I picked up a pair of K701s for a friend, and I didn't realize there was a version where the headband has no bumps. I remember that being pretty much the biggest complaint about these back in the day.
I picked up a pair of K701s for a friend, and I didn't realize there was a version where the headband has no bumps. I remember that being pretty much the biggest complaint about these back in the day.
Everyone here needs to give the K371 a shot. I know, I know. It's a Samsung/Harman can but boy is it good.
Right now I've got one of those, K240 LP, Austrian K240 mk2, and a K553 Pro. Not as much AKG as I used to own... like an Austrian K701 and a white Chinese Q701. My father still has an original, working K140 with the vents.
Are your Austrian 701s really bass light, but with good extension? It was a bit shocking how much more bass my Chinese Q701 had than the K701 I used to own. I have no idea how a modern Chinese K701 would compare.
Are your Austrian 701s really bass light, but with good extension? It was a bit shocking how much more bass my Chinese Q701 had than the K701 I used to own. I have no idea how a modern Chinese K701 would compare.
I remember hearing the China Q701 once at a store in Japan, and I’m no total expert with AKG, but do remember all the varieties later having more bass. I do remember your show about the original k701 you had.
I thought your impressions were great about it. I ended up getting new k701s back in 2007. Though I never had an amp for the longest time that could drive them correct. I ended up finding the Woo 5LE as being a great amp for them. But I’m probably a little of an outsider even believing amps like the Asgard One don’t exactly drive them right. Both my pairs have good bass, but it’s definitely on the light side.
The k701 has helped me in many ways to understand what I was looking for outside of bass land. I also found the HD800 even with mods and cables was not what I was looking for. But one of my most used IEMs (the Noble Audio Encore Universal) has a tuning much like the HD800 or k701. Though maybe I guess a more flat (mids) response........ though I have never seen a graph? The Encore also is more warm than the HD800 or k701 in general....but not a lot?
I use the Encore IEM specifically for Metal. Though in my days of using the Woo 5LE and k701.....I remember it being hotter? What the Encore does is remove much of the lower midrange (like the k701 or HD800) and what it does is draw attention to the midrange, though the midrange has no boost. The pulled lower mids, helps get Metal to sound even more clear and fast.....though I do use cables and amps and which are warmer?
That’s why I never sell the k701s as they are very much a part of my history especially about learning about midrange? Though I don’t EQ, they always sit there as a reminder of where I’m from and provided a learning experience (stepping-stone) to the sound of Metal I’m into.
I have to say the K7 series is really unlike anything else out there. The unique 2.5k presence boost to their mids actually adds a really special flavor that makes piano and classical sound incredible, especially combined with their grand soundstage presentation. Although my tastes have evolved away from that more aggressive sound from my earlier days in this hobby 5 years ago collecting AKGs, I sorta already miss what this series brings to the table.
You have to remember too, that the k701 came out a year or two before the HD800......so for many of us it was an accessible (low cost) and very detailed flagship. It is just hard to drive I feel.
I have to say the K7 series is really unlike anything else out there. The unique 2.5k presence boost to their mids actually adds a really special flavor that makes piano and classical sound incredible, especially combined with their grand soundstage presentation. Although my tastes have evolved away from that more aggressive sound from my earlier days in this hobby 5 years ago collecting AKGs, I sorta already miss what this series brings to the table.
That 2.5K presence is romantic and memorable. I don’t EQ so it’s a take it or leave it thing. But the soundstage may still be very well respected even in today’s standards? Though thinking back to 2007, the over all hype that the k701 created quickly ended, even by 2009.
We used to look around and joke that there was none at shows. The HD800 by 2010 had taken the k701 fans away.
And that’s the funny thing. Back when the Fostex TH900 and Denon 7000 headphones where introduced many thought adding the bass to the k line could make them somehow more technical? And while I did get the Denon 7000 headphones and they did surpass the k701 in ways I still had no curiosity about AKG with more bass?
The great thing is if you have good source and amp and all you have is the k701s you get used to them, though it’s probably safe to say they still ask for you to choose a style of music.
I was a fledgling audiophile back when I first purchased the K400s, and now I'm doing reviews professionally and I've heard a lot of TOTL equipment, so I might as well say it: I still like the K400. Obviously they fail in terms of technicalities, and they often get quite bogged down and indistinct in even moderately quick / busy passages (they always did, though!), but in a crowded market of very well-performing but kind of samey TOTL headphones, nothing sounds like the old AKG's. I still get a nice pleasant surprise every time I sit down to listen to these, even if they're not the first headphones I reach for when I get home.
Honestly, the Utopia can go to hell. Still gunning for that K1000, still planning to buy it when I have the dosh.
Yay! Got my saved search notification from eBay sunday morning, for parts or not working K601 $30 buy-it-now. Yes please.
Arrived this morning. Red wire broken off of the solder lug on the right channel driver. Easy fix. Just gotta run the velours through the wash with a load of shirts and maybe some spray-n-wash -- they're a bit yellow.
I still have the K612 Pro, largest soundstage of my cans, no bass bump but reaches deep. However, they can sound kinda "hard" so not well suited for longer sessions or certain music and the headband do create ache after a while. I still like it, but I have serveral other cans I like more.
However, my first HiFi can was the famous Sextett, back in 1978 or so. I used them exclusively for almost ten years and had many good memories of their SQ, eventually I started using Sennheisers which sounded better and they got lost in the mists of time. I was surprised when i first saw the sextetts being praised here. I also had the K240 Monitor in the eighties, but I thought the Senns of that time was better, more resolving.
edit. Oh, and the K612 also needs some proper amping, sounds very uninspiring with a too weak amp. I suppose the same goes for K601 as they are said to use the exact same driver.
I still have the K612 Pro, largest soundstage of my cans, no bass bump but reaches deep. However, they can sound kinda "hard" so not well suited for longer sessions or certain music and the headband do create ache after a while. I still like it, but I have serveral other cans I like more.
However, my first HiFi can was the famous Sextett, back in 1978 or so. I used them exclusively for almost ten years and had many good memories of their SQ, eventually I started using Sennheisers which sounded better and they got lost in the mists of time. I was surprised when i first saw the sextetts being praised here. I also had the K240 Monitor in the eighties, but I thought the Senns of that time was better, more resolving.
edit. Oh, and the K612 also needs some proper amping, sounds very uninspiring with a too weak amp. I suppose the same goes for K601 as they are said to use the exact same driver.
I recently got my old K612 out of storage. Honestly forgot I had it. I just realized how much I miss the AKG sound. They do usually sound hard but they don’t sound really sound hard on the right synergy.
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