[macbob713]

The K712 had more punch and slam, yet retained the AKG K series soundstaging, detail. The 712 provided better synergy with my musical preferences than the HD800, which often sounded flat, thin and lifeless by comparison. Certainly not on everything, but on the majority of the music I listen too.

 

[kman1211]

The K712 had more punch and slam, yet retained the AKG K series soundstaging, detail. The 712 provided better synergy with my musical preferences than the HD800, which often sounded flat, thin and lifeless by comparison. Certainly not on everything, but on the majority of the music I listen too.

I feel the same way about the K712. Although it's the only K 7 series I have owned, I have heard the other K 7 series though. I do own a K612 as well, which is very linear and neutral but doesn't quite have the refinement or musicality of the K712, the K612 does reach a little deeper in the bass though. I had trouble enjoying the HD 800 overall the times I heard it, it's too sterile and boring for my taste. The soundstage can be very impressive but half the time with the music I listen to it sounded artificial. The HD 800 sounded too mechanical and lifeless to me overall. The HD 800 is a fantastic analytical headphone that sounds amazing on some music, but it's not balanced to me. It's not like the K812, the K812 manages to balance analytical prowess with musicality and tonality, actually the K812 is one of the most musical and euphoric headphones I have heard outside the R10.

 

[starstern]

which amp you all match to compare the hd 800 to the akg ?

 

[kman1211]

  which amp you all match to compare the hd 800 to the akg ?

I heard both the HD 800 and the K812 on the Eddie Current Balancing Act. It was the best I ever heard the HD 800 but I preferred the K812 on the amp. It wasn't better, it just suited my taste better. There are likely better pairings for both headphones but I don't really think either could of gotten much better.

 

[nephilim32]

I'm waiting for a headphone that beats the HD800 and is easy to drive

I think we will be waiting a while longer for that. The HD's absolutely kill!!

 

[macbob713]

which amp you all match to compare the hd 800 to the akg ?

Schitt Asgard2, Lyr, HDVD 800, Lehmann Linear SE, and currently the Phonitor 2.

 

[macbob713]

I feel the same way about the K712. Although it's the only K 7 series I have owned, I have heard the other K 7 series though. I do own a K612 as well, which is very linear and neutral but doesn't quite have the refinement or musicality of the K712, the K612 does reach a little deeper in the bass though. I had trouble enjoying the HD 800 overall the times I heard it, it's too sterile and boring for my taste. The soundstage can be very impressive but half the time with the music I listen to it sounded artificial. The HD 800 sounded too mechanical and lifeless to me overall. The HD 800 is a fantastic analytical headphone that sounds amazing on some music, but it's not balanced to me. It's not like the K812, the K812 manages to balance analytical prowess with musicality and tonality, actually the K812 is one of the most musical and euphoric headphones I have heard outside the R10.

I pretty much agree with you on this. I think the HD800 sounds good with classical music. But the K812 edges is it everywhere else for my tastes.

 

[M-13]

So did anybody else get a Toxic cable for the K812? I'm wondering what the current delivery times are like. Of course I can e-mail Frank, but with all the horror stories I heard about 6 month+ waiting in the past. I'm wondering if anyone recently ordered + received within a month or two. I know Kiats won a competition and received his quickly.
 
I also know DHC does some sort of silver/copper combo, but I prefer all copper at this point. Any other places you guys found?

 

[mootang]

So did anybody else get a Toxic cable for the K812? I'm wondering what the current delivery times are like. Of course I can e-mail Frank, but with all the horror stories I heard about 6 month+ waiting in the past. I'm wondering if anyone recently ordered + received within a month or two. I know Kiats won a competition and received his quickly.

I also know DHC does some sort of silver/copper combo, but I prefer all copper at this point. Any other places you guys found?

I ordered my black widow cable about 3 weeks ago and it's estimated to be shipped by the end of July. However, I kind of expect it to arrive by the end of September . I'd just buy it and forget

 

[Blackmore]

How about Forza audioworks cables? I heard that price / performance of them are very good.

 

[Kiats]

So did anybody else get a Toxic cable for the K812? I'm wondering what the current delivery times are like. Of course I can e-mail Frank, but with all the horror stories I heard about 6 month+ waiting in the past. I'm wondering if anyone recently ordered + received within a month or two. I know Kiats won a competition and received his quickly.

I also know DHC does some sort of silver/copper combo, but I prefer all copper at this point. Any other places you guys found?

Heard my name being mentioned...

Another place to try is Moon Audio? Last I heard from Drew, he was awaiting delivery of the connectors. That would be the Black Dragon.

 

[Ron12]

I ordered my black widow cable about 3 weeks ago and it's estimated to be shipped by the end of July. However, I kind of expect it to arrive by the end of September

. I'd just buy skip it and forget

 
FTFY 

 

  How about Forza audioworks cables? I heard that price / performance of them all so-called audiophile cables are very good is really poor.

 
FTFY 

 
 
 
(sorry, couldn't resist

... just DIY a solid OFC or OCC cable if you really need to get into audio cable stuff)

 

[cip22]

I listened to the K-812 recently at our local music equipment store (session.de). I must say I was seriously impressed.
 
Although I'm a music lover and amateur musician myself, I never cared much about headphones since I acquired an AKG K-500 about 20 years ago, and I preferred to spend my euros on synths, guitars, software and other 'active' equipment. Only recently (after I had to replace the K-500's earpads) I became curious about latest developments in HPs.
 
I must say that the HP amp at the 'test site' was less than optimal, a DJ CD player with one of these multi-output headphone amps.
Nevertheless, the K-812 really, really impressed me. Here's some remarks on the tracks I listened to:
 
"Wes Bound" by Lee Ritenour - CD: Wes Bound
This track sounds great also on less than optimal equipment due to very sober and spacey mixdown. I noticed quite deep, black bass with enough impact for my taste. Lee Ritenours guitar was just there like a 3D sculpture.
 
"Look at You" by Paquito D'Rivera - CD: Havana Cafe
This is a track that I use to test for 'realism'. It's from a Chesky record from the 90s, recorded with minimal (2 mics) yet high quality equipment. There's a moment when double bass and sax play without the rest of the band, and I want to feel the physical presence of both instruments, which definitely was the case with the K-812. 
 
"Choro No. 1" by Orquesta Nova - CD: Orquesta Nova
Wonderful rendering of the classic Villa-Lobos piece by a small orchestra from NY. I could follow each instrument easily and even heard some details that I missed although this is one of my favorite tracks ever, I listened to it thousands of times.
 
"Un Dia de Noviembre" by Zsófia Boros - CD: En Otra Parte
Zsófia Boros is a classical guitarist from Hungary who lives in Vienna. En Otra Parte is her first ECM release. It was recorded in a church, and frankly, I was somewhat disappointed with the sound when I first heard the record. There's just too much ambience, thick, thick reverb all over the place. With the K-812 however it was easy to hear every single pluck of the strings and feel the ambience more than hear it. Very nice front/background separation.
 
"All the Things You Are" by Wolfgang Muthspiel & Mick Goodrick - CD: Live at the Jazz Standard
Two jazz guitar masters. A pure pleasure to follow their interwoven lines with this headphone. The (small) differences between their respective sounds become more obvious than with my K-500.
 
"Momento Magico" by Youn Sun Nah - CD: Lento
I saw Youn Sun Nah and Ulf Wakenius live in concert last year. Now listening to this record with the K-812, it almost felt like 'live'. Wonderful unisono lines with guitar/voice were displayed in beautiful detail and with ease. Voice presentation is beyond any doubt. 
 
"Wind Song" by Gregory Porter - CD: Liquid Spirit
 
"Cielo Abierto" by Zsófia Boros - CD: En Otra Parte
 
"Introduction to All the Things" by Wolfgang Muthspiel & Mick Goodrick - CD: Live at the Jazz Standard
 
"The Way You Want to Live" by Gregory Porter - CD: Be Good
 
"Jack Sou Brasileiro" by Lenine - CD: Na Pressão
This track has a beautiful dynamic beginning with Lenine playing (overdubbed) acoustic guitar, and then the band (bass!) comes in. I love to listen to this loud and feel a pleasurable 'shock' when the other instruments suddenly join. Bass again very dry, yet pleasurable, with just the right amount of impact. 
 
"Wolf Extract" by Eivind Aarset - CD: Light Extracts
This track is like a "sound painting" by the Norwegian guitarist. These headphones display it in full colour with nothing left to wish for, at least not for my ears. 
 
So as a bottom line, I was pretty much blown away by these cans, but in a somewhat 'sober' way which I like very much. As far as I can tell, the sonic fingerprint is similar to my old K-500s (which I like for their neutrality and transparency). The K-812 keep the neutrality, but add an amount of well-defined bass and even more spacial and spectral resolution. You may call it 'plasticity', a 3D-like quality of depicting sounds just where and when they appear.
I'm definitely going to keep an eye on these cans. 
 
BTW, the price in Germany seems to have settled (at least temporarily) at 1290.- euros including tax. Both thomann.de and session.de offer them at this price. I think Thomann recently offered them for 1190.-, which makes me wonder how/why the price went up again. (With Session's 'best price' policy, it should have gone down *there*).
 
There's one more thing I'd like to mention. This really was hard to believe. When comparing the K-812 directly with the K-712, the latter sounded extremely dull, with lots of grain, almost like there were uncontrolled resonances going on all over the place. Kind of shocking since I had found them top notch when I tested them some months ago. I guess this is due to the fact that they are harder to drive than the K-812.
 
Here I close these subjective remarks. I have neither much listening experience with comparable cans nor the 'official vocabulary' to describe my sonic impressions, so take these remarks with as many grains of salt as you wish.

 

[Kiats]

Thanks for your impressions, cip22. No worries about vocabulary and all that. Always useful and welcome.

 

[mootang]

 


When comparing the K-812 directly with the K-712, the latter sounded extremely dull, with lots of grain, almost like there were uncontrolled resonances going on all over the place. Kind of shocking since I had found them top notch when I tested them some months ago. I guess this is due to the fact that they are harder to drive than the K-812.

 


I felt exactly the same way when I re-listened to the K712, just didn't sound great to me anymore. But for k712 price, it is still pretty awesome