doping panda
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2008
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My K500 arrived last Saturday. Needless to say, I was very excited when the mail lady walked to my door with my package in her hands. Unfortunately, I have yet to spend much time with them because recently my listening has been mostly blues and classic rock as opposed to my standard diet of classical and jazz with a dash of alternative spice for some oomph; so, my Sextetts have rarely left the company of my head - perhaps it's withdrawal from leaving them at home during finals week. Even with the limited amount of head time though, I can confidently say these headphones are something special.
Let's talk aesthetics, comfort, and etc. first before we get to the real meaty stuff. The seller sent my K500 in pristine condition – the only cosmetic flaw was some yellow gunk on the outside of the driver casing which I scraped off. The design looks a little funky, but the color choices are very nice and classy so the design remains unobtrusive. The comfort is spectacular. The headband exerts almost no pressure, making the pads rest lightly on my head. It feels really nice, but it slips if I start lying down or moving my head quickly. Although my Senn is comfortable, my K500 makes it feel like a death grip. The single entry cable adds to the comfort since compared to dual entry I can more easily move around or lie down, a major benefit for me since I do most of my listening next to my bed both at home and at the dorms. The pads are soft, but a tad itchy. Build quality is a bit suspect though. The durability of the self-adjusting headband feels questionable. One standout aspect of the build quality though is the all metal plug. With these items discussed already, we can start talking about what really matters, sound quality.
Before I relay my impressions, I feel I must inform you of three things. First, I have little experience with audio gear. I have only been lurking here about two mouths and only have had decent cans for about three or four weeks now. Second, the other headphones I own are the Soundmagic PL-30, the Sextetts MP, and the HD580 with HD600 grills. Third, I am listening out of my portable and my laptop right now. I do plan on upgrading my source and buying an amp in the near future, but I currently lack the money because I spent it all on headphones. Once I head back to school, I'll be applying for a job for this purpose. Go ahead, you can commence ridiculing me now
.
Even without an amp and a good source, the K500 really impressed me. They even impressed me more than my HD580, my first nice can. The presentation is airy and clear. The tone is natural, light, and delicate. The tonal balance is excellent. The detail is high. I really love my K500.
As stated earlier, the K500 presents sound as airy, clear, and "out of head". Its airiness is striking. The openness of the K500 may partly cause this airiness; when I first wore it, my head felt breezier than not having any cans on, for some bizarre and inexplicable reason. The K500 sounds clear and images precisely. It presents sound in an "out of head" fashion. Its soundstage expands far horizontally. Not only that, its sound is ambient. So ambient is the sound that I feel that it not only comes from a certain location as it does with my HD580, but that it sometimes also overlaps and reverberates around the soundstage to gently envelop my ears – an amazing experience. One odd thing about the presentation is that sometimes the left driver exerts far more sound pressure than the right one even when it shouldn't, creating an unnatural stereo balance. The relative position of the drivers to my head seems to cause it since this effect disappeared when I readjusted the position of the drivers.
The general tone of the K500 sounds light and delicate. I consider this trait a double edged sword. The lightness and delicacy proves delightful for female vocals - listening to Diana Krall and Ella Fitzgerald was quite pleasurable, more so than usual. However, these qualities result in an inability to produce the vital heft and power for some recordings; for example, Claudio Arrau's playing does not have the weight and sobriety it should, especially on a piece like the Appassionata which I reserve as HD580 territory. Although it lacks weight for some recordings, the K500 sounds natural and organic.
Complementing this naturalness is high detail and excellent tonal balance. The K500 is more detailed than my HD580 even on my portable and laptop. Once I upgrade to a better source and amp, its detail retrieval will surely improve vastly. These headphones reveal how Joe Pass picks the strings of his guitar and how Ella fluctuates her voice among other countless miniature revelations. From low to high, the sound is even with the exception of the deepest bass and the highest treble. The excellent balance creates a capable sonic coherency. After listening to my K500, the mid-bass hump of my HD580 is clearly apparent and at times a bit distracting. For example, although K500 is too light and delicate for Claudio Arrau's rendition of the Appassionata, it is musically coherent; the HD580, however, sounds heavy as it should on this piece, but its mid-bass hump requires a readjustment period to prevent it from detracting from my enjoyment of the recording. The only flaw in tonal balance is that the treble and the bass roll off early and do not extend far in the case of the bass. Although the treble extends to 20 kHz, it rolls off before 16 kHz while the bass goes down to about 40hz, but roll off begins at the around 100hz or so at the lowest. The high and low extension do not heavily affect musical enjoyment since I don't believe most music reaches that high or low, but it's definitely still a problem.
The treble before the roll off point however possesses excellent clarity and energy. A good example illustrating this is the trumpets in "All the Things You Are" from Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook. With my K500, the trumpets are energetic and clear with excellent microdynamics. With the HD580, the trumpets seem about as energetic at a glance, but that energy is due to the heftier tone and better macrodynamics. The HD580 holds its own when the trumpets blare at full force, but further listening reveals the HD580 sounds duller than the K500 does.
The K500 bass is notoriously light in impact, but strong in clarity, texture, and tightness. In acoustic music, the bass never felt lacking. Because of the myth that the K500 and K501 have no bass, it managed to pleasantly surprise me with its impact which proves enough for acoustic music. In a recording of Baden Powell playing "Manha De Carnival", the K500 presents the lower notes of the guitar with enough presence as to not be overpowered by the rest of the sound spectrum and does it with enough detail that the low notes can be heard clearly even when they are regulated to their usual supporting role in music. Of course, the bass is insufficient for amplified music, but hell that's what the Sextetts for.
Now there is only one part of the sound left to discus, the oh so sweet mids. Bar none, the K500 has the most beautiful mids I've had the pleasure of experiencing in my young head-fi life. This can is worth buying if for nothing else than the mids. So sweet, smooth, and intimate are they, yet they are also so lively and detailed. These mids somehow manage to be so engaging and intimate despite the enormous size of the soundstage.
to AKG and its engineers.
To sum it up, I adore my K500. I admit it is certainly flawed. I cannot deny the lack of bass and treble extension, the relatively light bass impact capability, slightly weaker macrodynamics than my HD580, and a lack of necessary heft for some recordings. However, every headphone needs to be compromised in some way, and I believe the AKG engineers made the right compromises with the K500. Although my head-fi experience is undoubtedly overshadowed by that of countless others, I've yet to have the pleasure of listening to anything with more beautiful mids, a wider soundstage, and a more ambient presentation than my K500.
Let's talk aesthetics, comfort, and etc. first before we get to the real meaty stuff. The seller sent my K500 in pristine condition – the only cosmetic flaw was some yellow gunk on the outside of the driver casing which I scraped off. The design looks a little funky, but the color choices are very nice and classy so the design remains unobtrusive. The comfort is spectacular. The headband exerts almost no pressure, making the pads rest lightly on my head. It feels really nice, but it slips if I start lying down or moving my head quickly. Although my Senn is comfortable, my K500 makes it feel like a death grip. The single entry cable adds to the comfort since compared to dual entry I can more easily move around or lie down, a major benefit for me since I do most of my listening next to my bed both at home and at the dorms. The pads are soft, but a tad itchy. Build quality is a bit suspect though. The durability of the self-adjusting headband feels questionable. One standout aspect of the build quality though is the all metal plug. With these items discussed already, we can start talking about what really matters, sound quality.
Before I relay my impressions, I feel I must inform you of three things. First, I have little experience with audio gear. I have only been lurking here about two mouths and only have had decent cans for about three or four weeks now. Second, the other headphones I own are the Soundmagic PL-30, the Sextetts MP, and the HD580 with HD600 grills. Third, I am listening out of my portable and my laptop right now. I do plan on upgrading my source and buying an amp in the near future, but I currently lack the money because I spent it all on headphones. Once I head back to school, I'll be applying for a job for this purpose. Go ahead, you can commence ridiculing me now
Even without an amp and a good source, the K500 really impressed me. They even impressed me more than my HD580, my first nice can. The presentation is airy and clear. The tone is natural, light, and delicate. The tonal balance is excellent. The detail is high. I really love my K500.
As stated earlier, the K500 presents sound as airy, clear, and "out of head". Its airiness is striking. The openness of the K500 may partly cause this airiness; when I first wore it, my head felt breezier than not having any cans on, for some bizarre and inexplicable reason. The K500 sounds clear and images precisely. It presents sound in an "out of head" fashion. Its soundstage expands far horizontally. Not only that, its sound is ambient. So ambient is the sound that I feel that it not only comes from a certain location as it does with my HD580, but that it sometimes also overlaps and reverberates around the soundstage to gently envelop my ears – an amazing experience. One odd thing about the presentation is that sometimes the left driver exerts far more sound pressure than the right one even when it shouldn't, creating an unnatural stereo balance. The relative position of the drivers to my head seems to cause it since this effect disappeared when I readjusted the position of the drivers.
The general tone of the K500 sounds light and delicate. I consider this trait a double edged sword. The lightness and delicacy proves delightful for female vocals - listening to Diana Krall and Ella Fitzgerald was quite pleasurable, more so than usual. However, these qualities result in an inability to produce the vital heft and power for some recordings; for example, Claudio Arrau's playing does not have the weight and sobriety it should, especially on a piece like the Appassionata which I reserve as HD580 territory. Although it lacks weight for some recordings, the K500 sounds natural and organic.
Complementing this naturalness is high detail and excellent tonal balance. The K500 is more detailed than my HD580 even on my portable and laptop. Once I upgrade to a better source and amp, its detail retrieval will surely improve vastly. These headphones reveal how Joe Pass picks the strings of his guitar and how Ella fluctuates her voice among other countless miniature revelations. From low to high, the sound is even with the exception of the deepest bass and the highest treble. The excellent balance creates a capable sonic coherency. After listening to my K500, the mid-bass hump of my HD580 is clearly apparent and at times a bit distracting. For example, although K500 is too light and delicate for Claudio Arrau's rendition of the Appassionata, it is musically coherent; the HD580, however, sounds heavy as it should on this piece, but its mid-bass hump requires a readjustment period to prevent it from detracting from my enjoyment of the recording. The only flaw in tonal balance is that the treble and the bass roll off early and do not extend far in the case of the bass. Although the treble extends to 20 kHz, it rolls off before 16 kHz while the bass goes down to about 40hz, but roll off begins at the around 100hz or so at the lowest. The high and low extension do not heavily affect musical enjoyment since I don't believe most music reaches that high or low, but it's definitely still a problem.
The treble before the roll off point however possesses excellent clarity and energy. A good example illustrating this is the trumpets in "All the Things You Are" from Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook. With my K500, the trumpets are energetic and clear with excellent microdynamics. With the HD580, the trumpets seem about as energetic at a glance, but that energy is due to the heftier tone and better macrodynamics. The HD580 holds its own when the trumpets blare at full force, but further listening reveals the HD580 sounds duller than the K500 does.
The K500 bass is notoriously light in impact, but strong in clarity, texture, and tightness. In acoustic music, the bass never felt lacking. Because of the myth that the K500 and K501 have no bass, it managed to pleasantly surprise me with its impact which proves enough for acoustic music. In a recording of Baden Powell playing "Manha De Carnival", the K500 presents the lower notes of the guitar with enough presence as to not be overpowered by the rest of the sound spectrum and does it with enough detail that the low notes can be heard clearly even when they are regulated to their usual supporting role in music. Of course, the bass is insufficient for amplified music, but hell that's what the Sextetts for.
Now there is only one part of the sound left to discus, the oh so sweet mids. Bar none, the K500 has the most beautiful mids I've had the pleasure of experiencing in my young head-fi life. This can is worth buying if for nothing else than the mids. So sweet, smooth, and intimate are they, yet they are also so lively and detailed. These mids somehow manage to be so engaging and intimate despite the enormous size of the soundstage.
To sum it up, I adore my K500. I admit it is certainly flawed. I cannot deny the lack of bass and treble extension, the relatively light bass impact capability, slightly weaker macrodynamics than my HD580, and a lack of necessary heft for some recordings. However, every headphone needs to be compromised in some way, and I believe the AKG engineers made the right compromises with the K500. Although my head-fi experience is undoubtedly overshadowed by that of countless others, I've yet to have the pleasure of listening to anything with more beautiful mids, a wider soundstage, and a more ambient presentation than my K500.
