[tdogzthmn]

Did you ever have a chance to test those pads?

I did. Here is a quick measurement showing how the Pads alter the Frequency Response. The Blue line represents the XL Pads and the Orange line are the stock pads.

Generally the larger pads increased the bass response and created a treble peak between 5-6kHz.

The XL pads are certainly more comfortable and the added bass output isn't too bad but I do think they sound excellent with the stock pads.

 

[Spidey89]

Hi all, my first post here. I saw online someone talking about how hard AKG K340 was to power and I did some searching online, which lead to only 1 unit available online a couple months back. Recently I got extra cash so I decided to buy it. I googled and actually found 1 that was sold a month ago for approx USD$35. I was mad! But I managed to contact the guy selling the only available unit (he's been trying to sell for over a year) and I managed to deal with him last Saturday for approx USD $70.

Opened it and it's the bass heavy version (grey drivers). Like most people, I was blown away even though I was driving them through a Fiio K5 with Fiio Q5 or my Marantz PM8006. The defined bass, the instrument separation, especially with strings and piano, and clarity in vocals. Ordered Brainwavz XL Sheepskin earpads on Sunday night and it arrived on Monday morning through Amazon Prime. It was a little hard to get it on if I did the "normal" way I've been doing. What I did was I invert the flap, put onto the cup, and slowly flip back over the cup.

Yesterday while listening, it felt like there was imbalance, like the right was softer. But only with my Marantz. Took the K340 to my office today with my Fiio Q5 in my Pelican case, and I listened to it at work all day and it felt balanced. Came home and cleaned the whole thing with Q tips and alcohol because I found a dried old insect egg sac inside one of the cotton of the driver (wth). After that I put it all together and listened to my Marantz, and it's more balanced now. Could be cable or something, but I'm enjoying it very much now!

 

[Mellowship]

Hi all, my first post here. I saw online someone talking about how hard AKG K340 was to power and I did some searching online, which lead to only 1 unit available online a couple months back. Recently I got extra cash so I decided to buy it. I googled and actually found 1 that was sold a month ago for approx USD$35. I was mad! But I managed to contact the guy selling the only available unit (he's been trying to sell for over a year) and I managed to deal with him last Saturday for approx USD $70.

Opened it and it's the bass heavy version (grey drivers). Like most people, I was blown away even though I was driving them through a Fiio K5 with Fiio Q5 or my Marantz PM8006. The defined bass, the instrument separation, especially with strings and piano, and clarity in vocals. Ordered Brainwavz XL Sheepskin earpads on Sunday night and it arrived on Monday morning through Amazon Prime. It was a little hard to get it on if I did the "normal" way I've been doing. What I did was I invert the flap, put onto the cup, and slowly flip back over the cup.

Yesterday while listening, it felt like there was imbalance, like the right was softer. But only with my Marantz. Took the K340 to my office today with my Fiio Q5 in my Pelican case, and I listened to it at work all day and it felt balanced. Came home and cleaned the whole thing with Q tips and alcohol because I found a dried old insect egg sac inside one of the cotton of the driver (wth). After that I put it all together and listened to my Marantz, and it's more balanced now. Could be cable or something, but I'm enjoying it very much now!

And isn't $70 a steal for something that blows your mind?!
The jack usually needs some thorough cleaning, specially if it has been sitting for a while. The original cable is sturdy, but mine was torn in some places, and the copper was showing up. I decided to mod it for two 3.5 mm plugs on each side. This way, I can use it balanced.
How do they compare with your most premium headphones?

 

[Davidzak64]

Hi all, my first post here. I saw online someone talking about how hard AKG K340 was to power and I did some searching online, which lead to only 1 unit available online a couple months back. Recently I got extra cash so I decided to buy it. I googled and actually found 1 that was sold a month ago for approx USD$35. I was mad! But I managed to contact the guy selling the only available unit (he's been trying to sell for over a year) and I managed to deal with him last Saturday for approx USD $70.

Opened it and it's the bass heavy version (grey drivers). Like most people, I was blown away even though I was driving them through a Fiio K5 with Fiio Q5 or my Marantz PM8006. The defined bass, the instrument separation, especially with strings and piano, and clarity in vocals. Ordered Brainwavz XL Sheepskin earpads on Sunday night and it arrived on Monday morning through Amazon Prime. It was a little hard to get it on if I did the "normal" way I've been doing. What I did was I invert the flap, put onto the cup, and slowly flip back over the cup.

Yesterday while listening, it felt like there was imbalance, like the right was softer. But only with my Marantz. Took the K340 to my office today with my Fiio Q5 in my Pelican case, and I listened to it at work all day and it felt balanced. Came home and cleaned the whole thing with Q tips and alcohol because I found a dried old insect egg sac inside one of the cotton of the driver (wth). After that I put it all together and listened to my Marantz, and it's more balanced now. Could be cable or something, but I'm enjoying it very much now!

Great buy! The K340 are my favorite all around HP. The electrostat drivers may just need time to charge since they have been sitting for some time. They have a unique sound signature. I use my Luxman R-113 receiver to drive them easily. IMHO these HP's require a bit of eq to really sound their best. There is a spike in the 2.5 Khz frequency that is annoying and 400 to 800 hz are a bit fatiguing after a while. The resolution, timbre and imaging are incredible once eq is applied. Here's a screenshot of the eq apo settings I use if you're interested in giving them a try. Enjoy

 

[Spidey89]

And isn't $70 a steal for something that blows your mind?!
The jack usually needs some thorough cleaning, specially if it has been sitting for a while. The original cable is sturdy, but mine was torn in some places, and the copper was showing up. I decided to mod it for two 3.5 mm plugs on each side. This way, I can use it balanced.
How do they compare with your most premium headphones?

Well... Heck yea! Just that the guy who got it for USD$35 was probably a lucky guy, if he got the bass heavy version! But I can't complain since the original asking price for my set was like USD$105, to drop 35 bucks off it was a steal!

Well... I have no idea how long it's been sitting in a ziplock bag, and the seller wasn't very talkative either. From what I understood, he was the original and first owner, and used it for mixing, but he looks to be younger than I am, and I'm not even halfway into my 30s, so if I wasn't born, how can you be born? Hah! But it didn't matter of course

Oh yes, it feels sturdy. My set looks to be in pretty good shape for a 40 year old set, just that the cable isn't as coiled as it is in pictures so I'm having thoughts of getting the cable changed, or to even just change the jack to a sturdier one, like Neutrik.

As to how they compare with my most premium headphones... I use the Beyer T1 and Empyrean to compare... These are my opinions based off my setup and my hearing though. The T1 is clean and detailed, almost clinical? The Empyrean is a little warmer, not as detailed but still plenty of details? But the K340.... Is like looking at a bride with her veil on. You can see the color of her skin and her make up, you can make out her features, but there's just that veil masking it a little. In comparison, the T1 and Empyrean are like... Watching the bride up close in 8k video, you can see all the imperfections in her skin, but you still enjoy looking at the scene. If that makes any sense hahah, I'm bad with descriptions, as I explained to my friend. When it comes to photography, I can tell you exactly what I see, but when it comes to audio, I listen and either enjoy or don't enjoy, or just plain don't pay attention.

But with the K340, I do enjoy listening to them and I make an active effort to hear them. I had thoughts of getting it modified but probably at a later time

 

[Spidey89]

Great buy! The K340 are my favorite all around HP. The electrostat drivers may just need time to charge since they have been sitting for some time. They have a unique sound signature. I use my Luxman R-113 receiver to drive them easily. IMHO these HP's require a bit of eq to really sound their best. There is a spike in the 2.5 Khz frequency that is annoying and 400 to 800 hz are a bit fatiguing after a while. The resolution, timbre and imaging are incredible once eq is applied. Here's a screenshot of the eq apo settings I use if you're interested in giving them a try. Enjoy

Indeed they are a great buy! They're my current and probably will be my favorite home based headphones! For "travel" (to the office or overseas, haven't had the chance to travel yet, next trip will probably be to the USA in a year or 2 to attend my best friend's graduation, and I live in Asia, so it's a long ride) would most likely be my Sony MDR-V6 and Meze Noir! I'm looking at getting an Austrian Audio Hi-X65, so I would take a closed back and an open back with me when I travel, depends on how much space, I might take something that can fold more for a longer travel, or something that takes more space if I'm traveling within Asia

Oh yea, I did read the entire thread, finished the entire thing last night! First day I came back with them, I plugged it into my Marantz and played it for like 7 hours straight without me listening. I just listened every hour to see if I can hear any difference! After that, I sat down and listened to them. Thanks for sharing your eq! I will try them later after I restart my PC! I like them as they are already though, but I'd like to see how the EQ makes it different.

I see some people saying these are heavy cans. I don't find them heavy at all. Sure maybe compared to Grados they do, and oddly, they feel heavier than my Empyrean. But overall, as something that goes on my head, they aren't heavy at all. Probably cause I ride and my helmet with my DJI Osmo action is heavier

 

[Krassi]

Pretty good catch you got!
I also got into full k-340 mania and have 3 pairs of them. Its still the easiest place to find good pairs here in germany.

Well that image you describe with the bride really fits what i also experienced. Musik sounds so damned right with them and you dondt miss anything.
They are just not the best sofa lowrider headphones because of their size. But they are pretty light.

Some Eq tuning really makes them shine and listening to end 70s music on them is just amazing on those cans!

 

[Spidey89]

Pretty good catch you got!
I also got into full k-340 mania and have 3 pairs of them. Its still the easiest place to find good pairs here in germany.

Well that image you describe with the bride really fits what i also experienced. Musik sounds so damned right with them and you dondt miss anything.
They are just not the best sofa lowrider headphones because of their size. But they are pretty light.

Some Eq tuning really makes them shine and listening to end 70s music on them is just amazing on those cans!

Thanks! Yes, I see a lot of units on sale mainly in European countries. But shipping here will be pretty expensive, so I'm quite lucky that the seller couldn't sell it and it was still available. And also that he was relatively responsive. Sometimes I don't understand how can people sell their things, but never check their messages for weeks on end!

Really? I listen to them in my recliner though hahah! But I have a problem where it feels like it's a bit... un-impactful? And lacking a little bit in balance, unless I press them against my ears, like how you see some singers press the phones against their heads. I don't want to have to keep doing that though, so I'm thinking of sewing a little magnetic buckle strap to lightly tighten the headphones around my ears so that isolation is better. I think this would be a lack of clamping force? First time I experience this on any headphones.

I refurbished my Massdrop X Hifiman HE4xx headphones. The seller broke the headband and stripped the screw. I got it from him for approx USD$28.5. I managed to remove the screw, spray painted it blue, replace the earpads and headbands and now have a custom blue HE4xx pair. But before the headbands arrived, I strapped the thing to my head by wrapping it around my head, my mother laughed at me but at least I got to hear what planar sounded like

The thing about listening to old music, my idea of old music is those from the 90s since I grew up in that time period hahaha! But I do listen to some old Hong Kong music since those are the songs I heard growing up with my mother playing and singing them. Heard some eagles and Japanese songs from that period too, but I haven't heard Chicago yet. Not much music I listen come from the era the AKG K340 was produced in

 

[Davidzak64]

Thanks! Yes, I see a lot of units on sale mainly in European countries. But shipping here will be pretty expensive, so I'm quite lucky that the seller couldn't sell it and it was still available. And also that he was relatively responsive. Sometimes I don't understand how can people sell their things, but never check their messages for weeks on end!

Really? I listen to them in my recliner though hahah! But I have a problem where it feels like it's a bit... un-impactful? And lacking a little bit in balance, unless I press them against my ears, like how you see some singers press the phones against their heads. I don't want to have to keep doing that though, so I'm thinking of sewing a little magnetic buckle strap to lightly tighten the headphones around my ears so that isolation is better. I think this would be a lack of clamping force? First time I experience this on any headphones.

I refurbished my Massdrop X Hifiman HE4xx headphones. The seller broke the headband and stripped the screw. I got it from him for approx USD$28.5. I managed to remove the screw, spray painted it blue, replace the earpads and headbands and now have a custom blue HE4xx pair. But before the headbands arrived, I strapped the thing to my head by wrapping it around my head, my mother laughed at me but at least I got to hear what planar sounded like

The thing about listening to old music, my idea of old music is those from the 90s since I grew up in that time period hahaha! But I do listen to some old Hong Kong music since those are the songs I heard growing up with my mother playing and singing them. Heard some eagles and Japanese songs from that period too, but I haven't heard Chicago yet. Not much music I listen come from the era the AKG K340 was produced in

Replacing the elastics for the head band should help them be more snug. Small hair ties work great. Very easy to do.

 

[Spidey89]

Replacing the elastics for the head band should help them be more snug. Small hair ties work great. Very easy to do.

Oh right! I forgot to mention! I did change the elastics, but I didn't have any hair ties, so I used a couple rubber bands, twist and fold and squished them in. So while they are snug, they're not as snugged as I would like. I wanted to get angle pads, but couldn't find on Amazon

 

[jonathan c]

Small hair ties work great…

…did Jada ask (demand to know) where you got them?….

 

[Davidzak64]

Oh right! I forgot to mention! I did change the elastics, but I didn't have any hair ties, so I used a couple rubber bands, twist and fold and squished them in. So while they are snug, they're not as snugged as I would like. I wanted to get angle pads, but couldn't find on Amazon

I have the original pads. Not very snug but they don't leak. Very impactful but that could also be my eq settings also. Mine are Bass light version but they're definitely not light in the bass dept.

 

[Davidzak64]

…did Jada ask (demand to know) where you got them?….

It was before I got with Jada.

 

[Davidzak64]

Oh right! I forgot to mention! I did change the elastics, but I didn't have any hair ties, so I used a couple rubber bands, twist and fold and squished them in. So while they are snug, they're not as snugged as I would like. I wanted to get angle pads, but couldn't find on Amazon

I position the pads to touch the back of my ears. Bass is more impactful.

 

[Spidey89]

Somehow, I can't get it to fit right ahhaha