AKG K361/K371

[Heraldo Jones]

Hello fam, first of all happy new year and my best wishes for the new one.

I've been a professional mixing & mastering engineer for 15 years and always been a hifi lover, so I tend to like audio equipment with very incise in detail revealing and accurate and flat response. My daily drivers are the AKG K701 + JDS Labs Atom amp but, just to try another taste decided to buy the K371.

My opinion:

1. K701/2 have a very wide soundstage and 3D depth, while K371 have a very narrow one and are almost 2D in depth.
2. K701/2 have a very good detailed natural sound (in special if you use a correction system from Oratory, Sonaworks or Tonebooster Morphit) while K371 sound congested and bass dominates everything.
3. K701/2 need a lot of power due to their low sensitivity, while K371 can work even with your phone.
4. Bass on K371 is extremely boomy and you feel the drivers inside moving against your head, which IMO is disgusting (and I listen a lot to hip hop and other bass-heavy music). Bass on K701/2 is not as extended but well defined and you can hear clearly the sub-bass details without any issue (again for that you need a powerful amp).

As an audio tool I will never use them for professional tasks like mixing or mastering, maybe for recording tasks for artists who like to"feel the bass". As an audio lover, they offer very low level of detail and special the crappy soundstage and 3Dness which is one of the most important things for me.

For me they are just the "Beats by AKG".

 

[SilverEars]

Hello fam, first of all happy new year and my best wishes for the new one.

I've been a professional mixing & mastering engineer for 15 years and always been a hifi lover, so I tend to like audio equipment with very incise in detail revealing and accurate and flat response. My daily drivers are the AKG K701 + JDS Labs Atom amp but, just to try another taste decided to buy the K371.

My opinion:

1. K701/2 have a very wide soundstage and 3D depth, while K371 have a very narrow one and are almost 2D in depth.
2. K701/2 have a very good detailed natural sound (in special if you use a correction system from Oratory, Sonaworks or Tonebooster Morphit) while K371 sound congested and bass dominates everything.
3. K701/2 need a lot of power due to their low sensitivity, while K371 can work even with your phone.
4. Bass on K371 is extremely boomy and you feel the drivers inside moving against your head, which IMO is disgusting (and I listen a lot to hip hop and other bass-heavy music). Bass on K701/2 is not as extended but well defined and you can hear clearly the sub-bass details without any issue (again for that you need a powerful amp).

As an audio tool I will never use them for professional tasks like mixing or mastering, maybe for recording tasks for artists who like to"feel the bass". As an audio lover, they offer very low level of detail and special the crappy soundstage and 3Dness which is one of the most important things for me.

For me they are just the "Beats by AKG".

Here's my opinion on both. K701/2 has more of a room inside the cups/pads and is open so that sound stage will be large in comparision. K371 will sound more intimate due to non-existant pads room and being closed. Both imaging isn't great when it comes to spatial distinctness in space although K701/2 has more spatial feel to sound due to the large stage. But it's more like faint blobs in space cannot be pinpointed. So, it's not the most distinctive open-back imaging I've heard.

I can't say which has better resolution as I can't compare directly of now, but K371 has more upfront upper-mids and details will seem apparent and in your face. K701 does as well, but in the 2k range, but the highs comes off more excessive than K371 due to such a huge rise compared to mids and bass. Since K701 emphasizes 2k, it can come off honky mids, but presence region vocal definition is surperb.

I believe K701/2 comes off more natural in timbre.

Bass really lacks on the K701/2, but K371 has signficant bass, but not the bloated kind, but well controlled, so not bad. But I would take the K371 bass over the lack of bass in the K701/2.

I'm not a mixing & mastering engineer and don't need to tell people that for credit. I just listened to a lot of gear.

 

[ADUHF]

The K371 can't be both overly boomy in the bass AND overly bright in the upper mids and treble, folks. So please pick one or the other!

And Happy New Year btw.

 

[ADUHF]

The K371 can't be both overly boomy in the bass AND overly bright in the upper mids and treble, folks.

...Or maybe it can. I dunno.

https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq/tree/master/results/rtings/rtings_harman_over-ear_2018/AKG K371
https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq/tree/master/results/oratory1990/harman_over-ear_2018/AKG K371
https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq/tree/master/results/crinacle/gras_43ag-7_harman_over-ear_2018/AKG K371

EDIT: The target response curves in the above graphs are about 2 dB lower in the bass than the generic Harman target btw. So that's why the K371 frequency response is running slightly above in that area.

The K371 is designed to approximate the house sound in Harman's reference listening room, which is loosely approximated by their target over-ear headphone response curve shown below.

 

[Okrelayer]

After spending time with both the K361/ K371 to my ears, i think the k361 is like watching a Metallica concert in 4k video on the best tv you can buy. K371 sounds like you are watching the band perform in front of you. The K371 has BODY to my ears. Drums just don’t have the tonality of a drum, but it sounds like a drumset . I do think the k361 sounds “smoother” to my ears it doesn’t have as many spikes (with badly recorded cymbals or whatever) but i think that the realistic tone of the instruments make up for it.

I also enjoy the comfort of the k371 more. It clamps more, so it feels more secure on my head and doesn’t break the seal.

I’m just a music fan, I’m sure there are camps for both, but the comfort + the lively sound of the k371 makes it the winner to my ears.

 

[Heraldo Jones]

Bass really lacks on the K701/2, but K371 has significant bass, but not the bloated kind, but well controlled, so not bad. But I would take the K371 bass over the lack of bass in the K701/2.

With correction the K701/2 have a very extended sub bass and still can go crazy loud, more than anyone (should) need. Bass on the K371 have near to non control, but maybe some people could like it.

I'm not a mixing & mastering engineer and don't need to tell people that for credit. I just listened to a lot of gear.

I don't need credit because I'm retired of the pro audio work, but I specified that because pro audio people like me tend to care more in deep about details than hifi listeners. You need to pay more attention to make things sound good than just enjoy them.

My answers in bold.

 

[SilverEars]

My answers in bold.

It maybe your amp. My desktop amp does control better than out of my smartphone. I've tried all kinds of amps, and couldn't get bass out of K701/2. Perhaps lack of bass is control for you. Perhaps you are used to 'monitor' sounds with no bass. I do use subs with my LSR305.

 

[ADUHF]

After spending time with both the K361/ K371 to my ears, i think the k361 is like watching a Metallica concert in 4k video on the best tv you can buy. K371 sounds like you are watching the band perform in front of you. The K371 has BODY to my ears. Drums just don’t have the tonality of a drum, but it sounds like a drumset . I do think the k361 sounds “smoother” to my ears it doesn’t have as many spikes (with badly recorded cymbals or whatever) but i think that the realistic tone of the instruments make up for it.

I also enjoy the comfort of the k371 more. It clamps more, so it feels more secure on my head and doesn’t break the seal.

I’m just a music fan, I’m sure there are camps for both, but the comfort + the lively sound of the k371 makes it the winner to my ears.

Fwiw, I generally agree with your take, Okrelayer, that the K371 is the livelier of the two. I guess the question is... is it too lively?! Because it seems to be, at least for some folks who aren't so used to this type of sound signature.

I believe one of the main differences between the two is the drivers. And the K371 uses titanium coated drivers, while the K361 does not. The titanium coating should give the K371 somewhat better clarity and lower distortion. But at the potential expense of some additional sharpness in its sound. That sharpness in the treble and upper mids is probably somewhat mitigated though by the cloth dampers on the baffle plate.

You can see some of the differences between the two in these two plots...

https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq/tree/master/results/oratory1990/harman_over-ear_2018/AKG K361
https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq/tree/master/results/oratory1990/harman_over-ear_2018/AKG K371

The K361 appears more forward in the mids between 800 Hz and 2 kHz. But it looks more relaxed, and less strident than the K371 between 3k and 8k, in the uppers mids and low treble. So that is probably why cymbals and others sibilants could sound a bit sharper on the K371.

Fwiw, I also found the K371 a little strident and glaring in that 3-8 kHz range for my taste. And would probably want to listen to them at somewhat lower volume because of that. Or to tweak the frequency response a little with an EQ to either bring that down a bit. Or to add a bit more warmth in some spots in the bass to balance it out a bit better.

Overall though, I preferred the sound of the K371 to K361. And found it to be clearer and more dynamic sounding. I could be somewhat biased in that opinion though. Because my previous headphone was the AKG K553 Pro, which apparently used the same extended frequency titanium drivers as the K371.

 

[Heraldo Jones]

I maybe your amp. My desktop amp does controller better than out of my smartphone. I've tried all kinds of amps, and couldn't get bass out of K701/2. Perhaps lack of bass is control for you. Perhaps you are used to 'monitor' sounds with no bass. I do use subs with my LSR305.

I tried different amps (Atom amp which is my go to, Audioengine D1, Audient iD22, Schiit Valhalla and Topping A30) ... same sonic experience with the K371. If you use a correction system with the K701/2 you can reach almost 30hz flat which is more than enough to hear properly the latest key in every music production. My work as an audio engineer was dedicated almost to hip hop and other bass heavy music so tight and controlled bass for me is almost an obsession. My monitoring system are PMC IB2 triamped with Hypex NCore500 amps, a PMC SB100 sub with the custom Bryston amp by PMC and Dirac room correction.

 

[SilverEars]

I tried different amps (Atom amp which is my go to, Audioengine D1, Audient iD22, Schiit Valhalla and Topping A30) ... same sonic experience with the K371. If you use a correction system with the K701/2 you can reach almost 30hz flat which is more than enough to hear properly the latest key in every music production. My work as an audio engineer was dedicated almost to hip hop and other bass heavy music so tight and controlled bass for me is almost an obsession. My monitoring system are PMC IB2 triamped with Hypex NCore500 amps, a PMC SB100 sub with the custom Bryston amp by PMC and Dirac room correction.

I'm not so knowledgeable with sound mixing so bear with me. I would assume if using a monitor with lacking of bass, you'd tend to boost the bass if going by such monitor, but I would assume an engineer would know better than this, at least an experienced one. Then also, you'd have to test the tracks on a mainstream system to know how majority would hear the tracks (and how the general boost or lowering of response turned out). What's interesting is that I see a lot of hip-hop producers with Beats on their heads. lol

 

[Heraldo Jones]

I'm not so knowledgeable with sound mixing so bear with me. I would assume if using a monitor with lacking of bass, you'd tend to boost the bass if going by such monitor, but I would assume an engineer would know better than this, at least an experienced one. Then also, you'd have to test the tracks on a mainstream system to now how majority would hear the tracks (and how the general boost or lowering of response turned out). What's interesting is that I see a lot of hip-hop producers with Beats on their heads. lol

I like clean and flat bass which is what I've found with the K701, also lot of headroom. Just want to change them because they are starting to fail and I really don't like to test a lot of gear. Just like to find the "thing that works" . About the Beats and the producers who wear them (for the photo) ... it is paid promo, I can asure you that .
I'm going to end probably with the K712 Pro as they look as an upgraded K701/2.

 

[thomaslmusic55]

Hello fam, first of all happy new year and my best wishes for the new one.

1. K701/2 have a very wide soundstage and 3D depth, while K371 have a very narrow one and are almost 2D in depth.

HI,

Since the K701/702 are open and the 371s are closed, this makes perfect sense. The 371s are essentially tuned to the 2018 Harman Target curve which means they have a boost that starts around 120Hz and gradually climbs to +5db by the time you reach 40Hz. So it also makes perfect sense that someone coming from the 701/702s might find the bass overwhelming especially at first. I think these headphones are targeted for different use cases/users.

Since you said you're interested in the K712 Pro as a replacement for your K701s, you may want to look at the Rtings comparison between the two:

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/t...akg-k712-pro/326/327?usage=9287&threshold=0.1

cheers,

--tom

 

[Heraldo Jones]

I like clean and flat bass which is what I've found with the K701, also lot of headroom. Just want to change them because they are starting to fail and I really don't like to test a lot of gear. Just like to find the "thing that works" . About the Beats and the producers who wear them (for the photo) ... it is paid promo, I can asure you that .
I think I'm going to end probably with the K712 Pro as they look as an upgraded K701/2.

HI,

Since the K701/702 are open and the 371s are closed, this makes perfect sense. The 371s are essentially tuned to the 2018 Harman Target curve which means they have a boost that starts around 120Hz and gradually climbs to +5db by the time you reach 40Hz. So it also makes perfect sense that someone coming from the 701/702s might find the bass overwhelming especially at first. I think these headphones are targeted for different use cases/users.

Since you said you're interested in the K712 Pro as a replacement for your K701s, you may want to look at the Rtings comparison between the two:

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/t...akg-k712-pro/326/327?usage=9287&threshold=0.1

cheers,

--tom

Thanks for the link Tom! Although I really don't trust RTINGS measurements at all, they always provide "another vision" in special with the great amount of hps the measure. I have tested some bassy closed heaphones which extend as low as the K371, like the Beyers DT770 and they reach as low but without the "bass overload" of the K371, even the HyperX Alpha Cloud I have (based on a cheap but good Takstar studio headphone) reach very low and have a decently accurate bass.

 

[bcaulf17]

After spending time with both the K361/ K371 to my ears, i think the k361 is like watching a Metallica concert in 4k video on the best tv you can buy. K371 sounds like you are watching the band perform in front of you. The K371 has BODY to my ears. Drums just don’t have the tonality of a drum, but it sounds like a drumset . I do think the k361 sounds “smoother” to my ears it doesn’t have as many spikes (with badly recorded cymbals or whatever) but i think that the realistic tone of the instruments make up for it.

I also enjoy the comfort of the k371 more. It clamps more, so it feels more secure on my head and doesn’t break the seal.

I’m just a music fan, I’m sure there are camps for both, but the comfort + the lively sound of the k371 makes it the winner to my ears.

It’s amazing isn’t it?

 

[ADUHF]

This is probably a dumb idea. But have any of you tried using an extension cable with your K371's to see if that might take a little bit of the hardness out of its sound?