[SilverEars]

I’ve realized by this point that just about every headphone (especially closed back) has some flaws, but the K371 has probably among the least out of the closed backs I’ve tried which is pretty amazing considering the price. The only one that does better is the EMU Ebony for me but some don’t consider that a closed headphone. But I am with you in that the one issue, for me, is the upper midrange being a bit too hot, on some music at least. Surely mastering comes into play because I’ve only found a few instances where it somewhat bothered me.

I listened to a lot of hip-hop and R&B due to the bass, and the vocals just comes too forward to the point of causing a bit of annoyance. It's with a lot of popular music with vocals, but I admit instrumentals do pop forward as well and helps with imaging (which is quite good), but could be a bit much.

At this point, I've been though a lot of headphones, and it's more about refining what I want so I'm probably being picky. You are right, it does perform well for the most part, but I also know I want something that is better for my ear health and sounds good.

 

[bcaulf17]

I listened to a lot of hip-hop and R&B due to the bass, and the vocals just comes too forward to the point of causing a bit of annoyance. It's with a lot of popular music with vocals, but I admit instrumentals do pop forward as well and helps with imaging (which is quite good), but could be a bit much.

At this point, I've been though a lot of headphones, and it's more about refining what I want so I'm probably being picky. You are right, it does perform well for the most part, but I also know I want something that is better for my ear health and sounds good.

You could just EQ it, but if you rather not go that route (which I understand) then you might honestly be better off with IEMs if you’re after something that isolates. There just aren’t a lot of great options for closed backs even still unless you go up to ZMF level. They’re either too wonky in their tonality or their technical performance isn’t up to par.

Of the ones I’ve tried, excluding the EMU/Fostex and K371, I still like the B&O H6 Gen 2. It’s on the thin side but it doesn’t have any annoying peaks that would hurt your hearing and is very clear and clean sounding, in a good way. I still think the DT 177X Go is decent too especially if you like your midrange relaxed but in terms of technicalities it doesn’t really do better than the K371 (except maybe imaging) and it costs twice as much, but I find it enjoyable when looking purely at its frequency response (quite warm and not sharp or piercing like most Beyers).

I haven’t had experience with much else. I wasn’t a fan of the Meze 99 when I tried it. I tried the NAD Viso HP50 briefly in a store once and that was actually pretty good and I think it’s a little more bass leaning and a little less upper midrange/treble but otherwise follows Harman.

 

[McArooni]

Is there any open back headphone in AKG's lineup that sound signature-wise can be compared toe the 371? I've been using them daily on my commute and when I'm at the pc and so far they've really exceeded my expectations.

 

[IEManiac]

I think I am going to put up the K371 for sale...

SOLD.

 

[Kirjoy]

Bought them, tried them. Nope, not for me. Sound's great, but the comfort is atrocious: the headband hardly has any padding whatsoever and gives me an instant headache, as soon as I put these on.

It seems impossible to find comfortable closed-backs with big enough cups (absolute minimum of 60 mm x 40 mm) and a reasonable headband and a "neutral" (close to Harman) sound.

I think I'll just give up and order the HD 6xx's. I've never tried open headphones, and would really prefer the isolation, but what can you do..

 

[bcaulf17]

Bought them, tried them. Nope, not for me. Sound's great, but the comfort is atrocious: the headband hardly has any padding whatsoever and gives me an instant headache, as soon as I put these on.

It seems impossible to find comfortable closed-backs with big enough cups (absolute minimum of 60 mm x 40 mm) and a reasonable headband and a "neutral" (close to Harman) sound.

I think I'll just give up and order the HD 6xx's. I've never tried open headphones, and would really prefer the isolation, but what can you do..

You could try putting some extra padding on the headband or use something like Dekoni Nuggets.

 

[Kirjoy]

You could try putting some extra padding on the headband or use something like Dekoni Nuggets.

Good idea! I also contemplated buying a DT 770 headband replacement, since their headband was really comfortable, but I don't know if it would fit. The Dekoni products are a bit too expensive for me, though. I also don't know if they ship to Europe. I'll have to look into that.

Any ideas for inexpensive/DIY padding?

 

[bcaulf17]

Good idea! I also contemplated buying a DT 770 headband replacement, since their headband was really comfortable, but I don't know if it would fit. The Dekoni products are a bit too expensive for me, though. I also don't know if they ship to Europe. I'll have to look into that.

Any ideas for inexpensive/DIY padding?

For some reason I’ve never really had a problem with the headband for any headphones I’ve used. I know the K371 headband is on the thin side but it doesn’t cause me any discomfort. So unfortunately I don’t really have any recommendations there.

 

[FlavioWolff]

Hi,
Is there any known ways to stiffen the k371's hinges? My pair always loses its adjustment when I put them to rest on a stand, or put them back on my head by holding the headband. It's very annoying.
Thanks

 

[ADUHF]

Hi,
Is there any known ways to stiffen the k371's hinges? My pair always loses its adjustment when I put them to rest on a stand, or put them back on my head by holding the headband. It's very annoying.
Thanks

Can you explain this a little more?

 

[FlavioWolff]

Can you explain this a little more?

Sure.
The adjusting mechanism is too soft/flimsy (sorry, not a native speaker). I set the correct height of the cups for my head, but whenever I grab the phones by the headband (or even by the cups, sometimes) the weight of the cups make the adjustment “slip down”. I would prefer if the clicks had more resistance and stayed in place. I used lots of headphones and never had another one that lost its adjustment without my will.
Thanks

 

[SilverEars]

Can you explain this a little more?

Sounds to me like his hinges are looser than it should be. Mine are not that loose that the hinge would change it's position on it's own. There is only one direction the headphones can fold and mine is quite still. Seems to me like I lucked out on a properly built one?

I'm one of those people that have no issues with stuff I buy. Stuff don't break on me for some reason.

Edit: I understand what he means. I slided it all the way up, and tried shaking it up and down, and it didn't slide down from the top position.

 

[ADUHF]

Sure.
The adjusting mechanism is too soft/flimsy (sorry, not a native speaker). I set the correct height of the cups for my head, but whenever I grab the phones by the headband (or even by the cups, sometimes) the weight of the cups make the adjustment “slip down”. I would prefer if the clicks had more resistance and stayed in place. I used lots of headphones and never had another one that lost its adjustment without my will.
Thanks

Without actually taking a pair apart, it's hard to say if it could be improved. The only thing I can think of is to try to wedge something into the crevice below the hinge, to stop them at the position where they're most comfortable, if that's possible. Whether something like that would actually work though, I don't know.

Maybe something that's made of hard rubber, so it won't fall out easily after you squeeze it in place. A hardware store, or possibly a craft, or hobby shop might be able to help with something like that. And might have some better suggestions than mine.

That's about all I can think of.

Are you putting them on a mannequin head to try to stretch the handband out?

 

[ADUHF]

Is there any open back headphone in AKG's lineup that sound signature-wise can be compared toe the 371? I've been using them daily on my commute and when I'm at the pc and so far they've really exceeded my expectations.

I think the short answer to your question is probably no... The main problem being the extension in the bass on the K371, which is hard to replicate on open-back dynamic headphones.

As a general rule, open-back planar magnetic headphones have better bass extension than dynamic headphones. The planars will tend to be flatter though in the bass and midrange than the K371, with less of a rise in the sub-bass region. (Though the K371 is pretty flat in those areas as well,... so perhaps I should say the planars are even flatter than the K371?) Some of them might get you pretty close to the sound of the K371 though. And they might also have better SQ than the K371 in some other ways. Planars tend to have lower distortion than dynamic drivers, for example. The downside is they tend to be bigger, bulkier and heavier than most dynamic headphones.

There might be one or two open dynamic headphones with a little more bassiness than the Senn HD 600 and HD 650 that you could try as well. They probably would not go quite as deep as the planars though. And might also require a couple compromises in the sound quality on the upper-end of the frequency spectrum in the treble as well (which could potentially be improved with an EQ). If you're interested though, I can run down a few examples.

 

[bcaulf17]

I don't have a problem with loose hinges either.

One thing I do have to ask; do the pads break in after a while in any way? It's strange because they're not clamping and they feel very comfortable, but I get this slight feeling of pressure and I get this kind of very small pressure headache in the center in my head over time. But after they're off for a few minutes I'm fine. I think it's because the pads are so thick. And they still kinda make that "crinkly" sound in some spots.