fraseyboy
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2005
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Today my AKG K270 Playbacks arrived!
It took me a while to find someone to sell them to me and I wouldn't have at all if it weren't for Malldian and Nick20. Nick20 sent me a link to a set on eBay. Sadly it was USA shipping only though. This is where Malldian comes in. Matt offered to ship them to me all the way in New Zealand
Thanks Malldian!
Now on to my impressions.
First the build quality. Very good! They're solid, quite heavy (compared to AD700's anyway) and seem fairly unbreakable which I guess they would have to be to be so old and still work (not sure how old they are. Anyone know anything about the history of the K270 Playbacks? Let me know if you do.)
As far as the cable goes, its OK. The connector on mine is a bit loose so I have to twiggle it a bit to get sound in both channels, but that can be fixed. The cable is quite thin but is coated in this rubber stuff which probably increases durability or something. I personally don't like it though. Might get a recable some time.
The only slightly fragile part of it is the elastic headband mechanism, which seems more frail. More on that later though.
The comfort is kinda a low point for these. I think the elastics are a bit loose (anyone have any idea on how to replace these?) which is probably why. They kinda sit too low. Also the pads are sunken and I think part of my ear touches the inner driver bit.
I happen to have some velour pads from some other $30 headphones I bought that fit PERFECTLY and make it a lot more comfortable. They are more fat than the leathers so they increase the space between driver(s?) and ear, affecting the sound a little. Can't decide whether it's that much of a bad thing yet though...
Isolation on these things is very good too. They're not IEM's, but they certainly isolate pretty good, slightly better with the leathers than the velours though.
(^ anyone know if there's an easy way to unwarp that headband? It doesn't affect comfort but it looks kinda weird...)
How do they sound?
As other's have said, they're quite bright. However by my ears they're not as bright as the AD700. The sound is quite hard to describe... I think I'll break it down into categories.
Bass
The bass is tight and punchy. IMO, this is the perfect type of bass. It's not overwhelming, but it is noticeable and there. These are not bassy headphones at all, nor are they bass light.
Mids
The mids aren't as 'sweet' as my AD700's, but they're still good. They're more forward than the AD700's. They also sound more neutral.
Highs
The high's aren't as sparkly as my HD580's and definitely not my AD700... They're sorta subdued.
Soundstage
There isn't really a soundstage. They have the same forward 'in your face' presentation of Grado's. Plus they're closed so I wouldn't expect there to be much soundstage anyway.
Detail
Once again, they're less detailed than the AD700's. Things are more blurred together and less separated.
Tone
The K270 Playbacks have quite a dark tone, much like the HD580's except maybe even darker. I've heard people say that they're like closed Grado's, which I find rather confusing as the tone is nothing like Grado's IMO.
Compared to the AD700's the AKG's are WAY less airy and the soundstage has really no comparison. They also sound less bright which is quite a strange thing... But it's what I hear. Weirdly, the AKG's sound 'veiled' compared to the AD700's. The bass on the AKG's is FAR superior though, as are the mids.
I was quite confused by the K270's sound... They have a sound signature which is kinda like a mix between Senns and Grado's IMO. I quite like it but if there was no noise around me I would be more likely to reach for my AD700's. The isolation, however, is very good so these do still serve a big purpose. Maybe I'm just not used to the sound of closed headphones having never owned a set (apart from my Sennheiser HD201's which I haven't listened to for ages). They sound good, but a different kind of good than what I'm used to.
I think if I fix the elastic mechanism (which is far too loose even after replacing the old elastics) and give them time for my ears to get used to them, I will enjoy the sound more.
UPDATE:
I was still unimpressed by the sound (compared to how people had described them) so I unstitched my (old and pancaked) pads and stuffed a HEAP of stuffing in there so they were completely puffed up. Now the sound is completely changed!
The bass is decreased (good, as it was a wee bit excessive before), the treble is increased to make them much more bright, and the mids are sweeter! Everything is better! This is what the K270 Playbacks should sound like. They're more gradoey now, but not as gradoey as a grado (of course
).
And today, some brand new AKG Pads arrived. Sounds about the same as with the stuffed ones
. They're probably about SR60 level (never heard the SR60's though, just a guess).
I still stand by my statement. They're not really THAT good compared to other cans but for a closed can they're not too bad.
It took me a while to find someone to sell them to me and I wouldn't have at all if it weren't for Malldian and Nick20. Nick20 sent me a link to a set on eBay. Sadly it was USA shipping only though. This is where Malldian comes in. Matt offered to ship them to me all the way in New Zealand
Now on to my impressions.
First the build quality. Very good! They're solid, quite heavy (compared to AD700's anyway) and seem fairly unbreakable which I guess they would have to be to be so old and still work (not sure how old they are. Anyone know anything about the history of the K270 Playbacks? Let me know if you do.)
As far as the cable goes, its OK. The connector on mine is a bit loose so I have to twiggle it a bit to get sound in both channels, but that can be fixed. The cable is quite thin but is coated in this rubber stuff which probably increases durability or something. I personally don't like it though. Might get a recable some time.
The only slightly fragile part of it is the elastic headband mechanism, which seems more frail. More on that later though.
The comfort is kinda a low point for these. I think the elastics are a bit loose (anyone have any idea on how to replace these?) which is probably why. They kinda sit too low. Also the pads are sunken and I think part of my ear touches the inner driver bit.
I happen to have some velour pads from some other $30 headphones I bought that fit PERFECTLY and make it a lot more comfortable. They are more fat than the leathers so they increase the space between driver(s?) and ear, affecting the sound a little. Can't decide whether it's that much of a bad thing yet though...
Isolation on these things is very good too. They're not IEM's, but they certainly isolate pretty good, slightly better with the leathers than the velours though.
(^ anyone know if there's an easy way to unwarp that headband? It doesn't affect comfort but it looks kinda weird...)
How do they sound?
As other's have said, they're quite bright. However by my ears they're not as bright as the AD700. The sound is quite hard to describe... I think I'll break it down into categories.
Bass
The bass is tight and punchy. IMO, this is the perfect type of bass. It's not overwhelming, but it is noticeable and there. These are not bassy headphones at all, nor are they bass light.
Mids
The mids aren't as 'sweet' as my AD700's, but they're still good. They're more forward than the AD700's. They also sound more neutral.
Highs
The high's aren't as sparkly as my HD580's and definitely not my AD700... They're sorta subdued.
Soundstage
There isn't really a soundstage. They have the same forward 'in your face' presentation of Grado's. Plus they're closed so I wouldn't expect there to be much soundstage anyway.
Detail
Once again, they're less detailed than the AD700's. Things are more blurred together and less separated.
Tone
The K270 Playbacks have quite a dark tone, much like the HD580's except maybe even darker. I've heard people say that they're like closed Grado's, which I find rather confusing as the tone is nothing like Grado's IMO.
Compared to the AD700's the AKG's are WAY less airy and the soundstage has really no comparison. They also sound less bright which is quite a strange thing... But it's what I hear. Weirdly, the AKG's sound 'veiled' compared to the AD700's. The bass on the AKG's is FAR superior though, as are the mids.
I was quite confused by the K270's sound... They have a sound signature which is kinda like a mix between Senns and Grado's IMO. I quite like it but if there was no noise around me I would be more likely to reach for my AD700's. The isolation, however, is very good so these do still serve a big purpose. Maybe I'm just not used to the sound of closed headphones having never owned a set (apart from my Sennheiser HD201's which I haven't listened to for ages). They sound good, but a different kind of good than what I'm used to.
I think if I fix the elastic mechanism (which is far too loose even after replacing the old elastics) and give them time for my ears to get used to them, I will enjoy the sound more.
UPDATE:
I was still unimpressed by the sound (compared to how people had described them) so I unstitched my (old and pancaked) pads and stuffed a HEAP of stuffing in there so they were completely puffed up. Now the sound is completely changed!
The bass is decreased (good, as it was a wee bit excessive before), the treble is increased to make them much more bright, and the mids are sweeter! Everything is better! This is what the K270 Playbacks should sound like. They're more gradoey now, but not as gradoey as a grado (of course
And today, some brand new AKG Pads arrived. Sounds about the same as with the stuffed ones
I still stand by my statement. They're not really THAT good compared to other cans but for a closed can they're not too bad.