[lejaz]

 
Quote:

Your musical preferences coincide pretty much to mine, and I've noticed the exact same issue with the 702. Others have also noticed it, even on better set ups. You hit the nail on the head....missing weight in the midrange, making vocals sound somewhat thin and pale and diffused. I notice the same issue with some acoustic instruments...sounding too thin. I also hear an upper midrange peak that makes them awfully bright with some material. Glad to hear that I'm not imagining things!

Do you still use the 702's? Have you heard other phones which sound much better in these areas?  I've been reading a lot about the Audeze LCD-2, and although much more expensive, seems like a good value.  If the 702's don't change much with the M-Stage amp and a lot of break-in hours, I'll be looking to replace them quickly.

Would love to try the LCD-2, but my budget won't stretch that far right now. The k240DF (out of production) has a more solid and thick midrange, without going to the other extreme and being overly warm and/or dark. They're highly regarded studio monitors and generally considered very 'flat' and transparent. The dt48 is another one with a very natural/transparent midrange, though they are rolled off on both ends of the frequency range and were probably not designed for listening for pleasure but for monitoring purposes for radio and film. I'm not trying to imply the 702 mids are horrible, only that they could be better...to MY ears anyway... I can't speak for others. 

 

[Chris IL]

I've been doing hi-end for decades and I've never seen a piece of gear that needed as much break-in as these headphones. Up to 1000 hours. Almost sent them back in frustration. Now they are wonderful. Ayer Acoustics sells a system enhancement disc with brown noise tracks which are the best I've heard. Easier on the ears than pink or white. The stock cables are nothing special, either.

 

[KyungMin]

My K701 took 500 hours to burn in 250 of which were amped to medium/high volume..
Burned in with Classical mostly and some jazz.. but it really took a while for me

 

[FritzS]

 
Quote:

I've been doing hi-end for decades and I've never seen a piece of gear that needed as much break-in as these headphones. Up to 1000 hours. Almost sent them back in frustration. Now they are wonderful. Ayer Acoustics sells a system enhancement disc with brown noise tracks which are the best I've heard. Easier on the ears than pink or white. The stock cables are nothing special, either.

my experience - the minimum are 70 ... 100 hours, about this the variances by livetime get smaller ...
 
in the first 10 hours the variances are bigger ....
 
I heared K701, K702, Q701 beginning from the first hour .... but  I am not in frustration - each person hear other, IMHO the form of the auricle (external ear) gives the most differences at headphones form person to person.

 

[VALIENTE]

K701 are really amp dependent. Grab a powerful, nuclear amp and you will be happy! There are so many choices out there. All you need is a bit bigger cash for good solid amps. Matrix is just a budget amp. Move to a higher degree amp!

 

[genclaymore]

Quote:

My K701 took 500 hours to burn in 250 of which were amped to medium/high volume..
Burned in with Classical mostly and some jazz.. but it really took a while for me

yea I agree I thought it was done burning in around the 300 hour mark then one day I notice it improved some more, I think I have around 500hours into them now but I dont keep count.. Tho I burned it in during use. Started with pink noise for the first 100 hours off and On.

 

[ShawnSmith]

Quote:

Ayer Acoustics sells a system enhancement disc with brown noise tracks which are the best I've heard. Easier on the ears than pink or white.

why would you care if it is easy on the ears? do you burn in headphones by actually listening to noise tracks? I was under the impression the people that engaged in this silly activity just turned it on and walked away. I'll refrain from commenting too much on the silly $20 cd that magically burns in equipment faster.

 

[ShawnSmith]

to the OP if you are "quite disappointed" with the headphones after 2 days of burn in... 300 or 500 or 1000 hours of burn in isn't likely to change your mind. extensive burn in isn't going to change the fundamental sound of the equipment.

 

[gridlock]

Well, I have to say I'm pretty shocked!  I put the phones on last night and wondered who switched them on me!  I had been playing a variety of music through them at mid-high volumes in an attempt to burn them in without any listening, and the sound seem to change quite dramatically since the last time I listened, which was about a day or two ago.  I wish I had another brand new pair of K702's to compare to these to in order to verify I'm not going out of my mind!
 
The sound has improved so much, that it now sounds quite good.  In fact, the bass IMO does not sound deficient at all, although I have not tried any music like pipe organs that have low fundamentals (any more bass and for me would be excessive).  The midrange has 'straightened out' considerably, and the upper treble has opened up.  Still not perfect, but much better.
 
I wouldn't have believed this would have happened until I heard with my own ears.  I've NEVER heard anything change as much as these headphones have with break-in.  I'm not easily convinced of this phenomenon and believe it is manly snake-oil when it comes to wires and electronics as I've never heard a difference for that, and I do understand the psychology associated and wishful-thinking with that.
 
So it seems somewhere between 2 and 4 days (48 and 96 hours) things really changed.  I did also increase the volume for the last day to two above my normal listening level.
 
So am I going a little nuts 

, or do these phones really change that much with a few days of break-in?

 

[Dibster]

Gridlock, you described in perfect detail in your opening post everything I find wrong about my K701's. The lack of bass, the midrange thinness, the recessed upper treble which is compounded by the in-your-face lower treble. I switched over to the HD650's and it did all of those areas better than the K701's.
 
I got hundreds of hours on my K701's too.

 

[Happy Camper]

I ran mine in for three weeks (400 hrs). I travel so I was not able to listen to them every day. Well by the end of the third week, I put on some music and by golly they were right. The sound was fuller and the soundstage was much more firm and defined. I was able to roll a bit more bottom end with tubes and was very happy with the K701.
 
Then came the orthos. It's one of those visceral moments of discovery that you remember what day, hour and level of joy that came to your life.

 

[lejaz]

Quote:

K701 are really amp dependent. Grab a powerful, nuclear amp and you will be happy! There are so many choices out there. All you need is a bit bigger cash for good solid amps. Matrix is just a budget amp. Move to a higher degree amp!

That's tongue and cheek, right? FWIR, those that don't like their sound signature, don't like it any better even paired with a expensive, powerful amp. The sound you get from ANY phone is more dependent on what's between your ears....and probably your ears themselves, AFAIK.

 

[gridlock]

Quote:

I ran mine in for three weeks (400 hrs). I travel so I was not able to listen to them every day. Well by the end of the third week, I put on some music and by golly they were right. The sound was fuller and the soundstage was much more firm and defined. I was able to roll a bit more bottom end with tubes and was very happy with the K701.
 
Then came the orthos. It's one of those visceral moments of discovery that you remember what day, hour and level of joy that came to your life.

 
Just curious: have you had a chance to listen to the LCD-2's as well?  What is it about the HE-6 that you like so much?  What differences to you perceive between the HE-6 and the K701's?
 

 

[Happy Camper]

I was fortunate to have another head fi member loan his LCD-2 to me for about three weeks. This was my first listen to the planar phones.
 
Initial impression was that (with my gear) they were similar to the HD650s but better at everything. That means it had that veil of forced highs. When I was able to get them on some powerful amps, the highs were fine. Actually they were more than fine.
 
The game would have been over as I had never heard bass like the LCD-2 and I was willing to work with the veil as gear matching would correct that. I also love the wood of the LCD-2. But before deciding I had to try the HE-6 because at a meet last year, I was able to hear the HE-5 and was more impressed with them than I was with the HD800.
 
Well the HE-6 does everything better than the 701. The things you may accept because of other strengths the 701 have, you will have no want. Weight, bass impact, sparkle without tinniness. I favor highs and details more than dominating bass. I decided the HE-6 suites my tastes better than the LCD-2 but would be happy with either. If you are a AKG fan, the HE-6 will be better suited to your tastes. If you like the HD650/600, the LCD-2 will be your choice.

 

[Chris IL]

Never said it was magic. My aren't we touchy.