[Mark Up]

I had the same issue finding ear pads with better seal that could perhaps mitigate the bright treble and lack of mid bass warmth. I bought the Audio-Technica ATH-SR50 (that links to Amazon page) on sale for $99. $60 off their regular price. I found their mid bass and lows too muddy, and it lacked high end clarity. I'd bought $15 pleather Brainwavz clone (actually more like NVX Standard / non angled) from Monoprice and put those on instead. It turned those headphones into an amazing 3D sound stage, cleaned up the lower mid bloom, and added high end air, while keeping that dip in the higher mids. The result is, maybe not the most accurate headphone, but great for long listening, as it's a true embodiment of the relaxed meets Harman curve. Extended highs, high mid dip, true mid to low mids are flat, which makes things very lifelike.

Mid bass to high sub bass nicely elevated, and lower subs only gently rolls off. Not as much lower subs (ie. below 40 hz) as the extraordinary AKG K371 more like the AKG K361 and now very comfortable too. The included pads are similar to other AT pads, and fit the AKG 371 perfectly. Their black color makes the AKG look even cooler than the stock grey pads, and also doesn't have the chemical smell those stock pads have. The sound changed nicely. The high end air detail was there, if slightly reduced. The mid high trouble areas are reduced. The low mids to high mids are flat. The mid bass has more of a Harman curve bump to warm it up - lower sub bass is actually 1-2 db higher, especially below 20 hz, where long low 808 sub booms / drones decay farther than you can imagine. Now the best sub bass cans in the world IMO for bass heads.

 

[WickedInsignia]

I'd bought $15 pleather Brainwavz clone (actually more like NVX Standard / non angled) from Monoprice and put those on instead.

Nice! When you track down a link drop it here. I think this is a common enough issue that anyone with the problem would jump on a promising solution like that!

I can certainly vouch for the way pads open up a sound, especially after putting XL pads on the V-Moda M100 Master. It turned from a good soundstage dark headphone into a great soundstage detailed and somewhat bright sound with some actual air!

 

[Mark Up]

Nice! When you track down a link drop it here. I think this is a common enough issue that anyone with the problem would jump on a promising solution like that! I can certainly vouch for the way pads open up a sound, especially after putting XL pads on the V-Moda M100 Master. It turned from a good soundstage dark headphone into a great soundstage detailed and somewhat bright sound with some actual air!

Thanks. Let me be clear. The Monoprice non angled pleather Brainwavz HM5 styled pads (which more closely resemble the NVX Standard pads) were put on the Audio-Technica ATH-SR50, NOT the AKG K371. Put on the AKG, they'd made the sound worse.

After I put the Monoprice oval pleather pads on the Audio-Technica ATH-SR50 - I put the Audio-Technica ATH-SR50 pads on the AKG K371. So unless you buy the Audio-Technica ATH-SR50, you won't get the right pads to use. Well with one exception here.

Some MSR-7 style replacement pads may look like them. Some are wider, which won't work as well, stock Audio-Technica ATH-SR50 pads are a bit more narrow, giving them their sound, in part. If you can find them on EBay, or Amazon you may get the same sound, but some pictured pads don't match what you actually get.

These for example look a lot like what comes on the ATH-SR50. They are sold by Amazon Prime so it makes returning them quick and easy if they don't fit your AKG. The wider versions of these MSR-7 style pads will be too wide for the AKG to really wrap around properly without gaps. The narrow pads fit in the little groove space for them on the earcups very well and seal and isolate these cans much better than other pads or stock pads, part of why the lowest sub bass gets even better.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07M7MMNCR/ref=twister_B07MCBKJ5R?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[bcaulf17]

This is such a good headphone. Wow I also see it's going on sale in US for 119 right now. What a steal. Is there any closed back that can even compete in its price range?

I’ve tried closed backs even more expensive that don’t beat the K371 in overall sound quality (either bad tonality or poor resolution), and it has nice portability and comfort to boot. I’m really interested in “upgrading” to the new Focal Celestee but how much better will it really be? It’s nearly 7x the cost.

 

[thesheik137]

I’ve tried closed backs even more expensive that don’t beat the K371 in overall sound quality (either bad tonality or poor resolution), and it has nice portability and comfort to boot. I’m really interested in “upgrading” to the new Focal Celestee but how much better will it really be? It’s nearly 7x the cost.

Yep, K371 pretty much made me disinterested in headphones and focus on iems mainly because I don't use headphones as often and to upgrade it would have to be a kilobuck headphone.

 

[tudedude]

I’ve tried closed backs even more expensive that don’t beat the K371 in overall sound quality (either bad tonality or poor resolution), and it has nice portability and comfort to boot. I’m really interested in “upgrading” to the new Focal Celestee but how much better will it really be? It’s nearly 7x the cost.

I have a Focal Radiance and I doubt the Celeste will get you a sound upgrade proportional to the cost difference. Probably not even close to. Most likely the k371 will do somethings on par, worse, and better than the Celeste. The biggest improvement will be in materials, fit and finish, and design. I hope AKG develops a higher end model based off of the K371 technology. At least with better materials and more robust.

 

[bcaulf17]

I have a Focal Radiance and I doubt the Celeste will get you a sound upgrade proportional to the cost difference. Probably not even close to. Most likely the k371 will do somethings on par, worse, and better than the Celeste. The biggest improvement will be in materials, fit and finish, and design. I hope AKG develops a higher end model based off of the K371 technology. At least with better materials and more robust.

Yeah, it’s the whole idea of diminishing returns and that’s always gonna be there. For me I think it’s a search of a different sound. While the K371 is great, for my taste it can be a little on the lean side. I kind of like a little more body and involvement, more like I’m in the music and something with more punch and impact. I resent to call the K371 boring, because I don’t think it’s boring, but I’m having trouble explaining what I mean. It goes beyond what the plot graph says and it’s in relation to just a different character. I’m not blown away when I listen to the K371, which is fine as I don’t mean that to say it doesn’t sound great or enjoyable, but they’re just kind of “there” if that makes sense.

 

[Deolum]

You should try the Sennheiser HD25. So far my favourite closed back budget headphone that works portable as well. But i think you have to be into some kind of electronic music.

 

[posnera]

How is the BT version of the K371?

 

[bcaulf17]

How is the BT version of the K371?

Worse than the standard version.

 

[posnera]

Worse than the standard version.

How so? These seem pretty well priced and I am not looking for perfection. For casual rock/jazz music and TV watching, what are the drawbacks to the BT version?

 

[bcaulf17]

How so? These seem pretty well priced and I am not looking for perfection. For casual rock/jazz music and TV watching, what are the drawbacks to the BT version?

I would just go through this thread and look at comparisons, if sound quality is a priority the standard version is said to be much better.

 

[markanini]

FWIW Sean Olive said they dont follow Harman as well as the wired version.

 

[theMUKe]

I would just go through this thread and look at comparisons, if sound quality is a priority the standard version is said to be much better.

Does that apply also when using cable on both models?

 

[bcaulf17]

Does that apply also when using cable on both models?

That I am not sure about but as far as I know the standard K371 and using Bluetooth wired are still different