[ChisChas]

Absolutely love my 812 with Hugo 2. On max cross feed, speaker like, detail, and such transparency.

I didn't use the cross feed option during my dem but know about it from the Hugo 2 thread and will have a play with its settings when my Hugo 2 comes in about 4/5 weeks time. And I have to say that the Hugo 2 (especially) and my new QP2R DAP both reduce my interest in the Focal Utopia's tbh. Both have really improved the performance of my K812's and my audition of the Utopia's at the Indulgence Show which revealed their hot treble (with some of my albums) will probably be reinforced when I borrow a pair for home dem after I've run in the Hugo 2.

 

[davidjo_]

whats everyones thoughts on FPS gaming with these?

 

[Quadfather]

I didn't use the cross feed option during my dem but know about it from the Hugo 2 thread and will have a play with its settings when my Hugo 2 comes in about 4/5 weeks time. And I have to say that the Hugo 2 (especially) and my new QP2R DAP both reduce my interest in the Focal Utopia's tbh. Both have really improved the performance of my K812's and my audition of the Utopia's at the Indulgence Show which revealed their hot treble (with some of my albums) will probably be reinforced when I borrow a pair for home dem after I've run in the Hugo 2.

The AKG K812s are magical on my Questyle QP1R.

 

[davidjo_]

That's more of an urban myth.
K812 needs more current while HD800 needs a little bit more voltage. That's it.
On my FiiO X5 3rd Gen HD800 needs only 8 more volume points to sound as loud as K812.
If I listen to K812 at say 75 out of 120, then 83 out of 120 is pretty much the same level with HD800.
Under those circunstances, the HD800 will drain less current than K812. In other terms it will need 4 times less power than K812.
So the HD800 is still the easier load from the amplifier's perspective.

https://mayflowerelectronics.com/arc/

Will this amp dac be sufficient?

 

[ChisChas]

I'm sure the K812's would be great for FPS gaming, I use my K550 closed if I need to be quiet whilst gaming and my Atlas Zeno cable is only 1m (39 inches) long so I'd have to use the original 10 foot cable. But I will try my K812's when I'm next playing Battlefield 1 and post my views. For sure the K812's are more comfortable than my K550's but I don't want to be swopping cables on a regular basis.

 

[ChisChas]

whats everyones thoughts on FPS gaming with these?

https://mayflowerelectronics.com/arc/

Will this amp dac be sufficient?

I don't know tbh, don't know the brand. I have just ordered a Chord Hugo 2 for my desktop use with my K812's but have you considered the Audioquest Dragonfly Red? That's what I'm using until my Hugo 2 arrives in about 4 weeks time. I had the first Dragonfly and then upgraded to the DF Red when it was released. I've been very happy using it with my K812's and you can also use it with an Android or Apple phone or tablet as the DF Red uses very little power so is compatible with these devices. If there was ever a bargain in the hi-fi world then the AQ Red amp/dac is it. They are so small and neat, I use mine with an AQ Jitterbug btw.

 

[ChisChas]

The AKG K812s are magical on my Questyle QP1R.

Do you remember the original reviews when several reviewers mentioned a treble hump or similar? These reviews put me off upgrading from my K702 65th Anni's but when the original price came down, I bought the K812's without auditioning them because it was virtually impossible to find a dem pair. Now I don't doubt these particular reviewers were conveying their genuine PoV's and I might have heard this 'treble' hump whilst listening to my music but if I have heard it, it's never bothered me in the slightest and I'm mystified as to why it seemed to be such a big deal (for some reviewers). One reviewer preferred the 7 range but I find the K812's so much superior to my K702's and so (in my mind anyway) well worth the extra expense. The improvements I hear with my QP2R and during the audition with a dem Chord Hugo 2 are so good, I also ordered the Hugo 2 and look fwd to its arrival.

I also own HD 600's and Grado RS2i's but don't listen to either any more. Gave the HD 600's to The Daughter.

 

[ChisChas]

SORRY THIS IS A BIT OF A RANT:

Feel I have to say this on Head-Fi. In the UK, at the time I bought my K812's two years ago, they could not be bought/seen/listened to at any hi-fi dealer in the UK. I had a very frustrating conversation with the UK distributors who told me that I'd have to buy the K812's via a Pro music shop but those I spoke to or emailed asking if they had a dem pair either didn't bother to reply or said 'sorry, we can't afford to get in a pair unless you've paid for them, if we order in a pair and you dem them, then don't buy them, they are 2nd hand goods and we will have to sell them cheaply to move them out or they are likely to sit in stock'.

I tried to persuade the UK distributors to appoint one of the UK's leading headphone dealers (they have one of the best facilities for HP's in the UK) and the distributors wouldn't supply the hi-fi shop. The shop could buy from a AKG Pro shop but the profit margin was very little on this basis and not really worth it for the hi-fi shop. I did speak first to AKG in London and they simply put me in touch with the UK distributors they had appointed. I was left feeling frustrated, angry and disappointed by the pig-headed attitude (sorry this is an insult to pigs) and this whole stupid strategy by AKG was completely undermined by anyone in the UK being able to buy K812's from Amazon UK for considerably less than the price offered by any of the AKG Pro shops! Supplying stock to Amazon = brand value not maintained, your UK Pro shops position undermined.

AKG seemed to be out of touch with the huge growth in headphone/dacs/amps business in the UK and excluded the K812's from benefiting from this growing marketplace whilst Audeze, Sennheiser, Fostex etc all were available at your local hi-fi dealership. How 'stoopid' was that, AKG? Why couldn't you have made what was termed as your TOTL headphone available to at least selected hi-fi dealers who would invest in a dem pair? What did AKG provide after the K812 for the 'domestic' market? The ridiculous N90Q which no self-respecting HP enthusiast would have bought. An over complicated headphone system with a built-in dac & headphone amp which wouldn't work if the battery ran out. If I want a battery powered NC headphone, I ain't gonna spend £1,300, my max spend would be £300 and how does a mid-top DAP fit with the N90Q's? You pay twice for the dac & amp? Thanks but no thanks...........

Sorry, rant over. Hope AKG UK have changed their strategy?

 

[Me x3]

https://mayflowerelectronics.com/arc/

Will this amp dac be sufficient?

Yes, sure,
Can't talk about its sound quality/signature because I haven't tried it, but based on specs it can drive both HD800 and K812 with ease.

 

[SRKRAM]

SORRY THIS IS A BIT OF A RANT:

Feel I have to say this on Head-Fi. In the UK, at the time I bought my K812's two years ago, they could not be bought/seen/listened to at any hi-fi dealer in the UK. I had a very frustrating conversation with the UK distributors who told me that I'd have to buy the K812's via a Pro music shop but those I spoke to or emailed asking if they had a dem pair either didn't bother to reply or said 'sorry, we can't afford to get in a pair unless you've paid for them, if we order in a pair and you dem them, then don't buy them, they are 2nd hand goods and we will have to sell them cheaply to move them out or they are likely to sit in stock'.

I tried to persuade the UK distributors to appoint one of the UK's leading headphone dealers (they have one of the best facilities for HP's in the UK) and the distributors wouldn't supply the hi-fi shop. The shop could buy from a AKG Pro shop but the profit margin was very little on this basis and not really worth it for the hi-fi shop. I did speak first to AKG in London and they simply put me in touch with the UK distributors they had appointed. I was left feeling frustrated, angry and disappointed by the pig-headed attitude (sorry this is an insult to pigs) and this whole stupid strategy by AKG was completely undermined by anyone in the UK being able to buy K812's from Amazon UK for considerably less than the price offered by any of the AKG Pro shops! Supplying stock to Amazon = brand value not maintained, your UK Pro shops position undermined.

AKG seemed to be out of touch with the huge growth in headphone/dacs/amps business in the UK and excluded the K812's from benefiting from this growing marketplace whilst Audeze, Sennheiser, Fostex etc all were available at your local hi-fi dealership. How 'stoopid' was that, AKG? Why couldn't you have made what was termed as your TOTL headphone available to at least selected hi-fi dealers who would invest in a dem pair? What did AKG provide after the K812 for the 'domestic' market? The ridiculous N90Q which no self-respecting HP enthusiast would have bought. An over complicated headphone system with a built-in dac & headphone amp which wouldn't work if the battery ran out. If I want a battery powered NC headphone, I ain't gonna spend £1,300, my max spend would be £300 and how does a mid-top DAP fit with the N90Q's? You pay twice for the dac & amp? Thanks but no thanks...........

Sorry, rant over. Hope AKG UK have changed their strategy?

I know that there are a specialist headphone dealers in the UK, but they aren't anywhere near me, so I've had to my most of my headphones online without having heard them. There are places around which stock mid-fi headphones, but the higher end stuff is harder to find, and that applies to all brands. Perhaps is is worse for AKG though.

Have you ever heard the N90Q? They're very good headphones, and I've sold quite a few of my headphones because of them, and they might cause me to get rid of all of my other headphone gear. They just do everything so well. I think the problem with 'headphone enthusiast' is that they like to tinker and change amps, DACs, cables, etc. No matter how good an all-in-one solution is, people won't like it because they can't tinker with it as they want and feel as if they have achieved something.

 

[TokenGesture]

Can any 812 owner comment on the 872 (the closed version)?

 

[ChisChas]

I know that there are a specialist headphone dealers in the UK, but they aren't anywhere near me, so I've had to my most of my headphones online without having heard them. There are places around which stock mid-fi headphones, but the higher end stuff is harder to find, and that applies to all brands. Perhaps is is worse for AKG though.

Have you ever heard the N90Q? They're very good headphones, and I've sold quite a few of my headphones because of them, and they might cause me to get rid of all of my other headphone gear. They just do everything so well. I think the problem with 'headphone enthusiast' is that they like to tinker and change amps, DACs, cables, etc. No matter how good an all-in-one solution is, people won't like it because they can't tinker with it as they want and feel as if they have achieved something.

I'm happy to drive 100 miles to a dealer if I want to audition audio equipment, better than buying it blind imho. If you're in Oxford then you have hi-fi dealers selling higher end headphones within that radius. How far is Hi-Fi Lounge/High End Headphones from you? Off the top of my head, I can think of Audio Sanctuary/Unilet in New Malden and Hi-Fi Lounge/High End Headphones in Bedfordshire. It was Hi-Fi Lounge that I was referring to in my post.

The problem wasn't hi-fi dealers being unwilling to stock a dem K812 but AKG who made the nonsensical decision to ONLY offer the K812 via their Pro Equipment shops and the two I spoke to didn't want to get a dem pair in if I wasn't prepared to guarantee I would purchase them. AKG appeared to be oblivious of the booming headphone & DAP market (no N90Q at the time). I did speak subsequently to a senior person at AKG (I don't wish to identify him further) who told me that I was by no means the first person to complain about this silly policy and he'd been approached at hi-fi shows by people asking to dem the K812 only to be told that his division wasn't allowed to deal with the K812. I did go to The Indulgence Show on 30 September and I saw the K812 & K872 on the same stand as the domestic models so I believe AKG might have changed their position now?

You might well disagree possibly but I think that if you are offering a flagship new headphone at an original RRP of £1,400 you should defo ensure that you make it as easy as possible for potential customers to audition & purchase it? If you visit Audio Sanctuary or High End headphones, you will see all the top brands for headphones, headphone amps & DAP's. Instead I bought the K812 with a good discount from Amazon because AKG refused to provide it to hi-fi dealers.

Turning to your N90Q's, no I haven't heard them because I had already bought my K812's when the N90Q came out and I enjoy upgrading my DAP & desktop amp/dac, from time to time (I bought a new Questyle QP2R DAP at the Show and I'm awaiting delivery of a Chord Hugo 2 as an upgrade for my AQ Dragonfly Red. I will use the Chord Hugo 2 for listening to CD rips and higher res online downloads via my laptop whilst the QP2R is for portable in house/on holiday use. Yes, I like to buy custom cables so I've got a 1m Atlas Zeno cable for my K812's. The 3m cable that came with them is far too long.

Having an AIO headphone system has never appealed tbh and is more inflexible than a separate DAP/desktop amp/dac and headphones. That way I can change one element but keep the other (as I've just done). A number of K812 owners have said that the K812 scales up nicely with better amplification & dacs and I found this when I auditioned the K812 with the dem Chord Hugo 2 at Audio Sanctuary recently. Meridian do some great active speaker systems but I've never bought them for the same reason. I enjoy the tinkering and trying new components, it's all part of the fun for me and most others.

 

[Quadfather]

Not only am I looking for a shorter cable, but also a higher quality cable...an upgrade. Any suggestions on cable makers? Links? Need 3.5mm termination.

 

[mmwwmm]

Not only am I looking for a shorter cable, but also a higher quality cable...an upgrade. Any suggestions on cable makers? Links? Need 3.5mm termination.

Definitivetely you must consider the Forza Audioworks Noir HPC MK2. A fantastic sounding cable for the K812. It gives a bit of delicious liquidity to the mids and highs without losing any clarity and at the same time makes the sub bass a bit beefier. It makes the K812 sound more refined and fluid retaining that wonderful K812 transparency. When you go back to the stock cable you see how good sounding this cable is.
By the way the cable is awesome looking and incredibly light. If you see the pics you may think the cable is heavy and tough but is VERY light and ultraflexible.

http://forzaaudioworks.com/en/product.php?id_product=81

 

[ChisChas]

Not only am I looking for a shorter cable, but also a higher quality cable...an upgrade. Any suggestions on cable makers? Links? Need 3.5mm termination.

I ordered a 36" cable from Double Helix cables for my K812's, the only disadvantage is that the wait time from this USA cable company is 6-9 weeks. I also have an Atlas Zeno 39" (1m) cable as well, more expensive than the one from DH but delivery time much quicker (a larger UK cable company who make speaker cables & interconnects as well).