[SilverEars]

I guess some photos may help. Am I crazy or does one look a little flatter than the other? I’m still not sure what’s causing it. I can’t imagine the foam in one of the pads decompressing so quickly.

QC is so inconsistant on these! Pads shouldn't vary in depth like that. It will cause sound differences. Slight difference in depth changes loudness levels, and can cause channel imbalance if not similar on both sides.

 

[ADUHF]

QC is so inconsistant on these! Pads shouldn't vary in depth like that. It will cause sound differences. Slight difference in depth changes loudness levels, and can cause channel imbalance if not similar on both sides.

I have to agree with Silver on this.

Thanks. Since I don’t believe this is affecting sound to my knowledge I’ll probably leave it as is to save the hassle.

Unless, in your experience, having them symmetrical made a difference on your K553

As Silver mentioned above, it can make a difference in the sound. Whether you will notice it probably depends on how sensitive your hearing is. But it can effect the volume, tonality and the seal of the headphone. So the closer the pads are in shape and depth, the better.

If you like the headphones, and their SQ. And they seem to be in good working order otherwise (e.g. no hinge-related issues, or driver imbalances), then I'd suggest replacing the pads or foam inserts via AKG, if that's possible. If you replace the entire headphones for something like this, you could wind up getting a pair with different, and possibly more serious problems than just an issue with the pads. That is certainly another option though.

It's been quite awhile since I bought my K553's. But I believe I went through several different units before I found a pair that I felt had similar pads and sound quality. Since I went through a local dealer (GC) that had a good return policy at the time, that was not a big deal. I've had the K553's for at least 5 years now though, and the pads wore out after less than a year of my heavy usage.

I also replaced the original memory foam inserts with some regular foam inserts that I made myself, because I felt that the memory foam was not providing as reliable a seal. The K371 is very different in design though, with smaller pads, so that may not be an issue on them. The K553 is notorius for seal-related issue because of their strange hinge design, and unusually large headbands.

On my K553's, the pad depth, and the distance from my ears to the drivers did make a noticeable difference in sound. I tried using pads of several different depths... 1/2", 3/4", and 1". And discovered the farther my ear was away from the drivers, the brighter and less bassy they tended to sound.

If the K371 uses the same or similar drivers as the K553 (with some different filtering/damping), then I suspect it would work more or less the same.

By the way, are the pads on these easy to replace? They seem to be installed rather tightly, but someone posted a picture of them on here with different pads so it is possible.

In the K371 vs. K361 review I posted earlier by Zeos, he removed them on both the K371 and K361 in the video. Whether the inserts are easily removable, I don't know. It wasn't that difficult to get them out on my K553's though. He also removed the pads in his original K371 video...



Looks like they're held in place by just a small lip around the edges of the pads.

The cheap pleather material on my K553's pads wore out very quickly btw. If the K371 uses a similar material, then I would be as gentle as possible with them, if you want them to last.

Aftermarket pads are another option. But they will probably also change the sound sig a bit.

 

[bcaulf17]

I have to agree with Silver on this.



As Silver mentioned above, it can make a difference in the sound. Whether you will notice it probably depends on how sensitive your hearing is. But it can effect the volume, tonality and the seal of the headphone. So the closer the pads are in shape and depth, the better.

If you like the headphones, and their SQ. And they seem to be in good working order otherwise (e.g. no hinge-related issues, or driver imbalances), then I've suggest replacing the pads or foam inserts via AKG, if that's possible. If you replace the entire headphones for something like this, you could wind up getting a pair with different, and possibly more serious problems than just an issue with the pads. That is certainly another option though.

It's been quite awhile since I bought my K553's. But I believe I went through several different units before I found a pair that I felt had similar pads and sound quality. Since I went through a local dealer (GC) that had a good return policy at the time, that was not a big deal. I've had the K553's for at least 5 years now though, and the pads wore out after less than a year of my heavy usage.

I also replaced the original memory foam inserts with some regular foam inserts that I made myself, because I felt that the memory foam was not providing as reliable a seal. The K371 is very different in design though, with smaller pads, so that may not be an issue on them. The K553 is notorius for seal-related issue because of their strange hinge design, and unusually large headbands.

On my K553's, the pad depth, and the distance from my ears to the drivers did make a noticeable difference in sound. I tried using pads of several different depths... 1/2", 3/4", and 1". And discovered the farther my ear was away from the drivers, the brighter and less bassy they tended to sound.

If the K371 uses the same or similar drivers as the K553 (with some different filtering/damping), then I suspect it would work more or less the same.



In the K371 vs. K361 review I posted earlier by Zeos, he removed them on both the K371 and K361 in the video. Whether the inserts are easily removable, I don't know. It wasn't that difficult to get them out on my K553's though. He also removed the pads in his original K371 video...



Looks like they're held in place by just a small lip around the edges of the pads.

The cheap pleather material on my K553's pads wore out very quickly btw. If the K371 uses a similar material, then I would be as gentle as possible with them, if you want them to last.

Aftermarket pads are another option. But they will probably also change the sound sig a bit.

Thanks for this information and detail. Good thing is I don’t notice any lack of seal (bass levels don’t change if I press the pads against my face which is normally how I test that) and both sides seem to be of equal volume. Who knows maybe this makes them sound better lol!

I may end up contacting AKG about replacements in the future. And yeah, definitely wouldn’t try replacing the headphone entirely.

 

[plakat]

Does K371-BT also works as passive wired without any BT circuits in the path? Or in other words, does it function as regular K371 that is wired and also BT wireless?

Plugging in one of the supplied cables works without switching it on, so yes, it seems to work even without battery.

I‘m really curious why they chose a 4-pin connector on the BT... all supplied cables are TRS, so no mic in cables mode

 

[jagwap]

Does K371-BT also works as passive wired without any BT circuits in the path? Or in other words, does it function as regular K371 that is wired and also BT wireless?

Yes.

 

[torta]

Hello,
I enjoy k371 a lot. Sound signature is spot on for me, comfort ... not so much. Thinking about upgrade. Any suggestions for headphone (preferably closed) with similar signature and better comfort. Budget 300-700$. Oh ... and that is easy to drive.

cheers and thanks,
T

 

[bcaulf17]

I have to agree with Silver on this.



As Silver mentioned above, it can make a difference in the sound. Whether you will notice it probably depends on how sensitive your hearing is. But it can effect the volume, tonality and the seal of the headphone. So the closer the pads are in shape and depth, the better.

If you like the headphones, and their SQ. And they seem to be in good working order otherwise (e.g. no hinge-related issues, or driver imbalances), then I'd suggest replacing the pads or foam inserts via AKG, if that's possible. If you replace the entire headphones for something like this, you could wind up getting a pair with different, and possibly more serious problems than just an issue with the pads. That is certainly another option though.

It's been quite awhile since I bought my K553's. But I believe I went through several different units before I found a pair that I felt had similar pads and sound quality. Since I went through a local dealer (GC) that had a good return policy at the time, that was not a big deal. I've had the K553's for at least 5 years now though, and the pads wore out after less than a year of my heavy usage.

I also replaced the original memory foam inserts with some regular foam inserts that I made myself, because I felt that the memory foam was not providing as reliable a seal. The K371 is very different in design though, with smaller pads, so that may not be an issue on them. The K553 is notorius for seal-related issue because of their strange hinge design, and unusually large headbands.

On my K553's, the pad depth, and the distance from my ears to the drivers did make a noticeable difference in sound. I tried using pads of several different depths... 1/2", 3/4", and 1". And discovered the farther my ear was away from the drivers, the brighter and less bassy they tended to sound.

If the K371 uses the same or similar drivers as the K553 (with some different filtering/damping), then I suspect it would work more or less the same.



In the K371 vs. K361 review I posted earlier by Zeos, he removed them on both the K371 and K361 in the video. Whether the inserts are easily removable, I don't know. It wasn't that difficult to get them out on my K553's though. He also removed the pads in his original K371 video...



Looks like they're held in place by just a small lip around the edges of the pads.

The cheap pleather material on my K553's pads wore out very quickly btw. If the K371 uses a similar material, then I would be as gentle as possible with them, if you want them to last.

Aftermarket pads are another option. But they will probably also change the sound sig a bit.

Think I’ve figured out what might be causing the issue. I don’t believe the headphones were shipped with two pads with different or differing amounts of material. Looking at the photos I noticed that one of the cups was touching the yoke while the other has a little space between the cup and the yoke.

I played around with them a little off of my head and one of the cups is definitely a little more loose and bends back a little further than the other. This was probably causing the cup with more space between the yoke to resort to using more pressure on my head and in turn causing the material to flatten a little more quickly. That’s my guess.

Fortunately, as I said, I’m not noticing this to make any influence on sound quality. They still sound great and I’m actually enjoying them more now than when I first got them (I’m finding them to be maybe a little less aggressive now).

 

[foniak]

What is the isolation like compared to DT 770 with leather earpads? k361 and k371 cancel the same amount?

If the isolation is good I may pick up both and use the k361 as wear and tear headphone and k371 for producing. I just need an extra pair with good noise cancelation because I hate in ears and supraurals.

Im also worried about the garbage quality control on the k371 still being reported by some. How do I know Thomann will send me legit ones?

 

[plakat]

In the meantime I've sent my K-371BT back... somehow it just didn't click with me. Comfort was worse than with the cabled variant (the BT is much heavier, yet doesn't have deeper pads), the sound seemed a bit uninspired when connected via Bluetooth, and the touch interface was a hassle. I really prefer buttons... but especially in this case the touch area is simply too small, making it extra complicated to control.

I was really looking forward to this one, but somehow is just didn't fit. I hesitated, but ultimately I know I wouldn't have used it much. Plus the Shure Aonic 50 is so much better (in sound quality over Bluetooth, in comfort and in its interface: it has buttons), there's no sense in keeping both. I'll keep the wired variant though.

 

[Kammerat Rebekka]

Still rocking my K371
Honestly, I feel this headphone should be way more popular than it seems to be. Maybe it’s not pricey enough? Some times I wonder...maybe it would be the talk of the town if it was thrice as much money.
As much as I listen to and vastly prefer openbacks to closedbacks...there are times where the latter is the only option..and I happen to dig the hell out of the experience I get over the AKG.
It’s comfortable like an old pair of slippers.
It’s lighter than a small bird.
It sounds fairly close to a closed HD600 with boosted subbass.
It can be driven by micefarts and weaksauce thimble-like daps.
It looks absolutely ridiculous on a bed of lettuce.

 

[bcaulf17]

Still rocking my K371
Honestly, I feel this headphone should be way more popular than it seems to be. Maybe it’s not pricey enough? Some times I wonder...maybe it would be the talk of the town if it was thrice as much money.
As much as I listen to and vastly prefer openbacks to closedbacks...there are times where the latter is the only option..and I happen to dig the hell out of the experience I get over the AKG.
It’s comfortable like an old pair of slippers.
It’s lighter than a small bird.
It sounds fairly close to a closed HD600 with boosted subbass.
It can be driven by micefarts and weaksauce thimble-like daps.
It looks absolutely ridiculous on a bed of lettuce.

I agree with you. It’s still pretty new though, it seems to be popular over on Reddit.

 

[badumtsh]

What's up everyone? I hope you're doing well.

My dad's birthday is coming up, and I thought I would give him an upgrade from his current m40x. After reading the praise these two cans have have gotten on reddit I have decided on these. I can get the 361's for 30 euro cheaper than the 371's; is there any reason not to do that? Is it a material difference or something? While he will mostly use them on the pc, they might come along on yard work and such. My dad wears glasses, what's your experience with this? Someone with the 371's on reddit said it messed up the bass for him.

Before coming across these, I had intended to buy a pair of DT 770 for myself as my DT 880's don't really fit my current living situation (very noisy ). From really liking my 880's and the fact that my closed cans would only be used at my desktop, 770's was something I kinda defaulted to. Anyone here who's had the 770's and can compare them to the k361/k371? I would be able to get the 770's for roughly the same price, so I'm a bit conflicted on if I should pull the trigger on that or not, seeing how highly thought of these AKG's are.

 

[ADUHF]

What's up everyone? I hope you're doing well.

My dad's birthday is coming up, and I thought I would give him an upgrade from his current m40x. After reading the praise these two cans have have gotten on reddit I have decided on these. I can get the 361's for 30 euro cheaper than the 371's; is there any reason not to do that? Is it a material difference or something? While he will mostly use them on the pc, they might come along on yard work and such. My dad wears glasses, what's your experience with this? Someone with the 371's on reddit said it messed up the bass for him.

Before coming across these, I had intended to buy a pair of DT 770 for myself as my DT 880's don't really fit my current living situation (very noisy ). From really liking my 880's and the fact that my closed cans would only be used at my desktop, 770's was something I kinda defaulted to. Anyone here who's had the 770's and can compare them to the k361/k371? I would be able to get the 770's for roughly the same price, so I'm a bit conflicted on if I should pull the trigger on that or not, seeing how highly thought of these AKG's are.

Re K361 vs K371 vs DT770, you might take a look at some of the vids I posted recently by Wheezy, as he has all three, and goes into a fair amount of detail on the differences.

Is there a reason you're only looking at closed headphones though, for both you and your dad? Is it the price, or the sound quality that's the issue?

 

[jasonb]

I've had my K371 since November and still love it. I've mentioned this in here before but I have an ES100 attached to mine, so it's essentially a Bluetooth headphone with LDAC and EQ. The cable is homemade, and the ES100 is attached with Velcro. I also have a Focal Elear with Utopia pads, but I end up using the K371 and the Sony WF1000xm3 more because I like the convenience of Bluetooth.

 

[Kirjoy]

What's up everyone? I hope you're doing well.

My dad's birthday is coming up, and I thought I would give him an upgrade from his current m40x. After reading the praise these two cans have have gotten on reddit I have decided on these. I can get the 361's for 30 euro cheaper than the 371's; is there any reason not to do that? Is it a material difference or something? While he will mostly use them on the pc, they might come along on yard work and such. My dad wears glasses, what's your experience with this? Someone with the 371's on reddit said it messed up the bass for him.

Before coming across these, I had intended to buy a pair of DT 770 for myself as my DT 880's don't really fit my current living situation (very noisy ). From really liking my 880's and the fact that my closed cans would only be used at my desktop, 770's was something I kinda defaulted to. Anyone here who's had the 770's and can compare them to the k361/k371? I would be able to get the 770's for roughly the same price, so I'm a bit conflicted on if I should pull the trigger on that or not, seeing how highly thought of these AKG's are.

The DT770's provide better isolation, if that's important to you and are sturdier. The K371 are more comfortable (except for the headband, which just cuts into my skull) and have better (as in more neutral/balanced) sound. To me the DT's sounded fatiguing and had annoyingly recessed mids.

There's also this comparison: https://medium.com/@Xander51/headphone-showdown-akg-k371-vs-beyerdynamic-dt770-pro-e9692006272

He's also written a lot about the different budget Beyers, but seems to prefer the K371's nowadays