless that's what I'm supposed to do. I do not like breaking things.

I have now sent two emails to AKG about the discomfort I experience with the headstrap. I'll post their reply if I get one.

Looks like I'm still searching for a solution, which indicates how much I like these headphones in all other respects.

 

[auee]

I could not get past how uncomfortable the headband was with bumps. I simply do not understand this design decision by AKG. It would be great if a rep could explain what the company was thinking.

 

[Calypso]

Quote:

Originally Posted by highmesa /img/forum/go_quote.gif Calypso, does the white cap just pop off with pressure? I tried pulling it off, and it stayed in place, and I am afraid to try more pressure unless that's what I'm supposed to do. I do not like breaking things.

guide-balanced-akg-701-recabling

 

[K_19]

Quote:

Originally Posted by highmesa /img/forum/go_quote.gif This is great getting immediate feedback! An old thread, too. I'm tentatively interested in the surgical option. K19, did you mean cut off the bumps individually, or cut off an entire layer that includes the bumps? What kind of knife did you use? Would you be willing to post a photo? Another option would be to return the headphones now and wait/hope for AKG to release a new version sans bumps or with soft pads. When I sent away for these headphones, I was not looking for a project. The consensus seems to be that the plain headstrap on the K601 is comfortable. I can believe that, because I thought the plain headstrap on the Grado was just fine, though as I recall the material was more pliable than the AKG material. (The Grado earpads are another story.) Hey, thanks everybody for participating in this thread. I just found this forum, and this is my second post.

If you look at one of my photo albums accessible from my user profile, you can see the end result of the surgery. All I used was a simple mini swiss army knife. You just knife the bumps from the bottom and it rips off very smoothly (you'll see that there's no real leather on the bump parts to give you any trouble in that matter). It looks a bit ugly at the end, but you can always re-finish it somehow if you are skilled with things like that... I left it alone as I dont particularly pay much attention to bottom of the headband and only care about the SQ it has to offer.

 

[knickedicken]

First post on this forum.

Now I love them =)