[Jahn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chelrob Well I just tried it again and before Hulk even got angry the left earpiece snapped off at the silver mount How do I get these repaired?

DOH! how did the earpiece even get involved in the Hulking? You know you're supposed to put the pressure point on the top middle of the band itself, right? EEK.

 

[chelrob]

None of that matters anymore.

How do I get these serviced. The AKG website is not very helpful.

 

[Skylab]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chelrob None of that matters anymore. How do I get these serviced. The AKG website is not very helpful.

You need to contact the place you bought them from.

 

[Jahn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chelrob None of that matters anymore. How do I get these serviced. The AKG website is not very helpful.

http://www.akg.com/mediadatabase/psf...1da7b040c4.pdf

info is under their AKG Acoustics - addy, phone #, email, etc

 

[chelrob]

Thanks!

 

[Jahn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chelrob Thanks!

no prob and good luck with the reconstruction - sorry for your Hulking accident, that's a shame!

 

[swmtnbiker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skylab On noisy, older airplanes the K81 (or HD25) isolation in the low frequencies isn't as good as IEMs. But on modern jets it's close enough for me.

I can't remember the last time I flew on anything other than a modern jet. I'm not crop dusting for a living.

The K81DJ doesn't give me NEARLY the level of isolation that an IEM does on modern commercial jet aircraft. As I said, it's not even close. Maybe they achieve a better seal over your ears than they do mine. In any case I find the AKGs fine for blocking low to mid-level ambient noise, but definitely sub-par (compared to an IEM) for listening in the SPLs found in a typical jet aircraft passenger cabin.

 

[Skylab]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dpippel I can't remember the last time I flew on anything other than a modern jet. I'm not crop dusting for a living. The K81DJ doesn't give me NEARLY the level of isolation that an IEM does on modern commercial jet aircraft. As I said, it's not even close. Maybe they achieve a better seal over your ears than they do mine. In any case I find the AKGs fine for blocking low to mid-level ambient noise, but definitely sub-par (compared to an IEM) for listening in the SPLs found in a typical jet aircraft passenger cabin.

Maybe I'm overstating it, so let me be clear. For me, IEM's are a sonic tradeoff (to the negative), and also a huge hassle to get sealed well, keep clean, etc. I feel that the isolation from the HD25-1 is fine on all but the smallest regional jets when I am stuck in the back.

The K81 isn't quite as good as the HD25-1 in this regard, but the one time I tried it in flight, it was pretty good. That was in first class on a 767, where the main source of noise is from the air-handling system and the other passengers

, but it seemed good to me. This too I will test more extensively down the road.

IEM's are better at isolation, no doubt, just not better enough for me to bother with them, and this will give you far more isolation than an earbud or open can, or "sealed" cans that are circumaural which don't isolate as well.

 

[Meyvn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by akwok I don't think the foam protects anything, by the way. There's still cloth and something over the driver, so the driver isn't exposed.

Yeah. The cloth is attached directly to the pads, and then under even that, the driver is protected by a strong plastic covering (believe it or not). The only possible reason I can think of for the foam pads is the engineers found them more comfortable. They do nothing but muffle the sound.

 

[akwok]

In my opinion, it is absolutely necessary to pop off the foam inserts. They muffle the sound and makes the bass flood over everything.

With them removed, the K81DJ deserves all of this FOTM'ness. It is a truly spectacular headphone, out of the iPod 4G. And the isolation is really cool, very very nice.

 

[Meyvn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skylab IEM's are better at isolation, no doubt, just not better enough for me to bother with them, and this will give you far more isolation than an earbud or open can, or "sealed" cans that are circumaural which don't isolate as well.

I fully agree with this statement. You really have to hear the isolation to believe it; the only reason I wll be using IEMs from now on is if it's just too hot to wear these.

 

[issa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jahn it sounds like you're bending the headband wrong. instead of bending them out, put the cups together, and squeeze the headband IN. you can get as radical as making a little pointy point, an acute angle right in the middle of the headband. For some reason this works wonders for this particular can. Marry that with velours, and you have a can that's supercomfy, even with glasses!

I know the tong-squeeze method has been covered before (I've read most of this thread), but I feel like I'm missing something. I tried it and it really seems like all it's doing is making the headband tighter. Stretching it the "normal" way at least seems to loosen the pressure. Maybe someone could post photos? It sure would be nice to get these to the point where I can wear them for more than 1/2 an hour at a time -- I love them otherwise.

Also, another caveat maybe to include in the directions: if you swivel the earcups (as if you're going to fold them) flat, then you can squeeze the headband without putting pressure on the hinges (avoiding breaking them, like that poor fellow).

Thanks!

 

[chelrob]

Quote:

Originally Posted by issa (avoiding breaking them, like that poor fellow)

lol.
UPdate... I got an almost instant reply to the email I sent AKG tech support. My cans are on the way to TN for repair.

 

[benton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by issa I know the tong-squeeze method has been covered before (I've read most of this thread), but I feel like I'm missing something. I tried it and it really seems like all it's doing is making the headband tighter. Stretching it the "normal" way at least seems to loosen the pressure. Maybe someone could post photos? It sure would be nice to get these to the point where I can wear them for more than 1/2 an hour at a time -- I love them otherwise. Also, another caveat maybe to include in the directions: if you swivel the earcups (as if you're going to fold them) flat, then you can squeeze the headband without putting pressure on the hinges (avoiding breaking them, like that poor fellow). Thanks!

Mine are super comfortable now. Here is how I did it and it worked great.

Step 1: Push off the rubber that is on top of the revealed metal that says AKG. It pulls right back on when you're done but the squeezing works much better with this off.

Step 2: Keep the pads so they are touching and facing one another. Make sure they stay life this.

Step 3: On the headband it says in white lettering K81DJ, just under that with both hands on both sides push each side of the headband towards eachother. Youll notice the metal at the top bending and if you do it excessively forming a little hump.

Step 4: When streched to your needs, push the rubber back on top of the headband and enjoy.

Some MS Paint action. This was on a laptop pad so don't whine about the pictures. I think its beautful. Hey whatever, you get the point.

 

[spaztastic116]

Very nice illustration. An A+ for sure. Anyway, I also tried that method of stretching the headband and unfortunately cracked it on the silver mounts as well. This was because as you push the sides of the headband together, pressure builds as the two cups press against each other. It seems the silver mounts are the breaking points. On my second pair, I tried a different method which worked well and has what seems to be 0% of breaking. It's really quite simple: Bend the metal out where the metal and the plastic meet. Do each side individually. This way the pressure on the sides are relieved without flattening the middle. With the middle curvature preserved, there is very little pressure towards the middle. I hope this helps.