I wouldn't call the K601 boring.
If there's bass in the recording, they will let you hear it. But not excessive. For me, they have enough PRaT for enjoying music.
Though I didn't listen to them with electronic. My preferences are pop, rock and americana.
This is what HeadRoom wrote about them, and I agree:
"Very Solid Performer at the Price; Well-Balanced & Dynamic Offering a Lovely Rounded Tone.
Oh, how hard life must be when you’re designed to be a major contender, but not to come in first place. The K601 is an absolutely marvelous headphone, well-controlled and dynamic, very evenly balanced with a nice sense of transparency and spaciousness in the presentation. But it falls just short of being totally first-class by lacking a bit in super-refined resolving power and nuanced detail resolution compared to its more spendy big-brother K-701 model. Though the highs remain quite clear and simple-sounding without being overly strident, they are also slightly recessed, lacking the supreme articulation of the finest, most nuanced low-level musical soundstage details as would be expected in full-on 'reference-class' headphones. This is actually only half-bad because when most cans fail in this region, they cover their shortcomings with harshly-rendered tonalities or over-bright, peaky highs. The K601 luckily seems to avoid this particularly troubling timbral signature. Frankly, we can’t think of a better way to fall slightly short of the mountaintop and still stay completely in the race. These cans are particularly recommended for those who seek a dynamic-sounding, well-priced headphone but want to avoid sharp, grainy scratchiness in the mid-ranges & upper treble frequencies. Keep in mind that a dedicated headphone amp is simply essential for properly powering the 120-ohm K601 when using portable audio sources like iPods, Mp3 players, and PCs/laptops ... A really inviting call-in HeadRoom price on these professional-looking cans, too!
These K601 cans have a number of unique features that create a pretty dramatic improvement over previous AKG 'best-of-breed' cans like the now-discontinued K501 model. The overall audio performance is nicely improved by a new AKG Varimotion™ diaphragm that is designed to provide better pistonic motion and acoustic control, and a revolutionary “flat wound” voice coil design allows for greater concentrations of the magnetic field in the voice coil thus driving the diaphragm with more authority and delivering a cleaner, more robustly articulate sound. Our experience with the K601 is that it requires a serious chunk of 'burn-in' time to fully relax and sound its very best, so please assume a minimum of about 300 hours of playtime before the full audio pleasure of these 601 cans is finally realized. The headphones are a conservative dark matte grey with chrome and lighter grey accents. If you like the color, you’ll love how amazingly light and comfortable these headphones are; great ergonomics & a supremely comfortable fit. An absolutely A-1 headphone and heartily recommended at the very nice price … excellent work, AKG geeks!
At around $125 or less, the Sennheiser HD555 and -- just over $200 -- the AKG K601 are really great headphones at their given pricepoints. The AKG K601 has taken over the roost as a nice well-priced alternative to the more expensive Sennheiser models. Sennheiser has head-dived into this wild 'n wooly mid-priced fray with the above-mentioned HD555, which is less expensive and a lot easier to power properly compared to the MUCH better-detailed but rather inefficient HD600 model. The HD555 remains a great full-size open headphone choice for starter audiophiles using portable audio players like laptop computers, MP3s, and iPods. One nice note: the AKG601 has the unique trait (for a headphone of this size) to be a pleasantly cool-on-the-head wearing experience. If you’re prone to major overheating in full-sized headphones, this may be a great choice for you.
Open Headphones, $200 and up:
Enter $220-$350 bucks headphone territory and you've suddenly climbed into lovely & rarified “Top Shelf” terrain. There are a number of close contenders in this category, the Sennheiser HD600, HD595, and the aforementioned AKG K601 among them. These headphones are great with the Sennheiser HD600 and HD595 holding down the polar ends of the sonic spectrum with, respectively, slightly 'warm' and lively/quick tonal signatures. The AKG K601 maintains a punchy & dynamic sound pitched right down the middle; perhaps just a smidgeon more neutral than the Sennheisers."
