[derbigpr]

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These phones have lots of potential and scale well with your gears.  

 
Exactly, everyone just says that HD650's scale well, and seem to ignore the K701. I find the K701 superior technically to the HD650 when properly powered. Its just unparalleled at <600/700 dollar range in terms of soundstage, clarity, detail, speed or transient response, dynamics, etc.  It just sounds more expensive and more "hi-fi" than other headphones in the price range.  But of course, its got a pretty unique sound signature, and I see why its such a love or hate headphone. I personally love it, its my favorite headphone at the moment. Since I got it, HD650's and DT880's don't get any head time. As I'm currently at collage, my HD650's, DT880's and Q701's are resting at home until summer. I only have the K701's and DT990pro's with me.

 

[roguegeek]

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Is there a guide somewhere that shows how to replace the rubber bands that create the tension for the headband? Mine seem to be wearing out.

bump

 

[miceblue]

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These phones have lots of potential and scale well with your gears.  

 
Exactly, everyone just says that HD650's scale well, and seem to ignore the K701. I find the K701 superior technically to the HD650 when properly powered. Its just unparalleled at <600/700 dollar range in terms of soundstage, clarity, detail, speed or transient response, dynamics, etc.  It just sounds more expensive and more "hi-fi" than other headphones in the price range.  But of course, its got a pretty unique sound signature, and I see why its such a love or hate headphone. I personally love it, its my favorite headphone at the moment. Since I got it, HD650's and DT880's don't get any head time. As I'm currently at collage, my HD650's, DT880's and Q701's are resting at home until summer. I only have the K701's and DT990pro's with me.

Yup, that's why I got the K 701 over the HD650. The HD650 sounds good and I can see why people like it, but I never really liked its sound with the myriad of amps I've heard it from.
 
 
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They sound OK out of an iPhone, of course it's not optimal though as it's an amplifier built for a portable device and was probably never really meant to "sound good" with most headphones. The DAC is decent though.
I've tried the K 701's on a public bus before, just as a random test, and they do get loud enough for me to listen to my music comfortably from the iPhone.
 
They certainly sound much better with an O2. Might I ask what amp you suggest for the K 701's then? I've tried a Lyr/Bifrost combo and thought the K 701's sounded much better out of an O2. If I'm not mistaken, the designer of the O2 specifically addressed the needs for the K 701 and other headphones that are typically "hard to drive" in the design of the O2.

 
 
I'm using either the output on my Asus Xonar ST soundcard (which sounds extremely good, 95% of SQ of any amp I've ever tried with K701, including the Musical Fidelity M1 which is like $1k).  But recently I bought the Musical Fidelity V-CAN MkII. And even though it doesn't get quite as loud as with the K701, it gets more than loud enough for anyone with a hint of sanity, it sounds very very good. It adds nice warmth to the sound, especially makes the mids and bass sound "fuller" and highs even though not as aggressive seem like they present micro-details a bit more effortlessly.
 
So, for 250$ that I paid for the V-CAN, I can say it works very well with K701.  It's really a bit improvement over any non-amped or not well amped source. Of course, amp is not the only part of the chain that matter. And even bigger role is played by Asus ST as an excellent DAC. Also a huge improvement over Iphone. Even though I never use the Iphone for portable listening (got the Galaxy S for that, which I find better sounding),  I can run the Iphone straight into the V-CAN and play same FLAC files I play on the PC, and difference is very obvious, it's a huge improvement.
 
While we're talking about amps....funny thing about the Musical Fidelity V-CAN. Its got two outputs on the front, so I can connect two headphones at the same time. The hardest to run I currently have at home, the K701 and DT990pro, both connected at the same time, at the same position of the volume knob, sound exactly the same, and exactly as loud regardless of whether they're connected on their own, or both are connected to the amp at the same time. Which is quite weird. I can actually set the volume on the K701 as loud as it gets without distorting, and then plug in the DT990 while listening to the K701, and I hear no change in the sound. Its as if it has "double" the power, so that each output can work without compromise. Which begs me to ask a question, why the hell doesn't it have more power when only one headphone is connected?
 
Btw, what kind of source are you using at home?

Well the Asus ST is kind of out of the question for me.....I use a Retina MacBook Pro with an ODAC and using Audirvana Plus as my media player of choice (hog mode and integer mode enabled).
I'll take a look at the Musical Fidelity V-CAN. I haven't heard of it before.
 

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I was just listening to this, and wow does it sound good with the K 701!

 

[sunseeker888]

hey... I must say I think the HD650 is a superb can! I listened to it a while ago at a high-end salon powered by the Bryston amp that looks like a pre. Source was CD, a Krell with the ultra quiet transport and reddish display.
I chose K701 because I opted for its sound signature. Neutral, that is.

 

[miceblue]

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Is there a guide somewhere that shows how to replace the rubber bands that create the tension for the headband? Mine seem to be wearing out.

bump

I personally don't know how to replace them, but someone here might: http://www.head-fi.org/t/626920/rubber-band-on-akg-q701-k701-702

 

[Fishi]

Just bought a pair of K701

 

[bracko]

Just bought a pair of K701

Welcome to the k701 club!

 

[miceblue]

I have a question for you guys. Are the K 701's position-dependent for you? I've found them to sound more transparent when the earcups are placed farther back on my head (front of earpads are touching the front of my ears, or my ears are in the center of the earcup), but also more fatiguing than with the earcups more towards the front of my head (back of earcups touching the back of my ears).

 

[cravenz]

I have a question for you guys. Are the K 701's position-dependent for you? I've found them to sound more transparent when the earcups are placed farther back on my head (front of earpads are touching the front of my ears, or my ears are in the center of the earcup), but also more fatiguing than with the earcups more towards the front of my head (back of earcups touching the back of my ears).

They very much are. I can't remember the positioning since I haven't used them in ages

 

[miceblue]

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I have a question for you guys. Are the K 701's position-dependent for you? I've found them to sound more transparent when the earcups are placed farther back on my head (front of earpads are touching the front of my ears, or my ears are in the center of the earcup), but also more fatiguing than with the earcups more towards the front of my head (back of earcups touching the back of my ears).

They very much are. I can't remember the positioning since I haven't used them in ages

Okay that's good to know. I thought I was crazy when I heard the difference.

 

[jrhill]

You can also turn the pads around - they're mounted in a groove/slot method and a short 'part-turn' frees them and you can rotate them (change the wide, or thicker, shoulder) to suit. 

 

[Fishi]

My k701s have arrived \o/ and in two weeks later I'll have enough for the M-stage amp yay!

 

[bracko]

My k701s have arrived \o/ and in two weeks later I'll have enough for the M-stage amp yay!

It is a great pairing.

 

[gtb123]

How about k701 with the O2+Odac?
I have heard that the M-stage and O2 are quite competitive among each other.

 

[Fishi]

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How about k701 with the O2+Odac?
I have heard that the M-stage and O2 are quite competitive among each other.

I was going to use that as my initial set-up, but I read that the 3.5mm is rated to 2,000 inserts; link. Which can be solved with an extension, but I wanted a quality amp so I'm going balls to the wall and buying the Matrix M-stage. Unless I hear other wise.
 
Impressions on the not burned, un amped k701 much clearer and has an awesome soundstage compared to my HD 280 pro. Also, aesthetically pleasing, I get eye-gasms just looking at it and when I wear it i get ear-gasms.