K601s sound like crap

[Chris_Himself]

so i got the K601s today, courtesy of buy.com.

i am clearly not very happy with them. why? because i dont think the microshar can adequately power them. i dont know if its either that or the fact that i might not just like them?

i cant tell whether they arent properly powered, or they just arent for me.
im a grado person, so im not anywhere near a bass-head.

i have to say that the fit and build of these things are awe-inspiring though. anyone whos tried on a pair of K701's will know too.

i know im supposed to burn them in blah blah blah, but burn-in is never supposed to dramatically affect the sonic signature of the headphone.

am i just going to have to get that corda move?

does anyone have one to loan out to me really quick?

ill have more to say later, im going to listen for a couple hours and see if anything changes.

 

[colonelkernel8]

I must say, if that picture reflects their current sound quality, then wow, they must really suck.

 

[Zorander]

I haven't really tried the K601 much with either the Move or Microshar (yep, I have both amps) so I won't comment. However, it is also entirely possible the K601/701 sound isn't for you. Despite my Solo's ability to breathe life into these cans, the K601 still has not quite won me over. It's not so much the habitually lean bass that puts me off (I like it in fact!); its sterile presentation rarely ever sways me. The K340 easily fills in that position for me (but is a far more demanding load; the Microshar won't have the steam to drive these).

 

[holland]

Chris, can you describe what you don't like?

 

[aaron-xp]

I'm probably going to advocate the "burn-in blah blah blah".

It sounded a bit better (bass wasn't as boomy as I felt it was out of the box) after some time of burning in. I did about 50 hour of more or less continuous burn in.

I use them with the CD5001 or PM4001 headphone output, and can't help feeling that it is not performing to the best of its potential.

 

[jwilldermood]

The K601 is rated at 120ohms while the K701 is listed at 64ohms. Maybe you need a more powerful amp. I think most AKGs are powerhungy.

 

[BrookR1]

Thanks for posting your impressions. I was seriously considering these as my next can. I think I'll use that money towards an amp.

 

[only500made]

maybe ur not driving them enough?

 

[ericj]

burn-in isn't supposed to dramatically change the sound, but on a very small number of cans it does. The 14-year-old MBQuart qp45x and qp55x for example.

No idea about the K601 - maybe you just plain don't like 'em.

 

[Trippytiger]

Well, If you decide not to keep them, I might be interested in taking them off of your hands...

 

[Chris_Himself]

sorrry guys i would definitely return them to buy.com before i sold em.

but ive had em on for some more.

no out of the box it sounded like there was something blatantly WRONG with them. the bass notes would clip and there was no extension at ALL in any song i would play @ 320kbps.

about 2 hours into it i fell asleep... sorry i just got off an 8 hour shift at the PC store on 5 hours of sleep.

when i woke up i noticed that i can hear the cymbal decay a lot slower as opposed to the fast action of the grados and it wasnt clipping anymore. it was REALLY bad when i got them out of the box, almost unlistenable.

i seriously still think its an issue of proper amplification, but mainly i wanted to see what the K701 audience had to go with to find that mate for their trusty can. i can tell that there is a LOT to be demanded out of these. the bass IS a little lean for my tastes, actually almost less than the SR-80, but i can work with it. im wondering if the HD-600 would have suited me more. but as fair as gain is concerned, the pot is set to 11 o'clock and that would have slaughtered me with the Grados.

if anyone wants to know what song i use to demo my cans and compare, it is "Viking Kong" by Racer X. perhaps the most die hard guitar song ever written.

so its either i can find a proper mate with these, or i could see if either HD-600 or DT 880 is for me? sorry i sound a bit spoiled and picky, but ive always taught myself not to make myself love anything, but to love it from the beginning and never stop.

i would have gotten SR-225s, but the whole earcup falling off thing has discouraged me from spending too much on the plasti-grados.

 

[Vaughn]

My 601's never really woke up until I plugged them into my Eddie Current
EC/SS. They are still nowhere near as lively sounding as my Grado SR225's and if you are a Grado person you may just not be into their "smooth" sound.
I find I don't reach for them very frequently.

 

[Chris_Himself]

im getting more detail out of these than my SR80s and im listening VERY carefully and it isnt as lively, but i think that is exchanged for the soundstage that these offer. these pads are to die for.

 

[Zorander]

The bass shouldn't clip at all. Sounds like an amplification issue (I should take out my Microshar for testing sake). And these cans extend down really well, far beyond what the SR-80 can hope to achieve.

Do you really intend to use the K601 as a portable phone? I find it too big to be transportable, let alone portable. I also remember reading somewhere here that portable amps generally do not power the big boys (that includes the K601) well enough, compared to desktop amps. You might want to swap the AKG for something smaller and more amp-friendly.

Cheers!

 

[Voltron]

I didn't keep my K601s for too long and did not love them, but I can almost certainly say that the little MicroShar amp can't do them justice. It sounds like you are already hearing some improvements, and burn-in will change those cans quite a bit, but you should really just bring them to the SJ meet next weekend and hear them on some quality, powerful amps. That will change your opinion quickly, I imagine.