New AKG headphones K175, K245, K275
Pardon me, I appreciate your response and overlooked getting back to you. Thanks much.
Kammerat Rebekka
1000+ Head-Fier
Funny how the new openback seems to be the least talked about in this thread, but then again I gather folks interested in AKGs and their open headphones are because of past achievements before the company effectively took a professional nosedive. Then again it IS a new openback from AKG!
But man those pads look awfully close to the ones found on my ex Y50s...only a bit larger.
32 ohms doesn’t really look promising either, if this is supposed to win any sort of traction amongst pros that tend to use high impedance cans for studio work.
If the new K245 on the other hand has embraced a fully fledged v-signature, it’d be über-nice if it sounds like an openback TH900. I could most certainly live with the pads then...
But man those pads look awfully close to the ones found on my ex Y50s...only a bit larger.
32 ohms doesn’t really look promising either, if this is supposed to win any sort of traction amongst pros that tend to use high impedance cans for studio work.
If the new K245 on the other hand has embraced a fully fledged v-signature, it’d be über-nice if it sounds like an openback TH900. I could most certainly live with the pads then...
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Anyone compared K245 vs SR225 or HD5x9/HD5x8?
Nolbert0
100+ Head-Fier
I just came back from Tokyo (more specifically e-earphones in Akihabara - the Mecca for head-fiers, imo) and had a listen to both k275 and k245 back to back.
First and foremost, neither will replace the K712 (which i own. My first 'proper' cans, in fact). Neither have the treble spike or 'sparkle' that i associate with the K712, nor do they...
Actually it's silly to compare either of them to K712. Apples and oranges. Compare them to their more modern closed back models or their numerical predecessors if applicable (but i haven't heard those so i can't do the comparisons myself, lol). But i will compare them to each other.
I listened to the K245 and K275 on a Shanling M0. They are easy to drive. And to be honest, they sound pretty similar. They have an almost identical sound balance. Well balanced but a little emphasis on the bass. And the bass presentation is where the biggest difference between these two lie.
K275 is more conventional with the usual mid bass hump and the familiar decay towards the sub bass. The K245 seems to have a much more 'extended' bass presentation where the sub bass is much more audible. The extra sub bass did congest the sound a little but it's negligible. Nor did it muddy the sound much either.
As for comfort, it's pretty good. I concur with the general sentiment here that the pads are the weak link as they do touch both ends of my ears and do get hot quite quick but otherwise good. I for one really like the folding design.
So of the two, i prefer the K245 as it is the far more exciting pair. I love that bass extension. K275 is far more sensible sound with a tasteful accentuation of bass... But i already own a few 'sensible' sounding cans already. Rest assured, k245 aren't bass cannons (although it has invoked the bass-head in me!) . They have very similar levels of bass overall, but K245 has superior bass extension.
I'm now seriously thinking about buying a K245 but what I really want is that headband for the K712!
p.s. anybody found a decent hard case for K245 or K275 yet? Or a good solution to put into a suitcase and survive a flight? I do have a legitimate use for the fold as I travel a lot.
First and foremost, neither will replace the K712 (which i own. My first 'proper' cans, in fact). Neither have the treble spike or 'sparkle' that i associate with the K712, nor do they...
Actually it's silly to compare either of them to K712. Apples and oranges. Compare them to their more modern closed back models or their numerical predecessors if applicable (but i haven't heard those so i can't do the comparisons myself, lol). But i will compare them to each other.
I listened to the K245 and K275 on a Shanling M0. They are easy to drive. And to be honest, they sound pretty similar. They have an almost identical sound balance. Well balanced but a little emphasis on the bass. And the bass presentation is where the biggest difference between these two lie.
K275 is more conventional with the usual mid bass hump and the familiar decay towards the sub bass. The K245 seems to have a much more 'extended' bass presentation where the sub bass is much more audible. The extra sub bass did congest the sound a little but it's negligible. Nor did it muddy the sound much either.
As for comfort, it's pretty good. I concur with the general sentiment here that the pads are the weak link as they do touch both ends of my ears and do get hot quite quick but otherwise good. I for one really like the folding design.
So of the two, i prefer the K245 as it is the far more exciting pair. I love that bass extension. K275 is far more sensible sound with a tasteful accentuation of bass... But i already own a few 'sensible' sounding cans already. Rest assured, k245 aren't bass cannons (although it has invoked the bass-head in me!) . They have very similar levels of bass overall, but K245 has superior bass extension.
I'm now seriously thinking about buying a K245 but what I really want is that headband for the K712!
p.s. anybody found a decent hard case for K245 or K275 yet? Or a good solution to put into a suitcase and survive a flight? I do have a legitimate use for the fold as I travel a lot.
Kammerat Rebekka
1000+ Head-Fier
I’ve owned the K245 for a while now and feel comfortable in saying that it is one - if not the finest of frequency responses I’ve listened to in an open-back.
To my knowledge these headphones are also the last hurrah from some of the old school engineers before they left the Harman hordes, and sure here I am wholly speculating, but it genuinely sounds like they took a leaf or two from the ol Sennheiser cookbook.
Ever since I started sniffing around headphones there’s been the hardliner neutral heads that yearn for gear that tastes like a newly cleaned window ie like nothing - you get what was recorded in the studio/opera hall/shed....and then the others that like a little colour in the mix.
I am firmly in between ‘camps’ so to speak as I tend to dig the different expressions found in headphones..yet gun to my giraffe ‘choose only one!’-scenario, I’d opt for a Sennie 600.
This last week though has endeared me to the AKG in a big way. It harnesses the best bass I’ve ever heard from an AKG and anything in Sennie’s 6 series.
Interestingly enough it wields a bump in the lowest of lows, which is something I’ve never experienced before in an openback (never really heard a dynamic openback without any subbass roll-off either). Pass that the headphone sounds flat way up until we get to the treble, where I hear a slight raise somewhere around 10k...but very tastefully done mind you. Truth be told the overall behaviour of the presentation echoes the hd650 to these ears but with far better bass capabilities. Warm and natural sounding.
It’s an easy drive and changes beautifully for the more open and airy when connected to my Valhalla 2.
The fit is very nice as well. The pads are not über luxury mini sofas but they don’t need to be. The headphone is light and tends to disappear very quickly on the old noggin.
The build is excellent and exceeds quite a few cans I’ve owned that cost 5-7 times as much. Oh yeah I forgot to mention, I paid 99€ for this off of Thomann!
That’s basically daylight robbery as far as I’m concerned. The K245 should be the talk of the town in Can’s Land...but they’re probably too cheap
To my knowledge these headphones are also the last hurrah from some of the old school engineers before they left the Harman hordes, and sure here I am wholly speculating, but it genuinely sounds like they took a leaf or two from the ol Sennheiser cookbook.
Ever since I started sniffing around headphones there’s been the hardliner neutral heads that yearn for gear that tastes like a newly cleaned window ie like nothing - you get what was recorded in the studio/opera hall/shed....and then the others that like a little colour in the mix.
I am firmly in between ‘camps’ so to speak as I tend to dig the different expressions found in headphones..yet gun to my giraffe ‘choose only one!’-scenario, I’d opt for a Sennie 600.
This last week though has endeared me to the AKG in a big way. It harnesses the best bass I’ve ever heard from an AKG and anything in Sennie’s 6 series.
Interestingly enough it wields a bump in the lowest of lows, which is something I’ve never experienced before in an openback (never really heard a dynamic openback without any subbass roll-off either). Pass that the headphone sounds flat way up until we get to the treble, where I hear a slight raise somewhere around 10k...but very tastefully done mind you. Truth be told the overall behaviour of the presentation echoes the hd650 to these ears but with far better bass capabilities. Warm and natural sounding.
It’s an easy drive and changes beautifully for the more open and airy when connected to my Valhalla 2.
The fit is very nice as well. The pads are not über luxury mini sofas but they don’t need to be. The headphone is light and tends to disappear very quickly on the old noggin.
The build is excellent and exceeds quite a few cans I’ve owned that cost 5-7 times as much. Oh yeah I forgot to mention, I paid 99€ for this off of Thomann!
That’s basically daylight robbery as far as I’m concerned. The K245 should be the talk of the town in Can’s Land...but they’re probably too cheap
Kammerat Rebekka
1000+ Head-Fier
Alrighty then..I think it’s fair to say that I’ve now officially finished my honeymoon with the K245...and surprise surprise if the above post still doesn’t fit to the proverbial t.
This is now my ‘super HD650’. The overall balance of this headphone very much mimics the classic Sennie, but it doesn’t render bass and looow bass wooly and smeared. Control, detail and the ability to go very very low is rather what the AKG brings to the table.
Other things I’ve noticed: it’s about as open as a Sennie 6 series although it doesn’t necessarily feel that way at first..but I think it’s to do with the sensation the leather pads give off. Fact of the matter is they’re open and airy like..err...yeah an open headphone!
The fit though will most likely trouble some big-eared headphone connosseurs, no doubt. The pads are on the small side of the ‘circum-aural category’, but luckily they are so much more comfortable than how they look. They’re memory foam and actually extremely plush once your head/ears warms them up.
Heh..I’m so enamoured with this thing that I went ahead and made my friend conjur up a small kinky pink 1.2 m cable for it. It deserves a little pomp and gusto to compliment it’s brilliant performance.
I’ll probably end up being ‘that guy’ who from time to time resurrects this thread in the small hope that enough people worldwide buy the K245, so as I can buy some replacement pads once these wither away. It’s way too good to be forgotten about.
This is now my ‘super HD650’. The overall balance of this headphone very much mimics the classic Sennie, but it doesn’t render bass and looow bass wooly and smeared. Control, detail and the ability to go very very low is rather what the AKG brings to the table.
Other things I’ve noticed: it’s about as open as a Sennie 6 series although it doesn’t necessarily feel that way at first..but I think it’s to do with the sensation the leather pads give off. Fact of the matter is they’re open and airy like..err...yeah an open headphone!
The fit though will most likely trouble some big-eared headphone connosseurs, no doubt. The pads are on the small side of the ‘circum-aural category’, but luckily they are so much more comfortable than how they look. They’re memory foam and actually extremely plush once your head/ears warms them up.
Heh..I’m so enamoured with this thing that I went ahead and made my friend conjur up a small kinky pink 1.2 m cable for it. It deserves a little pomp and gusto to compliment it’s brilliant performance.
I’ll probably end up being ‘that guy’ who from time to time resurrects this thread in the small hope that enough people worldwide buy the K245, so as I can buy some replacement pads once these wither away. It’s way too good to be forgotten about.
brokengundam
100+ Head-Fier
If you weren't across the pond I'd sell you my semi-broken K275 for super-cheap so you'd have spare earpads. I was using them twice a month if that, and discovered that the mini-xlr jack pulled free from the housing. The headphones still work, but the headphone cable and jack are just dangling from the soldered wires. I know I could epoxy the jack back into the cup, but the damage gives me more reason to not bother with them.
Nolbert0
100+ Head-Fier
Might be a good opportunity to try the balanced mod for the K series?... If you're that way inclined, that is.
Kammerat Rebekka
1000+ Head-Fier
Arh nuts! I really hope my K245 keeps it’s cool and parts together. Funny because I feel the build is topnotch for a plastic design. I am certainly not expecting anything to break.
I was a/b’ing with a 650 last night. One thing is how you remember X can and it’s presentation...another is how it actually sounds when you yet again lend your ears to it.
Well they do actually sound rather similar - speaking from a frequency response perspective: warm (the K245 with ever so slightly raised subbass) yet with a remarkably neutral response.
Both headphones sound natural, effortless and in the case of the AKG very well extended and detailed in the bass.
Stuff where the Sennie’s ahead? Perhaps comfort-wise in a warm environment I’d prefer the cooler embrace of the velours...but all in all the AKG is just as prone to disappear on my head whilst listening..which is a big plus in my book.
As far as amping these badboys, well it’s very easy. They play wonderfully straight out of a phone and/or dap...but when you then hook them up to a hybrid like a Vali 2 they open up like a jolly oyster - not to mention what the Valhalla 2 does to it! Oh lordy...
Via low gain over the Valhalla the K245 simply becomes a monster of a headphone. All of it’s natural attributes are still there: the bottomless bass extension, the wonderfully neutral presentation along with all the details that such a frequency response wields...yet the Valhalla does this wonderful origami trick that seems to unfold the AKG like a genuine paperflower from the far east. The stage grows and the still mighty quick transients now seem like they’re glistening and lingering - sort of like listening to a shooting star’s fiery tale.
This AKG is both a better sounding can as well as being a far better deal than either the HD650 and the HD58X....but I am fairly certain that two things are holding the K245 back: it’s not a 300 ohm headphone and it’s not necessarily fully circum-aural.
Yet neither of those things infringe on the sound quality at hand...just means that you won’t be getting a wowza-effect when hooking it up to a Bottlehead Crack and that your lobes ever so slightly come in contact with some very soft foam. Oh the horror!
I was a/b’ing with a 650 last night. One thing is how you remember X can and it’s presentation...another is how it actually sounds when you yet again lend your ears to it.
Well they do actually sound rather similar - speaking from a frequency response perspective: warm (the K245 with ever so slightly raised subbass) yet with a remarkably neutral response.
Both headphones sound natural, effortless and in the case of the AKG very well extended and detailed in the bass.
Stuff where the Sennie’s ahead? Perhaps comfort-wise in a warm environment I’d prefer the cooler embrace of the velours...but all in all the AKG is just as prone to disappear on my head whilst listening..which is a big plus in my book.
As far as amping these badboys, well it’s very easy. They play wonderfully straight out of a phone and/or dap...but when you then hook them up to a hybrid like a Vali 2 they open up like a jolly oyster - not to mention what the Valhalla 2 does to it! Oh lordy...
Via low gain over the Valhalla the K245 simply becomes a monster of a headphone. All of it’s natural attributes are still there: the bottomless bass extension, the wonderfully neutral presentation along with all the details that such a frequency response wields...yet the Valhalla does this wonderful origami trick that seems to unfold the AKG like a genuine paperflower from the far east. The stage grows and the still mighty quick transients now seem like they’re glistening and lingering - sort of like listening to a shooting star’s fiery tale.
This AKG is both a better sounding can as well as being a far better deal than either the HD650 and the HD58X....but I am fairly certain that two things are holding the K245 back: it’s not a 300 ohm headphone and it’s not necessarily fully circum-aural.
Yet neither of those things infringe on the sound quality at hand...just means that you won’t be getting a wowza-effect when hooking it up to a Bottlehead Crack and that your lobes ever so slightly come in contact with some very soft foam. Oh the horror!
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kkl10
500+ Head-Fier
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Are the K245 earpads replaceable? What's the size?
slapo
100+ Head-Fier
95mm, pretty much anything with a bit of a lip should fit.
They're the same pads that the K275 use, too.
Nolbert0
100+ Head-Fier
so... the round Brainwavz, Hifiman Focus pads should be alright?
I will buy the K245 for sure once I get back ashore sometime early next year. This is all just foreplay for me, right now. lol
I will buy the K245 for sure once I get back ashore sometime early next year. This is all just foreplay for me, right now. lol
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