[SolidSnake3]

Well after some quite extensive research I think I have finally figured out which closed headphones I'm going to get. As the title says I'm thinking of going with the AKG K271, originally I was going to go with the ATH A700 however almost everything I have read said that the AKG were better. I was able to stretch my budget just a bit so I could get within the price of the AKG.

My only question now is that I see two different versions of the AKG K271 online. I found the K271 here: AKG K271 Studio Professional Headphones for $135 while the K271 mkII Amazon.com: AKG K271 MKII Headphones: Electronics
for $170

Is there a big difference between these two sets and is the site I found the AKG K271 on a legit one? I have never heard of the site before so I was a bit unsure. Thanks

 

[Tiemen]

There's no difference between K271S and K271 MkII. The latter comes with an extra cable and extra velour earpads, that's all.

 

[LeftyGorilla]

I'm getting a lot more use out of the extra cable than I thought I would. I say another cable + pads is worth $35.

 

[eddie78]

Especially as the velours pads sound better than the pleather pads (not out of the box, but after some "burn-in", after the are softer and fit to the form of your head...).

 

[Fungi]

The K271mkII can be found for cheaper on eBay through reputable sellers, too.

 

[Ishcabible]

And the K271s can usually be found for about $30-$40 less.

 

[SolidSnake3]

I have been checking ebay and so far the best price I can find on the mkII is about $150 while the K271 is around $130. I figure for $20 I will probably go with the mkII. My only issue now is an amp. Does the k271 really need one or will I be fine just running it from my laptop?

 

[parrot5]

To the OP, sometimes even if the store doesn't specify the pair to be MkII, it may still be a MkII, because (as the seller told me) the original is not being made anymore by AKG.

To SolidSnake3, if we're looking at the same North American postings, we may be looking at the same item (as it was the same price). I emailed the seller who said it is a MkII version. Doesn't hurt to ask

 

[Tiemen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SolidSnake3 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have been checking ebay and so far the best price I can find on the mkII is about $150 while the K271 is around $130. I figure for $20 I will probably go with the mkII. My only issue now is an amp. Does the k271 really need one or will I be fine just running it from my laptop?

I'm afraid they won't sound good out of your laptop.
A good DAC and amp makes them so much better.

 

[SolidSnake3]

*slams forehead against desk* GAH!!! Won't sound good? Ok back to square one...ATH-A700 I guess than. I'm not looking to spend more than $140 and I guess thats the best closed cans in that price.

 

[Tiemen]

From the Saint-Panda closed headphones review:

"I think the AKG K271 is a very good headphone for stationary use where isolation is required.
Yet compared to the A900, this headphone requires some fine-tuning to get the sound right and an amp is the almost mandatory first step.

The AKG definitely needs an amp to sound at his best. Without an amp, you can forget about the bass even more and there might not be enough volume overall. In terms of scaling, the AKG K271 showed the most capabilities and improved nicely with better equipment.

All in all, the AKG K271 is not a beginner’s headphone in that it's requires some dedication
and investment to get the sound right."

From HeadRoom:

"Decently efficient 55-ohm impedance rating makes the k271-MKII fair game for most mobile listening applications sans headphone amp -- although there's absolutely no question a quality head-amp will fully maximize the musical detail resolution, precise timbral/tonal texture reproduction, and dynamic range 'quickness' of this full-size headphone."

 

[QQQ]

This headphone are of very low sensivity(like most AKG's) - no amp no good.

 

[SawaFish]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SolidSnake3 /img/forum/go_quote.gif *slams forehead against desk* GAH!!! Won't sound good? Ok back to square one...ATH-A700 I guess than. I'm not looking to spend more than $140 and I guess thats the best closed cans in that price.

They still sound good, but they improve a lot with a good amp. So if you know you're going to buy an amp in the future, you can pull the trigger for the K271

 

[fiddle]

I own an AKG271s and I can attest to the above comments. Even with an entry level dac/amp like the NuForce Mobile, the improvement was phenomenal compared with only using the headphone output of the laptop.

I would highly recommend that you just bite the bullet and grab an amp/dac later. It will save you on having to upgrade headphones in the future.

 

[SolidSnake3]

I really can't spend the cash for an amp right now so I would be stuck with the headphones for quite a few months before I could get an amp. I'm debating if it would just be a better choice to get something that can run great sans amp like the A700 and than later on pick up a nice headphone and amp combo when I'm in a better financial position.