[Arkku]

I'm probably going to recable mine, simply because I prefer a separate cord on each side, instead of just one on the left. I also find the stock cable a bit too long (it gets tangled up on the floor). Not sure yet what cable I should use for the modification, though, since I just put the rest of what I had into the K240 Sextett recabling. =)

 

[Soren84]

Im in too! I really enjoy the AKG K601 - relaxed non-fatigue sound with great soundstage.
At the time I use them un-amped with my Mac - I'm in the market for a new headphoneamp. But it's a jungle!

In the future I may have the K601 recabled with a cable from APureSound - maybe their new portable cable which is to be released this year.
But first things first - I need an amp

Btw. I have the Audio-Technica ESW9's, which also are great cans - and very different from the AKG. It's nice to switch between these two from time to time.

 

[ph0rk]

I use them still as a relaxed-but-still-more-forward-than-an-hd650 phone.

Bass when mated with an M^3 is still wonderful. Textured is the word, I spose - even, without any one-note boomyness, and present when called for.

 

[iittoo]

i need to ask this question,what the main different between the 601 and 701?what is the level of driving differences?and i am using a GS voyager now,can this amp drive the K601 well and make them sing well too?

 

[EFN]

All this talk about K601 makes me want to own a pair too. In fact I plan to collect both K501 and K601 in addition to my K701 LOL

 

[jellojoe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EFN /img/forum/go_quote.gif All this talk about K601 makes me want to own a pair too. In fact I plan to collect both K501 and K601 in addition to my K701 LOL

What about the K400, K401, and K500?

 

[anadin]

I hated the K701 but I love the K601.

I have been using it for around 5 days now and it sounds fantastic with my Musical Fidelity V-CAN & V-DAC.

 

[ADD]

I expect to audition 3 x AKG headphones in a couple of days time: K601, 172HD, 272HD. I am prepared to buy one of them if I like it. I have done a lot of reading up about AKG here over the last week and am pretty impressed with the collective opinions of the brand.

 

[decayed.cell]

Got some used K601's yesterday... bloody awesome lol. I find the mid range more pronounced than the bass and treble. Very detailed, large soundstage

 

[Miths]

My new K601 finally arrived today and I've just been doing a bit of side by side music comparison (Tori Amos, The Cardigans, Bruce Springsteen, Lisa Miskovsky, Kylie Minogue, Madonna and more) to my Sennheiser HD595 for the last hour.

I paid exactly the same for both headphones (I've had the Senns for around a year), but my first impression is definitely that the K601 is in a different league.
I'm not adapt with all those fancy descriptive terms

, but like decayed.cell said in the the post above, details and soundstage are definitely two things that stand out with the K601.
Not only is the soundstage wider than with the HD595, but several of the tracks I listened to actually had a staggering amount of depth, whereas before there was only width. I also found it easier to pinpoint the exact location of instruments with the K601.

They sound somewhat brighter than the HD595 though, and there were a few instances with female vocals where they were a tad sharp or shrill on the highs.
Based on what I've read on this forum it sounds like this is something an extensive burn-in period should take care of though?

Well, I better get back to listening. It's time do a test run with games and movies - including some obnoxiously loud gunfire and explosions in Killzone 2

.

 

[Mystere]

Nice! Let me know how you like them with the PS3/Killzone 2 as I am leaning towards gettings these for games and movies. Thanks.

 

[Miths]

I just gave them a try for half an hour in KZ2 multiplayer. With so many other things to pay attention to in a fast paced game, it's a bit harder than using music to compare them to another pair of headphones

, but I definitely didn't feel they were at all lacking in "punch" (they aren't exactly bass heavy though, but it's enough for me) and immediacy compared to the HD595, and while I need a bit more testing to say this with certainty, I'm almost sure I could hear the larger soundstage of the K601 and had a slightly better impression of the origin and direction of many sounds (I didn't do a side by side comparison in the game though, last time I used my HD595 in KZ2 was last night).

Those specifics aside, I just think the K601 sound better than the HD595 (which otherwise had certainly grown on me since I bought a headphone amp a few weeks ago), something I could also really appreciate in the intro trailer to the game.
I probably won't have time to do a movie test tonight, but my expectations are now pretty high there as well. The Dark Knight on Blu-ray has been sitting on my shelf for weeks now and I still haven't gotten around to watch it - it should probably serve as a good headphone test tomorrow.

I've been listening to a bit more music as well. I know people say the K601 need a few hundred hours of burn-in time to really live up to their full potential, but I'm extremely impressed after a mere two hours.

 

[Mystere]

Thanks for the info - that's great to hear. Keep me updated on Dark Knight - the sound on it is awesome!

 

[Miths]

I just finished doing some direct K601 vs. HD595 tests on several chapters on the Dark Knight disc - anyone interested in buying a pair of Sennheiser HD595?

Music, gaming, movies - I just can't really see myself ever using my HD595 again, the only area where they might have a slight advantage over the K601 is that the bass packs a bit more of a punch, which can arguably be nice in games and action movies.

That extra punch (and overall darker sound) just isn't enough to make them stand up to the strengths of the K601 in my opinion though. Significantly wider, deeper and even taller soundstage, more precision in the soundstage (in the Dark Knight tests the HD595 would occasionally lump some sounds together in a slightly muddled mess, where I could easily separate them from each other on the K601), additional minor details I struggled to hear with the Senns, more pleasant (if also seemingly slightly lower and less pronounced) vocals that almost made the HD595 sound tinny in comparison.

I'm certainly not saying that I all of a sudden think the HD595 are bad headphones, I'm just a bit surprised how much better the K601 seem to be for the same price (yes, I know price and quality don't always go hand in hand, but it's not my impression that Sennheiser operates with bloated prices like brands like Bose and B&O do).

And speaking of price (and quality), I've seen several posts here on this forum where people are more or less directly saying that good headphones (as in a pair costing more than perhaps $100-150) aren't worth investing in if they will mainly be used for gaming and movies.
I really don't have a clue how the hell said people have arrived at that conclusion (or maybe I misunderstood something?), because the difference in sound quality certainly seems to be just as obvious in movies or games as in music.

 

[Mystere]

Nice writeup. I agree - there is no reason you wouldn't be able to hear a sound difference in games and movies as well.