[Semont]

Lowest I've seen it go in a brick and mortar store was 140 in Canada.

 

[KFHph]

I tried the HM5 pads with mine and it made the treble much tinnier, so much so that I couldn't listen to k545 for more than 15 minutes before I had to take them off. Also I'm about one year in and the cable begins to have issues; there's a very faint buzzing occasionally when there's pressure on the cable (like when it's between my chest and laptop).

 

[Mad Max]

That skinny cable is no good, get one of those eBay Chinese cables meant for the Sennheiser Momentum or HD6/7/8 DJ headphones or ATH-M50x/M40x.  Redco carries the HD5x8 short cable if you are in the US, or get the regular long 5x8 cable if you need more length from sonicelectronix (again, if you're in the US).  Any of those should last much longer.

 

[captainFox]

What do you experts think about the HP100/150 against the K545?
 
I'm with Sennheiser Momentum right now but I'm finding the bass a bit loose and the sound lacking energy and clarity in the highs.
So I'm basically looking for more punchiness and vibrancy.
 
 
*Listens to Swing, Rock, Jazz, Blues, Scores, Alternative

 

[rhythm is life]

Don't know about the HP100/150 but the K545 is hard to beat for punchy bass. It's one of the few headphones that isn't planar or electrostatic that has no mid-bass hump. When paired with a low-output impedance amp, the K545 bass is especially tight. Bass notes down into the lowest octave are reproduced with authority without any boominess, muddiness, or bloat.

 

[captainFox]

That's really encouraging, thanks.  the frequency response graph goes a bit wild near the high end is that good and clear with not too much roll-off or harshness? I'm not great at reading them.

 

[Mad Max]

FR graphs always look like that in the treble.
 
K545 isn't harsh unless it is in your music, not too much treble roll-off, very good and clear as you, and many others, want.

 

[Prolificaudio]

Which one is more detailed? Which do you prefer personally and why?

 

[Prolificaudio]

I keep comparing my akg k545 against my ath m50x and I just cant tell that big of a difference other than the m50 to my ears has so much more bass and treble. Im not really even sure what sounds are considered mid range. Grrr Im having such a hard time finding a headphone that blows my m50 out of the water. I just want to hear every detail of the music with emphasized mids and hi's with an excellent bass. Basically the perfect headphone but it does not exist :'(

 

[Mad Max]

I happen to have both K545 and M50x.  But I use my M50x with HD280 pads and my K545 with SRH750 pads.  I love both enough to keep them, but in this way K545 is the one with more bass and M50x has a more linear-like midrange and treble balance.
 
M50x stock earpads do nothing good for the bass and treble, and M50x has less emphasized treble than its predecessor.  If you love emphasized bass and treble, you should have gone with DT770pro or DT990 instead.
 
Or save up for T90 + $400-600 headphone amp for it and be done with it all.

 

[rhythm is life]

  I happen to have both K545 and M50x.  But I use my M50x with HD280 pads and my K545 with SRH750 pads.  I love both enough to keep them, but in this way K545 is the one with more bass and M50x has a more linear-like midrange and treble balance.
 
M50x stock earpads do nothing good for the bass and treble, and M50x has less emphasized treble than its predecessor.  If you love emphasized bass and treble, you should have gone with DT770pro or DT990 instead.
 
Or save up for T90 + $400-600 headphone amp for it and be done with it all.

I was actually considering getting SRH750 pads for the K545. I previously tried out HM5 XL pads which changed the sound too much for me; too much of a difference in size/shape I guess. While my ears fit inside the K545 pads, there's no room to spare and it takes a little bit of adjustment and pad squishing around the jawline to keep my ears from grinding against the driver covers. Do the 750 pads have any more room than the K545 pads? 
 
I'm surprised that your pad swaps resulted in the M50x having more linear mids and treble. I know the M50x has a greatly reduced treble peak vs. the old M50 but when I gave it a listen the bass still dominated over the midrange. That's pretty amazing that a simple pad swap gave the K545 more bass than the M50x. Are the 750 pads messing up the frequency balance on the K545 or did the HD280 pads improve the balance on the M50x so much that they're more balanced than the K545?

 

[Mad Max]

  I was actually considering getting SRH750 pads for the K545. I previously tried out HM5 XL pads which changed the sound too much for me; too much of a difference in size/shape I guess. While my ears fit inside the K545 pads, there's no room to spare and it takes a little bit of adjustment and pad squishing around the jawline to keep my ears from grinding against the driver covers. Do the 750 pads have any more room than the K545 pads? 
 
I'm surprised that your pad swaps resulted in the M50x having more linear mids and treble. I know the M50x has a greatly reduced treble peak vs. the old M50 but when I gave it a listen the bass still dominated over the midrange. That's pretty amazing that a simple pad swap gave the K545 more bass than the M50x. Are the 750 pads messing up the frequency balance on the K545 or did the HD280 pads improve the balance on the M50x so much that they're more balanced than the K545?

 
SRH750 pads are about the same size but don't squish as much as the originals.  If you need more room in there, though, K545 may not be the right headphone for you in the first place.  SRH750 pads do bring out the bass but tame the lower treble, yet it remains very noticeably more boosted in the lower treble and upper mids than M50x, or even the original M50.  A couple of guys in this thread expressed that they didn't like the change with 750 pads though, but they aren't expensive so they're worth a shot anyway, in my opinion.
 
Maybe the M50x you heard needed burn-in or something.  Bass does not intrude on the midrange in M50x or its predecessor, but with the stock pads it is quite lacking clarity and control.  It remains about as bassy with a pad swap, just more controlled and clearer than before.  More open, too, and all throughout the spectrum, not just the bass.
 
With the earpad swap (HM5s or HD280s) you also get to taste the full excellence of M50x's lovely midrange.  Funnily enough, even though AT angles the drivers in M50(x), the deeper HM5 or HD280 earpads don't give M50 that much of a bigger soundstage, K545 still beats it out there with stock pads, 750 pads, HM5s, or HD280 pads.

 

[rhythm is life]

Thanks for the info. The pads being squishy is definitely an issue, they were very comfortable when new but now they compress to the point where it feels like I'm wearing on-ear headphones. I guess the SRH750 pads are worth a try but I am satisfied with the K545's lower treble response after a little EQ, bringing up 4.5kHz by 3 dB. The only other issue I have with the treble is that the highs are rolled off after 14k or so. Don't know if any pad swap can fix that.

Yeah, the M50x I heard was certainly brand new as I heard it at a Guitar Center shortly after its release. The bass did sound a bit loose; my 2012 M50 was like that too when it was brand new. After a while it tightened up, so I'm sure if I owned an M50x the same thing would happen.

I just remembered, I had tried out the HM5 pads on my old M50 and it made the treble at least as imbalanced as it did with the K545. I guess I should have gotten the regular sized HM5 pads rather than the XL pads.

 

[AKGunkie]

  Thanks everyone. I was wondering if any K545 owner have the Shciit Magni + Modi Combo. Any feedback on the pair w/ the K545 would be great. or Any noticeable improvement when pairing the K545 w/ a AMP & DAC ?
 
Thanks.

I just got the Magni 2/ Modi 2 Uber combo. Haven't listened with the K545s yet though. K712s sound fantastic though. I can give the 545s some head time and post impressions if you are still interested.

 

[Hi-Fi Guy]

Please do I'm thinking about buying the modi 2/magni 2 stack