[Chrysoberyl]

Listening to Eric Clapton's "Old Love" with these now...they are still not burned in,but they are already starting to compete with my adored Hd600,which comes really as a surprise for me.When I plugged them in for the first time I thought:"Oh God,I never learn! I'll have to sell these!" So I guess that burn in is,after all,real.Great,great headphones.

 

[krmathis]

Nice to see that you have found a pair of headphones that sounds right to you.
Enjoy!

 

[tfarney]

How are different from the HD600s?

Tim

 

[Rednamalas1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tfarney /img/forum/go_quote.gif How are different from the HD600s? Tim

absolutely polar opposites - Great compliment IMO

 

[tfarney]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rednamalas1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif absolutely polar opposites - Great compliment IMO

A brighter, more immediate presentation? More detail/less smooth? Compact, tight bass instead of the depth of the 600?

Do you think they render the extra money and step up to the 701 unnecessary?

Tim

 

[Chrysoberyl]

I wouldn't go as far as to say that they're polar opposites,but different, of course.The Akgs sound remarkably similar to the Ety ER6,that I once owned.The sound has more weight with the Hd600,and I think the timbre of the instruments is more realistic with those.The impact of the bass is much,much better with the Hd600,and the highs are about the same,but a tad more sibilant in the Akgs.The Akgs are still very new,and I expect them to change quite a bit.But they are so,so airy and "ethereal"...the sound is very special.They put more distance between you and the music than the Senns,and that's something good or bad depending on the recording.The bass is lean,but very well defined.I can live perfectly with it.The level of detail is in my opinion quite close,but the Senns still win so far.Let's see if I think the same in some weeks...and for the gamers out there,the k501s are VERY good for knowing where the bad guys come from.

All in all,I think that those two cans are equally satisfying and you cannot go wrong with either of them.

 

[Don Quichotte]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tfarney /img/forum/go_quote.gif How are different from the HD600s? Tim

There are several versions of K501. I wrote a detailed comparison of the bass-heavy K501 (not those with brown rings, though) and HD600 here

 

[zipdisk]

I have the k501s and the hd580s; they are both fine 'phones but quite different. I agree with Rednamalas1 that they are excellent complements to each other. I found that the k501s do take quite a bit of breaking in though, so they may improve a bit more. Glad you love 'em.

 

[tfarney]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chrysoberyl /img/forum/go_quote.gif I wouldn't go as far as to say that they're polar opposites,but different, of course.The Akgs sound remarkably similar to the Ety ER6,that I once owned.The sound has more weight with the Hd600,and I think the timbre of the instruments is more realistic with those.The impact of the bass is much,much better with the Hd600,and the highs are about the same,but a tad more sibilant in the Akgs.The Akgs are still very new,and I expect them to change quite a bit.But they are so,so airy and "ethereal"...the sound is very special.They put more distance between you and the music than the Senns,and that's something good or bad depending on the recording.The bass is lean,but very well defined.I can live perfectly with it.The level of detail is in my opinion quite close,but the Senns still win so far.Let's see if I think the same in some weeks...and for the gamers out there,the k501s are VERY good for knowing where the bad guys come from. All in all,I think that those two cans are equally satisfying and you cannot go wrong with either of them.

OK, you've got my attention. I have HD580s and love them, but I'm kinda sniffing around and considering what the next pair might be, not as a replacement but to sit beside the 580s. Something to pick up and plug in for a different tone and presentation. What you described really sounds good. How many hours do you have on them? And do you know if the 601s are much different?

Tim

 

[ericj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tfarney /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do you think they render the extra money and step up to the 701 unnecessary? Tim

The consensus on the K701 seems to be that it's not so much an upgrade from the K501 as it is an entirely different headphone. A major departure from AKG's typical premium consumer sound signature.

 

[Chrysoberyl]

Don Quichotte's review matches almost completely my impressions about the two headphones.About the k601,I tried them at a shop once and I liked them better that the k701 they had,but that doesn't mean anything,there are too many factors at play here.They remain one of the most "misterious" cans here at Head fi for some reason!