Early Impressions: K340

[tkam]

My pair of modded K340's from headphile arrived a few days ago. The mods done to them are pretty much the same ones that Philodox has done to his k340's. They are an interesting pair of headphones, they certainly have a unique sound. The thing that really stands out about them is their speed. Attack and decay are very precise, a note begins and ends right where it's supposed to. Treble is accurate and detailed, these rank near the top in detail retrieval. Treble extension is good nothign missing there. The 340's have an open airy midrange sound you can really hear the "space" of the stage/recording studio. It's really easy to pick up any kind of spatial or directional detail. The 340's bass isn't the deepest I've heard nor is there much impact but it is tight and quick. So far they are a nice pair of headphones, the detail and midrange alone are worth the price although I do wish the bass was more prominent. I'll post a new comparions between the k340, hp3000, k3000 and ps-1 in a few weeks. I'll take some pics of the k340's early next week when I get my camera back.

 

[aerius]

Congratulations, you are now one of us!

I also have a K340 with similar mods minus the drilled out grills and I'm liking it. Mine's from a different production run or something and trades off treble extension & detail for more & deeper bass and impact. It's definitely a unique headphone with a cool sound.

 

[philodox]

Nice impressions tkam, I concur with all of them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tkam I'll post a new comparions between the k340, hp3000, k3000 and ps-1 in a few weeks.

I can't wait for this!

 

[number1sixerfan]

I wish I could hear another pair of these to give them a chance. When larry got them he said they were indeed not as good sounding as your pair philodox. Maybe one day I'll have my way with the k340.

 

[philodox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by number1sixerfan When larry got them he said they were indeed not as good sounding as your pair philodox.

Really? You sold them to Larry and he said that they sounded worse?

Weird... although there does seem to be a lot of variation between the K340's. Aerius and I opened both of ours up and they look completely different inside.

 

[number1sixerfan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox Really? You sold them to Larry and he said that they sounded worse? Weird... although there does seem to be a lot of variation between the K340's. Aerius and I opened both of ours up and they look completely different inside.

I sold them to a head-fier and sent them to larry for moddage. Mines were rolled off at the high and low end, but like every other akg had a lush(but wierd??) midrange.

 

[tkam]

After spending some more time listening to the K340's it's not looking like the bass will improve very much. It just doesn't have as much impact as I'd like and it doesn't go deep enough either. The treble and lush midrange make them worth keeping. I find myself using them almost exclusively on music that does not feature prominent or deep bass. At least I have the PS-1' and K3000's for my bass needs.

 

[philodox]

Yeah, it is definately light in the bass... but for me at least the control and speed of the lower frequencies makes up for that.

And like you said the mids are to die for... guitar and vocals are beautifull.

 

[mulveling]

That sounds like my first K340 that I had recabled by Larry; it's certainly bass light compared to my other pair. Both pairs have amazing mids and highs (I'll give the recabled pair the slight edge in highs). This is definitely not the purist's solution, but the Headroom crossfeed circuit adds a nice amount meat to the bass - I find it very satisfying this way, though extension isn't much better. With the HD650 and Grado HP-2, crossfeed makes the bass overblown, but it works very nicely with the bass-shy variant K340, K1000, and HD600. I like the Headroom crossfeed effect anyways (I do have to also engage the filter w/ crossfeed or it sounds unbalanced).

 

[Xanadu777]

I think tkam's pair may have had more bass than either of yours that I had here (from memory). But with K3000's and PS-1's being tkam's norm, anything would sound bass light, 'cept Darth Beyer's

I consider K340's bass light too though, hahaha... Still, it seems the K340's can surprise you once in awhile with a real low note, like what the heck, that was sweet!

 

[aerius]

It looks like I'm the only one so far with a bass-heavy K340, I've actually had to mod the headphone to get a bit less bass. Mind you I haven't heard a PS-1 Pro or a DT-770 yet, but I has more bass than anything else I've heard so far. The bass extension and impact kicks the crap out of my Senn 580 and Grado 225, it's like someone turned off a subwoofer when I go back to them from my K340. On the other hand my pair doesn't have the treble extension and detail that philodox's has. One of these days I'm going to buy another K340 so I can swap the dynamic drivers on them, get the best of both versions.

 

[mulveling]

Just to be clear, my second pair of K340 is bass-heavy, and certainly has more bass than the Senn 580/600. At first I did feel it needed much more control in the low end, but I've learned to love both versions for their respective traits.

 

[philodox]

Hey tkam and Xanadu777,

I was wondering what you two would suggest as the best headphone to compliment the K340? Since you both own many of the headphones that I've been considering [namely the K3000 and the HP3000] I figured you would be the person to ask.

 

[tkam]

Seeing as you seem to really like the AKG sound I'd say go for the K3000, they a lot more bass than your 340's or 271's. I think overall I still prefer the HP3000's but thats just my opinion.

 

[philodox]

Well if I got a second headphone I think I would want to have a slightly different sound signature, not just more of the same... so the HP3000 may be worth looking at. What is it about these headphones that makes you prefer them over the others?