[Ze_Blitzkrieg]

I can attest to the fact that the K601's were in fact moved to China for production before they were stopped being made.  There seemed to be at least about a solid year (if not more) of production from there before it was dropped from the line.  Now, with that being said, I can not say that ALL K601 production was moved to China, but I do know that at least the ones being shipped to the US were.  I am pretty sure I had communicated and confirmed from AKG (Harman Kardon) that there were in fact models being produced in China, as I was obviously skeptical upon receipt of my K601's only to see they were marked as being made in China.  I can not find my email correspondence at the moment, but if I do I will post/edit.
 
That all being said, I imagine that the K612's are more than likely going to manufactured there as well, as they conveniently leave "Made in Vienna, Austria" that is explicitly stated on the K712's page.
 
Obviously this is only my assumption at this point, and not confirmed by any means (pertaining to the K612's production).

 

[Ze_Blitzkrieg]

Ok. . .so I found the email communications with AKG after my K601 purchase, see below:
 

Hello,
 

I just recently received my first AKG product, the AKG K601 headphone.  I am sending this email to ask a question about where these headphones are made.  I was under the impression that the K601's were made in Austria, but the box says "Made in China" along with the same being printed on a sticker applied to the leather headband.  I just wanted to confirm that you do in fact manufacture the K601's in China and that I have not received a pair of fake K601's.

 

Thanks for your time in advance,

 

-*******

 

[size=small][size=10pt]Hello *******,[/size][/size]
 
[size=small][size=10pt]AKG[/size] product has been manufactured in Austria, Poland, and China. If you have concerns that your product is counterfeit, please cont an AKG Account Specialist (888-286-9358 x3276) to confirm that the dealer you purchased the headphones from are indeed an authorized dealer.[/size]
 
[size=small][size=10pt]Thank you,[/size][/size]
[size=small][size=10pt]Greg[/size][/size]

 
So apparently they have manufacturing facilities in not only Austria, but Poland and China as well.

 

[joebobbilly]

Looks like an orange Annie to me

.
 
From trying Q701s at a meet... I can safely say I prefer the Annies... and IMHO, they are like the love child of the Q701s with the HD 650s. Ok I exaggerate, but you get the point... they're generally like HD 650s with more air, larger soundstage, more "in your face presentation", but less buttery smooth and less weight behind the bass (still punchy tho).
 

 

[EvilKillaruna]

So apparently they have manufacturing facilities in not only Austria, but Poland and China as well.

 
That's funny, never heard of it and Google too.

 

[Ze_Blitzkrieg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EvilKillaruna /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Quote:

So apparently they have manufacturing facilities in not only Austria, but Poland and China as well.

 
That's funny, never heard of it and Google too.

 
Ok. . .so perhaps a better choice of wording would have been "have had". . .as he did state "have been" in his email response.  I feel like I'm watching that State Farm commercial. . ."if it's on the internet it must be true", but instead it's more like "if it can't be found on Google it must not be true".  

  [size=9.333333015441895px]. . .I'm just kidding with ya there [/size]

 
*edit*  After a brief Google search myself, it appears the AKG products being outsourced to Poland are in the microphone line as opposed to headphones. . .then again that was a pretty brief search, ha.

 

[RamblinE]

AKG also makes a lot of OEM speakers and mics, primarily for cellphones from what I understand... 

 

[EvilKillaruna]

About microphones - I don't know honeslty. But about headphones I really don't remember anything about any such factories in my country. All my AKG models were made in P.R.C. or Austria (iem's, compact, circum- and supraaurals) and I've got them directly from official Polish dealer, every one of them. Maybe I'm wrong, but if AKG headphones were ever manufactured as a whole in Poland, then I'm pretty sure I would get my hands on them later or sooner . But once again - I can be wrong here.

 

[FritzS]

@tdockweiler #425
the K712 is a bit, but not much louder than the Q701 - I think the the K712 is an evolution of the K702 Anni.

@jasonb #429
the Pads of the K712 are not angled as the pads of K701, Q701, K702. I have no K702 Anni, so I could not compair them.
----

I could not wait and search for my best CD of
"Also sprach Zarathustra, André Previn, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, TELARC"
and compare my K712 with Q701 - played through the first few bars to 1:50 and often alternating between Q701 and K712.

The K712 brings this passage a bit more powerful and (if I do anything wrong imagining) an a little bit closer to me. The Q701 sometimes seems in direct comparison a little bit "thinner".

ATTENTION! These are some very minor differences and the K712 are runnig only once for about 5 hours. Such tests are always to be considered somewhat subjective. Such intensive comparison test you can run to my experience for a relatively short time (not hours).

PS: Please excuse my not so good english

 

[Ze_Blitzkrieg]

Quote:

Looks like an orange Annie to me

.
 
From trying Q701s at a meet... I can safely say I prefer the Annies... and IMHO, they are like the love child of the Q701s with the HD 650s. Ok I exaggerate, but you get the point... they're generally like HD 650s with more air, larger soundstage, more "in your face presentation", but less buttery smooth and less weight behind the bass (still punchy tho).
 

 
So they are like the HD650's, but. . .

1. with more air
2. larger soundstage
3. more "in your face presentation"
4. less buttery smooth
5. less weight behind the bass

 

 
 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

@tdockweiler #425
I think the the K712 is the K702 Anni with new colors.

fixed.

 

[viralcow]

Quote:

fixed.

 
Yep. Gotta stop sugarcoating everything, unless the K712 actually is an improvement over the Annies.

 

[joebobbilly]

Quote:

 
So they are like the HD650's, but. . .

1. with more air
2. larger soundstage
3. more "in your face presentation"
4. less buttery smooth
5. less weight behind the bass

 

 
 

LOL. I know I'm being sneaky

.
 
So they are also like the Q701's, but. . .

1. more comfortable (curse you bumps!!!)
2. less harsh trebles
3. less "dry"
4. more buttery smooth
5. more weight behind the bass

 
Don't get me wrong, I love both the Annies and HD 650s... both are here to stay... though the HD 650s are getting a lot more head time now cause they're just incredible running outta mojo/gungnir. I'll definitely be looking for a balancing mod for the Annies once the warranty on them finishes (don't wanna void it so soon after getting them... and give my wallet more time to heal

)

 

[tdockweiler]

I still have no clue why the heck AKG even released the K712 Pro.
They should have just released this instead of the Anniversary Edition. I guess it's all about getting as much money as possible.
If this is $500 in the USA I'm going to be sick. If it's cheaper than the Anniversary then i'll just shut up.
 
Maybe in a year or so it will be the price of the Q701 or close.
 
Also, in case anyone didn't see my other post, the K612 does NOT have memory foam pads. SHOULD sound identical to the K601, but who knows..
 
I hate these HD-650 comparisons. To me it's not more airy and with a bigger soundstage. About the same based on memory. HD-650 is way better IMO, but the Annie is definitely more forward sounding.
 
EDIT: Someone needs to take one for the team and try a K601 with Anniversary pads. Probably warmth overload and way too dark.

 

[ph0rk]

Quote:

I would actually be quite interested in hearing the new K612's and see what is different coming from the K601's.

 
 
I'll just say that if the +3db low end increase holds true for the k612 as well as the k712, the k612 may be the one headphone that will get me to come out of retirement. Maybe.
 
I confess they don't appear to be much different than the original k601, at least in form factor.
 
I think I'm probably content to wait for others to be the first adopters.

 

[tdockweiler]

Quote:

 
 
I'll just say that if the +3db low end increase holds true for the k612 as well as the k712, the k612 may be the one headphone that will get me to come out of retirement. Maybe.
 
I confess they don't appear to be much different than the original k601, at least in form factor.
 
I think I'm probably content to wait for others to be the first adopters.

There's no 3db improvement on the K612 since it doesn't have new pads as far as I know. Definitely not memory foam.
I don't know why anyone would think the K612 is any different than the K601.