[kas1]

I started looking for headphones and listening to them at music stores and later found that I preferred the AKG's sound signature over the others. AKG sounds so silky smooth, neutral/balanced, and even the instruments sound clearly distinct from each other while others just blend into the music. But being that I'm still a newbie, I haven't even heard enough of the really high-end headphones to really get an accurate opinion. I've sort of noticed that even in the high-end, different brands have their own sound signatures. For example, Sennheiser: seems to have something muffled in its sound; Shure and Audio-Technica: has an aggressive sound but still balanced with balanced highs and bass.
 
Not sure if anyone else has an opinion on AKG's distinct sound signature?  Is it something that people here on head-fi either love or hate?

 

[BillsonChang007]

AKG headphones that I have tested before have this clean sounding signature, other than that, they can be different sounding while under the same company name
 
I personally find Shure current headphones to have smooth mids and neutral sound. 
 
As for Sennheiser, I find it to have warm and dark sound signature with exception of their flagship IEM, the IE800 xD
 
IMO
Bilson

 

[kas1]

I also like Shure because its smooth mids and clear and neutral sound, but there's something I just love about the AKGs. It's hard to describe. Maybe they seem to have a very analytical and detailed sound compared to others.  Don't know why some people don't like them.  I think they deserve more attention.
 
By different sound, I guess you might be talking about K77 which seems to be cheap low-end stuff.

 

[BillsonChang007]

I also like Shure because its smooth mids and clear and neutral sound, but there's something I just love about the AKGs. It's hard to describe. Maybe they seem to have a very analytical and detailed sound compared to others.  Don't know why some people don't like them.  I think they deserve more attention.

By different sound, I guess you might be talking about K77 which seems to be cheap low-end stuff.

I mean AKG K550 and K167.

I guess what you are trying to say is detailed without being bright?

 

[Rob80b]

  I started looking for headphones and listening to them at music stores and later found that I preferred the AKG's sound signature over the others............
 
Not sure if anyone else has an opinion on AKG's distinct sound signature?  Is it something that people here on head-fi either love or hate?

Hi Kas1
 
I’ve had AKG for years now, K701s, K501s and 24DFs, I would say their presentation while clear is much more concave, central imaging is placed farther back in the soundstage and less intimate, I also noticed this with the K550s that I’ve listened to. Compared to my Sennheiser HD580/600s which are much more convex, producing a larger, more forward central imaging but at the same time portraying good width and excellent depth of the sound stage, my Grado SR325i’s offer a similar presentation but without the sophistication of staging cues.
And while the Senn sound may sound, “muffled” as you say in direct comparison, their detail retrieval is IMHO superior.
I like all my phones but the Sennheisers I found do scale higher as better equipment is added to reach their full potential, the AKGs especially the K700 series benefit from more wattage to get their drivers cooking with regards to bass but otherwise their overall sound signature does not change that much.
As the listening nature of headphones is quite different to that of speakers I find that keeping a few different models at hand allows me to get the best out of different recordings and music genres.

 

[loveislove]

The K550 to some extent represents the AKG-signatured sound with a fair retail price.