MoNelly
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2008
- Posts
- 337
- Likes
- 20
Got my new AKG K701s today; I’m in love.
Out of the box, the clarity of these headphones is stunning as driven by my awesome new Headroom 2006 Micro DAC and Micro Amp (clearance, baby!).
I’ve used Shure E500s, and while I think they’re quite good (if inevitably uncomfortable), I’ve never had an “ah ha” moment with them the way I did today with my very first listening session to the K701s. You guys know that feeling: where you start to get excited and realize just how much more there is to hear in the music you’ve been enjoying for years. And then you start looking for your best recorded stuff.
I’ve also been using Senn 280 Pros during travel for several years (sadly, unamped), and comparing the two is like night and day. Suddenly the 280s seems veiled and notably less precise even when properly driven by the HR MicroStack. Then again, I suppose a closed headphone that sells for a third the price of the K701s probably shouldn’t sound nearly as good. The AKGs are also notably more comfortable to wear.
I’m well aware of the conventional wisdom that says these cans need anywhere from 100 to 300 hours of burn in. While I plan to run audio through them many hours a day unattended, I also plan to spend a fair amount of time burning them in on my head! I look forward to listening to them evolve, and fully expect the bass to expand and improve a bit over time (the only minor niggle I have with them so far). They're so good, I don't want to take them off and go to bed even though it's been a long and often sleepless week with a teething infant.
Oh, happy day!
Out of the box, the clarity of these headphones is stunning as driven by my awesome new Headroom 2006 Micro DAC and Micro Amp (clearance, baby!).
I’ve used Shure E500s, and while I think they’re quite good (if inevitably uncomfortable), I’ve never had an “ah ha” moment with them the way I did today with my very first listening session to the K701s. You guys know that feeling: where you start to get excited and realize just how much more there is to hear in the music you’ve been enjoying for years. And then you start looking for your best recorded stuff.
I’ve also been using Senn 280 Pros during travel for several years (sadly, unamped), and comparing the two is like night and day. Suddenly the 280s seems veiled and notably less precise even when properly driven by the HR MicroStack. Then again, I suppose a closed headphone that sells for a third the price of the K701s probably shouldn’t sound nearly as good. The AKGs are also notably more comfortable to wear.
I’m well aware of the conventional wisdom that says these cans need anywhere from 100 to 300 hours of burn in. While I plan to run audio through them many hours a day unattended, I also plan to spend a fair amount of time burning them in on my head! I look forward to listening to them evolve, and fully expect the bass to expand and improve a bit over time (the only minor niggle I have with them so far). They're so good, I don't want to take them off and go to bed even though it's been a long and often sleepless week with a teething infant.
Oh, happy day!
