[Solrighal]

so far i have done 2 non regrettable mod, which is the bass port mod, and taking off the black cloth beneath the grill to let the speakers breathe easier, 3rd one will be the god forsaken damm hot **** headband

I feel your pain. Literally.

 

[darrenyeats]

  taking off the black cloth beneath the grill to let the speakers breathe easier

Do you mean the small grill where the Q label is?

 

[DaemonSire]

I feel your pain. Literally.

+1 Worst headband ever.  The suspension gives a nice fit and is comfortable itself, but the bumps are just awful.  Until I put some padding over them, I literally had indents on the top of my head.  How did that get through QC?

 

[jodgey4]

   
The problem is the whole assembly holding the original headband on is plastic (Thin plastic at that) including the "Rivet" (half plastic) that holds the original headband to the wing.
 
I did see a replacement guide where someone took some pliers and bent the metal part of the rivet up and pulled it apart, but even then, it's not going to go back together.
 
I opted for just drilling mine out.
 
The problem with that is, the plastic is so thin it tends to melt together when you drill it so you may have to get creative to separate it afterwards.
 
You can also check out this thread.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/655345/akg-q701-headband-replacement
 
and this imgur
 
http://imgur.com/a/VWSkq
 
for more ideas.

Why not flip the stock headband upside down? Or is it too stiff?

 

[CloudMoose]

 
Why not flip the stock headband upside down? Or is it too stiff?

It's pretty rigid. Gave it to my dog to play with afterwards pretty sure I saw plastic under the leather when she ripped it apart.

 

[Peeble]

So I was just about to send my Q701s back because of the bass rattle I mentioned here a few weeks ago, but I accidentally found out that I can take the ear pads off by twisting them. I took them off and found a few pieces of cat hair on the drivers. Took it off and the bass rattle seems to be gone. Could that have been causing it? 
 
On a side note, really happy I don't have to send them back because I probably wouldn't get the Made in Austria versions back. 

 

[Fuzziekiwi]

  So I was just about to send my Q701s back because of the bass rattle I mentioned here a few weeks ago, but I accidentally found out that I can take the ear pads off by twisting them. I took them off and found a few pieces of cat hair on the drivers. Took it off and the bass rattle seems to be gone. Could that have been causing it? 
 
On a side note, really happy I don't have to send them back because I probably wouldn't get the Made in Austria versions back. 

Yup. Cat hair isn't necessarily good for the drivers 

 glad you found out the problem. 

 

[DaemonSire]

Look up Grado Grattle and you'll get many cases of the same thing - hair on the drivers.  Glad you didn't have to send them back!

I have notoriously bad luck buying stuff and having to send it back because something was wrong.  No matter how good the customer service is, it is pain  
 
Now the next step is to do the bass mod on your Q's if you hadn't already.  This will likely void your warranty though, so you may want to give it a bit of time to make sure that your problem really is gone!

 

[Peeble]

Already had them bass modded, I was hoping they wouldn't notice if I sent it back

 

[Exodus121]

  So I was just about to send my Q701s back because of the bass rattle I mentioned here a few weeks ago, but I accidentally found out that I can take the ear pads off by twisting them. I took them off and found a few pieces of cat hair on the drivers. Took it off and the bass rattle seems to be gone. Could that have been causing it? 
 
On a side note, really happy I don't have to send them back because I probably wouldn't get the Made in Austria versions back. 

It's never lupus.

 

[Mad Max]

  It's never lupus.

 
Only an overgrown wombat would think otherwise.

 

[lukeap69]

has anybody tried this?
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hand-Woven-Pure-Wool-Headband-Cushion-For-AKG-K701-K702-Q701-Headphones-/261445245520?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item3cdf59da50

 

[Dragonzeanse]

  +1 Worst headband ever.  The suspension gives a nice fit and is comfortable itself, but the bumps are just awful.  Until I put some padding over them, I literally had indents on the top of my head.  How did that get through QC?

If AKG cashed in on the opportunity by selling aftermarket replacements, they'd probably be rich. The headphones are fantastic but the headband almost ruins the experience unless it's dealt with.

 

[elwappo99]

  So I was just about to send my Q701s back because of the bass rattle I mentioned here a few weeks ago, but I accidentally found out that I can take the ear pads off by twisting them. I took them off and found a few pieces of cat hair on the drivers. Took it off and the bass rattle seems to be gone. Could that have been causing it? 
 
On a side note, really happy I don't have to send them back because I probably wouldn't get the Made in Austria versions back. 

 
Very common for all headphones, and as mentioned Grados in particular. It's actually pretty rare to have things actually go wrong with headphones from the electronics perspective. Usually its the headband/pads wearing out.  I would put headphones breaking in this order.
 
1. Jack at end of cable
2. Solder joints at cable/driver connection
3. Drivers
 
That is, unless you're really driving them past listenable points. 

 

[Dragonzeanse]

   
Very common for all headphones, and as mentioned Grados in particular. It's actually pretty rare to have things actually go wrong with headphones from the electronics perspective. Usually its the headband/pads wearing out.  I would put headphones breaking in this order.
 
1. Jack at end of cable
2. Solder joints at cable/driver connection
3. Drivers
 
That is, unless you're really driving them past listenable points. 

It's funny you should say that. I recently had to RMA my Onkyo ES-FC300s - which I ordered used - because of the flimsy connectors causing the audio to cut out and the crinkling diaphragms whenever I put them on. It saddened me, they were great headphones.