[Tiemen]

There was a AKG K240DF for sale at a Duch website. I couldn't resist,and bought them.
There are some posts about them on Head-fi. Most of them complaining that they are too neutral, sterile, lifeless and hard to drive.
But my amp seems to be able do drive the 600 ohm.

Although there seems not much love for them here at Head-FI, I think they are great sounding. I love the tuneful and tight bass, the coherent and clear mids, crisp highs and the exellent soundstage. Very detailed as well.
They don't sound boring to me. In fact, they keep my feet tapping, they have a lot of speed. Much better than the K271S.
I recognise some of the K400 sound in the K240DF.
There is a fair amount of isolation too.
I use them when a recording is too dark, or has too much bass.
But the recording must be rather good. They are ruthless with bad recordings.
The DF's are the opposite of my DT150, which is good for a different flavour.
Only those damn vinyl pads......

Now I wonder, are there various DF models, like the Sextett's?
Maybe that can explain the different opinions.
And how can you tell the difference between the variations?
Anyone tried them with DT770 velour pads?

 

[Shoewreck]

DF is one of K240 versions. I had a pair, but decided to part with it due to slight harshness of highs. Everything else seemed perfect to me, I love neutral hedphones.
IME K501 is almost as neutral but has smoother (more even, not tamed) highs and wider headstage.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiemen /img/forum/go_quote.gif Now I wonder, are there various DF models, like the Sextett's?

I believe that the DF refers to a standard put forth by the IRT (Institute of Radio Technology ) for a flat frequency response. ericj would probably know for sure, but I don't think there were any other AKG headphones built to the DF standard. I haven't been able to find a list, but I believe the Beyerdynamic DT48 also meets the DF standard and possibly some of Sony's professional line.

As for tastes... well, not everyone appreciates this sort of thing. I think the K240DF is a wonderful headphone and I enjoy it a great deal. Then again, the other headphones I really love (K-1000, HP-2, DT48) were all designed for studio work.

 

[Tiemen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shoewreck /img/forum/go_quote.gif DF is one of K240 versions. I had a pair, but decided to part with it due to slight harshness of highs. Everything else seemed perfect to me, I love neutral hedphones. IME K501 is almost as neutral but has smoother (more even, not tamed) highs and wider headstage.

Yes, the highs can be harsh, depening on the recording. They just let you know what is going on. With too bright sounding music, they are awful.
I would love to try a K501, I read so many good things about them.

 

[Shoewreck]

Quote:

I would love to try a K501, I read so many good things about them.

Don't forget to try K501 with K701 cushions. That are two different K501's - a warmer stock and a more extended and more neutral with bigger cushions.

BTW, do you see the capsule on my avatar? I made that foto while curing a slight warp on the diaphragm.

 

[Tiemen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shoewreck /img/forum/go_quote.gif Don't forget to try K501 with K701 cushions. That are two different K501's - a warmer stock and a more extended and more neutral with bigger cushions. BTW, do you see the capsule on my avatar? I made that foto while curing a slight warp on the diaphragm.

Yeah, that's the trouble with AKG, those variations within the same model.
K-400, Sextett, K501: same number, different versions, different sound....

 

[Trav]

I just missed a set of 2 240df and a boerenger amp for $99. I replaced my vinyl pads on my 240s with velour pads I got from headroom and love them. I'm on the lookout for a set of sextetts as well.

 

[ericj]

It's possible that there's more than one version of the DF, but i have no idea really. I don't know how long it was sold, only that it became available in the early 90's.

If anything, the only thing that would have changed would likely be the baffle - at some point AKG started making K240's with woven fabric rather than nonwoven fabric filtering the little holes in the baffle.

My K240-DF has the woven fabric. My K240-M is so old it has sextett-like patches w/o radiator diaphragms. My K260 Pro has the nonwoven fabric. I've seen pictures of the K240-M with the woven fabric. I can't remember if i've seen pictures of the K240-M with the nonwoven like my K260 Pro

That's a Fitz question, I think.

 

[Acix]

LOL...Now there is HD-800DF. Or, QK-800DF...

Yes, the K-240DF are my favorite ones from the K-240s models.
And maybe they are, the most flat and balance studio monitors cans. I just need to compare them to my Pioneer monitor 10 to be sure... And they are a very nice companions to the MB Quart models as well.



Tiemen, I'm glad that you like the K-240DF...

 

[burgunder]

I know of two versions of the DF, there was an early version which had a dual entry cable, and the later version had the single entry, whether there were other diffenrences, that affected sound I don't know.

 

[scompton]

I've never seen a K240 that was dual entry. It must have been a very short lived experiment.

 

[ericj]

Me either.

It's very easy to convert any of the old K240's to dual entry, but I've never seen one that way from the factory.

Also no evidence of any ever existing in the service docs.

 

[Tiemen]

Fitz, o brother, where art thou?

 

[burgunder]

Take a look at this Ebay auction
It could of course be a fraud but the price indicates, that more than one person believed that the cans were genuine.

 

[Tiemen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by burgunder /img/forum/go_quote.gif Take a look at this Ebay auction It could of course be a fraud but the price indicates, that more than one person believed that the cans were genuine.

From that Ebay page:

Am 05.12.08 hat der Verkäufer die folgenden Angaben hinzugefügt:

ECHTE RARITÄT - DER AKG AUS DER ERSTSERIE

Hallo,

Aufgrund einer Frage eines Bieters habe ich mich bei AKG erkundigt, ob es sich beim Kopfhörer um ein Orginal handelt, da es bei meiner Variante 2 Kabel rechts und links und nicht eines gibt. Daraufhin habe ich von AKG folgende Antwort erhalten:
Hallo Herr Braun,

vielen Dank für Ihre Anfrage. Glückwunsch zu dieser echten Rarität! Im Prinzip hat Ihr Freund schon Recht dass AKG normalerweise eine einseitige Kabelzuführung bevorzugt. Aber wo eine Regel, da gibt es Ausnahmen. Ihr K 240 DF stammt aus der Erst-Serie, die Anfang/Mitte der 80er Jahre noch in Einzelfertigung hergestellt wurde. Bei dieser wurden Y-Kabel verwendet. In dieser Qualitätsklasse kommen Fälschungen auch kaum vor - der Aufwand wäre viel zu hoch und würde in den typischen Anwenderkreisen (Rundfunkanstalten, Studios) sofort auffallen. Im Anhang finden Sie ein altes Produktbild auf dem die beidseitige Kabelzuführung noch erkennbar ist.

Übrigens: die meisten Ersatzteile dieses Kopfhörers wie z.B. Hör-Kapseln, Ohrpolster, Kopfband und die beidseitigen Gummizüge sind immer noch lieferbar!

Viel Spaß weiterhin mit dem K 240 DF

To sum it up: the seller asked AKG about the double cable entry.
AKG replied that this was the very first batch of DF's, the double cable entry was an exeption to AKG's rule of single cable. And it is a genuine DF. Produced in the first/mid eighties.