[Shaffer]

Pads seem as if they are still angled unlike the newer K702 which now seems to come with non-angled flat pads...

My K702 have angled pads, or are you talking about the latest production run?

 

[miceblue]

Well that certainly looks interesting. After seeing the K 701 with bumps on the headband and grey earpads for years, this looks really weird to me, hahaha.

 

[K_19]

My K702 have angled pads, or are you talking about the latest production run?

Yeah, the latest production made in China with the flat headband. I emailed harman direct over at ebay that sells refurb K702's for cheaper, and they said they all come with no bumps on the headband and with non-angled flat pads (like the K612).

 

[econaut]

I bought my K702 in August 2014, have no bumps but angled pads...

 

[K_19]

Yeah it seems these changes are gradual with some models which are caught in between the various changes. I've also seen other Head-fi'ers here selling the K702's with flat pads over the past couple months so the pad change may be more of a recent thing.

 

[alpha80]

Still the best mixing and mastering tool in the entire headphone world.

Orpheus might sound the most pleasing, but the K701 is the most revealing of hyper fine details and the actual source material as recorded.

 

[kefalo81]

what is going on with prices in eu. dollar is strong but not so strong

 

[sesu]

I have one from 2010. number is 44598 and still going pretty strong, but later in the year I want to send it to forzaaudio to have the cable exchanged.

 

[alpha80]

  I have seen some reviews saying that k701 is very neutral. I already have a dt880. Do you think it is necessary to get a k701? 

DT880 sounds very neutral, yes, but noticeably thinner in the mids compared to the K701, with a lesser soundstage.  The only beyerdynamic with mids as detailed as the K701 is the T-90.  even the T-1 as good as it is, doesn't quite have the tonality or detail of the kids of the t90, or k701.
 
So for you, i'd say try a k series on, and if you like the fit, get it....much more expansive soundstage than the dt880.  As well as richer, fuller, less hollow mids.  however if you love the fit and feel of beyerdynamic, the t90 is where you should look. as it's the same size/shape just with tesla drivers and better, even more detailed sound.

 

[K_19]

  I have seen some reviews saying that k701 is very neutral. I already have a dt880. Do you think it is necessary to get a k701? 

 
Sure, it's totally different sounding compared to the DT880 IMO. The high trebles are more shelved on the AKG's than the Beyers and the K series has that typical bump in the frequency range around 2K region that gives it its characteristic forward vocal qualities (where as DT's mids sit back a bit more). The bass is less present on the K's as well and the soundstage is a lot wider so you get a very clear presentation overall. It's certainly not to everyone's tastes but those who love it love it for what it is. It's different enough from DT880's to experiment with IMO. I've had both in the past, and I personally liked the K's better (and have actually reacquired the K702's since).

 

[miceblue]

I actually liked the DT880s a bit better for purely music listening, hahaha. It has a cleaner bass response, it doesn't have ringing at the ~2 kHz area that makes it sound sharp, it doesn't have the ~2 kHz bump to make the uppper-midrange to seem more forward, and the treble didn't sound as grainy to me.

 

[K_19]

I actually liked the DT880s a bit better for purely music listening, hahaha. It has a cleaner bass response, it doesn't have ringing at the ~2 kHz area that makes it sound sharp, it doesn't have the ~2 kHz bump to make the uppper-midrange to seem more forward, and the treble didn't sound as grainy to me.

 
Yeah, it's definitely a hit or miss kind of thing with people I find. There are many people who cannot stand that 2khz bump/ringing and thinner bass, and I can definitely see why. It's the same reason why lot of people can't get on with the lower end Stax I find as far as frequency response is concerned (lot of their lower ranges has that similar 2k bump, just not to the same degree with less ringing, but it can still make certain tracks "shouty". And the bass of course typically drops off a cliff on the low end Stax). 
 
Worthy to mention is that he may want to try the Q701 first as they do have slight bit more of a meaty sound to them, it would undoubtedly be easier to get adjusted to. I found them to fill in parts of the midrange and bass a bit better than the K701/2's.  It has less of a risk factor IMO.  I see the K701/2's as more of a niche headphone really, so there's going to be somewhat higher risk involved than average that one may not like it. but I do happen to be part of that niche... I quite like it even after having/trying many higher end headphones, which is why I got them (well, the K702's) again 

.

 

[miceblue]

Yeah, it's definitely a hit or miss kind of thing with people I find. There are many people who cannot stand that 2khz bump/ringing and thinner bass, and I can definitely see why. It's the same reason why lot of people can't get on with the lower end Stax I find as far as frequency response is concerned (lot of their lower ranges has that similar 2k bump, just not to the same degree with less ringing, but it can still make certain tracks "shouty". And the bass of course typically drops off a cliff on the low end Stax). 

Worthy to mention is that he may want to try the Q701 first as they do have slight bit more of a meaty sound to them, it would undoubtedly be easier to get adjusted to. I found them to fill in parts of the midrange and bass a bit better than the K701/2's.  It has less of a risk factor IMO.  I see the K701/2's as more of a niche headphone really, so there's going to be somewhat higher risk involved than average that one may not like it. but I do happen to be part of that niche... I quite like it even after having/trying many higher end headphones, which is why I got them (well, the K702's) again  .

I personally haven't listened to the Q701 in detail before, but from what I've read, it does seem to be a better choice if you're going the safe route.

I've been overlaying the Olive-Harman preferred headphone sound and traditional flat-speaker HRTF onto Tyll's measurements on Innerfidelity. Of course, the frequency response doesn't tell the whole story, but I was surprised to see how the K 701 and Q 701 fair in terms of the entire Q/K 6/7/8/X-series headphones that have been measured. I certainly won't be paying nobody's ~$1100 for the K812.... D:

Black = Harman target headphone response
Green = flat-speaker HRTF

Spoiler: Q and K 6/7/8/X-series measurements

KXX


K612


K701 A


K701 B


K712


K812 earlier serial number


K812 later serial number


Q701

And since it's on-topic right now, here's the Beyer DT880 measurements

Spoiler: DT880 measurements

32-ohm


250-ohm


600-ohm

 

[mikiphile]

  Quote:
 
Present Q701 = K70X . 
 
Their could be slight differences with olders austrian made K701 ( older K701/K702 pads were almost flat , the current ones have the same angled pad as Q701, and all are made in PRC , also their could be some driver variations due to manufacturing process etc) .

 
Wait... WHAT?? Made in PRC? This is news. Mine are not that old but clearly say "Made in Austria". Well, I bought them in 2012, and they probably sat in inventory for a year at least.. so they might be slightly older. My K242 HD were also made in Austria, and later found out that almost everyone else that bought the same model round that time noticed that their's are made in China. Weird..
 
I have nothing against Chinese made gear, don't get me wrong, it definitely makes sense for Harman to resort to cheaper production for a model whos retail price has dropped significantly since its introduction. This actually means that there is still some demand for these headphones. Is there a big difference in sound between the newer models of 2010ish (even number of humps) and the newest Chinese ones? I'd 

 

[K_19]

   
Wait... WHAT?? Made in PRC? This is news. Mine are not that old but clearly say "Made in Austria". Well, I bought them in 2012, and they probably sat in inventory for a year at least.. so they might be slightly older. My K242 HD were also made in Austria, and later found out that almost everyone else that bought the same model round that time noticed that their's are made in China. Weird..
 
I have nothing against Chinese made gear, don't get me wrong, it definitely makes sense for Harman to resort to cheaper production for a model whos retail price has dropped significantly since its introduction. This actually means that there is still some demand for these headphones. Is there a big difference in sound between the newer models of 2010ish (even number of humps) and the newest Chinese ones? I'd 

 
Basically, I think they've outsourced the production of pretty much all their headphones abroad. They've even moved the K712 production to Slovakia, apparently. I think the K812's are still made in Austria though. It might be the only remaining model Made in Austria...
 
I've spent time with Made in China version of Q701 recently and they're pretty much still the same quality as before. Actually if anything they've made improvements during this oursourcing transition, finally getting rid of the bumps on the K701/2 headband and softening the bumps on the Q701 headband considerably compared to the earlier productions.