Today I bought an AKG K26p for my wife's Dell DJ20, as she wanted closed headphones but small enough to not stick out. Since I could get them for $40 at the local Guitar Center (and I thought the K24 sounded pretty darn good a t a recent meet), we decided to give them a try.
Straight out of the box, they sounded quite fantastic, much better than I had expected. The first things you notice are the trademark fantastic AKG midrange, these definitely show their lineage here (think K271-esque), and a great powerful bass that I definitely did not expect from an AKG product. The soundstage is also nicely focused, better than I would have expected from sub $50 cans. After some further listening, I continued to be impressed, noting that the attack and decay are quite well balanced for a nice detail delivery. The only fault I could find on these cans sonically is that the soundstage is not HUGE, nor is the treble fully extended as one would expect from the best headphones, but these are the types of criticism I would expect to level against $100+ cans, not sub $50 cans.
The fit is quite nice, and is very easy to put them on properly, unlike their relatively bass-less counterparts, the PX200. They do feel a bit lightly built, but considering the price it is hard to fault them for this.
In the end, however, I think what really impresses me about these little cans is that they just play MUSIC and a very fun and enjoyable natural sounding fashion that I never would have thought could be in such a cheap pair of CLOSED headphones. I can think of a number of highly regarded, more expensive cans I would easily pass over in order to listen to these (MDR-V6/7506, HD280pro, K240S, HD497, SR60/80, ER4, E2, E3, PX200, ATH-CM7, Portapro, HFI650/700). I think for their price they are definitely a cut above highly recommended cans like the KSC35/75 and PX100. Considering that they are closed and highly portable (not to mention super-easy to drive), just really puts the icing on the cake. If I had to have a pair of sub $50 cans, the AKG K26p would definitely be my choice, and perhaps even for sub $100 cans. Bravo AKG!
Straight out of the box, they sounded quite fantastic, much better than I had expected. The first things you notice are the trademark fantastic AKG midrange, these definitely show their lineage here (think K271-esque), and a great powerful bass that I definitely did not expect from an AKG product. The soundstage is also nicely focused, better than I would have expected from sub $50 cans. After some further listening, I continued to be impressed, noting that the attack and decay are quite well balanced for a nice detail delivery. The only fault I could find on these cans sonically is that the soundstage is not HUGE, nor is the treble fully extended as one would expect from the best headphones, but these are the types of criticism I would expect to level against $100+ cans, not sub $50 cans.
The fit is quite nice, and is very easy to put them on properly, unlike their relatively bass-less counterparts, the PX200. They do feel a bit lightly built, but considering the price it is hard to fault them for this.
In the end, however, I think what really impresses me about these little cans is that they just play MUSIC and a very fun and enjoyable natural sounding fashion that I never would have thought could be in such a cheap pair of CLOSED headphones. I can think of a number of highly regarded, more expensive cans I would easily pass over in order to listen to these (MDR-V6/7506, HD280pro, K240S, HD497, SR60/80, ER4, E2, E3, PX200, ATH-CM7, Portapro, HFI650/700). I think for their price they are definitely a cut above highly recommended cans like the KSC35/75 and PX100. Considering that they are closed and highly portable (not to mention super-easy to drive), just really puts the icing on the cake. If I had to have a pair of sub $50 cans, the AKG K26p would definitely be my choice, and perhaps even for sub $100 cans. Bravo AKG!
