Since I recently got K400 MP, repaired and recabled my K500 LP, still own my lovely K601 and also have laying around my K702,
I decided to start a little comparison.
It’s also my first review/comparison here, so I don’t have much experience and don't be to strict to me.
Well my setup is not the best but I think and hope is does its job.
Auzen Prelude -> modded Little Bear Amp with Telefunken ECC 801S tube -> headphones
Stock impressions :
K400: well known for it’s mids, natural sounding, better bass than k500, big soundstage, highs different than k500 ,little darker
feeling: like in the middle of the music stage
K500: very nice clear highs, little bit sharp, very huge soundstage
feeling: like in front of music stage
K601: most laid back headphone, nice bass, bit dark sounding, natural sounding
feeling: something between in the middle, and in front of
K702: highs are sharper, voices clearer, bigger stage and deeper bass, little demanding to listen to, not natural sounding anymore
After switching pads:
K400 with 601 pads: this is used by several user and so I was expecting a good result but I was disappointed. better bass, but little less clearance and typical k400 feeling has also a bit gone
with 702 pads: note that these pads are angled and the drivers are further away from the ears , sounded a little strange imo
K500 with 601 pads: very little clearance has gone, but bass and feeling has come, highs are as good as before, most natural sounding, perfect to me
with 702 pads: deeper bass than with 601 pads, even more clearance, sharp sounding, not natural, too much of all I think
K601 with 500 pads: not bass, no feeling, nothing
I haven’t tried the K702 with other pads because I think it is made for studio where you need clearance more than natural sounding, and I also got tired and wanted to stop listening this evening
Conclusion: The K400 sounds best with 400 pads. With other pads the typical sounding goes away and without that, there is no point to use them anymore.
The K702 is, as already mentioned, made for audio work, and I do not like it that much in comparison to other cans
The K601 is the allrounder imo, nice bass and really laid back, different pad just sound strange
The K500 is my personal winner (second one is K400), with the 601 pads I have fun listen to all kind of music with these cans.
Thanks for reading!
edit next morning: I just did a few comparisons again for personal interests, and have to say that tha differences are quite little from each headphone, also they use the same driver, just variations (except K702)
If you swith to K340 you have a completely! different sounding headphone.
Just wantto say that the difference in characteristics may not be as big as it seems in the text above.
But thanks for reading again.