[Lumos]

Greetings 
 
Some guys suggest that AKG K612 pro is weak in bass, have thin vocals, and generally have hollow sound, without proper Amp, I have Magni/modi and Modi / O2 combo ( O2 in near future) also Audioquest Dragonfly. Really interested to try them, but my location don't allows me to return product and being very reluctant to waste170$ around. I like AKG K500 with 501 pads, and I hate K240 studio, no other AKG I have tried.
 
What I am looking for is clarity and detail for vocal recordings, and real timbre for classical music. not just bright like Shure940, or DT880, or warm and slow like HD650.
 
How K612 or even Q701 will perform with this amps?
 
Is bass distortion audible? are female vocals sibilant?
I would like to try something different
 
Any opinion would be greatly appreciated

 

[Lumos]

Post edited

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Some guys suggest that AKG K612 pro is weak in bass, have thin vocals, and generally have hollow sound, without proper Amp, I have Magni/modi and Modi / O2 combo ( O2 in near future) also Audioquest Dragonfly. Really interested to try them, but my location don't allows me to return product and being very reluctant to waste170$ around. I like AKG K500 with 501 pads, and I hate K240 studio, no other AKG I have tried.
What I am looking for is clarity and detail for vocal recordings, and real timbre for classical music. not just bright like Shure940, or DT880, or warm and slow like HD650.
How K612 or even Q701 will perform with this amps?
Is bass distortion audible? are female vocals sibilant?
I would like to try something different
Any opinion would be greatly appreciated

My 600-Ohm Beyers sound good when used with my O2 amp and the K612 Pro's are only 120-Ohm.

 

[Lumos]

  My 600-Ohm Beyers sound good when used with my O2 amp and the K612 Pro's are only 120-Ohm.

I should get DT880 600ohm and O2 for next week... interested also how they sound together
 
However also intrigued how Q701, K612pro sounds on SS amps ? Do I need tube amp really...

 

[kman1211]

 
I should get DT880 600ohm and O2 for next week... interested also how they sound together
 
However also intrigued how Q701, K612pro sounds on SS amps ? Do I need tube amp really...

I found the Q701 to generally be more forgiving of amps than the K612. The K612 is actually hard to drive, I also found the K612 to like tubes a little bit more than the Q701. The Magni won't have a problem driving them, but it's just alright in terms of synergy, they didn't sound near as good on my Magni as they did on the EF2A, but the EF2A has very good synergy with the K612.
 
The K612 wasn't sibilant nor did it have distortion when I tried it on the Magni. The bass was fine. The midrange was too dull and flat for my tastes though. Wasn't bad synergy but it wasn't good synergy either. Can't comment on the O2 as I haven't heard it before.
 
The DT 880 and Beyers in general sound their best on tube amps, they become a whole another animal when on tubes.

 

[Lumos]

 
I found the Q701 to generally be more forgiving of amps than the K612. The K612 is actually hard to drive, I also found the K612 to like tubes a little bit more than the Q701. The Magni won't have a problem driving them, but it's just alright in terms of synergy, they didn't sound near as good on my Magni as they did on the EF2A, but the EF2A has very good synergy with the K612.
 
The K612 wasn't sibilant nor did it have distortion when I tried it on the Magni. The bass was fine. The midrange was too dull and flat for my tastes though. Wasn't bad synergy but it wasn't good synergy either. Can't comment on the O2 as I haven't heard it before.
 
The DT 880 and Beyers in general sound their best on tube amps, they become a whole another animal when on tubes.

 
Thanks for the response one more question please - What about Q701 sibilance?  female vocals? are the treble sharp ? like it is on DT880 on SS amp

 

[kman1211]

   
Thanks for the response one more question please - What about Q701 sibilance?  female vocals? are the treble sharp ? like it is on DT880 on SS amp

I didn't have a problem with sibilance on the Q701, it can be a bit glary though. Also the Q701 has some center imaging issues(the center stage seems to vanish on some recordings), it's not very common but it happens on occasion, the K612 doesn't have this issue. I don't find the treble sharp on the SS amps I tried it on.

 

[Lumos]

  I didn't have a problem with sibilance on the Q701, it can be a bit glary though. Also the Q701 has some center imaging issues(the center stage seems to vanish on some recordings), it's not very common but it happens on occasion, the K612 doesn't have this issue. I don't find the treble sharp on the SS amps I tried it on.

Thanks!!! that is really good news   I assume better word here would be - hot treble. Now I am listening Shure SRH940 and while bass is very good and mids respectable, I find treble hot. too sharp/hot cymbals and other percussion instruments, occasionally sharp SSS on vocals also   

 

[kman1211]

 
Thanks!!! that is really good news   I assume better word here would be - hot treble. Now I am listening Shure SRH940 and while bass is very good and mids respectable, I find treble hot. too sharp/hot cymbals and other percussion instruments, occasionally sharp SSS on vocals also   

They will reveal sibilance but they never were overly sibilant or unnaturally sibilant unless the audio file or recording is too hotly recorded, they are revealing headphones so any flaws will be shown. They aren't like the K240 which has way too much sibilance and the treble spike was fatiguing. Reminds me of the MB Quart I just sent back, I liked it overall but the treble was too hot for my liking.

 

[elwappo99]

  Greetings 
 
Some guys suggest that AKG K612 pro is weak in bass, have thin vocals, and generally have hollow sound, without proper Amp, I have Magni/modi and Modi / O2 combo ( O2 in near future) also Audioquest Dragonfly. Really interested to try them, but my location don't allows me to return product and being very reluctant to waste170$ around. I like AKG K500 with 501 pads, and I hate K240 studio, no other AKG I have tried.
 
What I am looking for is clarity and detail for vocal recordings, and real timbre for classical music. not just bright like Shure940, or DT880, or warm and slow like HD650.
 
How K612 or even Q701 will perform with this amps?
 
Is bass distortion audible? are female vocals sibilant?
I would like to try something different
 
Any opinion would be greatly appreciated

 
Big AKG fan here. If you're looking for detail, hard to top AKG. The K612 won't be as clear as the K500, but they will add a bit more bass overall. Neither the Q701 or K612 will be sibilant, unless the recording itself has sibilance. Same with distortion. 
 
The fact you "hate" the K240 studio is a bit concerning in terms of the K612. Why did you not like the Studios? 
 
For amps in the price range, I'd really recommend the Matrix M-Stage or Schiit Vali. Most of my amp choices have really revolved around my AKG headphones, and those two have really come out to be my favorite picks, under $800. 

 

[kman1211]

   
Big AKG fan here. If you're looking for detail, hard to top AKG. The K612 won't be as clear as the K500, but they will add a bit more bass overall. Neither the Q701 or K612 will be sibilant, unless the recording itself has sibilance. Same with distortion. 
 
The fact you "hate" the K240 studio is a bit concerning in terms of the K612. Why did you not like the Studios? 
 
For amps in the price range, I'd really recommend the Matrix M-Stage or Schiit Vali. Most of my amp choices have really revolved around my AKG headphones, and those two have really come out to be my favorite picks, under $800. 

He may of disliked the K240 for similar reasons I had issues with them, the overly bloated mid and upper bass, lack of sub-bass, and the huge 10khz treble spike and treble that rolls off real quickly after the spike and the harsh and sibilant treble. I don't see how hating the K240 Studio/MKII will be concerning in whether one likes the K612 or not as the two headphones sound very different. The only thing they really share is that they are on the warm side with the K240 being a lot warmer.
 
I have a couple extra recommendations for the AKGs myself as I found these two amps very good with them when I tried them, I found the Hifiman EF2A and Hifiman EF-5 to be stellar matches for the K6xx and K7xx series.

 

[Lumos]

   
Big AKG fan here. If you're looking for detail, hard to top AKG. The K612 won't be as clear as the K500, but they will add a bit more bass overall. Neither the Q701 or K612 will be sibilant, unless the recording itself has sibilance. Same with distortion. 
 
The fact you "hate" the K240 studio is a bit concerning in terms of the K612. Why did you not like the Studios? 
 
For amps in the price range, I'd really recommend the Matrix M-Stage or Schiit Vali. Most of my amp choices have really revolved around my AKG headphones, and those two have really come out to be my favorite picks, under $800. 

I disliked K240 studio 'cause of muddy bass, and somewhat hollow sound, also some sibilance issue, but it was two years ago. at that time I had not good amps besides Fiio E6. Today I might be more impressed.  
Owning K500 now and I like clarity and realism especially when listening classical.
 
Matrix M-Stage is good boy... I was thinking Emotiva mini-X A-100 and listening from speaker taps. like here http://www.head-fi.org/t/629352/he-500-lcd2-d5000-dt770-sr80-on-a-speaker-amp-emotiva-mini-x-a-100-project
 
Vali? Harmonic distortion and some ringing issues comes in mind...

 

[elwappo99]

 
I disliked K240 studio 'cause of muddy bass, and somewhat hollow sound, also some sibilance issue, but it was two years ago. at that time I had not good amps besides Fiio E6. Today I might be more impressed.  
Owning K500 now and I like clarity and realism especially when listening classical.
 
Matrix M-Stage is good boy... I was thinking Emotiva mini-X A-100 and listening from speaker taps. like here http://www.head-fi.org/t/629352/he-500-lcd2-d5000-dt770-sr80-on-a-speaker-amp-emotiva-mini-x-a-100-project
 
Vali? Harmonic distortion and some ringing issues comes in mind...

 
Well the reason I was a little concerned is that in my ways I found the K601 to be very similar in tonality to the K240, just more refined. You'll get very similar bass, much smoother more controlled mids, and less of a treble spike. 
 
Unfortunately, for classical music, you'll have a hard time beating the K500. It's one of the reasons I've been trying to track down a pair of K500 or K501 (so if you ever want to sell 

). The K612 will be a "side-grade" and not so much of an upgrade. The Q701 might be an upgrade in some aspects, but not necessarily all. 
 
The M-stage is a pretty solid amplifier. It's SS, no microphonics issues, it'll run just about any headphone. I don't know if I'd really recommend the emotiva. It's great for orthodynamic headphones because they have a flat impedance curve, but with dynamic drivers you can get some issues with damping factors. 
 
The Vali is a pretty darn stellar amplifier. I don't get distortion out of mine, and the ringing it a bit of an issue, but more and more I don't play with my volume. I just set it and leave it there. It's pretty hard to beat for that price. 

 

[Lumos]

Unfortunately, for classical music, you'll have a hard time beating the K500. It's one of the reasons I've been trying to track down a pair of K500 or K501 (so if you ever want to sell 

).

 
Haha I bought it in Germany last August alongside with HD650 and was selling them at first but without success

then I listened it on Dragonfly+Magni and I closed listing immediatelly

 
 
No sibilance whatsoever just very clear vocal, percussion is very live like. really impressive but mainly for classical...
 
Huge thanks for the response, I think I should check out M-stage