Latest Thread Images

AKG new headphone K545?
Oct 25, 2013 at 8:54 PM Post #136 of 1,753

 

 

 

OK here are some pictures of the pair I received. The bluegreen color is very nice (my wife and son both immediately wanted them LOL). The size is actually quite a bit smaller than the K550 and maybe slightly less comfortable for those who love the comfort of the K550 as they achieved the down sizing by making the pads thinner. My ears are medium sized and fit comfortably in the cups but I can see people with larger ears finding these a bit uncomfortable as their ears may touch the sides of the pads. My pair was missing the android cable, so all my testing will be with the apple cable. The cable I do have seems a bit thin but not to bad considering these are designed for portable use. On my Nokia 920 NONE of the buttons work so I will miss the android cable when I test these on the train next week but they work fine on my iPad. I find the cable to by OK but potentially a bit to short. The connector is standard enough that people will be able to get alternative cables from the different cable makers if they need something longer.
 
I listened to a couple songs and snippets of songs from my Nokia 920 and the sound was a bit thin in the mids but this issue has happened with other IEM's and headphones on my Nokia so I will not use it as my main listening source throughout my impressions and review. When I switched to my iPad mini the sound improved in the mids and sounded more complete or full. Both portable devices needed more volume than my other IEM's and portable headphones, they can drive the K545 OK but they seemed a bit lacking so I tried my new AudioEngine DAC/amp and WOW do they scale well!! Sound improved in all areas substantially! I have to say though these sound a bit brittle right now so I think I will leave them playing music over night when I go to bed and see if they improve with some burn in.
 
From memory these have a smaller sound stage compared to the K550 but have a similar midrange and treble while having more bass (especially amped). I would say your a bit closer to the stage with these. The change is not so dramatic that if you hated the K550 you will love these (especially if you struggled with the treble) but if you just found the K550 was a bit to bass shy and you can live with a  bit smaller sound stage then the K545 will be a pleasant change. The same can be said if you wanted a smaller headphone for portable use. The K545 has a few trade offs to accomplish it's size but if you OK with those trade offs the portability is a welcome change.
 
I think these will be liked by a lot of AKG lovers and they might sway a few people towards AKG that might not have been fans of the K550 or the Q/K7x series of headphones. Speaking of which I did do a quick comparison between my modded Q701 and these and the Q701 has the larger sound stage placing me several rows further back from the K545. The K545 had much more bass than the Q701 (even modded) and it was a nice full pleasant bass while still having much of the AKG "house sound". So I think these will be an excellent option for commuting and portable situations where more bass will help offset external noise and when you hvae an album that just would be better served with more bass.
 
I think this is enough for now as I want these to have a chance to settle in before I make many more comments.
 
Oct 25, 2013 at 9:12 PM Post #137 of 1,753
dweaver said:
 
 

 

 
 
 
I listened to a couple songs and snippets of songs from my Nokia 920 and the sound was a bit thin in the mids but this issue has happened with other IEM's and headphones on my Nokia so I will not use it as my main listening source throughout my impressions and review. When I switched to my iPad mini the sound improved in the mids and sounded more complete or full. Both portable devices needed more volume than my other IEM's and portable headphones, they can drive the K545 OK but they seemed a bit lacking so I tried my new AudioEngine DAC/amp and WOW do they scale well!! Sound improved in all areas substantially! I have to say though these sound a bit brittle right now so I think I will leave them playing music over night when I go to bed and see if they improve with some burn in.
 
From memory these have a smaller sound stage compared to the K550 but have a similar midrange and treble while having more bass (especially amped). I would say your a bit closer to the stage with these. The change is not so dramatic that if you hated the K550 you will love these (especially if you struggled with the treble) but if you just found the K550 was a bit to bass shy and you can live with a  bit smaller sound stage then the K545 will be a pleasant change. The same can be said if you wanted a smaller headphone for portable use. The K545 has a few trade offs to accomplish it's size but if you OK with those trade offs the portability is a welcome change.
 
I think these will be liked by a lot of AKG lovers and they might sway a few people towards AKG that might not have been fans of the K550 or the Q/K7x series of headphones. Speaking of which I did do a quick comparison between my modded Q701 and these and the Q701 has the larger sound stage placing me several rows further back from the K545. The K545 had much more bass than the Q701 (even modded) and it was a nice full pleasant bass while still having much of the AKG "house sound". So I think these will be an excellent option for commuting and portable situations where more bass will help offset external noise and when you hvae an album that just would be better served with more bass.
 
I think this is enough for now as I want these to have a chance to settle in before I make many more comments.
Click to expand...

 
Damn, those do look nice! And man, I'd love to be able to test out those puppies. Since becoming an AKG lover due to my K240 sextetts, I'd really like to hear how they sound in comparison, and I would be very interested to hear how they sound paired with the C3/BH combo.
 
Anyway, thanks for the pics and impressions dweaver!
 
Oct 25, 2013 at 9:40 PM Post #138 of 1,753
I have owned the K550 and the Tiesto K167 and currently own the Q701. I think this headphone achieves a very nice balance between the bass of the K167 and K550 while not suffering from the K167's deficiencies. I will be trying these on the train next week and if they can manage a reasonable isolation they might become part of my transit routine. If they don't have enough isolation I might just use them at the office (and home). I don't think it will supplant my Q701 though but will be an excellent alternative.
 
I have heard a pair of Sextetts but it was a year or so ago so I can't really say how these would stack up. From memory there is a certain amount of AKG house sound similarities between them but I think the sextetts might sound a bit more organic while not having the same amount of bass.
 
BTW please do not take this to mean that these are bass heavy! I suspect the basshead crown might not be as enamored with the K545. But I do think it offers a very nice bass boost over the Q701 and the K550.
 
Oct 25, 2013 at 9:52 PM Post #139 of 1,753
dweaver said:
 
I have heard a pair of Sextetts but it was a year or so ago so I can't really say how these would stack up. From memory there is a certain amount of AKG house sound similarities between them but I think the sextetts might sound a bit more organic while not having the same amount of bass.
Click to expand...

 
I am actually quite surprised by the amount of bass of the sextetts. That's off of the Fiio E12 though, and considering that they are 600ohms, I wouldn't doubt that they are fairly dependent on the source. But describing their sound as "organic" seem about right. I haven't heard enough orthos to say for sure, but they might have an "ortho" kind of sound (gotta get me some orthos!).
 
Oct 26, 2013 at 12:14 AM Post #141 of 1,753
Thanks for the impression! It seems like AKG know what they are doing. Their popular headphones like the K550/K7xx are now replaced with a warmer sound which is good! Good thing they manage to overcome several issue they have with the previous model. Am now kind of a AKG fanboy now xD
 
Oct 26, 2013 at 1:03 AM Post #142 of 1,753
Just ordered in Turquiose as well.. Shipping out on Monday.

Love your review as I really liked the k550 since I really felt like I was there and immersed in the music and it was a seemingly flat presentation with amazing soundstage. Tried the K267 as well and liked the sound but HATED the build so sent back and have been lurking for a cheap k550 to leave at the office but their being a bit light in the bass dept. always had me second guessing.

So i did what any other head fier would do- ordered the k551 from amazon and the k545 and will do a compare a thon (with a potential trip to best buy to put the 550s back in the memory at their listening station). Hoping the soundstage doesnt suffer too much going to the smaller earcup in the 545. If so, I'll have to see how much improvement they made in the lower frequencies from the 550s to the 551s and see if the potential bump? in bass is worth the compromise in soundstage. If not, the 545s will be returned in favor of the 551s.

Let the games begin (and the burn in!)

:)
 
Oct 26, 2013 at 1:09 AM Post #143 of 1,753
I look forward to your impression Chudalicious. I am hoping I will some time this weekend to go to a local shop and at least take some pictures of the K550 beside the K545 for comparison sake. If I am lucky they will let me listen to a couple songs for comparison. I want to compare the K545 to the Q701 but feel I need to give them more time to get burned in as my Q701 have quite a few hours on them so are well broken in.
 
Oct 26, 2013 at 5:36 AM Post #145 of 1,753
I've owned K701, K167, K550 in the past and now I own the Q701. I swear .... AKG designs headphones just for me 
redface.gif

 
I can't wait to get my hands on these to test them out! 
 
Oct 26, 2013 at 11:58 AM Post #146 of 1,753
chudalicious said:
Just ordered in Turquiose as well.. Shipping out on Monday.

Love your review as I really liked the k550 since I really felt like I was there and immersed in the music and it was a seemingly flat presentation with amazing soundstage. Tried the K267 as well and liked the sound but HATED the build so sent back and have been lurking for a cheap k550 to leave at the office but their being a bit light in the bass dept. always had me second guessing.

So i did what any other head fier would do- ordered the k551 from amazon and the k545 and will do a compare a thon (with a potential trip to best buy to put the 550s back in the memory at their listening station). Hoping the soundstage doesnt suffer too much going to the smaller earcup in the 545. If so, I'll have to see how much improvement they made in the lower frequencies from the 550s to the 551s and see if the potential bump? in bass is worth the compromise in soundstage. If not, the 545s will be returned in favor of the 551s.

Let the games begin (and the burn in!)

smily_headphones1.gif
Click to expand...

when is the estimated arrival of your k545... I am excited for you to get it!
 
The K550 is a wonderful headphone.... but there is a big but.... I wouldn't hesitate to call its midrange recessed and it's bass a little rolled off and neutral(not natural). It's not horrible but compared to a momentum or the likes it definitely is. The k712 fixed the bass and midrange issue that previous k's have had so with some sacrifice to the soundstage I was hoping that the k545 would address those to things like the k712 did.
 
The k545 definitely needs to be compared to a k550 head on and a known warm headphone to give a  comprehensive idea of what they sound like. 
 
When I heard the k550 by itself I didn't pay too much to its midrange but when I ab'd them next to the momentum and went back to the k550 I immediately preferred the more natural, punchy, smoother and fuller momentum.
 
but ymmv
 
Oct 26, 2013 at 3:52 PM Post #148 of 1,753
I put these on this morning while relaxing in my recliner and fell asleep. I woke up a couple of hours later and they were as comfortable as when I started, no pressure and they were not hot and stuffy either. So I am finding these extremely comfortable.

I have noticed some songs that are aggressive like some AC/DC can be a bit harsh in the highs but I have only felt this on a couple of songs. Most songs sound very clear with good but not excessive bass. This headphone will not satisfy a bass head even with the added bass. I would say these border on being aggressive in nature but that would have been my assessment of the K550 as well. I really hope I get a chance to do an A/B comparison.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 4 (members: 0, guests: 4)
Back
Top