[eightbitpotion]

So I got my new 701s in today

... and of course being the perfectionist I am, I examined it completely. I noticed that on the left side of the headband... it kind of sticks up after worn. It slides back down easily with a bit of help, but will this break in, or is there any tricks to fix this? It just "catches" on the wireframe I suppose.

Also, these things sound absolutely HARSH out of the box, but have relaxed even after only like 8 hours of playtime....I can't wait for the 300 hour mark

.

 

[Artguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eightbitpotion /img/forum/go_quote.gif So I got my new 701s in today ... and of course being the perfectionist I am, I examined it completely. I noticed that on the left side of the headband... it kind of sticks up after worn. It slides back down easily with a bit of help, but will this break in, or is there any tricks to fix this? It just "catches" on the wireframe I suppose. Also, these things sound absolutely HARSH out of the box, but have relaxed even after only like 8 hours of playtime....I can't wait for the 300 hour mark .

I have two K701's so I know a little about them. I tried waxing the components to get them to slide easier, no joy. Then, I studied the problem, and noticed that you can easily pop the clear vertical piece out of the stud on the white horizontal piece that has the serial number on the opposite side. That is, just gently flex the clear plastic with a vertical slit in it to release from its guide, and the friction that keeps sticking goes away. Really, I cant see why that piece is even engaged, it doesnt really do anything. Now your headband will glide up and down with no effort at all. I only had to do this on the left side, as the right side does not bind. If it does, then release the right side too. That's it!

All done... Now, burn those cans in right and proper with some good pink noise for 300 hours, and of course listen to them as you burn them (not pink noise of course) and then get back to us. I find they need a good amp, I use a heed canamp and a Woo Audio 3 tube amp, with lossless from my Mac and CD played from Sony CE595 and oh my goodness... nothing but sonic joy. I DO equalize slightly in Itunes, raising the lower frequencies slightly in a very gentle V, which pushes the highs and high mids into where they should be for these ears, and the bass is very engaging. These are some very very fine cans, so give em a chance. They are absolutely perfect for my 50 year old ears.

 

[eightbitpotion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Artguy /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have two K701's so I know a little about them. I tried waxing the components to get them to slide easier, no joy. Then, I studied the problem, and noticed that you can easily pop the clear vertical piece out of the stud on the white horizontal piece that has the serial number on the opposite side. That is, just gently flex the clear plastic with a vertical slit in it to release from its guide, and the friction that keeps sticking goes away. Really, I cant see why that piece is even engaged, it doesnt really do anything. Now your headband will glide up and down with no effort at all. I only had to do this on the left side, as the right side does not bind. If it does, then release the right side too. That's it! All done... Now, burn those cans in right and proper with some good pink noise for 300 hours, and of course listen to them as you burn them (not pink noise of course) and then get back to us. I find they need a good amp, I use a heed canamp and a Woo Audio 3 tube amp, with lossless from my Mac and CD played from Sony CE595 and oh my goodness... nothing but sonic joy. I DO equalize slightly in Itunes, raising the lower frequencies slightly in a very gentle V, which pushes the highs and high mids into where they should be for these ears, and the bass is very engaging. These are some very very fine cans, so give em a chance. They are absolutely perfect for my 50 year old ears.

hah, thanks a lot. I got like 1500 grit sandpaper and wrapped it around a toothpick...and ran it across the edges of that "clear misc plastic thing" on both sides...and man it slides great now, but if it shows the smallest sign of sticking again I'll do what you recommend for sure! (I'm lazy sometimes) Currently I'm using this little MA400 headphone amp...it pushes it pretty good, and it helps the bass out like crazy, but since they aren't burned in yet...ya know how it goes. (I'm gonna go eyeball the tube stuff now

)

 

[Artguy]

coolness... that sounds good to me. Little things like that bug me on a high grade headphone, but after I popped it out, no worries at all. I just keep looking at the elastics on that can wondering when they will fail and how to fix it when they do. Back to the factory? ouch... As far as tubes, man the Woo Audio 3 I have is great with these cans, and I rolled the tubes to some great metal bottom tubes that really warmed and balanced the presentation on the 701s to what I think is sonic perfection. And though many have said that the 701s are dry and analytical and reserved have never had a listen to my cans on my source with my music. Reserved, and bass shy, I really dont think so! And the burn in on these cans with my source revealed a very slow, major improvement in sound presentation. Good luck, and for heavens sake dont burn them in without listening all along the way. thats the reason you got them.

 

[Artguy]

One more thing... I have gravitated to wearing the 701's rotated so that the headband rests on my collar. It was hot one day, and I just put them there, and since the ear cushions are round, this is no problem at all, and to my experience much more comfy, as nothing rests on your pointy head. The 701's would start to get painful just in one tiny spot on my head after hours of listening, so this is a great fix and my normal way of wearing them.

 

[vcoheda]

burn those bad boys in. will smooth out the harshness.

 

[eightbitpotion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vcoheda /img/forum/go_quote.gif burn those bad boys in. will smooth out the harshness.

Yeah man, I'm seeing it work in small amounts. From the time I first plugged them in to now....AMAZING difference for the better, but I have a feeling that's about to stop now....and it'll parabola slower and slower until that 300 hr mark.

 

[sschmeichel]

you can wear the k701s in... the left side use to stick for me, but after giving it some "exercise" they got MUCH better!

 

[Noobzor]

I noticed mine got better around 200hrs or so. My only problem was that they kept moving toward the front of my head. It got worse after i cut my hair really short. My new SA-5000s stay put so far.

 

[JungleMan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Artguy /img/forum/go_quote.gif One more thing... I have gravitated to wearing the 701's rotated so that the headband rests on my collar. It was hot one day, and I just put them there, and since the ear cushions are round, this is no problem at all, and to my experience much more comfy, as nothing rests on your pointy head. The 701's would start to get painful just in one tiny spot on my head after hours of listening, so this is a great fix and my normal way of wearing them.

Glad you found a good fix for yourself, but I figured I would point out my observation about these particular cans...they are VERY sensitive to the way they are oriented on your ears. Much more than my Senns were. The drivers need to be centered on your ear to sound best, I find when they are pushed forward, back, or down they start to lose their luster. So you might not be getting optimal sound quality...just my $0.02

Mine also really started to shine after what I imagine has been 300 hours (I sort of stopped doing the 24 hour burn in after about 6 days, got sick of doing it). (Of course, I was blown away when I first got them, so what do I know.) I bet they'd sound even better with an amp, but right now budget concerns keep me plugged into my Audigy 2 ZS and they're still plenty loud and plenty awesome...maybe when I can afford one

 

[eightbitpotion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JungleMan /img/forum/go_quote.gif Glad you found a good fix for yourself, but I figured I would point out my observation about these particular cans...they are VERY sensitive to the way they are oriented on your ears. Much more than my Senns were. The drivers need to be centered on your ear to sound best, I find when they are pushed forward, back, or down they start to lose their luster. So you might not be getting optimal sound quality...just my $0.02 Mine also really started to shine after what I imagine has been 300 hours (I sort of stopped doing the 24 hour burn in after about 6 days, got sick of doing it). (Of course, I was blown away when I first got them, so what do I know.) I bet they'd sound even better with an amp, but right now budget concerns keep me plugged into my Audigy 2 ZS and they're still plenty loud and plenty awesome...maybe when I can afford one

1. I just checked it, and if you tinker with the pads (remove and replace), you can get it sounding pretty good on the collarbone..... I don't have a problem with pain- I can't feel physical touch

-jk-

2. I HIGHLY recommend the temp amp I purchased

. It's a Behringer MA400 headphone amp. It leans bassway....and seems to suit these cans very nicely so far- it provides VERY efficient power to them regardless. I plugged them into my Audigy 2 Platinum....and there is a very noticeably sound-degrade. Anyway, the amp cost about $20 right here. ^_^ It'll do until I build a millett or something.

 

[JungleMan]

$20?? I guess it's tough to go wrong for that price, as a good stopgap solution until I'm ready to buy a real amp... does it offer any improvement other than emphasizing bass?

Also, what do you mean by sound-degrade?

 

[eightbitpotion]

Like...the audigy only is made to push 38 ohms.....as stated by creative (at least that's what they told me). When I plug my k701s into the headphone port....it sounds like it's seriously struggling to make sounds.....like something on it's deathbed. When you hook up a pretty decent amp, it slams it when needed, whistles when required.....it hums, mums, and twirls the sounds in which it's suppose to. I guess it's like comparing a honda and viper. When one needs to go fast and floor it....it CAN, the other really can't. I think that's a pretty good way of describing what it sounds like.

 

[LowPhreak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Artguy /img/forum/go_quote.gif One more thing... I have gravitated to wearing the 701's rotated so that the headband rests on my collar. It was hot one day, and I just put them there, and since the ear cushions are round, this is no problem at all, and to my experience much more comfy, as nothing rests on your pointy head. The 701's would start to get painful just in one tiny spot on my head after hours of listening, so this is a great fix and my normal way of wearing them.

That's what I sometimes do, Artguy, or just rotate the headband to another spot. It doesn't harm the sonics if you keep the pads centered on the ears.

Another trick (as someone pointed out in a different thread) is to tie together the 2 white cross-members that separate the suspension wires on each side (L & R). This gets the headband up off your head but still maintains a decent grip on the ears. You can use some twist-ties at first to see if you like it, and easily remove them later if you don't.

Or use nylon zip ties, pull them snug, then trim the ends off for a neater appearance. Colors are optional, of course!

On my oversized melon, this keeps the inner part of the headband about 1/4" off the top, and no more irritation. YAY!

 

[badpenny]

They hurt my head too... not as bad as my cheap headphones that I would fall asleep with, and wake up in the middle of the night because the blood was getting cut off to my head and felt like I had vice grips on my ears that when I woke up my ears were black and blue and felt like they were going to fall off and I was going to die "TAKES DEEP BREATH"... But yeah, I have to move the head band up and down the top of my head... Maybe I should just grow my hair into a tiny little pillow tuff to act as a cushion.