[ChariotsOfFire]

After over 3 years of continuous use and countless accidents my Audio Technica  AD700's are on their way out and I'm looking to replace them than bothering with getting the cable fixed.  
 
 First I looked at the updated AD700 called the AD700x and also the AD900x's but the prices are  crazy in my country at the moment and few places even seem to sell them.  I paid £75 for the AD700's guess how much the AD700X's cost? £160!   Sennheiser hd598's and AKG K702's are cheaper than that right now and I'm sure they're slightly higher end. 
 
I have looked at various brands and models of open headphones and the  AKG K702's caught my attention the most. I love the look of them and after reading many reviews the sound description sounds like my AD700's.  They can be had for £138 which puts them a few notes cheaper than the Sennheiser's HD598's currently are priced at in the UK.  
 
The only other headphones that grab my attention are the Sennheiser  HD598's.  
 
Here's is a UK vs USA price comparison via Amazon
 
UK
AKG K702 -  £146   (I can get them for  £138 from respected computer retailer) 
Sennheiser  HD598 - £149
 
USA
AKG K702 $295
Sennheiser HD598 - $148  (great deal that) 
The AKG 702's can be had for £138 right now similar price headphones are Sennheiser Hd698's 
 
As you can see the AKG K702's are a great price right now in the UK and seem a bit of a bargain while in the USA the Senn's are a steal.  
 
 
How do the K702's and HD598's compare? if they could be bought at nearly the same price.   I have heard people compare the K702's to higher end Sennheiser models like the 600's and 650's.  

 

[PurpleAngel]

The 62-Ohm AKG K702 will need a decent headphone amplifier to sound their best.
Some have said their 62-Ohm AKG 7XX series headphone need more juice then the 250-Ohm Beyer headphones.
Where as with the 50-Ohm HD598 a headphone amplifier is somewhat optional.
What sources are you plugging your headphones into?

 

[KG Jag]

  The 62-Ohm AKG K702 will need a decent headphone amplifier to sound their best.
Some have said their 62-Ohm AKG 7XX series headphone need more juice then the 250-Ohm Beyer headphones.
Where as with the 50-Ohm HD598 a headphone amplifier is somewhat optional.
What sources are you plugging your headphones into?

 Agreed. 
 
If you have a proper amp, the new K 7xx is an excellent choice if it available in your market.

 

[ChariotsOfFire]

I'm just using my motherboards integrated soundcard 
 
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4139
 
 
Sounds like I need a proper amp for these K702's then but is it worth trying without and getting one if I feel they're lacking?

 

[ChariotsOfFire]

I don't have an amp I thought I'd try them without and get one a little later. 
 
I'm just using my motherboards built in soundcard.  
 
 
 Realtek ALC898 with High Quality 110dB SNR HD audio
Š Support for X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity® and EAX® Advanced HD™ 5.0 technologies Š High Definition Audio Š 2/4/5.1/7.1-channel Š Support for S/PDIF Out

 

[KG Jag]

  I'm just using my motherboards integrated soundcard 
 
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4139
 
 
Sounds like I need a proper amp for these K702's then but is it worth trying without and getting one if I feel they're lacking?

Unless your sound card as a decent amp, you should stay away from the K/Q 7yy series.  They are more difficult to drive properly than their specs suggest.

 

[ChariotsOfFire]

 
Unless your sound card as a decent amp, you should stay away from the K/Q 7yy series.  They are more difficult to drive properly than their specs suggest.

 
What would you recommend I get keep in mind I'll ever only ever likely use it with my PC.

 

[KG Jag]

 

 
Unless your sound card as a decent amp, you should stay away from the K/Q 7yy series.  They are more difficult to drive properly than their specs suggest.

 
What would you recommend I get keep in mind I'll ever only ever likely use it with my PC.

 
The AD 900X is good and works well with low powered devices (like computers). 
 
The HD 558/598 are also good, but a bit more iffy with some low powered devices.  They usually work reasonably well, but might not give you their best with such a coupling.
 
Grados (on ear) are also very efficient, but that's an entirely new discussion.

 

[PurpleAngel]

   
The AD 900X is good and works well with low powered devices (like computers). 
 
The HD 558/598 are also good, but a bit more iffy with some low powered devices.  They usually work reasonably well, but might not give you their best with such a coupling.
 
Grados (on ear) are also very efficient, but that's an entirely new discussion.

 
+1 on the ATH-AD900X, used the A900X closed version a lot with my PC

 

[ChariotsOfFire]

I found some more specs on the Realtek 898
 
1. ALC898 Hardware Features
�� High performance DACs with 110dB signal-to-noise ratio(A-weighting)
�� High performance ADCs with 104dB signal-to-noise ration (A-weighting).
- Meets Microsoft WLP3.x (Windows Logo Program) audio requirements
-  Ten DAC channels support 16/20/24-bit PCM format for 7.1 sound playback, plus 2 channels of
concurrent independent stereo sound output (multiple streaming) through the front panel output
- Three stereo ADCs support 16/20/24-bit PCM format, multiple stereo recording
- All DACs supports 44.1k/48k/88.2k/96k/192kHz sample rate
- All ADCs supports 44.1k/48k/88.2k/96k/192kHz sample rate
- Primary 16/20/24-bit S/PDIF-OUT supports 32k/44.1k/48k/88.2k/96k/192kHz sample rate
- Secondary 16/20/24-bit S/PDIF-OUT supports 32k/44.1k/48k/88.2k/96k/192kHz sample rate
- 16/20/24-bit S/PDIF-IN supports 32k/44.1k/48k/96k/192kHz sample rate
- All analog jacks (port-A to port-H) are stereo input and output re-tasking
- Port-A/B/C/D/E/F/G/H built in headphone amplifiers
- Port-B/C/E/F with software selectable boost gain (+10/+20/+30dB) for analog microphone input
- High-quality analog differential CD input
- Supports external PCBEEP input and built-in digital BEEP generator
- Software selectable 2.5V/3.2V/4.0V VREFOUT
- Up to four channels of microphone array input are supported for AEC/BF application
- Two jack detection pins each designed to detect up to 4 jacks plugging
- Supports analog GPIO2 to be jack detection for CD input which is used as 9th analog port
- Supports legacy analog mixer architecture
- Up to 3 GPIOs (General Purpose Input and Output) for customized applications. GPIO0 and GPIO1
share pin with DMIC-CLK/SPDIF-OUT2 and DMIC-DATA.
- Supports mono and stereo digital microphone interface (pins shared with GPIO0 and GPIO1)
- Supports anti-pop mode when analog power LDO-IN is on and digital power is off.
- Built-in analog LDO.
- Content Protection for Full Rate loss-less DVD Audio, Blu-rayTM DVD and HD-DVD audio
content playback (with selected versions of WinDVD/PowerDVD/TMT)
- Hardware Zero-Detect output volume control
- 0.75dB per step output volume and input volume control
- Supports 3.3V digital core power, 1.5V or 3.3V digital I/O power for HD Audio link, and 5.0V
analog power
- Intel low power ECR compliant and power status control for every analog/digital converter and pin
widgets.
- 48-pin LQFP ‘Green’ package

 

[ChariotsOfFire]

Hey guys what is your opinion on the Philips X2? I can get them for around £180     which is a little over what I wanted to spend, but from all reviews I've read they work well even without a dedicated amp.