[Electro Point]

Yep! I'm really enjoying them even though there not all the way burned in as of right now.
I recieved these on firday. Heres a nice medium sized yet detailed review on them on what I have heard out of them so far.

Out of the box their sound is somewhat conserative as in the whole frequency wasn't all there, they were hiding away. But I noticed the mid and high frequency details instantly as they were crisp and detailed even out of the box. The bass impact wasn't all too impressive straight out of the box listening to.
Just a quick break from that part of the review and turn subjects to other things about the K601.
I love the self-adjusting headband. You get that just right perfect fit ever time you wear them. Each cup restes on your ear and there is an under amount of clamping force which is good since no pain for long listening sessions. The construction is sturdy and overall high-quality. Even the stock cable is nice too.
Alright, back to sound review.
Now after a couple of hours of listening, The bass extension and impact started to improve by a nice amount then it sounded before. Though it lacks bass if your really looking for a headphone with thumping impact on the low-end. The mid's started to appear more and detail on the mid's are nice and smooth into the high's. The high's are just right to my ears, Not too sharp nor are they fatigue harsh bright to listen to. But it seems the highs are a little recessed in a way. Overall there is a good amount instrument seperation yet the frequences are synchronized with each other. Something hard to explain but thats how I would put it, You might differ from my view on this.
The whole frequency is evened out for the most part and is flat-ish, The soundstage sounds a bit distant or so not with different types of music. These headphones are sometimes lifeless but probably not as they are now once I burn them in all the way.
I think I covered about everything right now.

If you want know more about a certain thing, feel free to post what you need to know.

Some pictures below.

 

[darkninja67]

Thanks for the impressions. Congrats on the AKGs. These may be my next pair of cans, these or DT880s.
Where did you purchase the K601s from?

 

[Electro Point]

I ordered them from EarphoneSolutions, I did not have the patiences to wait if I brought them from Headroom because it was on the 2-4 week wait.
Also as we know the K701's are majorly backordered and the vendors are still waiting a while for the next shipment from Germany. So that was the reason I brought the K601's instead.


BTW, They look better IMO then the K701's. lol

 

[darkninja67]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Electro Point I ordered them from EarphoneSolutions, I did not have the patiences to wait if I brought them from Headroom because it was on the 2-4 week wait. Also as we know the K701's are majorly backordered and the vendors are still waiting a while for the next shipment from Germany. So that was the reason I brought the K601's instead. BTW, They look better IMO then the K701's. lol

yeah that is my reasoning too. Plus that extra $100 goes to a new amp.

 

[glac1er]

Wow, thanks a lot for the impressions.

There hasn't been many information on these in this forum.

I was wondering on how this will compare to your HD600. Are the mids better? How airy are the K601 compared to the HD600? Do they sound more distant compared to HD600?
And lastly... the bass??

EDIT: Typo, I misread your profile.

 

[Electro Point]

Quote:

Originally Posted by glac1er Wow, thanks a lot for the impressions. There hasn't been many information on these in this forum. I was wondering on how this will compare to your HD600. EDIT: Typo

Heres a short comparison. Sennheiser HD600's (Burned in) versus AKG K601 (Just a couple of hours usage time)

The HD600's have a lot more impact and the really low frequencies are much more audiable compared to the K601. Though I like how the K601 responds to very low frequencies but isn't as with the HD600's where it is more emphasized with the bass extention. The K601 responds to even lower frequencies then the HD600 does in some way.
The K601 has a more evened out smooth mid's then the HD600's. To my ears, the mid's on the HD600 are rolled off into the bass.
The high frequencies on the HD600's are sharper and brighter then the K601 though it is very nice to hear, not fatiguing.
The K601's have an overall slight rolled off sound.

Edit: lol You edited your post again so heres some response to your questions again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by glac1er Wow, thanks a lot for the impressions. There hasn't been many information on these in this forum. I was wondering on how this will compare to your HD600. Are the mids better? How airy are the K601 compared to the HD600? Do they sound more distant compared to HD600? And lastly... the bass?? EDIT: Typo, I misread your profile.

To me the mids are better as they stand out more then on the HD600. Somewhat the HD600's are more airy. To me both sound somewhat simliar if you want to compare how distant the sound is. Just the HD600 has that stress on certain frequencies that make it sound more rich and a little more distant.

For the bass, I mentioned it already in the earlier part of this post. If you really like bass then the HD600 would be better out of this comparison.

 

[glac1er]

Thanks

Sorry for the trouble...

The K601 seems to share similar sound signature with the K501 though it doesn't seem to suffer from lack of bass as bad as the K501. I was surprised when you say that the K601 is less airy than the HD600 though.

I prefer the K501 to the HD580 just for the sake of the mids so good luck with your burn-in.

 

[fewtch]

It's good to see the K601s starting to get a fan/purchaser base. Maybe things will settle out soon so everyone will relax and enjoy their choice of AKG's better headphones (501/601/701) and the K701 FOTM will die down to a dull roar. I must say I'm getting pretty sick of all the K701 threads.

P.S. I prefer the K501 to the HD580 as well... despite the bass lightness, it's a more coherent headphone than HD580 and definitely does have better mids. Better highs too IMO, nice and smooth without being as "muffled" as the HD580.

 

[Electro Point]

Quote:

Originally Posted by glac1er Thanks Sorry for the trouble... The K601 seems to share similar sound signature with the K501 though it doesn't seem to suffer from lack of bass as bad as the K501. I was surprised when you say that the K601 is less airy than the HD600 though. I prefer the K501 to the HD580 just for the sake of the mids so good luck with your burn-in.

Acutally if I really pay attention now to the K601 it sounds more airy to the HD600 but the HD600's have a more lively sound then the K601.
I guess I was worrying about something else in the sound that made me ignore the how airy it is.

hehehe Probably I was listening at too low of a volume to notice the airiness.

 

[Zorander]

They are simply wonderful with anything piano and strings. None of my other cans sound this good with these instruments. I personally still prefer the HD-650 though that can change once I get better used to the AKG.

 

[milkpowder]

Thank you for the review! It was very useful to me since I have the HD650 (basically the same as the HD600) and I want a pair of headphones that are more engaging. The K701 was the first pair of headphones that came to mind, but as they are so rediculously backordered, I will probably get the K601 to temporarily satisfy myself.

Quote:

The K601's have an overall slight rolled off sound.

Electro Point, can you please explain this?


You mentioned that the sound is the same distance away from the listener on the K601 and the HD600. Can you please comment on (three dimensional) soundstage and instrument positioning/imaging? You say the HD600 is airier, but does this mean that the HD600 is a little less engaging then?

Last thing (I promise). How would you say the bass and highs definition is? Is the bass tighter and lower midrange better controlled on the K601 than the HD600? Does the K601 have sparkling, detailed highs (like Etymotics or even HD600)?

Thank you so much!

 

[Electro Point]

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkpowder Thank you for the review! It was very useful to me since I have the HD650 (basically the same as the HD600) and I want a pair of headphones that are more engaging. The K701 was the first pair of headphones that came to mind, but as they are so rediculously backordered, I will probably get the K601 to temporarily satisfy myself. Electro Point, can you please explain this? You mentioned that the sound is the same distance away from the listener on the K601 and the HD600. Can you please comment on (three dimensional) soundstage and instrument positioning/imaging? You say the HD600 is airier, but does this mean that the HD600 is a little less engaging then? Last thing (I promise). How would you say the bass and highs definition is? Is the bass tighter and lower midrange better controlled on the K601 than the HD600? Does the K601 have sparkling, detailed highs (like Etymotics or even HD600)? Thank you so much!

What I mean in terms of slightly rolled off sound is lets put it this way, there is good amount of instrumental seperation but they are combined together also at the same time. More of in sync with each other.


Both to me sound about the same distant with the sound, But the HD600 has a more richer sound on certain frequencies then the K601 which is a bit mellow flat sounding.

I acutally now mean the K601 is more airier then the HD600 to me cause the K601's do not have the tender/richness/emphasis in certain frequences like the HD600's which make the K601's more airy sounding.

For the bass and lower mid-frequencies, I would have to say the HD600 takes it as the winner. But the K601's I am able to hear very low frequencies and it is pretty good detailed low-end, though it isn't tighter/boomier or has that thump as the HD600's would. I would have to say I would take the K601's for their bass extension though it is not loud/boomy/thumpy bass for say. Its just mellow and nicely detailed.

For the high's, The HD600's peak out higher and are brighter then the K601's. But the K601's do have nice, somewhat sparkling high's but do not peak out as high as the HD600's and are a bit joined with the upper/high-mid's.

 

[Electro Point]

Just a small note aside, I will have another review on the K601 versus HD600 once I get a lot of hours onto the K601's.
When I feel the K601's are burned in to some point where I find they achieve the sound its suppost to that will be when I will compare them once again.

So wait and you guys will be updated with a newer review!

 

[Zorander]

So which of these two do you think are the more neutral- or natural-sounding cans?

 

[bonethugz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Electro Point Just a small note aside, I will have another review on the K601 versus HD600 once I get a lot of hours onto the K601's. When I feel the K601's are burned in to some point where I find they achieve the sound its suppost to that will be when I will compare them once again. So wait and you guys will be updated with a newer review!

you have the newer review yet

? i too own a pair of k601. it's my first real good one so i want to know how people think.