[SonyFan121]

Just stopping by this thread with some final impressions about the K275, for anyone considering buying it or just curious to know more about it's sound.
I spent some time today listening to the K275 connected to my Marantz HD-CD1 CD player, via the in-built headphone amp/output of the player. I set the amp output to medium gain, and listened. I have been using my iphone X and audio Quest Dragonfly connected to my PC to test the AKG K275, and it works great with those, but I can confirm that the sound of the heaphone improves further with the HD-CD1, which is the best news because it means the K275 scales well with more expensive hifi equipment. What is also apparent now is that it has an identical sound signature to the AKG K712..except the K712 is more technical. The K275 is like a closed-back K712. That is my conclusion. Both headphones would go well together.

 

[FullBright1]

The K275 is like a closed-back K712. That is my conclusion. Both headphones would go well together.

A lot of people would love to get a $200 "closed back" K712
You've caused a stampede.......

 

[PDC3]

Folks, I just posted a 4-star review of the K275. Hope its helpful.

 

[PDC3]

Amazing. Accurate info on Head-Fi. Never ever replace the pads with aftermarket pads without expecting major sound changes, and almost always for the worse.

Sounds to me like they haven't fixed the seal issues many people experienced with the K550 and are using a similar pad design for the 275.

Wellll, as a general rule “never replace the pads”, okay. But specifically for the k275, the Brainwavz round 100 mm pads gave a better seal over my glasses which noticeably retained the preferable bass level. Without glasses the seal and the sound seemed identical.

 

[SonyFan121]

Been listening to the K275's today and it's an absolutely brilliant headphone. It's different to my Sony MDR7510,- K275 has a much more laid back, easy going sound signature in comparison but with no lack in detail. The K275 really is exceptional for a headphone of it's size and price, talk about value for money! what impresses me the most is the bass it has to offer. I don't want to imply that it's a basshead 'phone, although it could be considered as one. Overall it has a nice neutral/balanced sound signature, but the quality of the bass/sub-bass is phenomenal, in my opinion. It goes deep and is very powerful, but is very accurate. K275 is definitely underrated.

 

[FullBright1]

K275 has a much more laid back, easy going sound signature in comparison but with no lack in detail. The K275 really is exceptional for a headphone of it's size and price, talk about value for money! what impresses me the most is the bass it has to offer. I don't want to imply that it's a basshead 'phone, although it could be considered as one. Overall it has a nice neutral/balanced sound signature, but the quality of the bass/sub-bass is phenomenal, in my opinion. It goes deep and is very powerful, but is very accurate. K275 is definitely underrated.

it really is quite a find for people who can appreciate a closed, inexpensive, good sound for the money.
Perhaps its one solid answer for people who have 29 open headphones and yet, on occasion want a closed headphone just for a change, and want one that sounds good, and does not cost a ton of money.
It is a headphone that can be worn a lot and offers very low fatigue factor, yet, has nice resolution and a sound that many will enjoy.
The truth is, open headphones sound like music and closed headphones sound like closed headphones.......thats just the nature of the situation, so, if a person can stop trying to "find a closed headphone that sounds as good as a really good open headphone", and can just enjoy what a closed gear has to offer, then the K275 is a very nice & inexpensive value .

 

[SonyFan121]

it really is quite a find for people who can appreciate a closed, inexpensive, good sound for the money.
Perhaps its one solid answer for people who have 29 open headphones and yet, on occasion want a closed headphone just for a change, and want one that sounds good, and does not cost a ton of money.
It is a headphone that can be worn a lot and offers very low fatigue factor, yet, has nice resolution and a sound that many will enjoy.
The truth is, open headphones sound like music and closed headphones sound like closed headphones.......thats just the nature of the situation, so, if a person can stop trying to "find a closed headphone that sounds as good as a really good open headphone", and can just enjoy what a closed gear has to offer, then the K275 is a very nice & inexpensive value .

I totally agree. I have always preferred closed-back headphones not just for practical reasons but also for sound quality, I consider myself somewhat of an expert on them. 95% of my listening time in the last 10 years has been spent with closed-back headphones instead of open-back headphones. Closed-back headphones can sound just as musical as open-back headphones, closed-back headphones also have better, more accurate bass (fuller, rounder, deeper sub-bass) and some closed-back headphones can even sound more "open" than some open-back headphones. One such example of a closed-back headphone that sounds like an open-back is the Beyerdynamic T70, it has this wonderful dark background that successfully creates the illusion that you are listening to an open-back headphone. Also the Beyerdynamic T5P, though T5P is not as open sounding as the T70. T70 and T5P have a much, much bigger and open sounding soundstage than the Sennheiser HD600. I think the soundstage of the K275 is impressive and does sound fairly open, but it's not the widest i've heard. I think the imaging is very good though. Overall I think the K275 is exceptional for the money. A great headphone, designed by the genius former Austrian-based employees of AKG, the same employees that gave us such classics as K701,K702,K712,K612, Q701.

 

[FullBright1]

I totally agree. I have always preferred closed-back headphones not just for practical reasons but also for sound quality, I consider myself somewhat of an expert on them. 95% of my listening time in the last 10 years has been spent with closed-back headphones instead of open-back headphones. Closed-back headphones can sound just as musical as open-back headphones, closed-back headphones also have better, more accurate bass (fuller, rounder, deeper sub-bass) and some closed-back headphones can even sound more "open" than some open-back headphones. One such example of a closed-back headphone that sounds like an open-back is the Beyerdynamic T70, it has this wonderful dark background that successfully creates the illusion that you are listening to an open-back headphone. Also the Beyerdynamic T5P, though T5P is not as open sounding as the T70. T70 and T5P have a much, much bigger and open sounding soundstage than the Sennheiser HD600. I think the soundstage of the K275 is impressive and does sound fairly open, but it's not the widest i've heard. I think the imaging is very good though. Overall I think the K275 is exceptional for the money. A great headphone, designed by the genius former Austrian-based employees of AKG, the same employees that gave us such classics as K701,K702,K712,K612, Q701.

Ah, the K612...
Unique.
Also, i've tried to love Beyer's, but, have not yet..
The T70 i have not tried, as i didn't want another trip to the land of treble-sizzle.
However, you seem to like it a lot, so, i'll get around to it....

 

[PDC3]

Q: Is Beyerdynamic implementation of mini-XLR on the earcup of its DT 1990 compatible with AKG cables like the one for HP on this thread, also Q701 and K7?? Series?

 

[AKGunkie]

Q: Is Beyerdynamic implementation of mini-XLR on the earcup of its DT 1990 compatible with AKG cables like the one for HP on this thread, also Q701 and K7?? Series?

As far as I know it's a standard 3 pin mini xlr. Same connector as the removable 7 series cables.

 

[SonyFan121]

I'm using the AKG K712 cable for my K275 for practical reasons, it works perfectly.

 

[PDC3]

As far as I know it's a standard 3 pin mini xlr. Same connector as the removable 7 series cables.

Thanks!

 

[mysiak]

Anyone who could compare K275 to K240 or Beyerdynamic DT990/770? I am looking for a closed back headphones for an office use and so far I chose Beyerdynamic custom studio, though I've been recommended to rather buy K275 instead (but without any explanation why). I own a pair of K240 and DT990 and listened to DT770, so any comparison with them would be quite helpful. Thanks in advance!

 

[Mad Max]

I totally agree. I have always preferred closed-back headphones not just for practical reasons but also for sound quality, I consider myself somewhat of an expert on them. 95% of my listening time in the last 10 years has been spent with closed-back headphones instead of open-back headphones. Closed-back headphones can sound just as musical as open-back headphones, closed-back headphones also have better, more accurate bass (fuller, rounder, deeper sub-bass) and some closed-back headphones can even sound more "open" than some open-back headphones. One such example of a closed-back headphone that sounds like an open-back is the Beyerdynamic T70, it has this wonderful dark background that successfully creates the illusion that you are listening to an open-back headphone. Also the Beyerdynamic T5P, though T5P is not as open sounding as the T70. T70 and T5P have a much, much bigger and open sounding soundstage than the Sennheiser HD600. I think the soundstage of the K275 is impressive and does sound fairly open, but it's not the widest i've heard. I think the imaging is very good though. Overall I think the K275 is exceptional for the money. A great headphone, designed by the genius former Austrian-based employees of AKG, the same employees that gave us such classics as K701,K702,K712,K612, Q701.

I found T70p to be a resonance fest and not open-sounding. The Beyers that get closer to the "open sound" are DT660 and DT770, in my opinion. Apparently, Beyerdynamic actually bothered to stick acoustic dampening material inside of them, a key ingredient any closed-back headphone needs to give its best sound. Acoustic dampening is what helps a closed-back sound "open". That said, plenty of open-back headphones benefit from a little dampening themselves.
M50x is another example, but it has other design issues that prevent it from sounding as good as it can (which is not that great anyway).

I put fiberfill in all of my closed-back headphones, so they all sound very "open" while still giving me isolation.
If look at pictures of studio speaker monitors' insides in google search, you can get to see that they have fiberfill, too. They are built kind of like giant closed-back headphones.

 

[SonyFan121]

I found T70p to be a resonance fest and not open-sounding. The Beyers that get closer to the "open sound" are DT660 and DT770, in my opinion. Apparently, Beyerdynamic actually bothered to stick acoustic dampening material inside of them, a key ingredient any closed-back headphone needs to give its best sound. Acoustic dampening is what helps a closed-back sound "open". That said, plenty of open-back headphones benefit from a little dampening themselves.
M50x is another example, but it has other design issues that prevent it from sounding as good as it can (which is not that great anyway).

I put fiberfill in all of my closed-back headphones, so they all sound very "open" while still giving me isolation.
If look at pictures of studio speaker monitors' insides in google search, you can get to see that they have fiberfill, too. They are built kind of like giant closed-back headphones.

Yeah that's true, I agree. Acoustic dampening definitely helps. I had the T70 250 Ohm and it had dampening material inside it. It was a round foam disc that was glued to the inside of the cups. Maybe the Beyerdynamic engineers didn't put this material in the T70P. Anyways, the T70 250 ohm sounded just like an open-back headphone to me. To tell the truth I kinda regret letting my T70 250 Ohm go, I might buy one soon. I actually done some experimenting with the foam discs, I took them out of the T70 and put them in the Fostex TH-X00 Purpleheart I had, and was astonished at the difference the foam discs made. Not just a small difference but if I where to use numbers, I would say it improved the sound by about 50%. The Soundstage, imaging, tonal accuracy of the TH-X00 Purpleheart all improved. It definitely sounded more open. Though not as open sounding as the T70 250 Ohm.