Final 450-Hour Impressions
OK, time to eat some more humble pie. These cans continue to improve. My feeling is that now, at long last, I'm hearing them as they are supposed to be heard, they've achieved 100% break-in. I can now say that I feel these are indeed some EXCELLENT headphones, I mean really really good! It's been a bumpy ride (to say the least) to get here, and I am still not without some serious reservations, but at long last I'm starting to get what these cans are all about. All I can say is, you have to be VERY patient with them, I've never experienced a headphone that took this long to mature or changed as much during the break-in process as the K701. If you are patient and can stick it out, while not "perfect" (but what is?), they have a lot to offer.
I've finally started to hear things out of them that my R10's can't do. There, I said it, is everyone happy now?
The K701 does bring some unique things to the table, some things I wish the R10 could do. I can now hear elements on some recordings that have not been revealed in the same way (or at all in some cases) as they have with the R10. The K701 has *finally* started to *groove*. They still aren't quite funky head-bobbers, but I no longer feel like a purely passive observer. The K701 has finally approached me and asked me to dance. We boogie conservatively; there will clearly be no hanky panky or heavy petting, and we stand apart from each other, but at least now we're on the floor together.
Anyway, I can't believe it, but over the last 4 days of listening, I've actually been *enjoying* the K701.
So, here are final observations:
1. The K701 may be the soundstaging champ,
IF soundstage is measured in height and width. I never thought I'd hear a can with better, bigger, soundstage than the R10, but I relent and admit the K701 is it. The K701 is definitely *taller* than the R10, and I think *slightly* wider, even if it seems to lack a bit of the R10's depth, it's still no slouch there. But there is a price to pay-- the K701 do, however, over-emphasive stereo separation *slightly*, but to the point where you can't help but notice that sounds extreme left and right can be a little louder than everything in the middle. This effect is subtle, but noticebale. But I don't feel it's to the point where it's an especially reasonable objection, more a minor, transitory annoyance.
2. I want to separate "soundstaging" from "imaging". When it comes to pin-pointing *exactly* where something is in space, seeing a musician or an instrument or hearing a track separately in space, the R10s still come out ahead. The K701 has a slight tendency to homogenize everything. This relates to the lack of "air" I've noted previously. Although GREATLY allieviated, the K701 still lacks a bit in terms of air and space around instruments the R10 so clearly provides so easily. But still, the K701 is no slouch in that department, finally, after 450 hours+ of burn-in. It used to sound quite "heavy" and sluggish, with a bit of a "blanket-over-the-speakers" effect, but that has really diminished dramatically. It's now very free and open-sounding, if not to the level of the R10, then enough to no longer be a concern.
3. Drums! The K701 is a fantastic headphones for capturing a realistic drum sound. I have to admit, that the K701 provides *slightly* more impact and physicality with drums than the R10. IME, headphones really SUCK at doing drums vs. speakers, so when I hear a headphone that can capture a realistic drum sound, I get excited. IMO, the K701 is among a small elite group of cans that can do drums any justice whatsoever. They sound real and natural, although they lack somewhat the ability to fully portray the sound of the drums' internals instead of just portraying the strike on the skin. For me, one of the key skills of the R10 is the ability to fully portray the entirety of the drum sound. Good as the K701 is in this area, I've still yet to hear any can that can do that as well as the Sonys (even the CD3000). Nevertheless, the K701s are simply excellent with the drums, and even provide a bit of extra ooomph over what the R10 delivers. Very very hard to do with a headphone. Bravo!
4. Cymbals! IME, another headphone pitfall is extremely poor and unrealistic way the can portray cymbal crashes. This is even harder to do than drums themselves. Cymbals should sound brassy, not tinny, and should fully resolve. They should go "baaaaaaaasssssshhhhh", not "pish". The K701 is simply a master at properly portraying cymbal hits. It also keeps them in proper proportion to the rest of the drums. They do not dominate, they do not drill into your ear, or assault them with jagged edges or added sharpness or brittleness. They sound natural and real, if a *tad* subdued.
5. Acoustic guitars! I've never heard a headphone that can portray acoustic guitars so accurately and completely. On recording after recording, I continue to be impressed with how wonderful acoustic guitars sound. If getting an accurate and delectable acoustic guitar sound is at all a buying criteria for you, the K701 will simply not disappoint. Wow!
6. The K701 strips away that extra "digital sheen" that so many CDs (or CD players) exhibit. You know, that added "glare" or gloss or frosting that can be so annoying and unnatural. This can make some CDs sound much more realistic than you are used to. But it cuts both ways; sometimes, it can make other CDs sound too "dry" and not rich enough.
7. The K701 is EXTREMELY picky about which CDs it likes. The R10 loves everyone; it makes EVERYTHING sound like a million bucks. OK, some will say, that proves the R10 is "cheating"; aren't we better off with a can that tells the truth all the time and lets the chips fall where they may? Maybe. But then that opens a whole other argument about the purpose of audio. For me, audio equipment is just a means to an end. It's just a drug delivery system for my drug of choice-- music. I favor that component that gives me the most pleasure/enjoyment the majority of the time; the one that stimulates the greatest production of positive chemicals in my brain. I'm no longer as concerned with "neutrality" as I am with pure enjoyment. To me, the K701 only sounds its best when it locks into a particular CD. But when it does-- look out!
It's hard to beat. For example, I've found that the K701 especially loves Rhino CDs mastered by Bill Inglot and Dan Hersch. Considering they are respected, but known for applying a slightly "smiley-face" EQ (slightly elevated treble and bass) to their mastering jobs, it's not surprising, considering the K701 especially needs a little help in those exact areas. I would hazard to say the K701 (despite what we see in its graph on Headroom) presents a slightly "fowny-faced" EQ. Emphasis on the mids, slight de-emphasis on frequency extremes at the bottom of the bass and top the treble.
8. As I've mentioned now a 100 times, the K701 is clearly one of the most tonally natural and realistic sounding cans ever made. Sounding "real" is, IMO, often something many younger Head-Fiers can easily overlook in the quest for that "WOW" factor. But achieving a sound that sounds like real, actual life is insanely hard to do. It's very easy to overlook or pooh pooh, but it shouldn't be, that's really one of the *first* things we should look at when evaluating a headphone instead of one of the last, as it so often ends up being. That said, IMO, the K701 may be "neutral to a fault". After prolonged exposure to it, I begrudgingly now admit that the R10 probably achieves its signature lovely, lush and rich sound in an *additive* way. Maybe it isn't as natural and real as it makes you believe. However, that doesn't mean that K701 isn't doing what it does by subtly reducing, omitting or subtracting. I feel that the tonal truth lies somewhere in between what I get from the R10 and the K701. But since such a headphone does not exist, I have to side with the sweet, tasty, drool-inducing R10. So sue me.
9. But as I've noted previously, the K701 isn't 100% flat. There is still that tiny area in the lower treble/upper midrange that sticks out. FWIW, I wish that that spike applied to every frequency from top to bottom. I wish the K701 delivered the same richness and presence throughout the frequency spectrum instead of restricting it to that small band. Instead, you get this little open window of clarity, and the rest is standing at some remove from you, frustratingly.
10. If I was to listen to the K701 for an even more extended period of time, I believe I could forgive and forget what it's not doing vs. the R10. I believe I could live with them long-term, with a high level of enjoyment. But that doesn't mean that as soon as I was able to strap on another R10 I wouldn't instantly experience the K701's *relative* shortcomings once again.
11. I've begun noticing subtle nuances and small details with the K701 that I did not with the R10. Some small details step forward in greater relief with the K701, but others step back. Bear in mind, I've been listening to the R10 for 4.5 years now. In my recent memory, my only feelings/impressions of any of the 3000+ CDs I own are almost totally shaped by the Sony MDR-R10s (and my speakers, PSB Stratus Goldis). I've grown acclimatized 100% to their presentation, and in many ways it totally shapes my experience of even the most familiar CDs. So, yes, I do have some "trouble" when listening to another totally different presentation of the same basic "facts". It won't always sound "right" to me. That is clearly a shortcoming of this review. Although I do feel confident I could easily and instantly recognize something that sounded automatically "better" straight out of the box. But I don't feel the K701 is automatically "better", it's just "different", and that puts it in a gray area that would require still more time than I have available to fully put the screws to. Although I still feel the R10s are more immediately enjoyable, and I still doubt strongly that the K701 could fully unseat it as my favorite headphone.
12. The K701 will never ever cause you listening fatigue. It has to be the best-behaved headphone I've ever heard. That enables you to listen to them much louder than your other cans. And that's doubly good considering that, IMO, there is a very specific volume at which they perform at their best and that's not at a low level. The K701 is VERY picky about the volume at which they are played. You need to crank them up a bit to achieve a fully "open" sound, but you have to be extra cautious not to go so far that they start to get frayed or to break up. For me, there is only one volume level at which they are acceptable, and at any other, they either close up and shrink away, or start to break apart. But, again, even though the ideal volume level is slightly louder than the ideal level for the R10, the unfatiguing nature of the K701s mean that you will still be very very comfortable.
13. The K701 is the most clean and grain-free headphone I've ever heard outside of the R10. After a lengthy break-in, any sibilance or extra grit you hear in the highs will evaporate, leaving you with a fantastically clean headphone. That extra layer of headphone grit can often spoil the illusion of reality, but the K701 does not suffer from that problem.
14. Although drums kick and thump convincingly, I still have an issue with another part of the rhythm section, and that's the electric bass. Bass players are still subdued and standing a couple feet too far back. The very bottom end wants a little extra oomph, foundation and presence that's just not there. Some people have criticized the R10 for lacking bass extension, and I kind of agree, but the K701 still falls short of the output (not to mention the accuracy/articulation) the R10 provides. Bass notes on the K701 are still truncated at the bottom octave and a bit "same-y" and homogenous, although I can say it is quite tight. I say all this, and still note that I am NOT a bass-head. So, if I have some reservations about the extension of the K701, I'm pretty sure most other people will as well.
15. There's still this weird coloration I've tried to describe before that clearly shades the sound that I hear. There's a bluntness to the sound and a bubble-like sphere in which the sound takes place that I still find distracting. At this point, I do feel I could get enough accustomed to it that I could live with it, though, so it's not quite the deal-breaker it was before.
16. There's still this extra reverberation that causes a slight muddy-ness to the sound, as if some digital bits are arriving too fast out of order, and others too slow, so the sound is ever-so-slightly jumbled or muddled.
17. The lack of richness to the tone that led to a perception of lean-ness or thin-ness is allieviated. The sound is still somewhat congested as if the K701 has a head cold, but again, it's now at the level I feel I could ultimately overlook this flaw.
18. My experience with AKG's K81DJ and now the K701 are my first up-close, intimate experiences with their products on my terms. Obviously, I've posted elsewhere just how impressed I am with the K81DJ. Clearly, IMO, AKG has within its engineering capabilities and marketing grasp, the power to design THE WORLD'S BEST headphone; something that *could* practically *shame* all other previous headphones in an objective, easily-graspable way. Based on these experiences, I would look to AKG well ahead of Sennheiser, Grado, Beyer, or even Sony (based on what I've read, I haven't heard the Qualia or the other derrivative phones) to deliver that world-beater. But, IMO, they haven't quite achieved this with the K701, although they've come tantalizingly close. My deepest wish is for AKG to create a statement closed phone that builds on what the humble K81DJ already does so well and expands on it until it achieves what a fully grown, "high-end" version of that headphone can do. At that point, I believe AKG could have on its hands a headphone that clearly outpaces all that came before it, and takes the headphone flag and plants it 20 yards ahead of the rest, forcing all the rest to play catch-up, which would obviously benefit all of us headphone-lovers.
Final Thoughts
Over all this burn-in, I've grown to respect and even to really like (if not head-over-heels fall in love with) the K701. I didn't expect to reach this point; my experience with headphone burn-in previously was such that I was not expecting this degree of improvement. I've come to feel the K701 is an EXCELLENT headphone, it has A LOT going for it, and as you may guess, I did not think I would be able to type that before. In its price class, this is a SERIOUS contender that desrerves careful consideration. At the price of entry, it's close to a bargain. If a bomb were to drop on my R10s and I had to find a replacement, I would definitely consider the K701. I would want to hear the Qualias and the better Audio Technica cans first, though. But if all R10s were to disappear from the earth, I could happily live with the K701, it's a simply terrific headphone.
Can you believe it?
Post Script
Once again, this review would not have been possible without the generous assistance of socrates63. Thank you again.
