[cdma2k]

  Cheers,
 
I'm quite happy with the sound of the 601's.
I use an EQ to boost the low end bass a little if the recording needs it... so I'm happy.
 
Never had a problem with them being too bright.

If your are happy with the sound of the 601's, you probably will like the sound of the 612 even more.

 

[Koukol]

 

  Cheers,
 
I'm quite happy with the sound of the 601's.
I use an EQ to boost the low end bass a little if the recording needs it... so I'm happy.
 
Never had a problem with them being too bright.

If your are happy with the sound of the 601's, you probably will like the sound of the 612 even more.

What's interesting is about a month ago I was able to audition the 712's.
Since I like my 601's I was expecting nirvana.
They were good but when I switched to the HD600's...  for the first time in my life I preferred a Sennie over an AKG.
With rock the 712's were more strident at high volume.
I have to take into consideration that I could only listen to both cans through an I-pod with some unknown amp hidden inside the headphone center.
.

 

[kman1211]

What's interesting is about a month ago I was able to audition the 712's.
Since I like my 601's I was expecting nirvana.
They were good but when I switched to the HD600's...  for the first time in my life I preferred a Sennie over an AKG.
With rock the 712's were more strident at high volume.
I have to take into consideration that I could only listen to both cans through an I-pod with some unknown amp hidden inside the headphone center.
.

I own both the K712 and the HD 600. The K712 is one fickle headphone, it can be smooth as silk on one system or excessively harsh on another, but on my system I find the treble just as smooth as the HD 600s just more present. Neither headphone bothers me in terms of treble even at higher volumes. I found the K712 sounds the best of my headphones on my system, with the Beyer DT 150 being second, and the HD 600 third. Sadly the K612 is struggling to keep up with the three headphones above, it's treble is grainy and ragged sounding in comparison. I often grow bored of the HD 600 after a few hours of listening, while the K712 becomes more and more enjoyable the more I listen to it, the DT 150 stays consistently enjoyable.

 

[CADCAM]

I own both the K712 and the HD 600. The K712 is one fickle headphone, it can be smooth as silk on one system or excessively harsh on another, but on my system I find the treble just as smooth as the HD 600s just more present. Neither headphone bothers me in terms of treble even at higher volumes. I found the K712 sounds the best of my headphones on my system, with the Beyer DT 150 being second, and the HD 600 third. Sadly the K612 is struggling to keep up with the three headphones above, it's treble is grainy and ragged sounding in comparison. I often grow bored of the HD 600 after a few hours of listening, while the K712 becomes more and more enjoyable the more I listen to it, the DT 150 stays consistently enjoyable.

The K612 has also proved very picky in my time with it, I actually had given up on it and put it up for sale. I was browsing the for sale forums and saw a Keces headphone amp and threw the seller an offer not expecting him to take it but he did and I got the amp in. The amp didn't pair well with my current crop on headphones but I ended up unpacking the K612 just to try out with it before I put the amp up for sale as well and all I can say is wow I never expected the transformation that occurred. I took the headphones off being on sale and have been listening to this pair almost exclusively even since! Never thought a headphone could change sound so dramatically by a different amp pairing. So glad I tried these two. Might be the best yet for me!

 

[kman1211]

 
The K612 has also proved very picky in my time with it, I actually had given up on it and put it up for sale. I was browsing the for sale forums and saw a Keces headphone amp and threw the seller an offer not expecting him to take it but he did and I got the amp in. The amp didn't pair well with my current crop on headphones but I ended up unpacking the K612 just to try out with it before I put the amp up for sale as well and all I can say is wow I never expected the transformation that occurred. I took the headphones off being on sale and have been listening to this pair almost exclusively even since! Never thought a headphone could change sound so dramatically by a different amp pairing. So glad I tried these two. Might be the best yet for me!

True, it is picky as there are systems I find the K612 keeps up quite well with the K712.  I'm more referring to the K612 not keeping up with my other headphones on my system, other systems may prove a very different story. The K612 doesn't seem to like my Lyr 2 or my Lyr 2 and DAC combo. The K712 absolutely loves the Lyr 2 same with the DT 150(though the DT 150 likes everything, it even sounds acceptable out of cheap and weak portable devices but man does it scale up). I can tell it's not the best for the HD 600 or K612 though.

 

[cdma2k]

 
What's interesting is about a month ago I was able to audition the 712's.
Since I like my 601's I was expecting nirvana.
They were good but when I switched to the HD600's...  for the first time in my life I preferred a Sennie over an AKG.
With rock the 712's were more strident at high volume.
I have to take into consideration that I could only listen to both cans through an I-pod with some unknown amp hidden inside the headphone center.

612 is considered as a bass improved version of 601 IMO, definitely not a good candidate for i-pod use though

 

 

[CADCAM]

What surprises me the most about the K612 is it did not sound good enough to keep (for me) out of my Little Dot MKIII, Purity Audio, O2 or the Beresford amps. There were songs\discs I literally could not listen to due to a strange distortion\issue in the upper mids. I would have to try a disc and be like OK this is gonna be hit or miss. Now pretty much everything sounds freakin' awesome! I read about the importance of "synergy" with this headphone and the DAC and amp but I never thought it could be this remarkable. Truth is I really didn't like this headphone and as far as I was concerned it was gone...I had it boxed up and on sale here and another site. Now I listen to it and the Keces probably 80% of the time. They are dynamic, detailed, fast and somewhat forgiving now!
Still find it hard to believe but I'm grateful...makes for some beautiful listening sessions.

 

[kman1211]

  What surprises me the most about the K612 is it did not sound good enough to keep (for me) out of my Little Dot MKIII, Purity Audio, O2 or the Beresford amps. There were songs\discs I literally could not listen to due to a strange distortion\issue in the upper mids. I would have to try a disc and be like OK this is gonna be hit or miss. Now pretty much everything sounds freakin' awesome! I read about the importance of "synergy" with this headphone and the DAC and amp but I never thought it could be this remarkable. Truth is I really didn't like this headphone and as far as I was concerned it was gone...I had it boxed up and on sale here and another site. Now I listen to it and the Keces probably 80% of the time. They are dynamic, detailed, fast and somewhat forgiving now!
Still find it hard to believe but I'm grateful...makes for some beautiful listening sessions.

Well I do find the K612 does sound better with certain tubes. It's the only headphone of mine that doesn't like the Amperex Fat Bottle tubes I have, all the rest sound great on those tubes. They seem to sound quite decent on the Bugle Boy's I have but I need to test it more, the Bugle Boys sound the harshest on my other headphones, they are the only tubes that make the DT 150 fatiguing. The K612 is weird in terms of amplification compared to the norm it seems. I do plan on getting the Wyrd to help with my USB powered DAC as well as a new DAC eventually, maybe things will change after that.

 

[Musicsucks]

I've been using the k612's unamped for a while now and boy do they sound terrible. But they're the only headphones comfortable enough to wear for more than 30 minutes so I'll be sticking with them.

 

[CADCAM]

 
Well I do find the K612 does sound better with certain tubes. It's the only headphone of mine that doesn't like the Amperex Fat Bottle tubes I have, all the rest sound great on those tubes. They seem to sound quite decent on the Bugle Boy's I have but I need to test it more, the Bugle Boys sound the harshest on my other headphones, they are the only tubes that make the DT 150 fatiguing. The K612 is weird in terms of amplification compared to the norm it seems. I do plan on getting the Wyrd to help with my USB powered DAC as well as a new DAC eventually, maybe things will change after that.

The Keces HA-171 is about as solid state as I have heard and works much better than the LD MK III. Guess these two were made for each other...

 

[kman1211]

 
The Keces HA-171 is about as solid state as I have heard and works much better than the LD MK III. Guess these two were made for each other...

Well solid state or tube doesn't always have an influence on synergy. I find most good headphones are quite synergy dependent, though the K612 seems to be one of the pickier pairs I've come across. I generally prefer the tube sound and I find tube rolling makes tube amps more versatile overall. I got the Lyr 2 because of it's versatility and I know with the right tubes the K612 will sound great on the amp, as they sound fine with the stock tubes and the bugle boy tubes. 

 

[Majestyk]

...Sadly the K612 is struggling to keep up with the three headphones above, it's treble is grainy and ragged sounding in comparison...

 
Yeah, from what I've read these are definitely hit or miss depending on the amp. My 612's and vintage Yamaha CR-620 are perfect together. I don't even need to reach for the tone controls, everything is flat. A week ago I briefly tried the Sennheiser HD 598's with the same amp and they sounded terrible. Messing with the tone controls didn't help.What are they hooked up to? These are the best sounding AKG's I've heard yet, but I have not heard the 712's or above.
 

  I've been using the k612's unamped for a while now and boy do they sound terrible. But they're the only headphones comfortable enough to wear for more than 30 minutes so I'll be sticking with them.

 
What are they hooked up to? These are the best sounding AKG's I've heard yet, but I have not heard the 712's or above.
 

Well I find the Q701 brighter, cleaner, has more depth to the sound, and a little more mid bassy with a larger soundstage as well as smoother treble and less grain in the sound than the K612, the Q701 is the better headphone in terms of refinement. The K612 is more refined and more neutral, and more spacious sounding than the K240 MKII, the K240 MKII is more musical sounding and more colored with a bass roll off. Haven't heard the K550.

 


Did you do the bass mod on your Q701's? The bass on my former unodded Q701's couldn't touch the 612's. After 30 minutes of listening to the Q701's, I was suffering from ear fatigue...And I mostly listen to vinyl. I also found the sound-stage to be a little too wide with some recordings. (Vocals could be off center)

 

[Musicsucks]

 
What are they hooked up to? These are the best sounding AKG's I've heard yet, but I have not heard the 712's or above.
 

They're plugged into Logitech z623 speakers which are plugged into my sound card which is a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy.

 

[Majestyk]

I don't think you're going to get a great sound out of any headphone with that configuration.

 

[Majestyk]

  I just got my K340's this afternoon. The clarity is unreal (compared to the K240's and K612), the soundstage seems rounder than the K612's and it has a really captivating signature. I was surprised that my super cheap tiny chinese amp can drive them decently but I have my eyes on a ASL MG head in the near future.
 
I saw a lot of posts here where people said the K7-series was too light in bass.

 
I'm going to have to try these next. I've had the K240 Sextett's (which were nice but I much prefer the 612's) and the K260's (which I did not like).