AKG K511 or K512 MKII?

[Skelhon87]

Anyone got either of these headphones and can you shed some light on how comfortable they are? 
 
I'm looking to grab a pair of headphones for use on my PC and I usually spend a few hours on it so comfort is the biggest issue. 
 
Or should I go for the K451? These have gotten rave reviews everywhere I've looked so far. 

 

[Beocord]

I had the k514 which appears to be really similar to k512. It is one of the most comfortable headphones I've tried. Very light, pads are great and the material ensures ears won't get hot also the self adjusting headband works great. I'f it wasn't for the sibilance I would still have those headphones. For the price those are one of the best but the sibilance ruins everything. Some say it goes away over time but it never did in my case.

 

[Redcarmoose]

Did a review here on the AKG 512 MK11s. There is also a thread on them here.

The one thing is they are nice to put on for extended periods of time.

 

[Beocord]

Nice review. Seems k512 sounds pretty similar to k514. K514 seems to be a semi open variant of the same headphone I guess. Yea...if the pads were removable (are they? I could not get them off) and there was no sibilance these would have been worth something. I would rather get superlux hd681 for less money. It has the treble spikes too but akg has it worse. However there is one thing I enjoyed tremendously with akg. Instrumental electricguitar music... Satriani and such. Sibilance is less annoying without vocals and akg's play electric guitars with impressive clarity and energy. For that genre the performance was way higher than the price would indicate.

 

[Redcarmoose]

Nice review. Seems k512 sounds pretty similar to k514. K514 seems to be a semi open variant of the same headphone I guess. Yea...if the pads were removable (are they? I could not get them off) and there was no sibilance these would have been worth something. I would rather get superlux hd681 for less money. It has the treble spikes too but akg has it worse. However there is one thing I enjoyed tremendously with akg. Instrumental electricguitar music... Satriani and such. Sibilance is less annoying without vocals and akg's play electric guitars with impressive clarity and energy. For that genre the performance was way higher than the price would indicate.

I actually use the K512s a lot. They are not perfect by any means. They do have an endearing mid-range. I literally have to listen to them with the bass boost EQ setting on iPad or iPhone to get rid of the highs. Still they are nice for the money.

They do have their genres they can excel at like AKG k701s, where they shine with certain music but not all. Even on sale though for $40.00 there is maybe more phones that would play more styles of music. The comfort and mids do make them a nice set of headphones for the money.

 

[Skelhon87]

What do you mean sibilance?

They're mostly going to be used for gaming and listening to my friends over voice chat. I don't need an expensive pair so any other suggestions are welcome.

 

[Redcarmoose]

Sibilance as I understand the term, refers to a high distorted treble in excess affecting the overall character of the headphone presentation. In those terms yes they have it.


But I can listen to movies and talking with the treble non EQed and it's ok.

Only with music do they need EQ for my use.

 

[Skelhon87]

So for gaming purposes with a lot explosions and other sound effects it might be a bit uncomfortable to listen to?

I'd like to get some headphones that wouldn't require much if any adjustments.

 

[Redcarmoose]

So for gaming purposes with a lot explosions and other sound effects it might be a bit uncomfortable to listen to?

I'd like to get some headphones that wouldn't require much if any adjustments.

Well they have pretty good soundstage for cheap headphones. I'm no computer gamer so I don't know which brand would be the best deal for that. Many want microphones with em too?

The issue is that explosions would sound pretty low quality because of the lack of bass. The great thing is you can wear em for hours on end.


There are no perfect headphones, but variations of qualities.

 

[Skelhon87]

I'm going to get a stand alone microphone so that's not an issue. 
 
I've started looking at music shops and found a wad of AKG K series headphones (44, 77, 81, 99 etc). 
 
These seem to be cheap but will probably do a decent job as they're aimed at musical use so should be comfortable for a while. 

 

[Redcarmoose]

  I'm going to get a stand alone microphone so that's not an issue. 
 
I've started looking at music shops and found a wad of AKG K series headphones (44, 77, 81, 99 etc). 
 
These seem to be cheap but will probably do a decent job as they're aimed at musical use so should be comfortable for a while. 

 
This is fellow members B9Scrambler's set up. You could PM him for opinions. He likes the K512 MK 11s.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/529140/show-us-your-head-fi-station-at-its-current-state-no-old-pictures-please/17880

 

[Skelhon87]

Thanks for that. I'll give him a shout