Keiko
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2010
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As theres no in-depth writing on this set I decided to do so. So far it's been a strong Love/Hate relationship with the K530's. Just as a fore-note an ipod & zune Cannot drive these properly so beware.
The K530's look like they would weigh a ton but in truth they are extremely lightweight. In this case the build quality scores a seven of ten with me, it is a hunk of plastic with a leather headband pretty much, Scoring 2/10 in portability as its not something I would just toss into a luggage. I have not tried to damage them but with general use I see no reason for them to as it looks quite durable. When I put them on there was no pressure & it was quite comfortable & easily forgettable. I experienced no sweating, but did take notice that a few hours of wearing them the back of my right ear felt awkward the first time I used them. I will also note that you can hear everything going on around you so there is little isolation, but it does not leak sound like I had expected it would. Anything above the
20 mark on my laptop (JBL Speakers) and 1/2 of an ipod nano video's volume limit until it begins to leak.
The sound is by far the most important part, before Burn-in they sounded worse then a pair of headphones you could pick up at Walgreen's or cvs for $20. After the fact though they truly shined, If you use anything under 200KB for audio tracks you can step away from these right now as you will experience the flaws of the track rather then the song itself. They lack dominant bass making songs like the beginning Bottoms up and any song that relies on punchy heavy bass to sound horrible, the sound surrounds you & sounds slightly "open". I know nothing of Lows, Mids, & Highs so I cannot comment on those sorry. So here's a run down of what these songs sounded like on the K530, All 320KB unless noted.
(Electro) Like a G6 - Far east Movement : This song sounded amazing on the 530, vocals were slightly muddled but I could hardly notice that, Bass wasn't overpowering, well balanced. Sounded spectacular on the headphones
(R&B) Bottoms up - Trey Songz : The 530 murdered the extremely punchy bass on the opening of this song to the point were I wanted to switch tracks right away. Once it evened out the song sounded very flat to me like it was missing something, to those who listen to R&B I would avoid these headphones.
(Soundtrack/Dance?) Jai Ho - A.R Rahman : This song performed wonderfully, I could tell the difference between all the instruments used & it only sounded slightly muddled.
*(J-pop) I See Me - BoA : Tolerable... like bottoms up it sounded somewhat flat & the vocals were slightly muddled
(Soundtrack/Orchestra?)Time- Hans Zimmer : Amazing, I could never hear the beginning of this song unless I used a headphone like the K701. Even the K450 Couldn't pull it off. With these I could hear the light beginning of the song & the entire track sounded clear.
*Unbroken - Kill switch engage : I don't usually ever listen to songs like this, so this might be slightly biased to begin with. The guitar parts were easily distinguishable but vocals were slightly muddy (192KB)
Overall...
Build Quality: 7/10
Sound Quality: 8/10
Portability: 2/10
The K530 are decent for the price it has, it performs tolerably in many genres, but then falls far from short on the ones It doesn't play well with such as Rap, R&B, and like said anything with a considerable amount of punchy bass. Like AKG usually does you can pick out all the flaws on the tracks if using low bit-rate music or working with say FL9. I would consider these to be"nearly" entry-level hi-fi gear, why nearly? because I had considered the K450 to be entry-level & even those out perform the K530. A listener with un-trained ears will find these enjoyable for the price, but for nearly 70 euros there are better choices.
Additional Information (After-the-fact):
2/15/11: It's been long enough to give more opinions on these & I have good news & some semi-bad news. The good, I'm not even more happy with the purchase then I was after the burn-in, the sound improved even more & isnt so bad with r&b anymore nor rock, the overall sound is slightly clearer & the bass is more controlled. That leveled out about three weeks ago, and the can's now can handle punchy bass lines & things of the sort much better without buzz or distortion. the semi-bad news is how they play with Dolby Sound Room enhancements (*Headphone Mode & *Natural Bass) When you just tick Headphone mode they sound veiled & more enclosed, combine that with natural bass & it sounds pretty messy compared to no "enhancements" why is it semi then? You tick both off & watch any movie, I chose Illuminati, and it sounds way better then it was without the enhancements. I dont know about you but I prefer my music to sound more "open". After going back to the K450 after alot of use of the K530, the 450 sound highly muddled & Veiled... just thought i should throw that in there.
Some Photos:
Size compared to traditional German mug, I believe 1 liter?
Color comparison to White PSP/ Side view.
Edit 2/15/2011: Back with way better photos! (Close ups too) thanks to bieng able to grab a better camera, and some size comparasins.
The K530's look like they would weigh a ton but in truth they are extremely lightweight. In this case the build quality scores a seven of ten with me, it is a hunk of plastic with a leather headband pretty much, Scoring 2/10 in portability as its not something I would just toss into a luggage. I have not tried to damage them but with general use I see no reason for them to as it looks quite durable. When I put them on there was no pressure & it was quite comfortable & easily forgettable. I experienced no sweating, but did take notice that a few hours of wearing them the back of my right ear felt awkward the first time I used them. I will also note that you can hear everything going on around you so there is little isolation, but it does not leak sound like I had expected it would. Anything above the
20 mark on my laptop (JBL Speakers) and 1/2 of an ipod nano video's volume limit until it begins to leak.
The sound is by far the most important part, before Burn-in they sounded worse then a pair of headphones you could pick up at Walgreen's or cvs for $20. After the fact though they truly shined, If you use anything under 200KB for audio tracks you can step away from these right now as you will experience the flaws of the track rather then the song itself. They lack dominant bass making songs like the beginning Bottoms up and any song that relies on punchy heavy bass to sound horrible, the sound surrounds you & sounds slightly "open". I know nothing of Lows, Mids, & Highs so I cannot comment on those sorry. So here's a run down of what these songs sounded like on the K530, All 320KB unless noted.
(Electro) Like a G6 - Far east Movement : This song sounded amazing on the 530, vocals were slightly muddled but I could hardly notice that, Bass wasn't overpowering, well balanced. Sounded spectacular on the headphones
(R&B) Bottoms up - Trey Songz : The 530 murdered the extremely punchy bass on the opening of this song to the point were I wanted to switch tracks right away. Once it evened out the song sounded very flat to me like it was missing something, to those who listen to R&B I would avoid these headphones.
(Soundtrack/Dance?) Jai Ho - A.R Rahman : This song performed wonderfully, I could tell the difference between all the instruments used & it only sounded slightly muddled.
*(J-pop) I See Me - BoA : Tolerable... like bottoms up it sounded somewhat flat & the vocals were slightly muddled
(Soundtrack/Orchestra?)Time- Hans Zimmer : Amazing, I could never hear the beginning of this song unless I used a headphone like the K701. Even the K450 Couldn't pull it off. With these I could hear the light beginning of the song & the entire track sounded clear.
*Unbroken - Kill switch engage : I don't usually ever listen to songs like this, so this might be slightly biased to begin with. The guitar parts were easily distinguishable but vocals were slightly muddy (192KB)
Overall...
Build Quality: 7/10
Sound Quality: 8/10
Portability: 2/10
The K530 are decent for the price it has, it performs tolerably in many genres, but then falls far from short on the ones It doesn't play well with such as Rap, R&B, and like said anything with a considerable amount of punchy bass. Like AKG usually does you can pick out all the flaws on the tracks if using low bit-rate music or working with say FL9. I would consider these to be
Additional Information (After-the-fact):
2/15/11: It's been long enough to give more opinions on these & I have good news & some semi-bad news. The good, I'm not even more happy with the purchase then I was after the burn-in, the sound improved even more & isnt so bad with r&b anymore nor rock, the overall sound is slightly clearer & the bass is more controlled. That leveled out about three weeks ago, and the can's now can handle punchy bass lines & things of the sort much better without buzz or distortion. the semi-bad news is how they play with Dolby Sound Room enhancements (*Headphone Mode & *Natural Bass) When you just tick Headphone mode they sound veiled & more enclosed, combine that with natural bass & it sounds pretty messy compared to no "enhancements" why is it semi then? You tick both off & watch any movie, I chose Illuminati, and it sounds way better then it was without the enhancements. I dont know about you but I prefer my music to sound more "open". After going back to the K450 after alot of use of the K530, the 450 sound highly muddled & Veiled... just thought i should throw that in there.
Some Photos:
Size compared to traditional German mug, I believe 1 liter?
Color comparison to White PSP/ Side view.
Edit 2/15/2011: Back with way better photos! (Close ups too) thanks to bieng able to grab a better camera, and some size comparasins.
