[ex0du5]

So I decided to try the AKG K702 tonight. Coming from the Ultrasone HFI-580, which I love, I was really afraid I might find them extremely bass shy, as many people have reported.
 
Wow. No way. Bass extension is all there. The bass simply sounds completely natural.
 
Heck, even electronica and house music sounds great. There's tons of bass here.
 
Perhaps people just weren't amping the headphones properly? I'm running them on a Maverick Audio D1 (solid state out). Haven't burned them in whatsoever yet either.

 

[lejaz]

The bass sounds darn good with acoustic jazz like the Miles Davis recordings from the late '50's and early '60's. I don't find it lacking a bit. Any more bass and it would detract from the other instruments.

 

[ex0du5]

Yep. Bass is just perfect, IMO.
 
The only thing I'm finding lacking from the headphones is the soundstage. I wish it were projected forward a bit. It's got a pretty nice width, but it's too bad vocals mostly come from the inside of my head...breaks the immersion.
 
Is there a similar sounding headphone that might have this quality I'm looking for? I'm afraid to ask...the only ones that I have read of with this quality are the HD800 and LCD-2...which well...I should probably consider out of budget at this point.
 
I was expecting the K702 to destroy my HFI-580 in soundstage, but they don't really. The soundstage and imaging are a little better...but not that far off.

 

[lejaz]

I find the soundstage artificially wide, and as you wrote, not projected towards the front at all but coming directly from the sides. Seems very odd coming from my other phones. It doesn't work at all well for songs that have hard panning. Probably need to get cross feed.

 

[steveotron]

I just got my AKG K701s today and have been doing A/B comparisons between them and my HD 650. A NuForce HD is my source/amplification.
 
Are they a little bit shy on bass? I certainly think so, but based on what I've read on these forums, it was almost like I was expecting the bass to be barely audible (I know, it's silly). If I didn't have the HD 650 to compare, I wouldn't think anything was missing and wouldn't think much of it, but they are certainly different than the HD 650s. I'm not saying the bass is bad; it's just missing that "oomph." I'm listening to some songs with deep, baritone vocals as well, and they lack a bit of the presence that I'm used to, and songs that are supposed to feel a bit more "atmospheric" don't sound as good. I was never expecting to use them with rock, and especially not hip-hop, so it's not like I'm disappointed. The clarity of the highs and soundstage is wonderful and exactly like what I had envisioned, and I don't find them sibilant at all.

 

[ex0du5]

My problem with most of the bass heavy headphones, HD650 included, is that the mid-bass is too heavy. I find it has an overpowering and veiling effect on the midrange. I guess that's part of the reason I love my Ultrasones so much. Teeth shattering bass, but only in the low end...the mid-bass is relatively flat, and so the midrange is not overpowered at all.
 
Anyways, I really didn't expect to like the AKG K702 nearly as much as I did. I'm pretty sure these are a keeper. Also, I think the comments about them needing proper amping are overblown. Do they sound as good out of my iPhone as they do out of my D1? No. But honestly, it's not as far off as I would have expected. Max volume on the iPhone is still well above comfortable listening levels. The bass is still there. The biggest thing I notice is that there's less impact, a longer decay, and less instrument separation.
 
Still, if I had to recommend to someone with $300 how to spend their budget, I'd say to blow all of it on headphones. $300 headphones > $200 headphones + $100 amp.
 
Now that I've found headphones that I really like, I'll be comfortable enough to upgrade over the next little while to appreciate the differences that a better source and amp can bring, as subtle as the changes may be.

 

[wind016]

The K701 has decent bass extension but its bass is veiled under tons of lower treble. I liked the K701 too for the price though.