[TanC]

AKG K712 over here...oh the sweet, sweet soundstage...

 

[alpha80]

AKG K701  (made in austria)
AKG Q701  (made in austria) [bass port mod]
AKG K7XX  Massdrop Limited edition
 
I love the AKG sound signature.  
Makes other headphone manufacturers' mids all sound recessed, "unmusical" and hollow.
Also, I love the wide, expansive, well-imaged soundstage.

 

[ericj]

I have a pair of vintage K340, the electrotet/dynamic hybrid. works great, but I am in need of a portable dac/amp. is anyone familiar with what would be the LEAST expensive dac/amp I could possibly afford that could run these things?

Least expensive?

Spdif dac or usb?

I have a headroom total bithead for sale but i haven't tried it with my k340

.:Sent by pneumatic tubes

 

[DJDuck]

Another AKG homie here. AKG are my favorite brand for headphones and I also really like their mics, especailly the cheaper ones which are amazing for the price.
My AKGs:
AKG K404
AKG K142HD
AKG K240 Sextett - Actually Saba H200, which was a headphone built by AKG for Saba. It's a 240 sextett with a different headband and caseback. Same baffle, driver, baffle damping, cable, connector, gimbal, pads, etc...
 
My impressions of the above:
K404 - Very gutsy bass for their size, treble on the brighter side with a slight harshness on certain songs, slightly recessed mids but smooth. Closed sound a decent stage. Good separation as well. Very portable, fairly comfortable, decent isolation, easy to drive from SGS3. I did a simple damping mod by adding a bit of cotton inside the cans. Helps control the bass, brings out the mids and smooths the treble. Definitely a killer set of portable cans for the price.
 
K142HD - Very neutral and natural, well balanced. Some say they have wimpy bass but I have to disagree. Sure, they are not exactly bass heavy, but they will kick and punch if you ask them nicely. Also the bass is very very well controlled and defined. Smooth mids. Highs are excellent in my opinion. Slightly laid back but very detailed. Slight sibilance occasionally but nothing serious.  Not the biggest stage but excellent separation. Cymbals sound amazing with these cans.Very smooth and easy to listen to, yet still detailed. Also won't cause any fatigue. Comfort wise, they pinch way too hard when new but I stretched mine over their box every night for about a week and now they're one of the most comfortable headphones I have, you just have to get used to eachother... They provide very little isolation and leak a fair bit. But they are monitoring headphones after all. Build quality is great, they're solid but lightweight. I've been carrying mine in my backpack for a year now and they have yet to show any signs of wear and tear. One of the best bang for the buck headphones currently IMHO, nothing really wrong with them at all. 
 
K240 LP (H200) Sextett - When I picked these up at the flea market, I was super excited because I've heard so much good about them and never actually thought I'd have a chance to give them a listen, let alone own a pair. I'll start off by saying that they're well built and are certainly exceptionally good for their time. Sadly, other than that, I really can't see what all the hype is about. They're not exactly bad, but they're really not what I was expecting. They have a weird bass response. On some songs, they seem very bass heavy, on other song they have no bass whatsoever. Bass doesn't punch at all, but is just a weird, sloppy mess. Mids are supposed to be the strongest point of these cans but I don't think they're anything special. Highs are quite detailed and nicely layered but sometimes harsh and quite sibilant, especially at louder volumes. Sound stage seems endless, but the instruments are smeared all over the place on more complex passages, especially in rock. Vocals sound boring, especially low male vocals. They lack serious body and warmth and overall I think they sound just mediocre. I did add some damping inside that seemed to make a bit of difference, but not enough for me to love them. I also find them VERY uncomfortable, the plastic grills push hard against your ears and the leather pads get hot and sweaty fairly quick.
 
For an example, I used Radiohead's Creep as a comparison track. K142HDs give the whole song a lower, depressive sound which is the point of the song in question. They also bring out the ride and hi-hats quite a bit more. Electric guitars have a more grungy feel with these cans, while the K240 gives the guitar a more detailed, distorted sound which is good actually. Vocals sound very realistic on the K142HDs.
The K142s can also bring out flaws in many songs. For an example, Ram Jam's Black Betty's drums. You can really hear that the floor tom is not very EQ'd and has plenty of resonance and overtone. Also bass drum kicks on many songs have a certain resonance to them from the actual drum itself echoing. I know this, because Tyler knows this. Oh sorry, I forgot rule no. 1 Actually I know this because I'm a drummer and I have to mic and EQ my set.
 
Why do I like the K142HD more? Because I like balance, natural sound, detail, a full sound. 
 
What makes the difference, tho? Is it the Varimotion drivers, the metal enclosure, the velour pads, the high quality OFC cable, the damping, the tuning, the baffle or all that combined? 
The answer is simple: I don't know. I'll give them velour pads, foam damping in front of the drivers, more and better damping inside the enclosure, maybe open the back up more, cut bigger holes into the grill and re-cable them. Maybe. If I have the time and resources. But as of now, I can't find a single reason to use them.
 
I will definitely keep buying AKG, tho. My next goal is to score a pair of K701 or something in that league.

 

[Tiemen]

^
Seems there are two problems with your K240 LP (H200) Sextett.
1.They need new ear pads
2.They are a beast to amp, reallly needing a lot of power from for example a OTL tube amp.

 

[DJDuck]

  ^
Seems there are two problems with your K240 LP (H200) Sextett.
1.They need new ear pads
2.They are a beast to amp, reallly needing a lot of power from for example a OTL tube amp.

They need about 17.6V or so of output swing for a 115db SPL. 
I don't know if I can squeeze something incredible out of them with the power of tubes, especially considering my financial situation at the moment. But I guess I could do it, but not before fall. I'd love to listen to the K142HD with a tube amp as well
Right now I've tried them with a Sony MXP-290 mixing console and a DIY Cmoy using the NE5532 op-amp which is perfectly capable of providing for a 600 ohm load. I just need more supply voltage, currently running +/- 12V but I want to try 15V or go discrete diamond output. Also thinking about ordering ZEN Class A heaphone amp modules from Ebay. 
They do sound a bit better with the Cmoy than with the console. I suspect that's because the console was not designed to run stuff this power hungry and clips fairly fast. It is a professional broadcast mixer, tho, so not a quality issue.
As for the pads, I'm thinking DT-990 velour. A local audio dealer has OEM velour pads and "foam disks" available for about 25 dollars a set. Is that a good price? Not really familiar with the market right now.

 

[Tiemen]

   
As for the pads, I'm thinking DT-990 velour. A local audio dealer has OEM velour pads and "foam disks" available for about 25 dollars a set. Is that a good price? Not really familiar with the market right now.

 
Don't buy DT990 velour pads for a Sextett. Rather try the DT770 pads. The DT990 pads are designed for an open headphone.
If you want DT770 velour, close the little holes at the back with tape.
But they do sound best with vinyl/pleather/leather pads.

 

[DJDuck]

   
Don't buy DT990 velour pads for a Sextett. Rather try the DT770 pads. The DT990 pads are designed for an open headphone.
If you want DT770 velour, close the little holes at the back with tape.
But they do sound best with vinyl/pleather/leather pads.

Alright, I'll order the DT770 pads.
Just tried a new amp with these headphones. One I salvaged out of an old soviet mixing console Elektronika PM-01. I have two units, one I restored and one donor. Pulled the amp from the donor. After replacing the electrolytics, resoldering all the joints and removing some unwanted stuff from the board, I powered it with +/- 12V and it sound pretty good, I'd say better than the Cmoy. Also has plenty of power.

 

[Fearless1]

  ^
Seems there are two problems with your K240 LP (H200) Sextett.
1.They need new ear pads
2.They are a beast to amp, reallly needing a lot of power from for example a OTL tube amp.

This.
 
The Sextetts are as amp picky as my HE-6 to hear them shine. A vintage receiver or tapping an amp would be an alternative to an OTL amp.
 
I really like the Shure Alcantara pads on them, the Beyer pads killed the sound to my ears.   

 

[JakiChan]

I'm fairly new to team AKG.  Listening to my new K553s at work, and the K7XXs should be at my house on Thursday....

 

[DisCHORDDubstep]

This.

The Sextetts are as amp picky as my HE-6 to hear them shine. A vintage receiver or tapping an amp would be an alternative to an OTL amp.

I really like the Shure Alcantara pads on them, the Beyer pads killed the sound to my ears.   

Know of any cheap-ish OTL's? (Under 300$ or so)

 

[DaemonSire]

Know of any cheap-ish OTL's? (Under 300$ or so)

 
Project Horizon III
 
http://www.garage1217.com/garage1217_diy_tube_headphone_amplifiers_003.htm

 

[Fearless1]

Know of any cheap-ish OTL's? (Under 300$ or so)

For under 300 I would go for a speaker amp. I run the off of a Firstwatt j2, but have tried them with an Emotiva Mini X and they were right there as well.

 

[DisCHORDDubstep]

For under 300 I would go for a speaker amp. I run the off of a Firstwatt j2, but have tried them with an Emotiva Mini X and they were right there as well.

does that have a 6.3mm out, or would I have to recable the Sextett or get an adapter or something? Thanks btw for the help.

 

[Tuco1965]

My Magni powers my Sextetts quite well and is inexpensive. My Lyr sounds even better, but that's a big jump in costs.