[jbarrentine]

This thread makes my damn head hurt. All the arguing is incredibly counter productive. 
 
Is there ANY consensus as to the VALUE of actually paying nearly $200 MORE for the K712 vs the Q701? Is it worth that much money? (It is absurd such a gap exists)

 

[zazex]

  This thread makes my damn head hurt. All the arguing is incredibly counter productive. 
 
Is there ANY consensus as to the VALUE of actually paying nearly $200 MORE for the K712 vs the Q701? Is it worth that much money? (It is absurd such a gap exists)

I think that much of the 'arguing' is a large forum's way of coming to some sort of concensus.
The concensus won't be published neatly in one 'summary post'; it will be there in the thread
as a whole.

 

[Evshrug]

The Q701 is on some kind of prolonged fire-sale, I suspect AKG or the resellers have found that a serious full-sized headphone with green accents and a celeb endorsement doesn't have wide enough appeal. It's more realistic to compare the original price of the K702 to this new K712 to determine value. I think the K712 price will probably stabilize around the price of the Sennheiser HD650 and Beyerdynamic DT990.

In a practical sense though, the diminishing returns of the current price K712 vs Q701 is harder to justify. The K712 is like a perfected Q701 than a whole new model, with different ergonomics and color scheme – it will be a personal decision which to go for.

 

[elwappo99]

I don't think it's fair to suggest the k712 is superior to the q701. They use the same driver so you're not getting much of a drastic difference either way. I think most people would prefer the K712 because most newer people in headphones have the mentality 'more bass' is better. Q701 is more articulate and will give more details. It easily scales better with my higher end equipment.

I'd say pick up a pair of q701 now in the 180 range and then pick up the k712 in a year when it hits a similar price. The current price of the q701 is a stellar price given the performance of the headphone.

 

[stvn758]

Just ordered some 712's for £329. Had I read this thread I might have gone with the Q701's, only £218 at Amazon. I assumed for the extra money I would be getting something way better, the next step on the headphone ladder rather than a different flavour, so to speak. They're on their way now so I'm stuck, after the debacle of the broken 702's I got sent I can only hope it was fate and these will be worth it. 

 

[Evshrug]

I don't think it's fair to suggest the k712 is superior to the q701. They use the same driver so you're not getting much of a drastic difference either way. I think most people would prefer the K712 because most newer people in headphones have the mentality 'more bass' is better. Q701 is more articulate and will give more details. It easily scales better with my higher end equipment.

Thanks for pointing out that I ought to clarify: I said "perfected" in the sense that AKG was working with the same design and re-tuned it to address what people most commonly critiqued about the Q701, not created a new headphone from scratch. In the world of diminishing returns, yeah it's not a sea change from the high-value Q701, BUT the tweaks made to comfort, convenience, and sound character (and looks) will add up to being worth the price difference for a fair number of people. Some people, it won't be worth it, and to those people I say buy a Q701 (which is more readily available around $220-$230, quoting one rare lucky used price is not a good bar to set an expectation at vs a "still shrink wrapped" K712) before AKG stops making them or they cheapen their production cost (beyond moving manufacturing to China).

I haven't missed any details between K712 and Q701, and they both scale well... In a technical sense they're on the same level, with a tweak to their character, á la HD650 vs HD600 or DT990 vs DT880. I haven't heard those other manufacturer's models though, I suspect the Q & K models are closer than the other manufacturer's.

I think if you take in the whole spirit of my previous post, you'll see we are saying much of the same thing.

 

[emertxe]

K712 Pro are well worth even 500USD, I said it many times... There is absolutely no way I would call Q701 superior. Better sound and better comfort - I would take them over LCD-2 and some other headphones as well. They are really good and versatile.
 
Yes, they are NOT on the level of HD800... But still, I must recommend them, they are REALLY good...
 
It's not that Q701 are technically worse, they are absolutely in the same league... It's the fact that previous 701/702 headphones (not the Annies) sounded very unnatural and pretty much lacked bass (again, I am not a basshead, I find HD800s bass to be the best I've heard so far). K712 Pro fixed the bass issue and made upper mids to treble section sound almost nonproblematic.

 

[sinnottj]

Just ordered some 712's for £329. Had I read this thread I might have gone with the Q701's, only £218 at Amazon. I assumed for the extra money I would be getting something way better, the next step on the headphone ladder rather than a different flavour, so to speak. They're on their way now so I'm stuck, after the debacle of the broken 702's I got sent I can only hope it was fate and these will be worth it. 

Where did you find them for £329?

 

[Muinarc]

K712 Pro are well worth even 500USD, I said it many times... There is absolutely no way I would call Q701 superior. Better sound and better comfort - I would take them over LCD-2 and some other headphones as well. They are really good and versatile.


 


Yes, they are NOT on the level of HD800... But still, I must recommend them, they are REALLY good...


 


It's not that Q701 are technically worse, they are absolutely in the same league... It's the fact that previous 701/702 headphones (not the Annies) sounded very unnatural and pretty much lacked bass (again, I am not a basshead, I find HD800s bass to be the best I've heard so far). K712 Pro fixed the bass issue and made upper mids to treble section sound almost nonproblematic.

 


The K712 were worth it for me because I just plain didn't like the K/Q701....and it wasn't just a lack of bass or I would hate my K501 which pretty much have none.

... and I agree they are deffinately a step below the HD800, I just don't use headphones enough to justify the asking price or I would have gotten those.

 

[stvn758]

Where did you find them for £329?

Amazon, they have put them up to £339 now.
 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00F0U4NO4
 
Sold by os-industrieservice,  German Company, new one on there but as it's Amazon it's all guaranteed so took a chance.

 

[sinnottj]

Thanks!

 

[spittis]

Well I've got mine now but have to return them because the right driver is rattling with bassheavy content 

 

[bubulus]

Hey guys I received my k712pro's and ran into a quality control issue. Wonder if anyone else has run into this. The female mini xlr input on the headphone itself is loose. Whenever I tried to remove the cable by pressing down on the pin and pulling, the innard piece came out of place very easily. I've had a q701 before this purchase and never encountered this before.

hi, i received mine yesterday. after i changed the cable the second time the xlr input came out and one of the 3 thin cables broke. today i already sent it back. i hope i get a new pair fast because comfort and soundqualitywise this headphone is superb. im 60km away from vienna so i think it should be no problem. i hope akg is aware of this connectorproblem. (number was 00098)

 

[stvn758]

Mine just arrived, unlike the 702's I got sent the box is in cellophane, the cans wrapped in plastic bags and these actually work. Sound great out the box, usually takes a while for my ears to adjust when switching headphones but impressed so far.

 

[ComradeDylie]

hi, i received mine yesterday. after i changed the cable the second time the xlr input came out and one of the 3 thin cables broke. today i already sent it back. i hope i get a new pair fast because comfort and soundqualitywise this headphone is superb. im 60km away from vienna so i think it should be no problem. i hope akg is aware of this connectorproblem. (number was 00098)

Noooo dooooont send it back. Gg. Wow, easiest mod to balanced ever if the connector took itself out. I bet you take your cars to the dealership to get fixed?