[tdockweiler]

Quote:

Yo,
 
I've always found that even though the Q701 has more midrange than either the K701 or K702, it's still recessed. At least on my gear it is. 
 
That's good to know the foam is different, but AKG must have changed that. I ordered foam from them before and they said they used the same foam in all of those models.
 

 
One thing I noticed before is that some amps gave my K702 and Q701 an artificially huge soundstage, making some background details and even the mids seem almost too distant or recessed.
The Q701 soundstage is never massive for me and has always seemed slightly smaller (but more accurate) than the K702. The K501 has an amazing (and massive) soundstage with the right music, but nothing ever is too distant sounding.
Same with the K601. I actually do think the K601 has a more accurate soundstage than the Q701. Much better imaging too, but the Q701 is still good. I think it's those Q701 pads maybe..
 
On my Asgard, everything sounded so dang distant. It's like, "where'd my mids go?" Background details would somehow get lost. Maybe I shouldn't blame the amp. I switched to the Fiio E9 and was surprised how much better the mids were. Much more forward and the E9 is supposed to be very neutral. None of those missing background details on the K702. You don't know what it's like having paid $250 for an amp and then having a headphone sound better on a $120 amp. Or maybe you do

 
I have to admit, the Q701 sounds amazing from the Micro Amp I have. Same with the K501. I have a feeling it should be just as good with the Matrix M-Stage. My next amp will be chosen mostly for the HD-580 and DJ100 though. I want something dead neutral. I don't think the Micro Amp is, but pretty close. It hasn't changed any of my headphones at all. The Micro is warmer than the E9 I think, but not by much. Sometimes I wonder if the Asgard is really neutral. I'm guessing no.

 

[ytisawfulnow]

E9 sounds pretty good, from what i've heard so far they can drive K701/2 & Q701 pretty well.
Plus they have an output of 600 ohms which is damn good.
Can anyone comment if the E7 performs well with the E9 as a DAC, preferably with the Q701, thanks.

 

[ytisawfulnow]

Does the E7 require batteries when used with the E9?

 

[obobskivich]

Does the E7 require batteries when used with the E9?

E7 uses internal battery, and iirc the E9 will charge it and otherwise power it via the dock.

From Fiio:

E9 is a desktop amplifier with greater output, better performance and an integrated E7 specified dock connector. With the dock, E7 can easily establish a line-out connection with E9 and transform both together into a high performance desktop amp with USB decoding function, capable of PC connection and recharging functions, etc.

 

[roBernd]

Quote:

Man, you're such a party pooper. If you hate the Q701 so much, why are you here? 

 
Well, to answer questions. I take it you have read the thread title?
 
Quote:

The upper mids are problematic because they're too forward for you and the Q701 has too much treble? This makes no sense. Did you even own the Q701? Maybe that's why. 

 
Dude, you should know by now that I owned a pair, you keep raging at me for quite some time now, we should keep taps and exchange numbers.
Plus, yup, too much upper mids to call them balanced, neutral or in any way natural sounding. The treble spike is necessary to propagate the sound stage which has been a trend for the past few years... still better than the Beyers.
Quote:

How do you know removing the foam makes them more resonant? Unless you have proof, you're just guessing.

 
... common sense? Waves hit your ear/head/skin, they get reflected and unless absorbed will cause ringing and resonance.
 
But even more important the foam tames the outgoing treble and works like mentioned above as a bass-lense. Removing it will change the FR and make it even brighter and more colored. (which is bad)

 

[iamthem]

Quote:

Yo,
 
I've always found that even though the Q701 has more midrange than either the K701 or K702, it's still recessed. At least on my gear it is. 
 
That's good to know the foam is different, but AKG must have changed that. I ordered foam from them before and they said they used the same foam in all of those models.
 

I can't abx Q701 and K701/K702 apart reliably.
 
Check out my review http://www.head-fi.org/products/akg-k701-studio-headphones/reviews/7088. That's basically what I think of the K701.
 
The K701 doesn't have recessed mids. Have you heard the TF10 or even the M50? I presume you have. They have recessed mids. The K701 sounds forward compared to those guys.

 

[Lorspeaker]

y i took out that inner foam, 
i want my can to be as clear as it can be...or ought to be. ( i find the foam takes away too much of the clarity which i paid for ;P )
then i pick the (rca/powercord) cables to cool down the brightness if it is too much for me.
that goes for amps too. 
the fun part about headfi or highfi...is tweaking until the matching is heavenly.
i always tot the T5p and an ipad is one such pairing...lol.

 

[Zombie_X]

Hi,
 
It does have some recession to the mids, but not bad. Iv'e heard the M50 and it's very thin sounding, just like a D2000.
Quote:

I can't abx Q701 and K701/K702 apart reliably.
 
Check out my review http://www.head-fi.org/products/akg-k701-studio-headphones/reviews/7088. That's basically what I think of the K701.
 
The K701 doesn't have recessed mids. Have you heard the TF10 or even the M50? I presume you have. They have recessed mids. The K701 sounds forward compared to those guys.

 

[talisman42]

If I get some rattling/ticking when playing a very bass boosted movie soundtrack at moderately high levels, would it go away eventually? Frankly, I'll probably only hear that rattling under very specific circumstances so may not hear it normally. The alternative is that I keep them and the rattling might just go away as part of the break-in period.. Not sure - will it get worse? I basically have a day to decide whether or not they go back for return/exchange. Anyway had this experience or know someone who has? Would appreciate some good ole wisdom on how to handle this one. Loving the Q701!

 

[obobskivich]

If I get some rattling/ticking when playing a very bass boosted movie soundtrack at moderately high levels, would it go away eventually? Frankly, I'll probably only hear that rattling under very specific circumstances so may not hear it normally. The alternative is that I keep them and the rattling might just go away as part of the break-in period.. Not sure - will it get worse? I basically have a day to decide whether or not they go back for return/exchange. Anyway had this experience or know someone who has? Would appreciate some good ole wisdom on how to handle this one. Loving the Q701!

Rattling is not part of "burn-in" (whatever that is), it's a bad sign. Either the amp is clipping and you're going into distortion (which means turn that noise down), or something is defective.

 

[roBernd]

check for a hair on the driver... also the source material might just be a bad recording with a rattle?

 

[talisman42]

check for a hair on the driver... also the source material might just be a bad recording with a rattle?

tried with second q701, d2000, dt1350 and k550.. Only this copy has that slight rattle or tickticktick. Ive decided to replace this copy for concern that it will get significantly worse over time.

 

[ytisawfulnow]

OKAY! Well, i finally got them today! (Amazon takes a long time to post to Australia) although they did arrive a few days before i thought they would.
I will be posting my impressions on the sound and other things and in comparison to ATH-M50! I will update this post!
 
THE DESIGN:
 
WOW! They are very big! And i will say that the green looks quite a lot better in real life than in pictures. In the pictures it was either too dark or too bright, in real life it looks quite nice.
 
COMFORT:
This was the one i was concerned about having not tried these headphones before buying them... and so far it's good.
These are very big so when moving head around on a couch or lounge chair you will find them a little irritating, the earpads are soft, VERY thick, clamps on the jaw a little, lots of room for the ears though! The headband.... umm... the headband is interesting, it's a self adjusting headband which i'm not too fond of and i did notice a couple of bumps on the top of the headband so i will take some getting used to them and possible put something over the headband. They are very light and feel interesting on the head in comparison to the M50, i will get used to them though.
UPDATE: I am noticing the clamp on the bottom the the pads quite a bit more and the headband less, i find when i put them on and push the headband up with my thumb then the bumps go away. I had the same pad issue when i got my M50 so hopefully i get used to it or it gets better.
 
ISOLATION:
Another concern of mine, living in a house with a family and not wanting anyone to hear my music, i listen behind a closed door about 3m and i went outside and could hear it. Not too much but certainly noticeable, hopefully when i have my heater or AC on it won't be so bad it'll do that, or i may find a way to prevent noise leaking from behind my closed door. I knew these were open so they wouldn't block out sound or prevent leakage... there is quite a bit of leakage but not as bad as some other open headphones i've tried (Sennheiser HD 598 for example) which sounded like a pair of speakers on your head, these?... Like a speaker being turned up and down.
 
SOUND:
 
I had a listen to them so far and...
hmm...
I am using them with my AV Receiver, using a CD (loseless) and listened to the track 'Roll on' by the Living end so far (Rock) and....
There is certainly a noticeable improvement in comparison to the M50 in soundstage and they do sound clearer and flatter, but something... isn't right, i think it is the treble or maybe the mids or highs, hopefully they will improve with burn in. I am not noticeing much of a lack in bass right now... Hopefully they will improve with burn in, maybe i need an amp, maybe a different track... even though i am saying negative things here i do notice an improvement over the M50... a $240 improvement? Sadly i don't think so, so far.
I am also noticing they sound a little cold when listening to piano songs that would sound a lot warmer on the M50...
 
I have since tried them with a few other tracks of different genres (Rock, ambient, electronic) and i must say this...
They do sound better than the M50... but i do honestly most of the time prefer the way the M50 performs. The M50 sounds a lot more neutral to me, brighter treble, warmer sounding, more bass... These do sound very good but a little too cold. I might try and get used to the sound... until then i dunno whether to return them... burn them in, etc.
 
 
Keep in mind this isn't very well written and i may repeat things a lot, but those are my impressions so far... pretty good but a bit dissapointing, will post more later.
 
UPDATE: Have been listening some more and comparing with the M50s more! Definitely sound flatter... just wish they were more warm and a little less harsh.
 
I will test them out with movie soundtracks and watch Watchmen when i can keep the leak under control and get used to them a little more.

 

[Iostream]

Quote:

 
SOUND:
 
I had a listen to them so far and...
hmm...
I am using them with my AV Receiver, using a CD (loseless) and listened to the track 'Roll on' by the Living end so far (Rock) and....
There is certainly a noticeable improvement in comparison to the M50 in soundstage and they do sound clearer and flatter, but something... isn't right, i think it is the treble or maybe the mids or highs, hopefully they will improve with burn in. I am not noticeing much of a lack in bass right now... Hopefully they will improve with burn in, maybe i need an amp, maybe a different track... even though i am saying negative things here i do notice an improvement over the M50... a $240 improvement? Sadly i don't think so, so far.
I am also noticing they sound a little cold when listening to piano songs that would sound a lot warmer on the M50...
 
UPDATE: Have been listening some more and comparing with the M50s more! Definitely sound flatter... just wish they were more warm and a little less harsh.
 

Burn in makes a huge difference with these... I have had K701s for about 6 years now. I picked up some Qs a couple of weeks ago since I needed a second set.  Same setup, unplug the K, plug in the Q and I could not listen to the Qs at all out of the box.  painfully harsh, especially on treble.   I let them play for 72 hours straight with pink noise and varied music, and they were much better.  Over the next week they smoothed out even more, and now they sound incredibly similar to the Ks that I love. It's not my ears that changed, I have listened tot he Ks as my main can for 6 years.

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

OKAY! Well, i finally got them today! (Amazon takes a long time to post to Australia) although they did arrive a few days before i thought they would.
I will be posting my impressions on the sound and other things and in comparison to ATH-M50! I will update this post!
 

 
Hey!
I just noticed that YOU ARE THE THREAD STARTER and you just got a pair of Qs!
 
Just my opinion, but I don't the sounds changes very much (if at all) from burn in.
Personally, I think you just get acclimatized to the Q701 sound and start using them for recordings that compliment them and use the M50s for recordings that work well with them.........at least thats's what I do with my Q701 and DT880................
The comfort thing, I think the Qs are ultra comfortable.
 
Keep on updating us.

 
C.