Kennerton Rognir << SPL Phonitor xe (+ DAC768) << James Taylor / Sweet Baby James
For those of us with multiple headphones, which ones are you listening with now?
- Thread starter timb5881
- Start date
JAnonymous5150
Headphoneus Supremus
First off and to anyone who might have been interested in reading it, I'm sorry I didn't get my impressions post about the AKG K340 up. I got caught up doing a couple projects yesterday and never got around to writing it up so I'll take care of that at some point today.
Right now, I'm listening to my ZMF Verite Closed driven by the JDS Labs El Amp 2+ with the SMSL M400 pulling DAC duties being fed bit-perfect musical magic from locally stored files. Currently listening to Arena's 1998 effort entitled The Visitor.
In and amongst a veritable catalog of powerhouse neo-prog albums, I sometimes feel that The Visitor gets a little overlooked by Arena fans and the general listening public alike. Not that it's not liked, but that it's underrated amongst the other albums in Arena's discography. Personally, I love this album and I think it's a winderfully approachable neo-prog album that was released at a time when the name of the prog game often seemed to have become releasing musically complicated experimental kind of albums.
The Visitor has Arena's standard epic and stadium ready sound and plenty of great musicianship to keep diehard prog fans interested and engaged while also having straightforward sections with plenty of catchy hooks to draw in even the casual listener whi may be prone to tuning out once lost among more intense 10 minutes freewheeling technical prog tracks common to the genre. Overall, I think this is a great casual rock out album that's good for getting one's musical blood flowing for the day or listening session as the case may be.
Right now, I'm listening to my ZMF Verite Closed driven by the JDS Labs El Amp 2+ with the SMSL M400 pulling DAC duties being fed bit-perfect musical magic from locally stored files. Currently listening to Arena's 1998 effort entitled The Visitor.
In and amongst a veritable catalog of powerhouse neo-prog albums, I sometimes feel that The Visitor gets a little overlooked by Arena fans and the general listening public alike. Not that it's not liked, but that it's underrated amongst the other albums in Arena's discography. Personally, I love this album and I think it's a winderfully approachable neo-prog album that was released at a time when the name of the prog game often seemed to have become releasing musically complicated experimental kind of albums.
The Visitor has Arena's standard epic and stadium ready sound and plenty of great musicianship to keep diehard prog fans interested and engaged while also having straightforward sections with plenty of catchy hooks to draw in even the casual listener whi may be prone to tuning out once lost among more intense 10 minutes freewheeling technical prog tracks common to the genre. Overall, I think this is a great casual rock out album that's good for getting one's musical blood flowing for the day or listening session as the case may be.
jonathan c
Headphoneus Supremus
I had not listened to the Beyerdynamic DT-880 (600 ohms) in some time. For this headphone (high impedance, mid-low sensitivity), the amp for the job had to be Woo WA2 (OTL):
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Takarajima
100+ Head-Fier
DCA Stealth < Topping LA90 < Gustard X18
https://open.qobuz.com/album/z45rcoh9lcflc
No idea why. But I do believe rainy days are perfectly paired with stellar jazz musics, creating a great 'mariage'. It's very rainy in Philly today. I revisited one of my long time favorites.
This is an interesting later recordings of Oscar Peterson, which I've played multiple times with various audio rigs and thoroughly enjoyed. Very energetic work partly because of team-up with younger musicians.
My Stealth teaming up with Topping and Gustard demonstrated how delicate its treble range could sound. In most of previous listening, my attention usually had been drawn to Lewis's cymbal accent, sacrificing Oscar's piano slightly. Or less often the opposite. I liked either way though. With the Stealth, the cymbal was still moderately spicy, but in better balance with the piano. I feel like I could capture the better picture of the whole musical structure and developments. Really well-balanced degree of sibilance.
https://open.qobuz.com/album/z45rcoh9lcflc
No idea why. But I do believe rainy days are perfectly paired with stellar jazz musics, creating a great 'mariage'. It's very rainy in Philly today. I revisited one of my long time favorites.
This is an interesting later recordings of Oscar Peterson, which I've played multiple times with various audio rigs and thoroughly enjoyed. Very energetic work partly because of team-up with younger musicians.
My Stealth teaming up with Topping and Gustard demonstrated how delicate its treble range could sound. In most of previous listening, my attention usually had been drawn to Lewis's cymbal accent, sacrificing Oscar's piano slightly. Or less often the opposite. I liked either way though. With the Stealth, the cymbal was still moderately spicy, but in better balance with the piano. I feel like I could capture the better picture of the whole musical structure and developments. Really well-balanced degree of sibilance.
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JAnonymous5150
Headphoneus Supremus
Changed up my rig to listen in my workshop while I'm doing what I think will be a final revision on a pair of earbuds I'm building. Now I've got my Cypherus Audio Black Edition buds plugged into my my SMSL SP100/M100 micro stack being fed bit-perfect, hi-res audio from my locally stored collection via UAPP on my phone.
Up to bat in the playlist is a little album some of you may have heard of called Unknown Pleasures by a little known group named Joy Division. I know it's a little obscure, but do me and yourself a favor and give it a listen...
Up to bat in the playlist is a little album some of you may have heard of called Unknown Pleasures by a little known group named Joy Division. I know it's a little obscure, but do me and yourself a favor and give it a listen...
Davidzak64
Headphoneus Supremus
HD650 < Luxman R-113 < Loxjie D30 < Amazon Music HD.
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pataburd
Headphoneus Supremus
Audeze MM-500<-- . . .
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TC44
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2006
- Posts
- 117
- Likes
- 100
Beyerdyamics DT880/600 via Shanling PH300 amp
Warning content my not be suitable for all viewers
Warning content my not be suitable for all viewers
tyk103
100+ Head-Fier
"Colors" sound very good with the Focals
JAnonymous5150
Headphoneus Supremus
For those who are interested these are my first impressions of the AKG K340s:
Over the last several days I have spent somewhere around 15 hours or so listening to the AKG K340s on various rigs, running all manner of musical genres through them. Let me just say that I'm not aware of a pair of headphones with this level of imaging and detail that can be had today for this kind of money (sub $250 is common market price, I got mine for $150).
Before I got ahold of these, I did some research that left me expecting a pair of headphones that had to be EQed to be listenable because of a fatiguing upper mid peak and an obvious and similarly fatiguing inconsistency between the performance of the dynamic unit and the electrostatic unit. Once I got to listening to the K340s I found that both issues, if you want to call them that, were highly overstated and that the suggested rememdies that I tried took away the unique character of these headphones that I really grew to like. With that in mind, all of these observations refer to the sound of the K340s without EQ.
The K340s do require a good, strong source of amplification, but, IME, most decent desktop headphone amplifiers should be able to cover their needs. For instance, my JDS Labs El Amp 2+, which is pretty standard desktop headphone amplifier fare, can drive the K340s with power to spare. I tried them on a few other more powerful amps and didn't find that they scaled to perform better so that's another area where I found myself disagreeing with some of the opinions I read before I acquired my pair. @Davidzak64 was kind enough to give me the tip to plug in the K340s when I first got them for a while before listening to make sure the electrostatic system was energized otherwise they can sound lifeless so I'll pass that on here to future owners.
For tuning, the K340s are pretty typical AKG: Fast, articulate, non-emphasized/neutral bass that reaches deep and gives you exactly the levels of bass that are supposed to be present in detailed, high quality fashion. Mids that are open, very detailed, and very revealing, though somehow the K340s mids are more forgiving than those on the 700 and 800 series. Treble that's well extended, capable of resolving the smallest micro details with fast transients and plenty of air. There is an upper mid peak that I can see some finding fatiguing, but I found it well within my ears' range of tolerance and had no problem with it.
The stars of the show are the detailed reproduction qualities which are present in spades throughout the K340's sonic range and the precise imaging capabilities that are equally apparent. The low end is particularly impressive with how controlled and articulate it remains even on the most crowded and demanding tracks. It makes listening to some of the prog stuff I have been diggin' lately a joy. The K340's soundstage is maybe just a touch less wide than the x7xx AKGs I own, but with better depth and decent height as well. The truly spectacular thing is how the headphones are able to place and layer sources and sounds within that stage, putting plenty of air between them making it easy to "look inside" the music and analyze exactly what's going on with any given source. For headphones in this price range and for a lot more, I have never heard an equal to the K340s in this regard. Period.
The dynamic-electrostatic combo does create a unique timbre and presentation that isn't the most natural, but, to me at least, is enjoyable all the same. I'm not going to attempt to describe it here, it's just something you have to hear. I tried a few different folks' EQ settings for these heasphones and did my own experimenting, but at the end of the day they all took away from this unique quality and I'm not willing to give that up because it's a big part of the draw and the charm of the K340s.
Basically, if you're looking for a unique pair of headphones with incredible imaging and detail retrieval for $250 or less, the K340s are as good as it gets. I'm really glad that the K340s I saw on this thread reignited my semi-dormant desire to own a pair of these headphones. I plan to keep them in my collection for a long time to come. I've never heard anything like so they've created a space for themselves in my collection that can't really be filled by anything else I'm aware of so I guess the K340s have made themselves irreplaceable.
I also want to take the opportunity to thank @Davidzak64 for answering all my questions about the K340s, the different versions available, and for sharing his thoughts on various points and issues I have encountered in my introduction to these awesome phones. Just when I thought I was done with acquiring gear for a while the shop owner who put me in touch with the seller I purchased my K340s from has told me that he's got a line on a pair of K1000s in ridiculously good condition...
To keep this post entirely topical, I'm currently listening to the DCA Stealths plugged into the Ferrum Oor/Hypsos stack combined with the Gustard X26 DAC being fed some bit-perfect sonic goodness from Qobuz.
I've got Muse's seminal work Origin of Symmetry queued up and ready to roll. This is one of those albums that I was wowed by when I first heard it and, despite having listened to it hundreds of times since that first listen, has never gotten old. Forget never gotten old, Origin of Symmetry remains an exciting and impressive listen every time I give it a spin. If you haven't heard it, you really should go ahead and do it already!
P.S. Ignore any typos. Typed on my phone. I'll edit later at some point, but ran out of time at the moment and don't want to leave an anxious reading audience waiting on tenterhooks any longer.
Over the last several days I have spent somewhere around 15 hours or so listening to the AKG K340s on various rigs, running all manner of musical genres through them. Let me just say that I'm not aware of a pair of headphones with this level of imaging and detail that can be had today for this kind of money (sub $250 is common market price, I got mine for $150).
Before I got ahold of these, I did some research that left me expecting a pair of headphones that had to be EQed to be listenable because of a fatiguing upper mid peak and an obvious and similarly fatiguing inconsistency between the performance of the dynamic unit and the electrostatic unit. Once I got to listening to the K340s I found that both issues, if you want to call them that, were highly overstated and that the suggested rememdies that I tried took away the unique character of these headphones that I really grew to like. With that in mind, all of these observations refer to the sound of the K340s without EQ.
The K340s do require a good, strong source of amplification, but, IME, most decent desktop headphone amplifiers should be able to cover their needs. For instance, my JDS Labs El Amp 2+, which is pretty standard desktop headphone amplifier fare, can drive the K340s with power to spare. I tried them on a few other more powerful amps and didn't find that they scaled to perform better so that's another area where I found myself disagreeing with some of the opinions I read before I acquired my pair. @Davidzak64 was kind enough to give me the tip to plug in the K340s when I first got them for a while before listening to make sure the electrostatic system was energized otherwise they can sound lifeless so I'll pass that on here to future owners.
For tuning, the K340s are pretty typical AKG: Fast, articulate, non-emphasized/neutral bass that reaches deep and gives you exactly the levels of bass that are supposed to be present in detailed, high quality fashion. Mids that are open, very detailed, and very revealing, though somehow the K340s mids are more forgiving than those on the 700 and 800 series. Treble that's well extended, capable of resolving the smallest micro details with fast transients and plenty of air. There is an upper mid peak that I can see some finding fatiguing, but I found it well within my ears' range of tolerance and had no problem with it.
The stars of the show are the detailed reproduction qualities which are present in spades throughout the K340's sonic range and the precise imaging capabilities that are equally apparent. The low end is particularly impressive with how controlled and articulate it remains even on the most crowded and demanding tracks. It makes listening to some of the prog stuff I have been diggin' lately a joy. The K340's soundstage is maybe just a touch less wide than the x7xx AKGs I own, but with better depth and decent height as well. The truly spectacular thing is how the headphones are able to place and layer sources and sounds within that stage, putting plenty of air between them making it easy to "look inside" the music and analyze exactly what's going on with any given source. For headphones in this price range and for a lot more, I have never heard an equal to the K340s in this regard. Period.
The dynamic-electrostatic combo does create a unique timbre and presentation that isn't the most natural, but, to me at least, is enjoyable all the same. I'm not going to attempt to describe it here, it's just something you have to hear. I tried a few different folks' EQ settings for these heasphones and did my own experimenting, but at the end of the day they all took away from this unique quality and I'm not willing to give that up because it's a big part of the draw and the charm of the K340s.
Basically, if you're looking for a unique pair of headphones with incredible imaging and detail retrieval for $250 or less, the K340s are as good as it gets. I'm really glad that the K340s I saw on this thread reignited my semi-dormant desire to own a pair of these headphones. I plan to keep them in my collection for a long time to come. I've never heard anything like so they've created a space for themselves in my collection that can't really be filled by anything else I'm aware of so I guess the K340s have made themselves irreplaceable.
I also want to take the opportunity to thank @Davidzak64 for answering all my questions about the K340s, the different versions available, and for sharing his thoughts on various points and issues I have encountered in my introduction to these awesome phones. Just when I thought I was done with acquiring gear for a while the shop owner who put me in touch with the seller I purchased my K340s from has told me that he's got a line on a pair of K1000s in ridiculously good condition...
To keep this post entirely topical, I'm currently listening to the DCA Stealths plugged into the Ferrum Oor/Hypsos stack combined with the Gustard X26 DAC being fed some bit-perfect sonic goodness from Qobuz.
I've got Muse's seminal work Origin of Symmetry queued up and ready to roll. This is one of those albums that I was wowed by when I first heard it and, despite having listened to it hundreds of times since that first listen, has never gotten old. Forget never gotten old, Origin of Symmetry remains an exciting and impressive listen every time I give it a spin. If you haven't heard it, you really should go ahead and do it already!
P.S. Ignore any typos. Typed on my phone. I'll edit later at some point, but ran out of time at the moment and don't want to leave an anxious reading audience waiting on tenterhooks any longer.
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Davidzak64
Headphoneus Supremus
Great review. I could not of put it into words that do the K340 the justice it deserves as you just have. Thanks for sharing yourFor those who are interested these are my first impressions of the AKG K340s:
Over the last several days I have spent somewhere around 15 hours or so listening to the AKG K340s on various rigs, running all manner of musical genres through them. Let me just say that I'm not aware of a pair of headphones with this level of imaging and detail that can be had today for this kind of money (sub $250 is common market price, I got mine for $150).
Before I got ahold of these, I did some research that left me expecting a pair of headphones that had to be EQed to be listenable because of a fatiguing upper mid peak and an obvious and similarly fatiguing inconsistency between the performance of the dynamic unit and the electrostatic unit. Once I got to listening to the K340s I found that both issues, if you want to call them that, were highly overstated and that the suggested rememdies that I tried took away the unique character of these headphones that I really grew to like. With that in mind, all of these observations refer to the sound of the K340s without EQ.
The K340s do require a good, strong source of amplification, but, IME, most decent desktop headphone amplifiers should be able to cover their needs. For instance, my JDS Labs El Amo 2+, which is pretty standard desktop headphone amplifier fare, can drive the K340s with power to spare. I tried them on a few other more powerful amps and didn't find that they scaled to perform better so that's another area where I found myself disagreeing with some of the opinions I read before I acquired my pair. @Davidzak64 was kind enough to give me the tip to plug in the K340s when I first got them for a while before listening to make sure the electrostatic system was energized otherwise they can sound lifeless so I'll pass that on here to future owners.
For tuning, the K340s are pretty typical AKG: Fast, articulate, non-enphasized/neutral bass that reaches deep and gives you exactly the levels of bass that are supposed to be present in detailed, high quality fashion. Mids that are open, very detailed, and very revealing, though somehow the K340s mids are more forgiving that those on the 700 and 800 series. Treble that's well extended, capable of resolving the smallest micro details with fast transients and plenty of air. There is an upper mid peak that I can see some finding fatiguing, but I found it well within my ears' range of tolerance and had no problem with it.
The stars of the show are the detailed reproduction qualities which are present in spades throughout the K340's sonic range and the precise imaging capabilities that are equally apparent. The low end is particularly impressive with how controlled and articulate it remains even on the most crowded and demanding tracks. It makes listening to some of the prog stuff I have been diggin' lately a joy. The K340's soundstage is maybe just a touch less wide than the x7xx AKGs I own, but with better depth and decent height as well. The truly spectacular thing is how the headphones are able to place and layer sources and sounds within that stage, putting plenty of air between them making it easy to "look inside" the music and analyze exactly what's going on with any given source. For headphones in this price range and for a lot more, I have never heard an equal to the K340s in this regard. Period.
The dynamic-electrostatic combo does create a unique timbre and presentation that isn't the most natural, but, to me at least, is enjoyable all the same. I'm not going to attempt to describe it here, it's just something you have to hear. I tried a few different folks' EQ settings for these heasphones and did my own experimenting, but at the end of the day they all took away from this unique quality and I'm not willing to give that up because it's a big part of the draw and the charm of the K340s.
Basically, if you're looking for a unique pair of headphones with incredible imaging and detail retrieval for $250 or less, the K340s are as good as it gets. I'm really glad that the K340s I saw on this thread reignited my semi-dormant desire to own a pair of these headphones. I plan to keep them in my collection for a long time to come. I've never heard anything like so they've created a space for themselves in my collection that can't really be filled by anything else I'm aware of so I guess the K340s have made themselves irreplaceable.
I also want to take the opportunity to thank @Davidzak64 for answering all my questions about the K340s, the different versions available, and for sharing his thoughts on various points and issues I have encountered in my introduction to these awesome phones. Just when I thought I was done with acquiring gear for a while the shop owner who put me in touch with the seller I purchased my K340s from has told me that he's got a line on a pair of K1000s in ridiculously good condition...
To keep this post entirely topical, I'm currently listening to the DCA Stealths plugged into the Ferrum Oor/Hypsos stack combined with the Gustard X26 DAC being fed some bit-perfect sonic goodness from Qobuz.
I've got Muse's seminal work Origin of Symmetry queued up and ready to roll. This is one of those albums that I was wowed by when I first heard it and, despite having listened to it hundreds of times since that first listen, has never gotten old. Forget never gotten old, Origin of Symmetry remains and exciting and impressive listen every time I give it a spin. If you haven't heard it, you really should go ahead and do it already!
P.S. Ignore any typos. Typed on my phone. I'll edit later at some point, but ran out of time at the moment and don't want to leave an anxious reading audience waiting on tenterhooks any longer.
experience with us. 
Those K1000s just maybe Jada's old crown. They are in perfect condition and do sound quite good.
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JAnonymous5150
Headphoneus Supremus
Great review. I could not of put it into words that do the K340 the justice it deserves as you just have. Thanks for sharing your
Those K1000s just maybe Jada's old crown. They are in perfect condition and do sound quite good.
I sold my K1000s like 15 years ago at a time when I didn't have the luxury of owning headphones I wasn't using on a daily basis. I needed the money and got an offer I couldn't refuse. I sold them intending to replace them in better financial times, but have never ended up doing it. Based on the pictures I was just sent, it looks like now is the time. Bass heavy version is excellent condition? Yes please!
I'm gonna meet the seller at a local hifi/headphone shop we both frequent (the owner put us in touch, he's cool like that) on Tuesday. As long as they sound as good as they look they'll be coming home with your's truly. I'm pretty stoked to finally own a pair of K1Ks again.
HD600
I Love this song
I Love this song
stuck limo
Formerly with Light Harmonic/LH Labs
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New release... Realy like the sound of classical music on Edition XS...
Tidal >> Shanling EM5 >> Hifiman Edition XS
Tidal >> Shanling EM5 >> Hifiman Edition XS
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