How different is the sound of the AKG K271 vs. the K701?

[Romanee]

My, My, My! Don't we all have very different experiences.

When I had the K271 (sold long ago) I felt it was rather dry and lifeless (well maybe "airless" more than lifeless) for my tastes - but I never experienced the sound as "liquid". I don't exactly recall the bass, but I think it was reasonably deep and fairly tight. My impression was that it reminded me of a good, "flat" response studio monitor, but not very lively or engaging.

The K701s I have now had various weird deficiencies up to 350-400 hours (!) after which they really blossomed. The pair I have now sounds glorious via the RKV-MkII + Eddie Current EC/DC (via X-Ray CD transport > Muse DAC). It is far from "dry", has excellent extension down and up the spectrum, sound very rich, liquid and musical with great dimension, inner detail, dynamic range, clean/clear highs, subtle nuance and timbral rightness, rich texture, etc., etc. -- far beyond what I heard from the 271. Not entirely fair, since I don't have a 271 now for comparison.


The 701s are very revealing of and reactive to ancillary components.

If someone hears the 701 as dry, either it's not adequately burned in, or it hasn't been matched with a suitable system. I've heard 701s out of the box, under 70 hours, around 150 hours, and various points through the 350-400 hours point that seemed to be the sweet spot for me, for reaching a beautiful sound. During the earlier hours I felt they had promise but were echo-y, discontiguous, a bit irritating on top, dry at the bottom, with unstable or unfocused imaging -- all which seem to have cleared up, finally

I've heard the 701s sound so many different ways, that I'm not surprised someone hears them as "analytical and dry". I just think they are capable of much better.

I'd be curious to hear a well-played pair of 271s again, but I don't expect it would have the capabilities of the 701s.

 

[facelvega]

Can it be that there are multiple versions of the K271? I can't believe half of the reviews I'm hearing. (the pair I heard was the anemic, lifeless one)

 

[mk3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by regal /img/forum/go_quote.gif The other possiblity would be the K501's, I haven't heard the K271S but looking at the charts it would seem the K501's might be more what you are looking for. The K701's should have more bass than the K271S. I really like the K501's.

Are those charts so accurate?
I would have thought that the K271s would have more bass than the K271, since the 271s are closed models.

Can anyone who has experience with both models compare the bass response?
Also, whether the 271 avoids the somewhat boosted upper frequency of the 701?

I just bought the 701s...very impressed with the transparency and soundstage, but disappointed in the...shall we say...understated...low bass, and especially by the sharp high end, which sometimes becomes downright painful. Those two factors make it hard to set an optimum level on the 701s; I find I am always reaching for the volume knob to adjust. (These are not fully broken in / burned in yet, around 100 hours of music + pink noise so far.

These are to be used as studio mixing headphones.

Thank you for any guidance...

mk3

 

[zestinger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mk3 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Can anyone who has experience with both models compare the bass response? Also, whether the 271 avoids the somewhat boosted upper frequency of the 701?

I had the fortunate experience of sitting in J&R for about 2 hours listening to a well-broken in pair of both of these. It was a slow day, so they let me bust out my ipod (so I could select the music) and my recently purchased Nuforce Icon Mobile.

While it definitely depends on what type of music you like and what 'environment' you are looking to get, the 701's are an amazing piece of equipment. They so well reproduced the dynamics, sound, and nuance of the Vanguard I would easily have been fooled. When turned to a live recording of 'Trane and Monk, the soundstage opened further with the instruments still keeping their unique voices to an almost fault.

As an experiment, I tested out both pairs without the amp and there the difference was ridiculous. The 271's (MKII) sounded more at home without the extra power. I also agree with the many reviewers that have commented on the added comfort of the 701's. But this is largely due to their intended use: 701 = audiophile personal can/monitor, 271 = studio use (and therefore slight extra-clamping to further isolate sound).

For an extra $100 with the 701's, you'll definitely need to spend at least an additional $200 to properly power them. Not so in my opinion with the 271. You'll obviously benefit from a good amp (and yes, the AKG's seem to be rather finnicky about what you connect them with), but they work quite well (and outperform almost all closed cans IMO) straight from an ipod or other simple source.

 

[mk3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zestinger /img/forum/go_quote.gif I had the fortunate experience of sitting in J&R for about 2 hours listening to a well-broken in pair of both of these. It was a slow day, so they let me bust out my ipod (so I could select the music) and my recently purchased Nuforce Icon Mobile. While it definitely depends on what type of music you like and what 'environment' you are looking to get, the 701's are an amazing piece of equipment. They so well reproduced the dynamics, sound, and nuance of the Vanguard I would easily have been fooled. When turned to a live recording of 'Trane and Monk, the soundstage opened further with the instruments still keeping their unique voices to an almost fault. As an experiment, I tested out both pairs without the amp and there the difference was ridiculous. The 271's (MKII) sounded more at home without the extra power. I also agree with the many reviewers that have commented on the added comfort of the 701's. But this is largely due to their intended use: 701 = audiophile personal can/monitor, 271 = studio use (and therefore slight extra-clamping to further isolate sound). For an extra $100 with the 701's, you'll definitely need to spend at least an additional $200 to properly power them. Not so in my opinion with the 271. You'll obviously benefit from a good amp (and yes, the AKG's seem to be rather finnicky about what you connect them with), but they work quite well (and outperform almost all closed cans IMO) straight from an ipod or other simple source.

Thank you for writing this detailed commentary! Any comments of the tonal balance (especially compared to the the emphasized high end and subdued bass of the 701/702s) of the K271s?

Cheers.

 

[zestinger]

You're going to find (unamped) that the K271s have a much tighter bass up front. The lines weren't as crisp as I would have liked, nor for some of the soul/funk I was listening to was there enough of the 'twang and bump I would have wanted. If you're looking for techno/hip hop phones I think you should look elsewhere.

This is almost exclusively due to the closed nature of these cans. When I amped both with the Nuforce Mobile, the K271 expanded very nicely. The bass lines on some live Keith Jarrett tracks I had (jazz piano @ the blue note club) tightened up considerably. People often describe great bass sound as 'punchy.' I don't know if punchy is really the right word hear, but I was really happy with the way they handled the difference between the upright sting bass of the keith jarrett tracks (you could feel each pluck) and the the soul twang of the Stevie Wonder. I like that kind of precision.

Hope this helps.

 

[Acix]

The K701/2 is superior to the K-271 by 40% in any direction.

Here is more info: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/k702-studio-393139/

 

[mk3]

Thank you for that quick reply!
I guess I'll still have to find a chance to hear the 271s. Did they have demo models at J&R also? Guitar Center in NYC doesn't have these.

I already own K240 (studio) phones, but really only use them for vocal tracking. Find them too coloured a sound for producing/mixing.

Bass is hard to compare, as of course it depends on what sort of bass one wants to hear. Headphones which produce very clear defined acoustic upright bass, for example, won't necessarily do well with deep reggae dub bass, and vice versa. (For the latter sort of bass, I find the BeyerDynamic DT880s are excellent). Electronic bass sounds are another matter again. Maybe it's impossible to find a set of phones that will handle all the sorts of bass well. The K702 reveal the detail of the bass very precisely, but at a bit of a clinical distance. Great for hearing a jazz bass solo, for example. The Beyers,

As for the high end, the 702s don't bother me much anymore. Whether its the headphones or the listener which has been broken in is a matter of debate, of course!

 

[Acix]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mk3 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thank you for that quick reply! I guess I'll still have to find a chance to hear the 271s. Did they have demo models at J&R also? Guitar Center in NYC doesn't have these. I already own K240 (studio) phones, but really only use them for vocal tracking. Find them too coloured a sound for producing/mixing. Bass is hard to compare, as of course it depends on what sort of bass one wants to hear. Headphones which produce very clear defined acoustic upright bass, for example, won't necessarily do well with deep reggae dub bass, and vice versa. (For the latter sort of bass, I find the BeyerDynamic DT880s are excellent). Electronic bass sounds are another matter again. Maybe it's impossible to find a set of phones that will handle all the sorts of bass well. The K702 reveal the detail of the bass very precisely, but at a bit of a clinical distance. Great for hearing a jazz bass solo, for example. The Beyers, As for the high end, the 702s don't bother me much anymore. Whether its the headphones or the listener which has been broken in is a matter of debate, of course!

Bass at clinical distance, maybe an amp issue. The burn in of a minimum 120 hours and they start show some nice air reaction in the sub...

And yes, the K702 are great for electronic music too.

 

[lucky]

I've been wondering about this lately myself. What complicates things is the number of K271 models currently sold. I may buy the K701 again in the future, but would like to know how other models compare to it.

 

[zestinger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucky /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've been wondering about this lately myself. What complicates things is the number of K271 models currently sold. I may buy the K701 again in the future, but would like to know how other models compare to it.

My understanding is that the differences between the various models are almost exclusively cosmetic. Between the 271s and the 271 MKII, I've read (here and elsewhere) that the only difference is that the MKII come with 2 chords and 2 different ear pads - essentially comfort items.

I believe some of the older models had more differences that affected their general purpose (detachable chords, partial/fully closed back, etc.) but don't want to give you the wrong info. If you search the headfi forum for the different models you might have some luck, but I believe the MKII are the only oes currently in production (and that the pads are definitely worth the slightly higher price).

 

[mk3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucky /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've been wondering about this lately myself. What complicates things is the number of K271 models currently sold. I may buy the K701 again in the future, but would like to know how other models compare to it.

Also, I believe there is little or no significant sound difference between the K701 and K702. As far as I know, the differences were comprised by the change in colour (white to blue, which looks like black to me), and the K702's inclusion of a detachable cable. The latter is a nice touch, especially in the studio, where cables tend to get destroyed by rolling chairs and such. Also, you can order an AKG coiled cable if you prefer (as I did) to replace the included straight cable.

Cheers,
mk3

 

[tommyf]

Hey guys, I have a pair of K702 that I use at home...I was thinking of getting the K271 for more portable use (I don't mind the fact that they're big) cause they're much easier to drive than my 702s...what do you think? good choice or waste of money since i already have my babies?