[frenchbat]

I've played with some melamin foam, which I think is similar to that "open foam" (that's why I'm asking for a picture), and a 2mm layer was basically ineffective. So I can see why 6mm can be necessary, however it must be poaking under the screen of the earpad, and I'd not be too happy about that. I'm standing at 4mm (with felt) for now and it's already touching the screen. 
 
Quote:

X2
I've been working on some mods of the 702 as well....mostly the 'friend or foe' mod with some variations. I'd love to see a photo of that 'open foam'. 1/4 inch thick seems a bit much. That would be awesome if it can reduce the brightness a bit without losing any of their great clarity and detail retrieval. I find they're a lot easier on the ears with a small eq cut in the treble

 

 

[chicolom]

Quote:

If I am coming off of some Denon D2000s I'm not liking so much so far, would the Q701 or K702 be a better fit if I want nice thick mids and nice highs and bass that is there but isn't overwhelming? I can't seem to find if they are different or the same, some people say the Q701 have better bass and some people say they all sound the same. Or should I be looking at a different headphone, I've heard these can sound thin and lifeless. I was thinking about the HD 650s but they are very expensive and some people say they have a veil. My musical interests tend to go towards rock, alt rock, experimental rock, instrumental music like ambient stuff, and some classical. I like a bit of rap and funk too.

I've never heard the D2000s, but what don't you like about them?  If you can get the Q701 and K702 for the price, I would recommend the Q701.

 

[shorke]

The mids are recessed and often overshadowed by the highs and the bass is very punchy but sometimes lacks tone and can overwhelm the rest of the song. I've heard the bass tightens up somewhat with amping and burn in and the mids come out with some modding but I won't have the amp I hope to drive the AKGs with, an O2, within the return period. And I don't think an amp is going to change the sound signature that much since they are easy to drive. They are very fun headphones, don't get me wrong. They are nice for movies and stuff with lots of bass, if I was richer I'd keep them around just for when I felt like some headphones with great bass response. But I want clarity and nice mids and highs, bass is important, I want it to be there but I don't want it to get in the way of anything. Also, are the AKGs good for games? I like to play games and don't want any detail lost or anything, but they are supposed to have a large soundstage and great detail so they should be great right?
 
Quote:

I've never heard the D2000s, but what don't you like about them?  If you can get the Q701 and K702 for the price, I would recommend the Q701.

 

 

[SlimSwaly]

can i ask what "dolby headphone"? means??
 

 

[shorke]

It is a virtual surround sound thing. It makes it sound like you have a surround sound system in your headphones, and for some headphones it works quite well.
Quote:

can i ask what "dolby headphone"? means??
 

 

 

[chicolom]

Quote:

 Also, are the AKGs good for games? I like to play games and don't want any detail lost or anything, but they are supposed to have a large soundstage and great detail so they should be great right?

Yes, they are very nice for games. 

 

[shorke]

Would they be fine with my source? I'm getting an HT Omega Claro II because my Claro Plus broke and it was discontinued for the II, so HT Omega are offering me an upgrade for 30 dollars. I don't have any other DAC and I like dolby headphone and stuff and I'm a bit tight on a budget. So I can afford the headphones and an O2 amp, maybe the ODAC in the future. http://www.htomega.com/claro2.html Here is the soundcard, would this be fine with an amp? Any good DACs I have found seem to be very expensive, and I am holding out for the ODAC to go with the O2. Do these work well with the O2? One last question, my house has thin walls and I don't have much experience with open ear headphones, these won't be loud enough to be keeping anyone up right? You make them sound like they are a nice neutral warm in your review, they don't sound like you are listening to a recording right? I've had some headphones that are too cold and it is very apparent it is a recording. I mean, are they lively at all?

 

[chicolom]

Quote:

Would they be fine with my source? I'm getting an HT Omega Claro II because my Claro Plus broke and it was discontinued for the II, so HT Omega are offering me an upgrade for 30 dollars. I don't have any other DAC and I like dolby headphone and stuff and I'm a bit tight on a budget. So I can afford the headphones and an O2 amp, maybe the ODAC in the future. http://www.htomega.com/claro2.html Here is the soundcard, would this be fine with an amp? Any good DACs I have found seem to be very expensive, and I am holding out for the ODAC to go with the O2. Do these work well with the O2? One last question, my house has thin walls and I don't have much experience with open ear headphones, these won't be loud enough to be keeping anyone up right? You make them sound like they are a nice neutral warm in your review, they don't sound like you are listening to a recording right? I've had some headphones that are too cold and it is very apparent it is a recording. I mean, are they lively at all?

 
I'm pretty sure those HT Omega soundcards should be plenty powerful for them.  They look really beefy.  I'm not sure you would need any additional DACs/AMPS with them.  The AKG's aren't that hard to drive.  I would just try the Omega by itself first.
 
I doubt they would keep anyone up at night.  I've heard worse leakers (like AD700 and Sennheiser HD5xx).  Not sure what you mean by "they don't sound like you are listening to a recording right?"  For me they're neither too warm or too cold.  I'd consider them balanced, and to me they sound very "natural".
 
 

 

[shorke]

I just mean some headphones can be too cold and reveal the faults in a recording and it ruins it. But if they sound organic, that is what I am looking for. I am hearing that they don't work with heavily layered or mixed music? Just a post I read in another thread. That doesn't make any sense, these are supposed to have a wide soundstage and what not. Anyways, I found a good deal on them so I'm going to return the D2000s and check these out. If these aren't my thing, I guess the HD 600/650 are the next stop.
 
One last thing before I buy these, would you say they are good all rounders, or at least decent at every genre? On the D2000s, some genres are nearly unlistenable because they are so boring because of the recessed mids. It seems like they should be good at everything since they are supposed to be relatively neutral and flat sounding.

 

[daydesiang]

Nice review it really clears my head which to buy~ if i got the money now...argh~

 

[inter voice]

 
Quote:

Hi Intervoice, thanks for the comment. Do you have the possibility to post pictures of your mod here ? Fishski, and then myself, have been trying to work with some tape and felt for some time, and I'm curious about this open foam thing. However I'm not visualizing it very well, would you mind giving us a little more info ?
 
Thanks.

 


 

The appearance of both open cell and closed cell foam look alike and they are difficult to distinguish by just using our eyes.  The following is a useful article to read:
http://www.fomo.com/resources/technical-bulletins/opencellvsclosed.aspx (see the comparision table in the article)
It is well  known that open cell form absorbs sound better than closed cell foam and that is why they are normally used in foam acoustic panels.  For open cell foam a thin layer of foam normally absorbs high freq. better and if you want to absorb low freq. a thicker foam piece is to be used.
 
IMO inserting a foam pad in the doom of K702 may have an effect of resticting the low freq. sound air flow and thus making the low freq. resonant more in the driver's compartment.
In placing a foam pad over the driver it absorbs the high frequency and also attenunates the high freq. sound level due to restriction of sound movement.  Naturally we need to increase the volume by a bit to compensate for this and thus we notice a better bass as a result.  The above is only my theory and explanation.
From my practical experience the high freq. after this small modification has not been veiled and the overall sound becomes a bit warmer to my ears.  There is no harm to have a trial by yourself.  If you don't like the sound just remove the foam pads.     
 
I am using the stock cable at the moment but I think using copper based cables of longer lead may result to a warmer sound on account of higher cable capacitance that will attenuate the high freq. when signal is transmitted to the headphone.  Have anyone heard of any difference in sound quality when using the two lengths of cables supplied by Q701 ?

 

[chicolom]

Quote:

I just mean some headphones can be too cold and reveal the faults in a recording and it ruins it. But if they sound organic, that is what I am looking for. I am hearing that they don't work with heavily layered or mixed music? Just a post I read in another thread. That doesn't make any sense, these are supposed to have a wide soundstage and what not. Anyways, I found a good deal on them so I'm going to return the D2000s and check these out. If these aren't my thing, I guess the HD 600/650 are the next stop.
 
One last thing before I buy these, would you say they are good all rounders, or at least decent at every genre? On the D2000s, some genres are nearly unlistenable because they are so boring because of the recessed mids. It seems like they should be good at everything since they are supposed to be relatively neutral and flat sounding.

Yes, "organic" is probably the same thing I mean by "natural".  The soundstage is great for genres like classical, jazz, electronic, ambient, etc.  I thought ambient electronic gets pretty layered, but maybe they mean more produced music or something.
 
They are good all rounders IMO.  Good enough for me to sell my other headphones (except KSC-75

).
 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I haven't used the Q701 in about a week, and decided to hook them up to my E9, which was attached to my PS Vita. I fired up Hot Shots Golf, and surprised that the Q701 STILL surprises me with how damn good they sound. I was almost expecting a drier more analytical sound when playing (remembering the K701 sound), and was greeted by musicality and a realistic tone to the music and sound effects. Just feels damn good, man.

 

[inter voice]

Having been used both HD650 and K702 for quite some time I can only say I love both of these CANs and will use them for different types of music listening.  For vocals I will use HD650 while for jazz music, acoustics and classical I use K702 instead.
 
Today I use REW software, my laptop and an omi directional mic to take the Frequency Response of the two CANs.  I got the following plots (both are taken from the right can):

 
 
My headphone amplifier is Fidelity Audio HPA-200 and the volume setting are the same when the readings from the two CANs were taken. The volume knob was at around 11 o'clock position.
 
The followings were observed:
1.  The output dB(A) of both CANs are almost the same (about 67-70 dB(A)) even though people say that K702 needs more power to drive.  It is not the case here and I think it is because my headphone amplifier can delivery sufficient wattage and current to the power hungry K702.
2.   The Frequency Response of both CANs below 1.5 kHz are quite similar.
3.   Above 1.5 kHz HD650 has a more smooth FR than K702 which has larger fluctuations.
4.   For K702 there is a bigger dip at 3 kHz and a boost in 7.5 KHz.  I believe this arrangement makes the music from K702 a bit lean but it enables the very faint high frequencies to be more prominent to our ears.
5.   When compare with the Impulse Response HD650 has better control than K702 as it has better damping ability.  I believe it is due to its having a much high impedance than K702 with has only 62 ohm.
 
On actual listening K702 has more space and sounds further away while the music from HD650 is closer.
 
Based on the above plots it seems that actually HD650 is better CAN than K702.  However as I said before they are both excellent CANs for different types of music and whether you like the sound from HD650 or K702 is a personal preference.  For me I love both of them !! 
 
 

 

[IEMCrazy]

+1
 
Great work on those graphs!  I have the same combination of HD650 & K702 and also love the duo.   I actually considered HE-500 as an "upgrade" to orthos, but instead went with adding the K702 to my HD650s and I don't have too much desire for an upgrade for the remaining "10%" of missing detail/performance at this point.   The two give both polar opposites in sound and there's always a can to suit particular music at my fingertips. 
 
I still consider my HD650's my favorites, though I've found myself listening to K702 more often these days for some reason. K702 is definitely my classical can of choice, but I was surprised that I like them for jazz as well.  HD650 is renowned as an excellent performer for jazz.  Switching back and forth is like hearing the music performed in a different venue.   It's like being a couch roadie.

 
 
Quote:

Having been used both HD650 and K702 for quite some time I can only say I love both of these CANs and will use them for different types of music listening.  For vocals I will use HD650 while for jazz music, acoustics and classical I use K702 instead.
 
Today I use REW software, my laptop and an omi directional mic to take the Frequency Response of the two CANs.  I got the following plots (both are taken from the right can):

 
 
My headphone amplifier is Fidelity Audio HPA-200 and the volume setting are the same when the readings from the two CANs were taken. The volume knob was at around 11 o'clock position.
 
The followings were observed:
1.  The output dB(A) of both CANs are almost the same (about 67-70 dB(A)) even though people say that K702 needs more power to drive.  It is not the case here and I think it is because my headphone amplifier can delivery sufficient wattage and current to the power hungry K702.
2.   The Frequency Response of both CANs below 1.5 kHz are quite similar.
3.   Above 1.5 kHz HD650 has a more smooth FR than K702 which has larger fluctuations.
4.   For K702 there is a bigger dip at 3 kHz and a boost in 7.5 KHz.  I believe this arrangement makes the music from K702 a bit lean but it enables the very faint high frequencies to be more prominent to our ears.
5.   When compare with the Impulse Response HD650 has better control than K702 as it has better damping ability.  I believe it is due to its having a much high impedance than K702 with has only 62 ohm.
 
On actual listening K702 has more space and sounds further away while the music from HD650 is closer.
 
Based on the above plots it seems that actually HD650 is better CAN than K702.  However as I said before they are both excellent CANs for different types of music and whether you like the sound from HD650 or K702 is a personal preference.  For me I love both of them !!