[Lumos]

Again I am worrying for my K240 Studio...
 
I received them 5 days ago, I paid 83 $ but what I am listening is not that I was expecting, Bass is uncontrolled you have it when it is not needed AT ALL, Vocals?- dark and muffled, last night I was comparing with M30 end I think that M30 was more close to natural sounding when 2 times more expensive and semi open AKG

 
Ouuu I never knew that Paganini's The 6 Violin Concertos - Accardo - Dutoit & LPO - DG (APE) was played on something other instrument than Violin.
 
And then I thought OK I will try some WAX Tailor. You know this song To Dry Up? it begins with Bass and then vocal of Charlotte Savary, I had an impression that on AKG Charlotte was drunk

lack of detail lack or richness of sound but bass was here what a delightful surprise

 
Thing is that straight out from my onboard sound card AKG has equal loudness as Audio-Technica ATH-M30 and my listening level was 50 % because more then that it is very loud for me. may be my sound card is decent may be not but I feel I do not need any more loudness. so I think amp will not help
 
Finally question is- All my unhappiness are because of this K240s needs more burn than 48 hour? I never counted but I am sure I listened minimum 48 hours. I have full collection of Decca Ultimate classical music and  played most of dicks...
 
Please share your first impressions about K240S, It was same when you listened them first time?

 

[tdockweiler]

What kind of onboard sound? Realtek HD or something similar? That should be more than enough.
People lately seem to say the K240 are super easy to drive, but I actually think they REQUIRE an amp despite getting enough volume.
I've owned them for maybe two years now and they're one I would never use without an external amp.
 
Again..onboard sound might be OK, but some onboard sound chipsets are garbage. Like the one on my laptop...
 
The Realtek HD on my desktop is pretty flat and sounds quite good.
 
BTW what's funny is that my K240 Studio was quite bassy out of the box, but after a few weeks of use, I never ever get that impression anymore. Weird.
 
I actually think the K240 Studio is better than the Sextett LP I have.

 

[machoboy]

K 240s have a very specific sound that to me sounds like an attempt to replicate the "empty space" between ears and external speakers, (and not necessarily good ones either). Everything sounds far away, not because of a huge soundstage, but because of a weird mild reverb/snare effect just like listening to speakers from an angle in a room with imperfect acoustics. This may be why various versions have been popular in studios for so long despite them sounding funny compared to "normal" headphones.
 
To enjoy mine I had to:
1. amp them (this doesn't change their sound signature, it just tightens things up -- I couldn't stand them straight from a sound card)
2. close my eyes and really imagine the sound as being in-room sound rather than comparing them head-to-head with other headphones in speed/tightness/precision/bass extension/etc, because they will lose to pretty much everything in that comparison.
 
I don't think you're hearing anything abnormal. They have quite muddy bass and rolled off treble and an emphasis on the lower mids. Still, for $80 they are probably the most open/airy headphones available. At that price you can't really have both worlds. The 702s have both that airy speaker-imitating sound and the clarity/bass extension of "normal" headphones, so they're the best of both worlds to me, but they're 3x as much $$$.
 
What surprises me is that you say they're equally loud to your ATH-M30s. Either those are very quiet headphones or your K 240s are different from mine. Mine are more quiet than my 702s are and 250 ohms Beyerdynamics were. The 240s are some of the quietest headphones I've had.

 

[Lumos]

Quote:

What kind of onboard sound? Realtek HD or something similar? That should be more than enough.
People lately seem to say the K240 are super easy to drive, but I actually think they REQUIRE an amp despite getting enough volume.
I've owned them for maybe two years now and they're one I would never use without an external amp.
 
Again..onboard sound might be OK, but some onboard sound chipsets are garbage. Like the one on my laptop...
 
The Realtek HD on my desktop is pretty flat and sounds quite good.
 
BTW what's funny is that my K240 Studio was quite bassy out of the box, but after a few weeks of use, I never ever get that impression anymore. Weird.
 
I actually think the K240 Studio is better than the Sextett LP I have.

Onboard sound is Realtek HD ALC270 with support of 24/192. I was comparing them side by side with my other headphones but loudness is more or less same may be 3-5 decibel lower than ATH-M30. for example if I crank volume up to 100% it is more than average listener could listen.
 
May be I exaggerated, these are OK for listening at work (I work in quiet office) but definitely it is not upgrade of my M30 even it is closed. I think that rolled off treble makes 240s such a dark sounding. I want to purchase fiio E10 but I am not sure if it would be upgrade of my onboard Realtek,
 
Quote:

K 240s have a very specific sound that to me sounds like an attempt to replicate the "empty space" between ears and external speakers, (and not necessarily good ones either). Everything sounds far away, not because of a huge soundstage, but because of a weird mild reverb/snare effect just like listening to speakers from an angle in a room with imperfect acoustics. This may be why various versions have been popular in studios for so long despite them sounding funny compared to "normal" headphones.
 
To enjoy mine I had to:
1. amp them (this doesn't change their sound signature, it just tightens things up -- I couldn't stand them straight from a sound card)
2. close my eyes and really imagine the sound as being in-room sound rather than comparing them head-to-head with other headphones in speed/tightness/precision/bass extension/etc, because they will lose to pretty much everything in that comparison.
 
I don't think you're hearing anything abnormal. They have quite muddy bass and rolled off treble and an emphasis on the lower mids. Still, for $80 they are probably the most open/airy headphones available. At that price you can't really have both worlds. The 702s have both that airy speaker-imitating sound and the clarity/bass extension of "normal" headphones, so they're the best of both worlds to me, but they're 3x as much $$$.
 
What surprises me is that you say they're equally loud to your ATH-M30s. Either those are very quiet headphones or your K 240s are different from mine. Mine are more quiet than my 702s are and 250 ohms Beyerdynamics were.

I had an impression that symphonic music sounded remote. imagine you standing outside the room and doors are semi open. you can hear everything but entering in the room is totally different impression...
I let them more burn in, unfortunately my location don't allows me to return them in one month to Amazon... but anyway I will keep them
On loudness Yes that surprises me too, I don't know why, but it is what it is

 

[Lumos]

I have listened some jazz and it was good in some recordings

waiting waiting... but still not adequate treble for drums

 

[McPatD]

Great discussion! I truly enjoy mine and yes they crave power. I put SRH840 pads on for great seal and amp with Fiio E17. Gain, bass, and treble adjustment of E17 do wonders for it.

 

[machoboy]

Yes I started liking mine quite a bit (for certain bass-light genres) after amping them, but if the OP is looking for crisp snappy treble I simply recommend different headphones. These entirely revolve around airy/realistic mid range, not hifi bass and treble. Even though they're often listed as "Can't go wrong" headphones alongside the M50s etc, they couldn't be any more different in sound signature.

 

[Lumos]

Quote:

Yes I started liking mine quite a bit (for certain bass-light genres) after amping them, but if the OP is looking for crisp snappy treble I simply recommend different headphones. These entirely revolve around airy/realistic mid range, not hifi bass and treble. Even though they're often listed as "Can't go wrong" headphones alongside the M50s etc, they couldn't be any more different in sound signature.

...I might critiquing them more than they actually deserve. Well... yes I agree... they are OK for mids, Fiio E6 should help. I think EQ-ing will be necessary...
 
Thank you for contributing discussion
 
May be Beyerdynamic DT660 or DT880 for treble and mids?

 

[BrownBear]

I liked the K240 Studio a lot. But I would agree on the bass part, it was a tad uncontrolled for my taste, but the mids made up for it, in my opinion. However, vocals are something I really liked on these, and muffled is not the word I would use to describe them. When I first listened to them, I was shocked at how well they sounded to what I had at the time, the SR-60.
 
When I amped them, they did in fact tighten up a bit. Overall, I really liked the can.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I might critiquing them more than they actually deserve. Well... yes I agree... they are OK for mids, Fiio E6 should help. I think EQ-ing will be necessary...
Thank you for contributing discussion
May be Beyerdynamic DT660 or DT880 for treble and mids?

I'm guessing the ATH-M30 are designed to work well with unamped source(s).
Everything I hear about the AKG K240 is they work better with a little amping.
I'm a AKG K242HD owner.
Get the Asus Xonar DG sound card ($26), comes with a half-way decent headphone amplifier
and chance are the DG's DAC would be better then your motherboard's DAC.

 

[msz87]

interesting thread, these are a set of cans i want to add to my collection for sure. I definetly dont want the mk2's.

 

[Lumos]

Quote:

I'm guessing the ATH-M30 are designed to work well with unamped source(s).
Everything I hear about the AKG K240 is they work better with a little amping.
I'm a AKG K242HD owner.
Get the Asus Xonar DG sound card ($26), comes with a half-way decent headphone amplifier
and chance are the DG's DAC would be better then your motherboard's DAC.

Asus Xonar DG Yes, I know this is good sound card but I have laptop unfortunately

 

[slick1ru2]

The price has been yo-yoing on Amazon. I picked up a pair for $70 and the next thing they were back up to $99 and another check had them back down again. I like them. They remind me of my Grado SR80 but built better.

 

[slick1ru2]

Quote:

Asus Xonar DG Yes, I know this is good sound card but I have laptop unfortunately

 
 
Get a Fiio E10 DAC/Amp. It uses a USB port and requires only USB to power. Its EXCELLENT and I use it with my laptops.

 

 

[Sladeophile]

These are $62 on Amazon right now.  Crazy price.  Just picked them up to have another classic in my stable.