[musicday]

Just buy a K812 and see
Amazon link to AKG K812 bargain.

I see !
Can you answer half of my question then?

 

[John Buchanan]

What cable do you use with the K812? Do you have any modification on it?
If you said you have tested about 200 headphones at every price, have you heard: The Composer, Pioneer SE-Master 1, The latest JVC headphone, Diana TC, ATH-ADX5000? How they compare if you know with the K812. Thanks

I've only tried the Arctic cable core and there was no difference in sound. The Arctic cable was more sensitive to what material it rubbed against compared with the OEM cable - so I went back to the OEM. It looks ordinary, but sounds good and handles well (minimal memory) compared with something like the Focal Utopia or Beyerdynamic T1 Gen. 2/3 cable.
The AKG K812 is the best of the headphones I have without Oratory1990 EQ and it gets even better with that EQ.
It's better constructed than any of the others too, with the exception of the Mysphere, although the AKG is way more comfortable than that one.

 

[musicday]

Thanks for the writing above. If I end up buying them I will be looking for a place to have them modified for balanced. I am using a dongle dac and the balanced is more powerful then the single ended. 470mW Vs 110 mW

 

[plakat]

Thanks for the writing above. If I end up buying them I will be looking for a place to have them modified for balanced. I am using a dongle dac and the balanced is more powerful then the single ended. 470mW Vs 110 mW

No need for balanced: the K812 has a sensitivity of 110dB/V which at 36Ohm works out to 95.56 dB/mW SPL. With ca 110mW you could reach about 115dB I’d say…

 

[John Buchanan]

...and getting them modified would possibly wreck the superb appearance of the phones. The K812 was apparently designed around running off the headphone output of a Macbook Pro. I've never used it that way. OMG @musicday , just buy a pair and listen to it as the manufacturer intended before you do any modifications. The cable is good quality and virtually noiseless when contacting fabric. The sound is great single ended too.
I agree that it's a pity that they weren't designed when balanced output drive was a thing, but you miss nothing driving them from the Merging Anubis (SE only) or the Fidelice. They still sound great.

 

[Audiastor]

What cable do you use with the K812? Do you have any modification on it?
If you said you have tested about 200 headphones at every price, have you heard: The Composer, Pioneer SE-Master 1, The latest JVC headphone, Diana TC, ATH-ADX5000? How they compare if you know with the K812. Thanks

I use the stock cable and did not make any mods. I did not yet hear the Composer by Austrian Audio, I heard/have, among many others, Focal Utopia, LCD-5, Meze Empyrean, HifiMan Susvara and Arya, Sony MDR-Z1, Pioneer SE-Master 1, Beyerdynamic T1 (first and second generation), Beyerdynamic DT1990, Sennheiser HD880S and HD 660S, HEDDphone, .... . I surely will not make a comparision to every one of them to the AKG, let alone compare all the others I heard or posessed. I stand by my opinion though, that the ones I named (AKG K812, Hifiman HE6Se V2, Grado RS2x and Beyerdynamic DT880 600 Ohm) are my personal favourites. I do not care about measurements, I do not care about the opinion of Influencers. I only care about my own listening pleasure.

 

[pataburd]

I would re-cable the K812 with 22AWG UPOCC solid copper wire and Furutech terminations.

 

[John Buchanan]

Arctic Cables Prisma

I had them make up a Core basic cable (26ga OFC) with a Neutrik 6.35 mm gold plated plug. Very professional, fast and lots of options for colour, connectors etc etc.

 

[pataburd]

@John Buchanan Thank you for the tip!
Plan to go with the UP-OCC copper "Define" with ViaBlue termination, Deo volente.

 

[musicday]

It's funny on Amazon UK now they are over £1000 but sometimes as low as £600. All you have to do it wait for the right time. That's quite a big price difference I will say

 

[pataburd]

Just ordered the Arctic Cables UP-OCC "Define" with Furutech 6.35mm termination.
Hope to get it by the weekend!

 

[musicday]

Let us know how it looks and how it sounds compared with the stock cable when you get it.

 

[pataburd]

@musicday Will do!

 

[John Buchanan]

Nice surprise from Amazon - a AUS$79.27 refund (??VAT refund as the new K812 phones came from the UK). Brought the price down to AUS$1463 (AUS$1000 less than the minimum Ebay price in Australia).

 

[pataburd]

While awaiting the new cable, have been listening to the K812 [with Oratory 1990 EQ, SMSL D400EX DAC and Hagerman Audio Labs Tuba amplifier]. I am appreciating the tonal, dynamic and rhythmic balance of these headphones, as well as their ample and well apportioned spatial presentation.

[Definitely more enjoyable "this time around".]

Am looking forward to hearing what the Arctic Cables "Desire" brings to the listening experience.