[Balisarda]

Hi all,

A year and an amp ago I bought a K701, but I didn't love it, so I returned it. Having grown curious to hear its sound again, I ordered another pair, which arrived last night. Today I listened to it for about an hour but found it very congested, as if I were listening to my music through three pipes, one right channel, one center channel, and one left channel.

I know everyone says the K701 needs a lot of burn-in, up to several hundred hours. My question to those with K701 experience is: does burn-in resolve the congestion?

(By comparison, my defoamed HD 650 with Equinox cable sounds very open and natural.)

Thanks,
Eric.

 

[MaloS]

Thats the exact gist. Majority of the issues you could have with it will be resolved...the preference ones might not be ^.^

 

[GlendaleViper]

Yep, burn-in helps a lot with this one. I refute claims of hundreds or thousands of hours before it resolved those out-of-box issues though. Mine went from harsh treble and weak bass to snappy, punchy and butter smooth within about 25 hours. Anything after that, if anything, was too miniscule to appreciate.

Incidentally, I "burn-in" by listening.

[EDIT] I should point out that a curious thing happened when the phones were breaking in. The bass disappeared at one point. I mean almost completely. No impact, no quantity. Almost nothing. Don't panic, it comes back.

 

[Hoppergrass]

i did not like my 701s AT ALL out of the box. i burnt them
in for 300 hours only taking one very short listening session
(about 10 minutes) at 150 hours. it was better then, but
the difference between new and 300 was amazing. hang
in there.

 

[Gurra1980]

You can see my thread about this.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=230055

 

[newguru]

I'm hoping my used pair I have en route to me already have enough hours on them where burn in time will be minimal.

 

[Balisarda]

Thank you everyone for your feedback! It's a great reassurance to hear from those with experience!

 

[warrior05]

I bought mine used so I can't comment in regards to change due to burn-in but I can say this: The K701s are incredibly open sounding. I mean "congested" is exactly what they are not. Even though I absolutely love my DT990s and considering selling my K701s, I still prefer the AKGs for classical music. Especially full orchestra classical music. Paired with my Darkvoice they are simply delicious.

 

[robm321]

Unfortunately, it never goes away completely. Burn in will help compared to how they sound new. That's one of the biggest issues I had. The sound always felt like it was covered in a pair of socks or something. Very hard to explain, but they are great for the money and do other things very well.

It's just that my K-1000s and GS-1000s did the same but with the socks taken off at a much higher price

 

[vcoheda]

I don't think I liked any of my gear very much straight out of the box. Give it a good 50-100 hours. If you still don't like them, then I doubt more burn it will be the answer -- i.e., I think by that point you will hear the central character of the phone to determine if you like it, despite whatever, if any, changes may occur due to further use.

 

[Gurra1980]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vcoheda /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't think I liked any of my gear very much straight out of the box. Give it a good 50-100 hours. If you still don't like them, then I doubt more burn it will be the answer -- i.e., I think by that point you will hear the central character of the phone to determine if you like it, despite whatever, if any, changes may occur due to further use.

If he belive in burn in he schould give it at least 300h, I have never heard anyone saing that they become much better after 50-100h, some even says that they become worse after about 100h and later on opens up.

 

[Gurra1980]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robm321 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Unfortunately, it never goes away completely. Burn in will help compared to how they sound new. That's one of the biggest issues I had. The sound always felt like it was covered in a pair of socks or something. Very hard to explain, but they are great for the money and do other things very well. It's just that my K-1000s and GS-1000s did the same but with the socks taken off at a much higher price

Are we talking about the K701 veil now!!

 

[Kashuken]

I had the same problem when I first got it, but after 150+ hours the K701 sounds noticeably better. So yes, you do need some burn in time.

 

[robm321]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gurra1980 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Are we talking about the K701 veil now!!

lol Grate-0, Sennheisser veil, AKG socks?

I agree with those above 150 hours + definately will make a noticeable difference.

 

[Fitz]

K701 is not very good until 2700-2800 hours of burn in. Any thoughts or impressions before then are simply a waste of time.