[astroid]

These cans are great, i have read very little positive said about them on here at all. Comments have ranged from "worst headphones ive ever tried" to "where is the bass?".
I have tried them with a wide range of tunes using a Slee Voyager and i am nothing but impressed.
I put summertime cloths by the Animal Collective , this track has a deep sub bassline that comes in at around 20 seconds into the track and the K701s created it and followed it perfectly.
The soundstage on these is huge, simply breath taking!
The only thing i would criticise is that the high frequencies were a little too apparent in the mix for my tastes but that is just my preference.

I loved them.

 

[steviebee]

Similar to my feelings when I (yahoo) finally got myself a pair, astroid. I was fearing little bass, + a bright, thin, detailed and possibly painful sig. Nada - bass was tuneful and in plenty, detail certainly there but not thin or excessively bright (I may have treble-unsensitive ears tho as I generally like a toppier sig). And as you say, soundstage! And, as almost everyone talks about the sig improving over years of burn-in (well, months then), we should be happy bunnies for some time to come.

 

[Germancub]

I am truly convinced sennheiser and grado pay some head-fi'ers a royalty for bashing AKG's, lol. AKG is by far my favourite headphone manufacturer. I can understand they're "not for everyone", but saying the K601, K701 or even the K271 are terrible? That's just silly. That's like saying the Orpheus is complete junk just because I don't have it.

 

[steviebee]

Ah, but Uncle Erik has K701. He never rated it, positively disliked it. Go figure: we all hear different, thankfully.

 

[Germancub]

Quote:

Originally Posted by steviebee /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ah, but Uncle Erik has K701. He never rated it, positively disliked it. Go figure: we all hear different, thankfully.

That's true, and while I do completely understand people not liking a particular headphone, but to call some of the best headphones available on the market terrible or complete crap is another thing. Sound signature preference will vary but it doesn't make me deaf if it's my favourite, right? I personally can't stand the house sound signature of AT's, but I understand they make a lot of wonderful headphones and are far from crap or being "terrible", they are simply just not my style.

 

[john53]

Quote:

Originally Posted by astroid /img/forum/go_quote.gif These cans are great, i have read very little positive said about them on here at all. Comments have ranged from "worst headphones ive ever tried" to "where is the bass?". I have tried them with a wide range of tunes using a Slee Voyager and i am nothing but impressed. I put summertime cloths by the Animal Collective , this track has a deep sub bassline that comes in at around 20 seconds into the track and the K701s created it and followed it perfectly. The soundstage on these is huge, simply breath taking! The only thing i would criticise is that the high frequencies were a little too apparent in the mix for my tastes but that is just my preference. I loved them.

A few months ago i tested the k701 at a shop but they didn't have a dedicated headphone amp,so we connected them to a proffesional console(sorry if this is not the right english word),the shop did't have any home audio products.
Strangely i didn't find them to have a tremble emphasis or to be sibilant(the eq on the console was flat)and i have a sensitivity to sibilance(my hd 600 is a bit sibilant on some rigs)
But it was a bit dry(noticed that mainly in vocals) and not as smooth and refined as my hd 600,and the soundstage was better on the hd 600(but i drive them with an x can v8 which has a nice open soundstage)and the bass was a bit shy,but good.
I think it's a nice headphone and if you have good source-amp i think it will sound very good.

 

[steviebee]

@ Germanclub: True, there's an amount of 'if I don't like it, it's crap'-ism on Head Fi (witness me vs SE530, lol). And I honestly think this in part reflects an increasingly younger membership, in terms of portables at any rate...and a certain, erm, alpha male - ism

But overall, I think Head Fi still cuts it with extremely knowledgeable and fairly unbiased reviews.

 

[astroid]

I dont have many pairs of cans, Senn 555,595,HD228 , Koss UR40 (super bargain imo), i mostly use IEMs. The K701s easily topped the ones i have, i did try them straight out of my Ipod and that was a waste of time.
I also have a Fiio E5 , would that power K701s from line out of ipod? The E5 is soooo small i find it very handy.

Akg put me off when i bought the K26Ps (there the closed ones that are a bit like PX200?) they really sucked, it was like listening under water!

 

[estreeter]

cue olblueyez and intoart to tell us why the 701s are total crapola ...

As I just mentioned to Germancub in another thread, I am boycotting AKG for making headphones that are much harder to drive than those from Audio-Technica and Grado. That said, I have the utmost respect for those of you who have found your ideal solution.

(I have added most of the high impedance Senn/Beyer models to my 'ignore' list for the same reason. Needing to upgrade your amp everytime you buy a new pair of phones is bananas, IMO. Yes, I know I'll probably be run out of town on a rail for such heresy.

)

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by astroid /img/forum/go_quote.gif I dont have many pairs of cans, Senn 555,595,HD228 , Koss UR40 (super bargain imo), i mostly use IEMs. The K701s easily topped the ones i have, i did try them straight out of my Ipod and that was a waste of time. I also have a Fiio E5 , would that power K701s from line out of ipod? The E5 is soooo small i find it very handy. Akg put me off when i bought the K26Ps (there the closed ones that are a bit like PX200?) they really sucked, it was like listening under water!

Dont even bother with the Fiio - the 701 is a phone worthy of the dedicated desktop amps sold by people like HeadRoom. Not cheap, but if you want the results that the 701 faithful rave about on this forum, do not waste time and effort trying to ratchet your way up a very steep ladder. Thats the realisation I've come to with the K601 - its either go hard or go home, I'm afraid.

You will encounter plenty of people who tell you they can drive the 701s with this portable or that soundcard, but there is a difference between being able to hear music and having it completely blow you away. YMMV, but I would prefer the latter.

 

[freakydrew]

I don't even have my K702s amped yet...(ok, let me zip up here, ok good, now I 've got my full flame retardent suit on), I have them plugged into the Logitech z5500 pod and cranked the volume and they are quite nice, the bass is not as lacking as I also was worried about....I am really excited to get a better am and sound card though!

 

[scytheavatar]

But the K701 is supposed to suck! There's supposed to be nothing you can do to make it sound good! I mean, you guys are not supposed to have "opinions", shouldn't you?

 

[steviebee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by estreeter /img/forum/go_quote.gif Dont even bother with the Fiio - the 701 is a phone worthy of the dedicated desktop amps sold by people like HeadRoom. Not cheap, but if you want the results that the 701 faithful rave about on this forum, do not waste time and effort trying to ratchet your way up a very steep ladder. Thats the realisation I've come to with the K601 - its either go hard or go home, I'm afraid. You will encounter plenty of people who tell you they can drive the 701s with this portable or that soundcard, but there is a difference between being able to hear music and having it completely blow you away. YMMV, but I would prefer the latter.

Hey, they do sound pretty good with a P51-Mustang! But I take your point (bugger...adds desktop amp to list)

 

[ph0rk]

I owned the k701 twice, for a total period of over one year. I listened to it out of an M^3 and a GS-1, as well as a receiver and an 0404 usb.

I prefer the k601, which I think has a hair better bass extension and none of the upper treble emphasis the k701 has. This doesn't make a k701 horrible, though, just not my cup of tea.

I wouldn't be surprised if the k701 was well suited to vinyl though - but I don't listen to any.


All this said, if a new k701 owner finds the bass very lacking, they are usually better off getting a new headphone, as extracting "more" bass from the k701 is pretty much a fool's errand. (Unless one is at peace with using an EQ)

 

[Scooterboy]

Astroid,

You have demonstrated a key point. Always let your ears be the judge and don't rely on opinions. The 701 is a worthy phone and does many things well including bass and it gets much better especially when matched with a good headphone amp.

I for one never really understud the AKG 701 bashing by some on this forum.........