[chicolom]

Quote:

chicolom and tdockweiler,
 
Thanks, I've read about swapping the pads and may have to do that, and it's strange that the Q701/K702 pads are significantly less expensive compared to the K702.65's pads.  To be honest, I thought that the regular K702 pads were more comfortable and were slightly angled too.  There might be a bit more clamp on the K702.65s too, though nowhere close to the ATH-M50s or DT770PROs.
 
Do you guys really think the K702.65 will sound different after a few hundred hours of break-in?  If so, what will change?  More bass, less bass?  The K702.65s (Annie's) are near perfect, so I'm interested in what may change, other than my brain/ears.  No flame wars please. 

 
I'm not sure I'm allowed to do this, but Pro Audio Star still has the K702.65s in stock, search their webpage, and submit an offer. 

 
Yes, I personally enjoy the extra room in the angled pads, although the anniversary pads are still very comfortable.  They're also quite soft.  I don't think the clamp is any different from any other AKG x70x.  The headband is obviously an improvement.
 
I don't think the K702 anniversary will change that much over time.  I say that because my Q701s have hundreds of hours of on them, yet when you put the anniversary pads on them they still sound the same as the new anniversaries.

 

[Sequencer1]

Frank from Harman quoted me $14.68 ea pad for part number 2458M12020 (Q701/K702 pads).  I'll probably order these just to test them on the K702.65s.

I purchased a few CDs - The Beatles, Alan Parsons Project, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer.  The K702.65 sounds perfect with The Beatles, since the early recordings are light on bass but a bit hot on trebles.  It seems that early rock vocals were recorded to sound distant with a lot of reverb and the more forward midrange of the K702.65s helps with these early recordings.  It seems modern recordings have a more intimate and forward sounding vocal presentation.
 
Alan Parsons Project and ELP are beautifully recorded, and sound wonderful.  Acoustic guitars are well represented - wide, shimmering, and full of detail; bass is fairly tight and impactful; vocals are clear and full-sounding; analog synths in ELP are powerful and panning sweeps are well-defined across the stereo image.
 
Also bought a classical CD with cello, piano, and violin, 'Chopin- Trio, Polonaise Brillante, Cello Sonata' and all instruments are clearly defined and sound wonderful.  No instrument sticks out too much, though the slightly elevated bass of the K702.65s give the cello and lower keys on the piano more 'boom', so maybe 1 or 2 decibels too much below 200Hz.
 
Portishead and Massive Attack studio recordings have too much bass, but their Portishead's 'NYC Live' recording sounds balanced; the live orchestra in the background sounds great and gives the recording spaciousness and depth.
 
Great headphones.  I guess the next step up would be the much more expensive HD800s or T1s.  Not sure though.

 

[roguegeek]

Quote:

Alan Parsons Project and ELP are beautifully recorded, and sound wonderful.  Acoustic guitars are well represented - wide, shimmering, and full of detail; bass is fairly tight and impactful; vocals are clear and full-sounding; analog synths in ELP are powerful and panning sweeps are well-defined across the stereo image.

 
I've been having some strange Alan Parsons Project obsession kinda week. 

 

[mingamo]

Is it safe to say that Q701's are superior then the HD600's?
 
Im basically driving with a CMOY (its an Ipod GO DAP) so i assume the lower impedance of the Q's will yield better results

 

[tdockweiler]

Quote:

Is it safe to say that Q701's are superior then the HD600's?
 
Im basically driving with a CMOY (its an Ipod GO DAP) so i assume the lower impedance of the Q's will yield better results

I think so, but it all comes down to sound preferences.
The HD-650 and Q701 to me are pretty close.
 
I have a strange HD-650 that sounds more neutral than the HD-600. Weird.
BTW I saw a frequency response graph of my 580 and 650 yesterday and they were almost identical....or extremely close.

 

[semicoln]

Man that Q701 sounds so so sweet. I would be buying that if I wasn't saving for K550.

 

[HolyCheese]

Get the Q, much much better.

 

[Hawaiiancerveza]

I have my 65th Annie at the moment.  So far... they remind me of the HD650 where the mid bass hits but the low end isn't as prominent.  Sound stage ATM isn't very wide...I think these need to be burnt in also.  I'll give them a few hundred hrs.  

 

[jasonb]

AKG FTW!!!! 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I prefer the HD650 over the Q701. I prefer the Annie over the HD650. The Annie is like a hybrid between the two headphones, which I love. More meat and body than the Q701, more energy and air than the HD650.

 

[HolyCheese]

Damn man, this sounds like a really need to have a listen to those annies!

 

[jasonb]

How much more bass is there between the 65th and the Q701? Are we talking about maybe 2-3db? I use my Q701 with a +2db bass boost from my E17 and I feel that it's the perfect amount of bass for me 99% of the time. 
Quote:

I prefer the HD650 over the Q701. I prefer the Annie over the HD650. The Annie is like a hybrid between the two headphones, which I love. More meat and body than the Q701, more energy and air than the HD650.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

That sounds about right. Like a 3db bass boost. It basically makes the bass meet up with the mids. Listening to the Q701 now, the bass sounds similar to the Annie (heard, not felt), but is pushed back in the mix a few virtual rows back. The Annie fixes that deficiency.

Of course, if you don't listen to bass-dependent tracks, the Annie and Q701 sound more alike than different. It's in the bass where the differences are obvious.

 

[jasonb]

I'm not really sure what you would consider bass dependent tracks, but I do like my bass to be in line with the rest of the sound for all of my music. The 2db bass boost on the E17 obviously boosts the bass all the way down to the bottom, but it also very slightly warms up mid-bass and lower mids as well. I know 2db isn't a huge change, but for my tastes it's just right.
 
I think I still prefer my Q701 to my new self modded T50rp. The T50rp does indeed sound great, but I just keep coming back to the Q701. Maybe it's the big airy soundstage that keeps pulling me back. Everybody talks so highly of the Fostex, and for good reason, but I still think I prefer my Q701.
 
Quote:

That sounds about right. Like a 3db bass boost. It basically makes the bass meet up with the mids. Listening to the Q701 now, the bass sounds similar to the Annie (heard, not felt), but is pushed back in the mix a few virtual rows back. The Annie fixes that deficiency.

Of course, if you don't listen to bass-dependent tracks, the Annie and Q701 sound more alike than different. It's in the bass where the differences are obvious.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Well, I mean the difference isn't vast if a song doesn't really bear importance to bass. It literally is the bass that sets the two apart. Since that bass does warm up the tonal balance of the Annie a smidge next to the Q701, it makes it not as airy and open. So it's not just free bass. The Q701 still has the upperhand in clarity of notes and air due to less warmth and bass to detract from the rest of the frequencies.

If that were a real detriment though, people would hate the LCD2 which is much warmer and much less open/airy than the Annie.

Side by side, the Annie sounds clearer than the LCD2 due to it not being as warm, so in the same effect, the Q701 sounds clearer than the Annie as it's even less warmer.