[shaunw]

So I've bought some AKG K701s and burnt them in for approx 250 hours (they were worse than awful out of the box) They now have at least 300 hours on them but they still sound extremely bright and sibilant. Also I noted last night that the midrange is lacking the detail of my sr60s ( I'm talking about detail in the 'hear the articulation / emotion of a singers voice' way rather than 'hear a triangle at the back of the orchestra' way).

I'm using a Rega Apollo and Naim Headline 2 with Napsc power supply so I wouldn't of thought either of those is the problem.Ive tried swapping the CD player and amp anyway and it made no difference.

So, are these things still not burnt properly? Anybody else noticed substantial improvements after 300 hours or am I just hearing the '701 sound'?

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaunw /img/forum/go_quote.gif So I've bought some AKG K701s and burnt them in for approx 250 hours (they were worse than awful out of the box) They now have at least 300 hours on them but they still sound extremely bright and sibilant. Also I noted last night that the midrange is lacking the detail of my sr60s ( I'm talking about detail in the 'hear the articulation / emotion of a singers voice' way rather than 'hear a triangle at the back of the orchestra' way). I'm using a Rega Apollo and Naim Headline 2 with Napsc power supply so I wouldn't of thought either of those is the problem.Ive tried swapping the CD player and amp anyway and it made no difference. So, are these things still not burnt properly? Anybody else noticed substantial improvements after 300 hours or am I just hearing the '701 sound'?

As I recall, my 701's didn't hit their stride until they had run in for about 400 hours.

In the mean time, tell us more about the source material you're listening to, and other cans you have, etc.

 

[shaunw]

By source material do you mean music? I have over 300 cds ranging from classical to heavy metal, Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, Mike Oldfield, 80s electronica, Jean Michelle Jarre Pink Floyd etc etc

If you are talikng about my CD source i have a Rega Apollo which is an £600 ($1200?) machine from a highly respected uk manufacturer. I also have a Musical Fidelity Xray CD player. Both of these sound great through my speakers.

The amp is a Naim Headline 2 with Naspc power supply (around £600 for both)
This is new and only has 50 hours or so on it but does not sound sibilant with my Grado SR 60s which are my only other 'phones.

Regards
Shaun

 

[robm321]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwkarth /img/forum/go_quote.gif As I recall, my 701's didn't hit their stride until they had run in for about 400 hours.

Same here. The high end has that characteristic but only on recordings where the highs were a bit harsh.

I imagine matching with certain amps would decrease that issue.

 

[vcoheda]

burn them in more, i guess. but really if after 300 hours you don't like them then maybe they are not for you.

 

[spinali]

In the interest of hopefully getting your K701 sounding as nice as mine, I might encourage you aggressively break-in, if you haven't already. It sounds like a case for white/pink noise to speed up the break-in.

Put on the white noise all day and night, decent volume, for several days. I left them iTunes with recycling white and pink noise snippets.

And click the hyperlink to my site just under this message for more break-in hints (noise samples, etc).

 

[infinitesymphony]

You may need to adjust to their sound signature... Some higher-end equipment that measures flat can sound significantly brighter than lower-end equipment that also measures flat. Grados have a reputation as bright-sounding headphones, but my estimation is that this only applies to the lower treble on something like the SR-60. If you have good enough hearing, high-end extension may sound perceptually brighter than a low treble boost. This can lead to the impression of hearing fatigue.

Basically... Give yourself more time to adjust. It may be that you don't like the sound signature of the K701s, or it could be that all of your equipment is so revealing and analytical that it makes the music sound non-musical. After all, in many cases, you're probably listening on better equipment than the original mixing engineer, who him/herself was mixing for average home equipment or car stereos.

 

[cantsleep]

thought they were too dry and dull. and always wanted them to have a little bit of 880 sound.

 

[majkel]

AKG K701 sound the way described in the topic and there is no help for it. I listened to a well burnt-in pair. Overemphasized and sibilant lower trebles, playing in another dimension than the rest of the audible spectrum and sounding artificial. While listening to some hard rock I heard obvious artifacts on the percussion. You need a pretty mellow and powerful amp to make them listenable. These headphones s... nevermind.

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaunw /img/forum/go_quote.gif By source material do you mean music? I have over 300 cds ranging from classical to heavy metal, Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, Mike Oldfield, 80s electronica, Jean Michelle Jarre Pink Floyd etc etc If you are talikng about my CD source i have a Rega Apollo which is an £600 ($1200?) machine from a highly respected uk manufacturer. I also have a Musical Fidelity Xray CD player. Both of these sound great through my speakers. The amp is a Naim Headline 2 with Naspc power supply (around £600 for both) This is new and only has 50 hours or so on it but does not sound sibilant with my Grado SR 60s which are my only other 'phones. Regards Shaun

Shaun,
Judging from the eclectic taste you have for music and the quality level of your equipment, I would expect the K701 to be a good can for you. But, if they still sound that bad to you at 300 hours, I would not expect a big change in the next 100.

Either they're defective, or they're not the can for you. -or-
I'm not at all familiar with the sound of the Naim headamp you have. It's a possibility that it does not synergize with the K701's. Do you have a headphone jack in any of the rest of your kit? If so, do the K701's sound appreciably different when driven by another amp/jack, or do they sound substantially the same?

 

[sghound]

try 600 hours. mine took that long.

 

[daltonlanny]

I have owned 2 pairs of these in the past.
I had over 700 hours on one pair, about 550 on another pair, and never warmed to their sound.
They remained too thin, sort of sterile, and too bright in the upper mids/lower treble, and lacking in bass power for my own tastes.
Yeah, they improved somewhat with burn-in, but not enough for me to keep them. They improved up to maybe about 450 hours. After that, I could hear absolutely no improvement whatsoever.
To be perfectly honest, I did not feel that there was ever that big of an improvement between day one and 450 hours, regardless of what others may say.
While I still owned my 700 hour pair, a friend of mine purchased a new pair of 701's. We compared my pair with his for many hours, and with many different kinds of music.
Conclusion: Mine sounded better, but not much. The bass was improved, the sound was alittle smoother and alittle more relaxed, and the soundstage was somewhat bigger in width and depth, but it was actually a rather subtle difference.
My friend would even get the two pairs mixed up, and forget which one was my well seasoned pair, and which pair was his new pair! I was very disappointed to say the least.
If I had never heard the Sennheiser HD650 or 600, I might have learned to like them. But the Senns simply suit my tastes better than the 701's.
The way I see it is, you will either warm to the 701 sound or you won't.

 

[Blackmore]

Maybe you have to try TUBES

If not, try something different than K701 and who knows where you end up. Alessandro MS PRO comes to my mind, no sibilant highs or brightness at all, just soft and easy. They are also quite neutral as well.
Of course you can go and try MS2i first, but no help from me here, cos never heard them.
But if I were you, honestly, I would take a look at fully modded AKG K340.

But than again, you may need to dump your amp and buy some Darkvoice for them, which is pretty damn good for the money.

Cheers

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaunw /img/forum/go_quote.gif So I've bought some AKG K701s and burnt them in for approx 250 hours (they were worse than awful out of the box) They now have at least 300 hours on them but they still sound extremely bright and sibilant. Also I noted last night that the midrange is lacking the detail of my sr60s ( I'm talking about detail in the 'hear the articulation / emotion of a singers voice' way rather than 'hear a triangle at the back of the orchestra' way). I'm using a Rega Apollo and Naim Headline 2 with Napsc power supply so I wouldn't of thought either of those is the problem.Ive tried swapping the CD player and amp anyway and it made no difference. So, are these things still not burnt properly? Anybody else noticed substantial improvements after 300 hours or am I just hearing the '701 sound'?

 

[dw6928]

What solved my issues with the 701s was to have them recabled by Moon audio (or any other excellent cable company on the forums). The sterile, cold, bass lacking signature was gone. Unfortunately, it can cost almost 75% of the purchase price of the 701s but for me, it was well worth it.

 

[Hi-Finthen]

I can't imagine, then again, I like broccoli too *shrugs*...

The k-701 simply just isn't for you and your gear... Sorry about that, but they sound lovely here

Move along~