[jilgiljongiljing]

Well ppl, I am pleased to announce that my K81's have arrived. It took exactly 2 days for it to get to me, at 55$, that is one sweet deal

Well, as some one else mentioned earlier, the package does seem unusually light. Inside there is a simple plastic covering, a small carry on pouch and AKG manuals and stuff

First off, on wearing it for the first time, the DEATH CLAMP. Yes my friends, its no myth, it sits really tightly, although it does seem soft, they really should have considered having some padding on the head bands underside. Its pretty hard and you can clearly feel it on the top of your head.

Next, the positioning of the ear pads also feel kinda awkward, you kinda have to adjust them a bit this way that way to get comfortable. Also, the hinge for the 3d rotation thingy does look a bit flimsy, I dont think it will withstand much pressure. Overall build quality gets only a 3/5

Comfort since I have worn it only for about 30 minutes now, I cannot rate it for long term usage, but it does seem pretty comfortable thanks to the soft padding. Will update this rating post burning

Sound quality, well this is pre burn in, but I dont really expect much to change. First I started with "Show me How to Live" by Audioslave. The song has a good balanced mix. The sound came out pretty clean, but my first impression was, the mids were lacking. Its not that they were muddy or muffled, it was kinda narrow (if i can use one such term). Highs came out well, and the kick drum sounded pretty good. Ok, no WOW factor. it was a KSC75 ish sound with a better bass response.

Then I tried "Laid to Rest" by Lamb of God, I wanted to hear this song just for Chris Adlers drumming. It sounded pretty good, it was fast enough, bass drum pretty quick and neatly done, although again, the mids were struggling a bit.

So I moved onto some lighter music, went to "The Last Stop" by Dave Matthews Band. This song has nice instrumentation and has a wonderful full sound. I kinda liked the sound, but again wasnt completely floored by it. One thing I did do however is start tweaking the EQ settings on my Zen. Then came my first WOW. This headphone responds AMAZINGLY well to EQ. You can clearly differentiate every step be it up or down, all over the spectrum. SO customizing it to your musical tastes is very very possible. Especially coming from Senn HD465 which hardly responded to EQ (very very poor EQ response really!!!), this was a welcome change.

Now we are getting somewhere, more open soundstage, Carter Beaufords hi hats are coming out clean, instrument seperation is neat, bass line followed faithfully. However I still wasnt floored, however I was left pretty impressed.

Next came a bass test. I used "Numb" by Portishead. This song has the ability to make glass shatter, stomachs rumble, small animals die etc etc with its bass line. OMYGOD what brilliant bass response. AMAZING, I was stunned. I have never heard such brilliant bass in a headphone before, The boom sound in the bass line was clean, not jarring, not echoing or dragging, it came out just the way it shud IMO.

Now the burn in process begins, shall post a post burn in review after a day or two, shall also update the comfort issue then. Till then, take my word for it, if anyone wants KICK ASS BASS for less than 100 bucks, you just cannot go wrong with the K81.

PS:I also noticed two other things I forgot to mention. If you talk when you are wearing them, it almost seems like you hear your voice from the headphones

....very confusing, the other thing, they are not as closed as I wouldve liked, they do leak a bit at the volumes I listen at. But I guess its no big deal.

 

[jschwetz]

Where did you get them for $55?

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

Ebay, store called Fascination Productions

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

UPDATE: I also found out that these are actually harder to drive when compared to the HD465's. I need to go all the way upto 22 on my Zen Sleek (Max being 25) for a good level.
LDM+ will hopefully set this rite cos volume of 22 shows some signs of poor sound quality from my zen

 

[norseman8485]

Have you tried it with the foam removed?

 

[LuckyKarma]

yeah, remove the foam pads. the sound is sooo much better (IMO) with them out

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

Yeah, shall try that, 10+ hours burn in done. 20+ more and I'll post my views.

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

Ok I've been using them for several hours everyday and here is my update.

First of all, they are very uncomfortable for even moderately long listening sessions. My ears turn red and ache very badly after a while. I have tried all the techniques posted in various threads wat with bending it this way that way and placing it around basketball etc etc, but no, the clamping is still way too annoying for me. I find the HD465's annoying after a while as well, so its prolly cos my ears are quite large.

But sound wise, man, they really make an impact. However after my recent 'hole in the middle' experiment with the HD465's, I am actually more in favour of the sennheisers cos they have a nice warmth and the mids are oh so well done.

Bass is still awesome for such small cans, after burn in, mids have sort of opened up a bit more, highs are very much present. However, the comfort is really a deal killer for me, I will still be using these when I am on the move, but not for long listening sessions which is why I have started looking for a full size circumaural closed headphone. As of now AT A700 is the most likely candidate.

Anyways, that aside, for 55 bucks this is still a killer deal, has surprising depth and isolated pretty well. Can run off any source. I think these wud be best suited for bass heavy and punchy kind of music, Instrumental, acoustic, classical, female vocals still sound way better on my sennheisers.