[TheDuke990]

and quality too as the K812 has mid-fi bass.

 
Not really

 

[S Crowther]

Personally I avoid a lot of bass. I want a natural airy sound.
I also have LCD3f and do not like the SQ which to me sounds artificial and closed in.
I also have the E10 and I like them a lot, but the K812 is my go to.

 

[Quinto]

  i listen to classical and acoustic jazz.
for orchestral music i prefer the spaciousness of the hd800.
for solo piano, however, the k812 is clearly superior- the attack of each note is much cleaner.  this is most obvious when the playing is staccato, of course, less so with legato.   with the hd800 the beginning of each note is a little smudged.  the effect is less clear with solo violin, i suspect because the piano is - after all - a percussion instrument.

Sounds like the perfect Glenn Gould headphone!

 

[jk47]

I use it for ALL solo piano. I don't care much for gould, but, yes it would be the perfect phones to listen to him.

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

I'm curious about the respective value propositions for solo piano of the K812 and HE-6. Obviously the HE-6 are much, much more difficult to drive, but they can run balanced right out of the box. How does the HE-6's tactility compare to the K812's "attack"? (As an addendum, is there a consensus about the K1000 and piano? When they are at their narrowest, can they focus the soundstage?)

 

[alpha80]

and quality too as the K812 has mid-fi bass.

Lol in what sense do you consider the bass (or frankly anything) about the K812 mid-fi ? I strongly consider the K812 the best overall value among all $1k+ hi-fi headphones, same as I consider the K7 series as the best value by far in midfi headphones.

Yes the k812 has a very sonically pleasing amount of harmonic bass content, but unless you're an audio engineer this should be ideal and is what every single person paying for a tube amp is paying for.

I don't personally consider the K812 reference grade, as it's slightly too sweet and harmonic for that. Hd800, t90 are both slightly better when amped properly for sheer cold analytic work.

But as an audiophile phone, I have yet to hear a headphone other than the SR-009 that I like more for sheer listening pleasure than the K812. And at any frequency above 1.5k, it's more audibly fast and musically accurate than any high end planar. with a better overall FR than any other $1k+ headphone besides maybe the SR009

My only gripes are:

1. slightly too sweet/harmonic bass

2. Musically beautiful but "too smart by half" steep-cut/hanneled high treble (bad for engineers but great for audiophiles)

3. Barely not enough presence from 1k-2k to bear the words "AKG / REFERENCE / AUSTRIA" on its historically great housing.

 

[trappedintime]

My modded K812's are getting picked up tomorrow. I'll be posting some photos and impressions with the Oppo HA-1. Really excited. I don't think anyone on Head-Fi has a balanced K812, nor posted anything about how it sounds.

 

[musiclvr]

My modded K812's are getting picked up tomorrow. I'll be posting some photos and impressions with the Oppo HA-1. Really excited. I don't think anyone on Head-Fi has a balanced K812, nor posted anything about how it sounds.

Very cool! I'm looking forward to your impressions @trappedintime

 

[GodsInHisHeaven]

I am currently using the AKG 712 Pro (+ Bass-Mod) on my heavily modded Asus STX 2 (3 Burson V5, extra capacitors, ...) and very much enjoy the whole package, but still searching for my end-game phones.
 
So I wondered how the AKG 812 compares to the AKG 712 and can be considered a real upgrade.
Currently I am looking into the HD 800 as well. The LCD-2 seems to be quiet nice too, but I love a big soundstage.

 

[drews]

I sold my K712 and LCD2 (I liked them both), kept my HD 800 and TH900 but I listen to my K812 almost exclusively if that helps.

 

[GodsInHisHeaven]

Could you please compare the K712 to the K812?
 
What about the bass and the soundstage in particular?

 

[Cartma]

Ok, so for my first post I've decided to comment on the most amazing headphones I have ever heard. I'm compelled to do so just by the fact Tyll gave it such a bad review, I'm sorry but it's upsetting to me because allot of people take what he has to say in high regard. I myself was hesitant in the purchase because of this.
I've owned the HD800s, and the K812's blow it away in every aspect. I honestly can't think of one thing the HD800's do better than the k812s, and I can't think of one thing negative to say about the K812's. Want to talk about being a microscope into the sound of your system... look no further than the k812's.

 

[GodsInHisHeaven]

  Ok, so for my first post I've decided to comment on the most amazing headphones I have ever heard. I'm compelled to do so just by the fact Tyll gave it such as bad review, I'm sorry but it's upsetting to me because allot of people take what he has to say in high regard. I myself was hesitant in the purchase because of this.
I've owned the HD800s, and the K812's blow it away in every aspect. I honestly can't think of one thing the HD800's do better than the k812s, and I can't think of one thing negative to say about the K812's. Want to talk about being a microscope into the sound of your system... look no further than the k812's.

Can you please give a more detailed impression?
 
I am especially interested in the bass and soundstage department. I feel like Tyll enjoys some zealous follower, who discredit this headphones on every turn.
Sadly I was not able to hear them my myself (YET!). 

 

[Quinto]

  Ok, so for my first post I've decided to comment on the most amazing headphones I have ever heard. I'm compelled to do so just by the fact Tyll gave it such as bad review, I'm sorry but it's upsetting to me because allot of people take what he has to say in high regard. I myself was hesitant in the purchase because of this.
I've owned the HD800s, and the K812's blow it away in every aspect. I honestly can't think of one thing the HD800's do better than the k812s, and I can't think of one thing negative to say about the K812's. Want to talk about being a microscope into the sound of your system... look no further than the k812's.

what kind of music do you listen?

 

[Cartma]

  Can you please give a more detailed impression?
 
I am especially interested in the bass and soundstage department. I feel like Tyll enjoys some zealous follower, who discredit this headphones on every turn.
Sadly I was not able to hear them my myself (YET!). 

Hi god,
You say you are interested in the bass and soundstage of the K812s, all I can say is; if there's bass there's bass, if there's sound stage there's sound stage. When it comes to these headphones they just tell the truth. If instead you are interested in what they are capable of, the capabilities seem near limitless.
I can go old school I say the bass is tight and airy with great speed, kick, and impact. the stage is as wide and deep as it should be listening to headphones. At one point I would say the stage is slightly less wide as the HD800's but after listening to some tracks the sound was coming from a good 3 feet from my head. In comparison to the K701's which reside in the back of your scull, the k812's stage is as it should be (out of your head).