[joeq70]

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I bought these headphones and they have arrived but I am afraid of opening them because l feel that the HE-400s would suit my tastes more. I like 70s rock, blues and jazz. What do you think because I have a chance for an exchange?

Depends entirely upon the place from which you purchased them and their return policy.

 

[cubusmybro]

Would you go through the hassle of returning them to the seller just to get the others for that style of music though?

 

[talisman42]

Unfortunately, I do not have the q701 to do a direct comparison, but from what I recall and comparing with my other headphones, the k702|65 seems to have fuller bass and mids. The warmer signature sounds closer to Hd650 territory.
 
[EDIT] there seems to be more bass quantity than HD650.
 
Not sure how that extra bass is being produced, but the 65s do seem isolate ambient noise more than the q701 and hd650. Could be the new, heavier memory foam and/or combination of other materials introduced in the ear cup assembly. The foam under the ear pads look similar, but haven't opened the little back plates. I expect to find another piece of foam there. Anyone take a peek yet?
 
I haven't done any extensive burn-in, but the added isolation likely decreases the soundstage and possibly responsible for some perceived congestion in complex tracks. I hope that the SQ will improve over time. Whether it's just my ears adapting or the drivers - it doesn't matter. If it sounds better it is .
 
Another observation is the quality of HF - I think it's improved over the Q. It's been mentioned that the Q can exhibit  sibilance and plasticy/artificial highs under some circumstances. Playing some of these tracks with the k702 65, sibilance seems to be well controlled and instruments like high-hats have plenty of detail and texture without smearing. Of course bad recordings will sound bad regardless.
 
The physical characteristics seem to be a bit more refined, too. For example,  the vari-motion cups on the 65s seem really fluid in comparison to the Qs. Headband seems to slide more smoothly, too.

 

[joeq70]

Unfortunately, I do not have the q701 to do a direct comparison, but from what I recall and comparing with my other headphones, the k702|65 seems to have fuller bass and mids. The warmer signature sounds closer to Hd650 territory.

[EDIT] there seems to be more bass quantity than HD650.

Not sure how that extra bass is being produced, but the 65s do seem isolate ambient noise more than the q701 and hd650. Could be the new, heavier memory foam and/or combination of other materials introduced in the ear cup assembly. The foam under the ear pads look similar, but haven't opened the little back plates. I expect to find another piece of foam there. Anyone take a peek yet?

I haven't done any extensive burn-in, but the added isolation likely decreases the soundstage and possibly responsible for some perceived congestion in complex tracks. I hope that the SQ will improve over time. Whether it's just my ears adapting or the drivers - it doesn't matter. If it sounds better it is .

Another observation is the quality of HF - I think it's improved over the Q. It's been mentioned that the Q can exhibit  sibilance and plasticy/artificial highs under some circumstances. Playing some of these tracks with the k702 65, sibilance seems to be well controlled and instruments like high-hats have plenty of detail and texture without smearing. Of course bad recordings will sound bad regardless.

The physical characteristics seem to be a bit more refined, too. For example,  the vari-motion cups on the 65s seem really fluid in comparison to the Qs. Headband seems to slide more smoothly, too.

We all hear things differently but I'd like to just state that my experience is a little different. I just compared the 65th Anniversary and Hd-650. The 65th is more aggresive, airier with slightly better sub bass definition. The 650 is warmer, laid back, with more bass presence in general. The 650 is fuller sounding. I think more people will prefer the 650 but the 65th ann. is very good and i can see some people preferring it.

 

[talisman42]

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We all hear things differently but I'd like to just state that my experience is a little different. I just compared the 65th Anniversary and Hd-650. The 65th is more aggresive, airier with slightly better sub bass definition. The 650 is warmer, laid back, with more bass presence in general. The 650 is fuller sounding. I think more people will prefer the 650 but the 65th ann. is very good and i can see some people preferring it.

 
lol. Yep - my experience was almost polar opposite as yours. But there are many factors that can explain it. While I never performed a traditional burn-in on either headphone, I've had the hd650 for awhile now and within a month the sound transformed quite a bit. Initially, the 650 was all one blob of mids to the point where it did sound muffled. Then it started to open up and dialogue comes through much more clearly and sounds much more balanced than before. Quite airy, too.
 
The k702/65 on the other hand seemed to be similarly balanced in the beginning and maybe even with upper mid/high emphasis. Within a few days, even that seemed to change and continued to get warmer to the point that it sounds fuller than the 650 and definitely not as airy as the 650 either. While the k702/65 a fully open phone, it does sounds more like a 7/8th open (not fully open, but far from semi-open). Does that make sense? lol.

 

[kstaken]

When I had the K702 65th I also thought it reminded me of the HD650. I won't say it sounded like an HD650 but it definitely made me think more of the 650 than it did of the K701. It's mostly the pads that cause this, I moved the pads onto my K701 and it then reminded me of the HD650 too. Of course a well driven HD650 also has a very special quality that I think the K702 65th completely lacks. So you have a headphone that sounds more like a HD650 than it does an AKG K series and possesses the magic of neither.
 
I now have a Q701 in house and hearing how the newer K series sounds just reinforces my opinion that AKG really missed the mark with the pads on the K702 65th. I think the Q701 is a much better sounding headphone across the board.

 

[Blackmore]

Reading last impressions made me non interested anymore.
 
THX

 

[tdockweiler]

Quote:

When I had the K702 65th I also thought it reminded me of the HD650. I won't say it sounded like an HD650 but it definitely made me think more of the 650 than it did of the K701. It's mostly the pads that cause this, I moved the pads onto my K701 and it then reminded me of the HD650 too. Of course a well driven HD650 also has a very special quality that I think the K702 65th completely lacks. So you have a headphone that sounds more like a HD650 than it does an AKG K series and possesses the magic of neither.
 
I now have a Q701 in house and hearing how the newer K series sounds just reinforces my opinion that AKG really missed the mark with the pads on the K702 65th. I think the Q701 is a much better sounding headphone across the board.

 
This actually makes me interested in it. Doesn't matter much since I can't afford it anyway. A headphone that sounded similar to the HD-650, but with a larger soundstage would be amazing IMO. I haven't heard many open headphones with as mids as full sounding as the HD-650. I guess what i'm saying is that a mix of the Q701 and HD-650 would be nice. Not that anything is wrong with the Q701.
 
If the K702 was made to be a little more forgiving of poor recordings and harsh tracks, then I wouldn't mind. I don't know if the 65th is like this at all. My HD-650 makes all my garbage tracks sound a bit more listenable. It makes nearly everything sounds a bit easier on the ears. This should be considered a coloration, but I don't mind. Not a huge difference.
 
Someone should try modding the Q701 pads (without destroying them!). I don't even know what could be done. Maybe when you twist off the pads there's a change around in the area where they lock in place. I think this area is all plastic though.
 
Ok, off to experiment!
 
BTW the problem with adding more bass to the Q701 is that it just gets more muffled sounding. Nothing too bad though and I haven't tried enough mods.

 

[talisman42]

I think akg should have included an extra pair of pads for this version. Anyway where can i find the replacement foam pads for the original k/q701 series? As of now, the 65anv seems to have plenty of bass but curious to know if this is only the result of the new memory foam pads

 

[HiFiGuy528]

I'm worried that the pads are limited production with no spares.

 

[talisman42]

Quote:

I'm worried that the pads are limited production with no spares.

 
Thanks. BTW, what are your impressions? So far, mine have been very positive. For me, the perceived improvements outweigh some of the compromises, but again, that could change a bit over time - could get even better. Also, I did open the back and there is no foam in there unlike the Q701.

 

[MLee]

After a few weeks with mine I'm still happy I got them.  Based on some of the posts above they don't work for everyone but they have a place in my inventory for now, and they are at the top of my list. 

 

[HiFiGuy528]

Quote:

 
Thanks. BTW, what are your impressions? So far, mine have been very positive. For me, the perceived improvements outweigh some of the compromises, but again, that could change a bit over time - could get even better. Also, I did open the back and there is no foam in there unlike the Q701.

 
I'm working on the review right now.  I'll put it here when it posts.

 

[syryanyang]

Are those limited edition? If not I'll definitely wait for the price to drop below $400

 

[Salvatore]

Quote:

A headphone that sounded similar to the HD-650, but with a larger soundstage would be amazing IMO.

 
I'm actually pretty interested to do this comparison. My friend is supposed to bring me his HD650s before Christmas so I'll post some impressions as soon as possible.