[Mad Lust Envy]

I got you now. No offense meant at all by the way. Your guide was really useful to me; the only reason I remembered it was that I used it to try to decide whether to get the Annie or the 712. I still haven't made a move on this yet.

Here is the quote I was referring to from your gaming headphone guide:

"The K712 Pro has proven to be the best mid level AKG headphone in terms of musicality, refinement, and organic tonality."

By yoking "best" with the series of adjectives "musicality, refinement, and organic tonality," I suppose I got a little confused.

Anyways, thanks again for your awesome gaming guide, and have a great evening!

Oh, like I said, I feel the K712 is a better headphone overall. Just that I personally prefer the Annie.

 

[Reckless95]

I got you now. No offense meant at all by the way. Your guide was really useful to me; the only reason I remembered it was that I used it to try to decide whether to get the Annie or the 712. I still haven't made a move on this yet.

Here is the quote I was referring to from your gaming headphone guide:

"The K712 Pro has proven to be the best mid level AKG headphone in terms of musicality, refinement, and organic tonality."

By yoking "best" with the series of adjectives "musicality, refinement, and organic tonality," I suppose I got a little confused.

Anyways, thanks again for your awesome gaming guide, and have a great evening!

Seems like you're making something bigger then it has to be... Everyome has opinions and they change after awhile. Just saying...

 

[Liu Junyuan]

Seems like you're making something bigger then it has to be... Everyome has opinions and they change after awhile. Just saying...

To be sure, I was definitely making a big deal out of it, because I was using his guide to determine a decision about which headphone I would buy. Everyone has their own opinion, but everyone does not make a guide so thorough and comprehensive as he did. I take my purchases of headphones very seriously, not like whimsical choices of the moment. This means I make it a big deal about how I read my guides. 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

The 712 is a very safe bet as an endgame choice in its price range.

 

[cdma2k]

The 712 is a very safe bet as an endgame choice in its price range.

+1, yes, very comfortable pads too.

 

[ThurstonX]

Just picked up a pair from a fellow Head-Fier.  Initial impressions: typical AKG sound, quite close to modded Q701s (foam-covered bass port; wool felt driver rings).  Did a quick pad swap and went back to the memory foam.  Once I swapped out the stock foam driver rings for the wool felt (with a circle of organza on the driver side; that felt sheds like a long-haired critter!), the edge disappeared in that peaky AKG range, bass warmed up a bit, and sound stage stayed the same.  I really prefer the staging of these to the Q701s.  I read about the "hole" in the Qs' stage, and I finally heard it when comparing the two cans.
 
Curious how different cables will make them sound.  I've got a Mogami cable I made for the Qs, and will make one using some 100/46 Type 2 Litz wire I picked up.
 
All in all, it was worth picking these up at the discounted used price.

 

[TerrorPeen]

Ever since I got these headphones, which are amazing by the way, I've had a loose "grill" cap over the right ear driver. Unfortunately recently that piece got lost somewhere in transit and it's nowhere to be found so far. Does anyone know where I can find this piece or its part number? Or should I just call AKG? Thanks for any assistance and thanks for selling me on these incredible headphones.

 

[ThurstonX]

Ever since I got these headphones, which are amazing by the way, I've had a loose "grill" cap over the right ear driver. Unfortunately recently that piece got lost somewhere in transit and it's nowhere to be found so far. Does anyone know where I can find this piece or its part number? Or should I just call AKG? Thanks for any assistance and thanks for selling me on these incredible headphones.

 
Here's a link the July 2014 version of the K612 & K712 service manual:
 
http://www.akg.com/media/media/download/9352
 
You should get a prompt to open or save the PDF.

 

[TerrorPeen]

Here's a link the July 2014 version of the K612 & K712 service manual:

http://www.akg.com/media/media/download/9352

You should get a prompt to open or save the PDF.

Huge thanks. Now I just need to figure out where to find this part or if they will be willing to send a replacement.

 

[ThurstonX]

Huge thanks. Now I just need to figure out where to find this part or if they will be willing to send a replacement.

 
If you're in the US, these are the guys to contact (AKG/Harman parts dept.):
 
David.Wheeler@harman.com
818-895-3417
 
Hector.hernandez2@harman.com
818-920-3237
 
Looking at the parts sheet, I noticed there are separate listings/numbers for the Left and Right grills.
 
Definitely the place to order replacement pads in the US.  The Q701 pads, e.g., can be had for $35/pair, shipped.  They're $35 for one from other retailers, and they're nigh impossible to find.  Just something to keep in mind for people in the US.

 

[llcook51]

  Just picked up a pair from a fellow Head-Fier.  Initial impressions: typical AKG sound, quite close to modded Q701s (foam-covered bass port; wool felt driver rings).  Did a quick pad swap and went back to the memory foam.  Once I swapped out the stock foam driver rings for the wool felt (with a circle of organza on the driver side; that felt sheds like a long-haired critter!), the edge disappeared in that peaky AKG range, bass warmed up a bit, and sound stage stayed the same.  I really prefer the staging of these to the Q701s.  I read about the "hole" in the Qs' stage, and I finally heard it when comparing the two cans.
 
Curious how different cables will make them sound.  I've got a Mogami cable I made for the Qs, and will make one using some 100/46 Type 2 Litz wire I picked up.
 
All in all, it was worth picking these up at the discounted used price.

Looking to pick up a good used pair, also. I really like the AKG house sound paired with the LYR.

 

[ThurstonX]

  Looking to pick up a good used pair, also. I really like the AKG house sound paired with the LYR.

 
I did a quick comparison with my modded Q701s using some songs with a lot of upper-mids energy and not very prominent bass.  The K712s are definitely brighter, and the bass port mod on the Q701s gives them a bit more body.  Then I did the bass port mod on the K712s.  It doesn't mess with the mids, so on brighter stuff I'm still EQing the 2 & 2.5 kHz bands using the Graphic Equalizer component in foobar2000 by about -2 and -2.5, with slight reductions in the two surrounding bands.  It's easy enough to reset or import those settings.
 
I was really surprised at the difference, and that the Qs could seem warmer.  And that was using the stock pads on their respective cans, but the same DIY'd Mogami cable on both.  The Qs' sound stage did seem a tad larger, and I'm still wondering about that "hole" in the center.  Another comparison for later today.  The warmth/mellowness factor in the Qs could be due to a few hundred hours on them.  I'm not sure how many hours were on the K712s when I got them (pretty sure I'm the third owner), but I don't think it's a lot.  I've got some tubes to burn in, so that'll put some hours on them.  Curious to see if/how they change.
 
One note on doing the bass port mod: since I wanted to slide some foam over the ports, I had to remove the screws and pull the plastic housings off.  That last task proved a lot more difficult than with the Q701s.  So I'm living with that mod for a while before I decide whether or not to keep it, and if I revert, I doubt I'll be redoing it.
 
So with the mods (felt rings and bass port) and the slight EQ, I enjoyed a nice session yesterday.  I played some heavier, darker recordings, too, to test the effect of the bass port mod, and even with the slight EQ, they sounded good.  In typical AKG fashion, however, they exposed the indie nature of the production.  They play best with really well-produced stuff.  Just part of the deal.

 

[kman1211]

   
I did a quick comparison with my modded Q701s using some songs with a lot of upper-mids energy and not very prominent bass.  The K712s are definitely brighter, and the bass port mod on the Q701s gives them a bit more body.  Then I did the bass port mod on the K712s.  It doesn't mess with the mids, so on brighter stuff I'm still EQing the 2 & 2.5 kHz bands using the Graphic Equalizer component in foobar2000 by about -2 and -2.5, with slight reductions in the two surrounding bands.  It's easy enough to reset or import those settings.
 
I was really surprised at the difference, and that the Qs could seem warmer.  And that was using the stock pads on their respective cans, but the same DIY'd Mogami cable on both.  The Qs' sound stage did seem a tad larger, and I'm still wondering about that "hole" in the center.  Another comparison for later today.  The warmth/mellowness factor in the Qs could be due to a few hundred hours on them.  I'm not sure how many hours were on the K712s when I got them (pretty sure I'm the third owner), but I don't think it's a lot.  I've got some tubes to burn in, so that'll put some hours on them.  Curious to see if/how they change.
 
One note on doing the bass port mod: since I wanted to slide some foam over the ports, I had to remove the screws and pull the plastic housings off.  That last task proved a lot more difficult than with the Q701s.  So I'm living with that mod for a while before I decide whether or not to keep it, and if I revert, I doubt I'll be redoing it.
 
So with the mods (felt rings and bass port) and the slight EQ, I enjoyed a nice session yesterday.  I played some heavier, darker recordings, too, to test the effect of the bass port mod, and even with the slight EQ, they sounded good.  In typical AKG fashion, however, they exposed the indie nature of the production.  They play best with really well-produced stuff.  Just part of the deal.

I found whether they were warmer and had more bass depended on the system. But I found my K712 slightly darker than the Q701 I compared it to regardless of system, and both headphones had to have at least 500 hours on them, I have noticed the K712 has a different focus on the treble than the Q701 though. When I first got the K712 I found them almost insufferably dark with a bit of a boost/hardness in the 2-3khz region, they became a bit brighter and the hardness in the 2-3khz region went away with use. Although I always felt the K712 has more body, depth, and refinement to it's sound regardless and the soundstage/imaging is very different. The Q701 seems to have more of a frontal projection of the soundstage while the K712 is more around the head while also projecting sound behind the head like most headphones do which the Q701 didn't really do this as well even with the K712 pads. The Q701 reminded me a little of the MA900's soundstage but not quite as big and wider and the MA900 didn't have center staging oddness going on, only problem the MA900 had a grain throughout it's entire sound (at least on my system, will try the headphone again in November) that bothered me after getting the K612(which is somewhat grainy in the upper mids and treble).
 
System wise, I personally think my K712 sounds by far the best on my Lyr 2 with my Amperex Fat Bottle 6DJ8(Hungary, 1983) tubes. The Amperex Bugle Boys 6DJ8(Holland, 1964) I had were disappointments with the K712, though the HD 600 sounds great on them. 
 
I have to agree about how AKGs just basically show you what's there. But that revealing nature of AKGs is what I love about them. They just reveal it all, tonality, depth, timbre, artifacts, etc. of a recording and are also extremely revealing of the system. This differs from my HD 600 while it's very revealing of the system and recording it also adds an inherent pleasantness, smoothness, lushness, and wooden-like tone to the sound that takes the edge off bad recordings or bad synergy.

 

[ThurstonX]

Thanks for that, @kman1211  
 
I feel it's important to iterate the likely difference in hours on my Q701s vs. the K712s.  But more important to the overall signature are the pads.  I've found that to be true with my HiFiMAN cans, as well.  I've been swapping between the stock and Q701 pads on the K712s.  The Q701 pads do wonders for the sound stage, but are definitely brighter.  My EQ preset works very well in tandem with them.  For darker recordings, or those without that 2-3 kHz annoyance, resetting to flat lifts the veil.  The bass can get a little bloomy/one-note-ish with the stock pads and the bass port mod.  That ends up being a net positive with some stuff, esp. where you want more sub-bass.  At this point I'm partial to the Q701 pads (nothing new there).  May have to pick up another pair.
 
Time to try all this with the Q701s 

 
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Quick impression with K712 pads on Q701s, with all else being equal: on the same songs the 2-3 kHz annoyance is simply not there.  That gives me hope that it will dissipate on the K712s.  Bass is similar, but a bit more quantity.  EQ is flat.  Still not sure I like these pads, but since they're damn expensive, I suppose it's good to have a pair.  Certainly is an interesting pairing with the Q701s.

 

[kman1211]

  Thanks for that, @kman1211  
 
I feel it's important to iterate the likely difference in hours on my Q701s vs. the K712s.  But more important to the overall signature are the pads.  I've found that to be true with my HiFiMAN cans, as well.  I've been swapping between the stock and Q701 pads on the K712s.  The Q701 pads do wonders for the sound stage, but are definitely brighter.  My EQ preset works very well in tandem with them.  For darker recordings, or those without that 2-3 kHz annoyance, resetting to flat lifts the veil.  The bass can get a little bloomy/one-note-ish with the stock pads and the bass port mod.  That ends up being a net positive with some stuff, esp. where you want more sub-bass.  At this point I'm partial to the Q701 pads (nothing new there).  May have to pick up another pair.
 
Time to try all this with the Q701s 

That is true. It seems the amount of use can make a difference. The annoyance in the 2-3khz should go away, I find it less annoying on my K712 than the K612, the K612 didn't bother me in this region at first but the grain there bothered me more and more. When I compared the K712 and Q701 neither bothered me in that area. I didn't mod either pair though. I always feel like I mess up the sound when trying to mod a headphone in some way or another so I simply don't bother personally, I'll just stick with cables and tube rolling to fine-tune my sound. I've been quite lucky in terms of tube/amp synergy with my headphones thankfully. And it also makes me wonder if there is some inherent variation with the K7xx family in terms of sound. I liked the soundstage better on the K712 pads. The biggest improvement I got in terms of soundstage was actually putting socket savers in my Lyr 2, the soundstage simply became massive but I'm not sure I like the overall effect of the socket savers to the sound. I did notice that when I heard some Hifiman orhtos, I actually found them somewhat similar to AKGs. I may pick up a pair eventually.Though I am happy with the K712 and HD 600 combo for now. I'll probably end up getting another amp before getting another headphone. I may pick up the Valhalla 2 as it sounds very different my Lyr 2 and I don't have to deal with getting different tubes for each amp for tube rolling.