[phaseshift]

Well, I always thought that people were crazy when they would talk about headphone break in. I have a pair of K701's powered by a Woo Audio 6 amp. I was very pleased with the sound when I first got the setup, but now I'm totally thrilled! These things have transformed almost within a weeks time. All of a sudden the low end has become much tighter and deeper. The highs. and mids have also improved in smoothness, and warmth. I don't know exactly how many hours I have on them, but they are now the best phones I have ever heard. I'm finding myself listening to these more than my B/W 801's. It's true, things do get better with time.

 

[ken36]

On the other hand, maybe you stopped being critical and started to enjoy the K701 sound for what it is. Just a thought.

 

[phaseshift]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ken36 /img/forum/go_quote.gif On the other hand, maybe you stopped being critical and started to enjoy the K701 sound for what it is. Just a thought.

That may be, but I use to curve trace speaker drivers for a speaker manufacture, and it is true that the low end will get beat down over time. This is clearly visible on a frequency curve trace. I just didn't think it had such a dramatic effect on the sound. I'm still skeptical about pre-amps and power amps though.

 

[ndskyz]

My 701's continue to improve. I burned them for close to 300 hours, and now approaching 400hrs, there is a noticeable difference between 300 and 400. they still never fail to impress or amaze me

 

[Hoppergrass]

these are the cans that made me a break in believer

 

[epaludo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hoppergrass /img/forum/go_quote.gif these are the cans that made me a break in believer

Exactly. The K701 killed my burn-in doubts. It's ridiculous how much it changes with time.
Other gear that really changed is the RSA "M" Hornet. Although not as much as the K701 ...

 

[pataburd]

After 300 hours, for me anyway, the K701 seemed to undergo a remarkable metamorphosis of improvement in the way they sounded.

They're still my "Number One Can." : )

 

[spinali]

The guys at AKG stick to their line that sound changes for the K701 is most likely due to the earpads. Strange thing is, I can wear them in any position - even backwards - and I can't detect a change in sound.

So I concur with the magic 300 hour rule.

 

[dcstep]

Quote:

Originally Posted by phaseshift /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, I always thought that people were crazy when they would talk about headphone break in. I have a pair of K701's powered by a Woo Audio 6 amp. I was very pleased with the sound when I first got the setup, but now I'm totally thrilled! These things have transformed almost within a weeks time. All of a sudden the low end has become much tighter and deeper. The highs. and mids have also improved in smoothness, and warmth. I don't know exactly how many hours I have on them, but they are now the best phones I have ever heard. I'm finding myself listening to these more than my B/W 801's. It's true, things do get better with time.

I've got the same AKG/Woo setup, feeding it mainly vinyl. It was very sweet on day-one and has just gotten better, but not incredibly so. I'm somewhere around 100-hours now. I put the first 40-hours on quickly by burning them all night and all day for a couple of days. So maybe that's why I liked them so much so quickly. I was really busy when they first came in, so I didn't really sit down with them until the following weekend and they had 40+ hours by then. Still, I think that the Woo WA6 is a big part of the formula along with the fact that I'm listening to good vinyl through a very sweet front-end (Pro-ject RM10 w/ Sumiko Blackbird). The AKGs are great for everything I listen to; small group jazz, big band, latin (Cubano in especially--love the trumpeters), pop, vintage rock, general classical and brass in particular.

Enjoy.

Dave

 

[phaseshift]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dcstep /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've got the same AKG/Woo setup, feeding it mainly vinyl. It was very sweet on day-one and has just gotten better, but not incredibly so. I'm somewhere around 100-hours now. I put the first 40-hours on quickly by burning them all night and all day for a couple of days. So maybe that's why I liked them so much so quickly. I was really busy when they first came in, so I didn't really sit down with them until the following weekend and they had 40+ hours by then. Still, I think that the Woo WA6 is a big part of the formula along with the fact that I'm listening to good vinyl through a very sweet front-end (Pro-ject RM10 w/ Sumiko Blackbird). The AKGs are great for everything I listen to; small group jazz, big band, latin (Cubano in especially--love the trumpeters), pop, vintage rock, general classical and brass in particular. Enjoy. Dave

Yes, I'm also very pleased with the Woo 6. The K701 really start sounding there best after 200-300 hours. They will still get better sounding with some more burn in.

 

[pataburd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spinali /img/forum/go_quote.gif The guys at AKG stick to their line that sound changes for the K701 is most likely due to the earpads. Strange thing is, I can wear them in any position - even backwards - and I can't detect a change in sound. So I concur with the magic 300 hour rule.

By "earpads" does AKG mean the settling-in/compression/flattening of the cushions over time? That argument does not work for those who burn the K701 in and leave them lying around, "unclamped" to anything approximating a head.

 

[spinali]

Quote:

By "earpads" does AKG mean the settling-in/compression/flattening of the cushions over time? That argument does not work for those who burn the K701 in and leave them lying around, "unclamped" to anything approximating a head.

I agree - a well-reasoned argument.

It doesn't help that AKG's European customer service responds with standard drag-and-drop statements. Ask the same question twice over a long time period and you'll get identical responses. But if you send U.S. customer response an email, they'll agree with 300 hours. I still have their email.

 

[classic_rock_69]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hoppergrass /img/forum/go_quote.gif these are the cans that made me a break in believer

You and me both. It's amazing. This headphone also benefits tremendously from a balanced set up and a high end amp.

 

[barmar46]

Even running the 701s through less than high end gear (Headroom micro stack) I noticed a huge improvement in their sound after about 350 hours of burn in. I'm in the process of upgrading to a Headroom Millet hybrid amp. I'll doing anything I can within what I can afford (and a little more) to get the 701s to sound their best. They're amazing. Sometimes they scare me!

 

[DeusEx]

How's K601 compared to it?