[Uncle Erik]

Did you give any thought to the Sennheiser HD-600? To my ears they're much more musical and neutral than the K-701/2. The HD-600 is a different flavor than the HD-650, so you might have a different impression.

Also, what amp did you use for evaluating the HD-650?

 

[Redcarmoose]

I have never got a well rounded sound out of my AKG k701s. I like them for a different kind of headphone but I play a lot of rock and they are not that geat with rock. Classical and Newage they are ok with. There is just too much treable. This is an interesting concept though. The fact is they are real close to perfect, almost maybe something someone could get to with the right combo of products.The treable is great, there are all these nice bell sounds that they make. The soundstage is huge. They are just missing lower bass area authority. When they say train your ear, that makes me think about not hearing alot of bass for weeks so that any you hear sounds like bass even when it is not the best. My 300b SET system is mid fantastic and not known for bad-a'' '' bass. It would be nice to hear them solid-state before I make a final call on the k-701s. I like the sound of Bose products even though they may not be true to the music, the manufactured bass is dynamic. The trick is to just hear a lot of headphones with your system and play the music you play then be the final judge yourself regardless of what others say.

 

[atothex]

Quote:

Originally Posted by estreeter /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes, you own some very desirable hardware - as I said, I am more than happy for you to send me your hand-me-downs. This isnt about 'calling people out' : its about dismissing an entire line of headphones simply because you see their sub-$500 offerings as being undesirable. This isnt a peeing contest : I'm trying to get VFM from the headphones that I can afford, and here in Oz they arent as cheap and readily available as they are for many Head-Fiers.

We're all trying to get that elusive VFM.

From my personal experience, though, I'm not sure that the best values in the mid to low end are full-sized dynamics at all. I guess that's a bit dismissive, but that's how I feel right now. It's like this: if I had to have only 1 $500 phone, it'd be an AT, but if I had to have only 1 $100 phone, it would definitely not.

 

[12Bass]

I made some comments about the differences between the K701/K702 here:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/k70...e-same-432380/

 

[hifidk]

Responding to your OP, you don't really have to understand others who love AT sound. Because, after all, it comes down to personal preference. For example, I have owned AD700/900/2000 and W1000/5000 and loved all of them very much (especially AD900/2000 and W5000). On the other hand, I didn't really like K701 (I thought they lacked more bass than some of the AT cans). I still prefer my modded W5000 over D7000. I think they have better soundstage, more detail/speed and better bass.

 

[proteuskim]

i gave the ATs another listen and i like them more than before. i dont agree about thw w5000 having better bass than the d7000. imo bass is the one thing ATs lack and one of the things that denon excels at. esp. in the d7000. the k701 is among one of my favs now. the more i listen the more it grows on me. its still fatiguing tho.

listened to the AD700, ESW9, A700, AD 1000x?(polished chrome looking cups), and a few others. ESW9 may be my portable solution. AKG K518 seems to be a good DJ phone (plenty of bass not as detailed as the HD 25 1 II w/ 650 cable but good enough for mixing techno and fits my head much better than the senns and only 12000 yen compared to 38000 yen for the senns).
ATs r growing on me but if i could choose any $1000 range headphone AT wouldnt be on that list.not atm.

stax, senn, ultrasone, denon, akg ( in no particular order)

 

[moonboy403]

D7000 has more bass quantity while W5000 has better bass definition in addition to being much faster.

 

[REB]

I like the neutralish, transparent sound of the open akg's (not so much the 701, but in particular the 500/501) and the colored, midrange-centric, female-focused signature of higher-end ath's. It depends on my mood, I guess, more than on the music. I listen to the same albums with the k500 and the ad2000 or esw10jpn. Have a listen to the ad2000 if you think ath's lack bass. It has very well defined and deep bass. A lot depends on your set-up and your ears, but what I found to be true for myself is that I like to have several choices with regard to sound signature. Alternating between them keeps my ears 'fresh' so to speak, although I did notice I do demand things like accuracy, detail and a certain amount of speed etc from all my headphones (or else they find themselves at the FS forum).

 

[daniele_g]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REB /img/forum/go_quote.gif I like the neutralish, transparent sound of the open akg's (not so much the 701, but in particular the 500/501) and the colored, midrange-centric, female-focused signature of higher-end ath's. It depends on my mood, I guess, more than on the music.

x2, any single word.

that could be called 'my-fi', I know; well, I don't care that much, after all.

ciao
daniele

 

[cswann1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by proteuskim /img/forum/go_quote.gif i gave the ATs another listen and i like them more than before. i dont agree about thw w5000 having better bass than the d7000. imo bass is the one thing ATs lack and one of the things that denon excels at. esp. in the d7000. the k701 is among one of my favs now. the more i listen the more it grows on me. its still fatiguing tho.

My experience with the K701 was a lot like yours. After some time I really started to overlook it's flaws and appreciate the things it does so well. If you are finding it fatiguing, you may have too much volume. When I first started listening to them, I wanted to crank it up, so I could hear more bass. These are just very bass-lean cans and turning up the volume just led to listening fatigue for me.

Since my K701 perished in a tragic recable-gone-wrong I've been happily living with the HD580's (which are practically HD600's). They don't have quite the speed and the soundstage of the K701, but the lower end is more satisfying, and I think they are more comfortable also.

For stringed instrumental and female vocal music I think the K701 is spectacular and I'll probably end up getting another pair just for that kind of music someday.


Happy listening.

 

[runswithaliens]

I have two pairs of audio-technica headphones: the AD700's and the A55's. Despite the fact that they both cost the same amount and are made by the same company, they are two completely different sounding specimens. The difference is almost night and day. So I don't understand how it is possible to talk about "the AT sound" as if there is such a thing.

 

[REB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by runswithaliens /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have two pairs of audio-technica headphones: the AD700's and the A55's. Despite the fact that they both cost the same amount and are made by the same company, they are two completely different sounding specimens. The difference is almost night and day. So I don't understand how it is possible to talk about "the AT sound" as if there is such a thing.

I never heard the a55s, so I can't say anything about them, but in general the at sound (or the sennheiser sound, the grado sound etc) is thought to be present in many of the company's models, in particular it's top of the line models. The at sound is usually described I guess as mid-centric, with a focus on vocals and significantly colored. Does this go for all at models? No, obviously not. It's the same with the akg house sound: lean (especially on the bass), transparent, neutral. True for the open models (the most popular ones), but when you listen to a sextett, the sound sig is completely different. Still, it's a useful way (shorthand, I guess) to talk about headphones in a general way. No one has to spell out for me that there will be exceptions (especially lower down the line) when they talk about 'house sound.'

 

[REB]

Forgot to add that the difference in sq within the same brand is even more conspicuous when it comes to headphones made for monitoring or other such special activities (or situations).

 

[hifidk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by proteuskim /img/forum/go_quote.gif i gave the ATs another listen and i like them more than before. i dont agree about thw w5000 having better bass than the d7000. imo bass is the one thing ATs lack and one of the things that denon excels at. esp. in the d7000. the k701 is among one of my favs now. the more i listen the more it grows on me. its still fatiguing tho.

I was referring to my modded W5000, which has more bass quantity and better impact. They go lower without losing details of high/mid.

 

[daniele_g]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REB /img/forum/go_quote.gif The at sound is usually described I guess as mid-centric, with a focus on vocals and significantly colored. .... ...when you listen to a sextett, the sound sig is completely different. '

perfect description of what I hear when I listen to my ATH-W1000's.
and I don't even find 'em that 'bass poor'; I mean they are sure poorer than some Denons or Ultrasones or Beyers (DT770) in that frequency range, but when I listen to live music -classical, no jazz and just rarely rock- I can't hear all that sound pressure at low-lows... I find Denons and so on have overemphasized bass. Anyway, that's OT.

Sextett: if they don't sound like an open AKG, which I know (guess you're talking about K501÷701), what do they sound like ?

ciao
daniele