[Patu]

This is soo weird. I'm not sure are my ears too sensitive, am I too tired or what but I can't believe this.

Tonight my K701 suddenly sounds awfully bright and harsh. I can't even listen to most of my tracks (because I get headache with K701) which has usually sounded great with K701. They have now about 40-50 hours on them. Did anyone else hear this brightening thing or what know what could cause it? They sounded a lot better yesterday and the day before that. Now they're giving me a headache. Even SA5000 sounds warmer and darker than K701 now. 650s sound so sweet now, these sure are the most unfatiguing headphones I've ever weared.

Can they really become worse while burning them in?

Oh and the bass volume is decreasing also. Should I just go to sleep and try again tomorrow? Maybe my Rudistor is overheated or something.

 

[devwild]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patu Even SA5000 sounds warmer and darker than K701 now.

Yeah, sounds like bed time for you dude.

 

[Patu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by devwild Yeah, sounds like bed time for you dude.

This must be temporarary... this must be temporary... I'm going to sleep. Good night.

 

[morbo667]

mine's about 60 hours old now and I also noticed a slight decrease in bass over the last night ...

but the mids became soooooo beautifull that I couldn't care less about some bass ... nevertheless hoping that it'll come back with more burn-in

no sign of brightness here though ... still the most refined and unfatiguing can I have ever experienced

 

[Kwisatz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patu This is soo weird. I'm not sure are my ears too sensitive, am I too tired or what but I can't believe this. Tonight my K701 suddenly sounds awfully bright and harsh. I can't even listen to most of my tracks (because I get headache with K701) which has usually sounded great with K701. They have now about 40-50 hours on them. Did anyone else hear this brightening thing or what know what could cause it? They sounded a lot better yesterday and the day before that. Now they're giving me a headache. Even SA5000 sounds warmer and darker than K701 now. 650s sound so sweet now, these sure are the most unfatiguing headphones I've ever weared. Can they really become worse while burning them in? Oh and the bass volume is decreasing also. Should I just go to sleep and try again tomorrow? Maybe my Rudistor is overheated or something.

Not to sound like an arse, but its most likely in your head. Things don't change that much. How the mind perceives things on the other hand is quite subject to change. For instance there are times when my Grado 325i's sound perfectly fine to me with bowls. Still at other times they sound positively unbearable and thin. Same thing goes with my Senn 650's to a lesser degree... Most of the time I find them absolutely fantastic, but there are times when they seem comparatively dead to me. While I haven't had the 701's as long as either of the above, they certainly have gone through periods of sounding better and worse to my ears depending on how I'm feeling, what time of day it is, what I'm listening to... any number of things. This is why I find reviews of gear done based on brief listening about one step removed from useless. So many things affect how we perceive the same sounds going to our ears, that it really takes time to listen to something long enough to average the results and come up with a respectable opinion of it.

 

[Dhw]

I'm finding mine is balancing out over time, though I can swear the timpanies got louder and punchier on the Kubelik Dvorak 9th I have. I believe in burn-in, whether psychological or mechanical (or both), but this caught me off guard. It also seems like I can turn them up louder now before reaching the "too loud" point. Is it possible that the mid range can recess with time? (and what sexy sexy midrange it is!). It's nothing mindblowingly drastic that has happened, but something seems up. Whatever it is, I like it!

 

[boodi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patu This is soo weird. I'm not sure are my ears too sensitive, am I too tired or what but I can't believe this. Tonight my K701 suddenly sounds awfully bright and harsh. I can't even listen to most of my tracks (because I get headache with K701) which has usually sounded great with K701. They have now about 40-50 hours on them. Did anyone else hear this brightening thing or what know what could cause it? They sounded a lot better yesterday and the day before that. Now they're giving me a headache. Even SA5000 sounds warmer and darker than K701 now. 650s sound so sweet now, these sure are the most unfatiguing headphones I've ever weared. Can they really become worse while burning them in? Oh and the bass volume is decreasing also. Should I just go to sleep and try again tomorrow? Maybe my Rudistor is overheated or something.

I recall the hd650 burning time , 200hr of tuning before setting ..
I wouldn't be surprised at all for a 400$ k701 for sound changes during burning time , and would wait with no hassle

 

[Kraegorn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patu Tonight my K701 suddenly sounds awfully bright and harsh. I can't even listen to most of my tracks (because I get headache with K701) which has usually sounded great with K701. They have now about 40-50 hours on them. Did anyone else hear this brightening thing or what know what could cause it? They sounded a lot better yesterday and the day before that. Now they're giving me a headache. Even SA5000 sounds warmer and darker than K701 now. 650s sound so sweet now, these sure are the most unfatiguing headphones I've ever weared.

It's the burn-in process, it can vary from bright to warm. Before you know it, the k701 will start sounding smooth again.

 

[robert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Ward The K701 is certainly warmer than the K501, which I also have on hand. As I mentioned earlier, the tone is richer, but I don't think I'd call it romantic. BW

not to burden those fortunate enough to have both the K501 and K701 too much, but anyone willing to try the Ferbose taped K501 vs. the K701?? i finally got around to doing it, and as i sit hear listening to Jarrett at the Blue Note, i here a richer, fuller sound than i remember. since $400 buys a boat load of Scotch Magic Transparent tape, it would be interesting to know whether (how much?) the taped K501 gets closer to the K701 (un-taped, of course)

 

[Romanee]

Puhhhhleeeeeeeeeeze. Being a very conflicted open-minded skeptic, I was curious enough to try that properly geeky tweak and taped my 501s six ways to Sunday — and it brings to mind a certain friend's byline:

"Makes audio cables using super-advanced materials, like 'some clear tape' and 'some not so clear tape.'"

No they will not sound even remotely similar. Sorry.

 

[Patu]

Yes I hope they'll sound nicer today when I get home. I didn't let them burn in thogh. I don't like the idea that my RP5.1 is heating up there with no one around.

I really don't understand what happened last night. I couldn't even listen to them because the sound was so edgy and harsh. I got headache. When there came some vocals with a lot of s-letters they all sounded incredibly bright and harsh and they extended beyond my tolerance (hope you understand what I mean). HD650 sounded better last night.

Today I'm going to pick up a new interconnects also. VDH The First Ultimate. Nordost has a bright and fast sound which is perfect for 650s but not so perfect for K701/SA5000 (which I most probably will keep). So I hope this would decrease the harshness and add some musicality and fullness in sound.

Even though it would be the burn in, I've never found so big differencies with any cans while burning them in. K701 was simply bad yesterday. I really hope the sound will smoothen out.

 

[blumenco]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KZEE It's fascinating that, even though you've never actually heard a pair of the AKG 701's, you would consider yourself qualified to offer up opinions on the sound of the 701's. Although the 701's certainly aren't the most expensive headphones that you can buy, none-the-less it's also fascinating that you would think that those of us that have spent good money on our 701's would then be using a "junky amp" or "one that is messed up" with our 701's. Just fascinating.

alright, putting your monetary arguments aside (bleh! this is not a freakin rap video. i don't give a hoot how much you spent on your sound system or your bling bling distorting audio jewelry!!!)
lets just say that i have a hunch that its the amp...a very very strong hunch... sure, i aint there, and could never know for sure. however, i don't feel i need to hear the signature of the akgs to make that call. lets just say that i feel that i have done enough of my own experimentation to make a very basic inference given very basic information.

BTW, if i ever complain about distortion from any of my equipment, i would hope that all y'all would be jumping to help me diagnose it.

all that aside, i must say that i am most excited to receive my AKGs. i anticipate the long drawn out process of retuning my system to my ear again, given this new component.

 

[Patu]

They still sound harsh and overly bright and bass has disappeared. I hope the new interconnects and more burn in will change this because now they suck!

 

[amartignano]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patu They still sound harsh and overly bright and bass has disappeared. I hope the new interconnects and more burn in will change this because now they suck!

AKG engineers minimize the contribute of so-called burn-in in their headphones. I think you better get a rest (not kidding, in the days I'm really tired my bass frequency percieving diminishes).

bye
Andrea

 

[bahamot]

I'm very suprised that you found it very bright and harsh after 50 hours of burn-in.
The only thing I found after 50 hours is that they started to be enjoyable as they started to smooth out (the highs edginess gone a bit) ...

edit: actually after 25 hours was already quite enjoyable as they were not as fatique as before.