[Kernmac]

 
There are subtle differences... But I thinks its for the better. I've had many K's over the years and the latest batch is the most natural sounding to my ears, especially with acoustic instruments. The soundstage is still very big but is now more focused and centered. There is more body to instruments and this gives a more realistic tone. Still the same sound characteristics though, as they are the same drivers.


 


Keep us informed. 

Thanks to Addicted to Audio, Q701 is in the house.  As it has been 2 years since I had a K701 I cannot determine if the Q is the same or slightly different to the K.  And I guess it doesn't matter; well not to me.   What does matter is that the AKG is a sublime headphone with certain music (acoustic, folk, vocal type tracks) and has a magic that just hits the spot for my ears.  The Q701 contrasts nicely with both my LCD2 and Sig Pro, bringing that airy mid/treble presentation.  The Q is a great headphone, probably not one I would choose as my only headphone (I like different sound signatures dependent on the music and my mood) but in given situations, second to none.  The Q701 may be considered as mid fi in today's headphone world, but for my money it doesn't come up short in comparison to the enjoyment factor against current TOTL.  And is surely amongst the audio bargains of the decade.

 

[62ohm]

  Thanks to Addicted to Audio, Q701 is in the house.  As it has been 2 years since I had a K701 I cannot determine if the Q is the same or slightly different to the K.  And I guess it doesn't matter; well not to me.   What does matter is that the AKG is a sublime headphone with certain music (acoustic, folk, vocal type tracks) and has a magic that just hits the spot for my ears.  The Q701 contrasts nicely with both my LCD2 and Sig Pro, bringing that airy mid/treble presentation.  The Q is a great headphone, probably not one I would chose as my only headphone (I like different sound signatures dependent on the music and my mood) but in given situations, second to none.  The Q701 may be considered as mid fi in today's headphone world, but for my money it doesn't come up short in comparison to the enjoyment factor against current TOTL.  And is surely amongst the audio bargains of the decade.

 
I paid $490 NZD for the Q701, which is about $400 USD, and I still think it's a bargain at that price. I heard it costs $220 USD in the states, and if I am to pay that price for this pair of cans, I'd say the price/performance ratio is too-good-to-be-true.
 
 
It's been over 2 months since I bought this pair of cans, and occasionally on my listening sessions things like "I cannot believe how good this sounds" still crosses my mind 

 
 
 
 
And you wanna know the funny part? Before I auditioned it, I read a plethora of reviews and believed the DT880 was the cans to get for my first pair of 'true mid-fi' cans. I was under the impression that AKG is an overrated brand since most user reviews tend to despise it with immense hatred. As I auditioned them in person, I cannot help but to get the Q701 over DT880/HD650, even though my mind at that point of time was trying so hard to reject it since I believed I was about to buy an overrated pair of cans 

 

 

[Evshrug]

^ lol. I too am super pleased with my Q701. I bought a K712 just because I could, and a slight improvement would still be an awesome headphone, but aside from collecting I'm currently thinking it's not different sounding enough to keep. Did you audition a DT880 too? What was that like?
Granted, I've had my Q701 for a year, so burn in is done and that may have improved things, but I feel that the Q701 is very full, musical, and darn it a lovable sound.

 

[LugBug1]

  Thanks to Addicted to Audio, Q701 is in the house.  As it has been 2 years since I had a K701 I cannot determine if the Q is the same or slightly different to the K.  And I guess it doesn't matter; well not to me.   What does matter is that the AKG is a sublime headphone with certain music (acoustic, folk, vocal type tracks) and has a magic that just hits the spot for my ears.  The Q701 contrasts nicely with both my LCD2 and Sig Pro, bringing that airy mid/treble presentation.  The Q is a great headphone, probably not one I would chose as my only headphone (I like different sound signatures dependent on the music and my mood) but in given situations, second to none.  The Q701 may be considered as mid fi in today's headphone world, but for my money it doesn't come up short in comparison to the enjoyment factor against current TOTL.  And is surely amongst the audio bargains of the decade.

Great stuff. I too had the LCD2 and *701 for a while and they complimented each other very well. I know own them as well as the HD800, and strange though it may seem they are a nice contrast too. I've always liked what they do and I'm keeping my latest pair for ever! 
 

^ lol. I too am super pleased with my Q701. I bought a K712 just because I could, and a slight improvement would still be an awesome headphone, but aside from collecting I'm currently thinking it's not different sounding enough to keep. Did you audition a DT880 too? What was that like?
Granted, I've had my Q701 for a year, so burn in is done and that may have improved things, but I feel that the Q701 is very full, musical, and darn it a lovable sound.

Just to add my view, If you love the Q701's then imo the DT880 won't offer you anything better. They are more forward in the mids and also have a lively treble but with a smaller soundstage. They are very comfortable though and offer a nice airy sound for orchestral music. But the *701's are better all round.  

 

[musiclife]

   
I paid $490 NZD for the Q701, which is about $400 USD, and I still think it's a bargain at that price. I heard it costs $220 USD in the states, and if I am to pay that price for this pair of cans, I'd say the price/performance ratio is too-good-to-be-true.

 
Why would there be such a price difference, just because of import taxes?

 

[manbear]

 

   
I paid $490 NZD for the Q701, which is about $400 USD, and I still think it's a bargain at that price. I heard it costs $220 USD in the states, and if I am to pay that price for this pair of cans, I'd say the price/performance ratio is too-good-to-be-true.

 
Why would there be such a price difference, just because of import taxes?

I just sold something to someone in NZ using this remailing service: http://www.nzpost.co.nz/tools/youshop

IDK if you are aware of this or how it really works, but it seems like it lets you pay US prices for things. Not sure about import taxes though.

 

[62ohm]

^ lol. I too am super pleased with my Q701. I bought a K712 just because I could, and a slight improvement would still be an awesome headphone, but aside from collecting I'm currently thinking it's not different sounding enough to keep. Did you audition a DT880 too? What was that like?
Granted, I've had my Q701 for a year, so burn in is done and that may have improved things, but I feel that the Q701 is very full, musical, and darn it a lovable sound.

 
I auditioned the DT880 and HD650 when getting it, and in the end I went for the Q701. Some may call that as a weird decision I guess, each to their own but I find the HD650 to be too laid back for me and the DT880 'not very musical'. Sure it may be more balanced, but to my ears it plays every genre well, but nothing great. A very good all-rounder, while the Q701 is the king for acoustical/ classical songs within it's price range in my opinion. 
 
 
Mind you, when I auditioned them they were all straight out of the box and have not received any burn in effect, and I still choose the 701 

 
 
 
There's only one problem for me now, I'm trying to get myself a complementary pair of cans but it's a bit hard to get one, none of the mid-fi cans I auditioned now 'wow-ed' me. The HD650 is too laid back, might gonna have to try the HD600. The DT880 seems like a good complementary cans in my opinion due to it's being an all-rounder, but it's a bit hard to justify getting it when you've got a Q701. 
 

   
Why would there be such a price difference, just because of import taxes?

 
No idea mate, no idea...
 

 
I just sold something to someone in NZ using this remailing service: http://www.nzpost.co.nz/tools/youshop

IDK if you are aware of this or how it really works, but it seems like it lets you pay US prices for things. Not sure about import taxes though.
 

 
Might have to give this a shot, I've just found out that under $300 USD items will not be charged with import taxes 

 Cost of education I guess.

 

[darrenyeats]

  And is surely amongst the audio bargains of the decade.

I agree.

 

[Peeble]

Does the Q701 ever stretch out? Wearing them has been very uncomfortable, and not because of the bumps that I've seen people talk about. I'm getting clamping on my head from them and it seriously makes me unable to wear them for more than 30 minutes without getting a headache. 

 

[Ashade]

It does. I suppose you can try to force them or put books in between over night. Another option is to wash the pads to soften them a little.

 

[tdockweiler]

 
 
The new Schiit Vali is a great match for the Q701 if anyone was interested. Really gives a nice little warm touch to the bass. I'll post a little bit more later.

 
I've found this to be the case too. In fact, on day 1 I felt like a raving fanboy of this combo but on day two I found it to be pretty bad with everything else I had.
This thing LOVES AKG headphones.
 
To my ears it sounds exactly like my Headroom Micro Amp + Astroydyne with the Q701. To anyone who hasn't heard that, it basically is very similar to an O2 but with perhaps 1% fuller mids and very very slightly smoother treble. Very subtle differences.
 
I wonder how the Vali with the Q701 compares to that M-Stage? M-Stage and Micro Amp use the same op-amps so maybe the Vali is similar to the M-Stage but with a tiny bit more treble?
 
To my ears the Vali was dead neutral (IMO) with the modded Q701. Same deal with two of my K400s.
 
Unless you plan on using the Vali with only specific headphones it's hard to suggest.
 
For the Q701 ONLY it's better than the Magni though.

 

[Amictus]

I'm considering getting the Lyr to give more smoothness to the treble of my Q701s (and a contrast to my solid state amp for my currently preferred HD650s). Is this a good idea? Must I add a Bifrost to get the best results? Should I consider the Valhalla instead? This is for classical music, currently oscillating between Schubert lieder, Wagner, Mahler with an admixture of Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen. Thanks for your wisdom in advance!

 

[ampair]

  I'm considering getting the Lyr to give more smoothness to the treble of my Q701s (and a contrast to my solid state amp for my currently preferred HD650s). Is this a good idea? Must I add a Bifrost to get the best results? Should I consider the Valhalla instead? This is for classical music, currently oscillating between Schubert lieder, Wagner, Mahler with an admixture of Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen. Thanks for your wisdom in advance!

 
first things first: "best" and "good idea" depends mostly on your preferences and how well trained your ears are
for me, the lyr was a good idea as it smoothened out the Q's highs, and classical music surely profits from tube sound (generating higher harmonics etc.). plus, it will most likely be able to properly power any non-electrostat-headphone you throw at it, be it Qs, 600ohm cans or orthos.
 
concerning the valhalla:
from what i remember, one of the cans used to voice the valhalla was a K701, so it should handle the Qs just fine. it won't however be able to drive lower impedance headphones that well because the output stage's inner resistance is way higher than the lyr's, which leaves the output stage to solid state.
my 2 cents: if you want as much authentic tube sound as possible, go for the valhalla. if you are cool with more subtle changes in sound signature and instead get (a lot) more output power, buy the lyr.
 
bifrost or not?
i don't own it myself, so this might be pure speculation... upgrading from a good dac to a better one will most probably add the least noticable sound sig change in the whole chain. so my advice would be to start with a ~100-150€ dac and upgrade when your ears learn to notice and appreciate those subtleties. at least that's what i'm planning for myself

 

[Chris_Himself]

They have a rather generous return policy. There's almost no risk to buying one at that point. If you're disappointed, plenty of people are super ok with buying B-Stock so have at it!

 

[shisnitty]

Hey guys complete headphone/amp newbie here.
 
I've only bought headphones in the past and never had the need for an amp and only have a laptop with onboard sound + iphone for music. However I'm hoping to get a q701 and amp, only problem is I have no idea what to do or how to start. Say I get the q701, do I need an amp with it? Is it possible to amp an iphone 5? Is there a beginners amp I can get that will satisfy use on both laptop and iphone 5?