[SteezyRayVaughan]

Yeah I would say the LCX brings just a tad of warmth, but its still relatively neutral. I can't compare it to the previous Liquid Carbons as I've never tried them, but the LCX is a great combination with the K712 imo.

Thanks for that info. Now I just have to decide if I want to get in on the drop right now on Massdrop or wait for the Liquid Platinum in October. Decisions man

 

[veyrongatti]

Thanks for that info. Now I just have to decide if I want to get in on the drop right now on Massdrop or wait for the Liquid Platinum in October. Decisions man

Just grab both

 

[SteezyRayVaughan]

Just grab both

Honestly, that's probably what's going to happen haha

 

[swagadelic]

I've got them recently too (have had them for a week now) and I use them connected straight into my laptop while I wait for my r2r11 to arrive. The soundstage does sound compressed (though you still get a sense of sound coming from out of your head, however close it might be), the imaging is very good but the rest might sound a bit muffled. It still sounds like a decent headphone nevertheless. As far as volume/loudness goes, with the records that sound louder on the regular I can drive them pretty well (up to 70% in some cases is more than enough) and in others that are quieter I might need the 100%, but for the most part I can get them to a sufficiently loud volume. With a dedicated DAC/amp (r2r11 in my case) I expect their sound to be opened up and be more refined and detailed, more airy and expand the soundstage a little bit and perhaps improve the imaging even more as a result.

Yes the volume is fine with mastered material. My laptop can also drive them to listenable volumes but more often than not 100% volume feels like its barely pushing it.

I'm surprised that the volume coming out of the ur22 is marginally louder than my laptop. So a dedicated amp is a must.

I could live with the volume as is - it's juuuust about ok and manageable , but they don't sound great... Especially the bass area is empty even though I can clearly hear the 20hz sine waves, its not that it's not extended - it's just missing oomph.
. And I don't want equed headphones like dt770pro where there is still not much oomph just sounds like a low shelf on all low frequency.

Is planar headphones my only option? I want the he560 but impossible for me to afford


So i hope that a decent amp will bring this headphone to life .. Sadly I'm not gonna be able to afford an amp until next month and i only have 30 day return policy..

 

[491838]

I use my K712 with a Roland Rubix22 for monitoring\mixing. Can't really complain and it's USB powered (with the option to add DC power).

However, it is possible that the K712 become more efficient over time.

 

[swagadelic]

I use my K712 with a Roland Rubix22 for monitoring\mixing. Can't really complain and it's USB powered (with the option to add DC power).

However, it is possible that the K712 become more efficient over time.

your headphone output is 20+20mw, whereas on mine its 6mw so you should definately notice a slight increase in volume over my interface.

anyway, im kinda ok with the volume after spending a few hours mixing in cubase. its fine volume-wise.
but where is the bass..... i cannot mix basslines or kickdrums in these. doesnt work at all. there is hardly any bass to monitor.
and if i mix the kick to my liking - it is WAY WAY off, and has 10 times the bass it should be, on my other headphones. i havent heard a headphone with such low bass impact like this pair before. even my old sennheiser hd540 had more bass.

this is a shame because i find the sound otherwise to be very pleasant. I wonder if an amp really can solve this problem or if this is just the way the headphone is... which i kind of doubt... and im far far from a basshead, but i do produce/listen to music which is defined by the kickdrum and bassline so thats the most important element of the mix for me. to get those frequencies right.

and even though i can see all the bass pumping on the Frequency analyzer - i just dont hear it/sense it

 

[Roll]

this is a shame because i find the sound otherwise to be very pleasant. I wonder if an amp really can solve this problem or if this is just the way the headphone is... which i kind of doubt... and im far far from a basshead, but i do produce/listen to music which is defined by the kickdrum and bassline so thats the most important element of the mix for me. to get those frequencies right.

and even though i can see all the bass pumping on the Frequency analyzer - i just dont hear it/sense it

Have u look into the software Sonarworks, there is a free trial that would help with the K712

 

[swagadelic]

I'll try it thanks.

 

[SHAMuuu]

Sonarworks is OK but no comparison to customized EQ with something like APO for individual's idiosyncratic needs, sonic needs that is

yes i hav 712, and yes i have used both methods. k712 is fun ti play with EQ wise

 

[491838]

K712 does have bass impact when it comes to kicks. It's quite punchy but you won't hear the lower notes as well. It's an open back headphone after all but it has more bass than the Sennheisers in this price range.

 

[Lushy Brushy]

K712 does have bass impact when it comes to kicks. It's quite punchy but you won't hear the lower notes as well. It's an open back headphone after all but it has more bass than the Sennheisers in this price range.

With my R2R my HD600’s sometimes seem to have more bass as they sit tighter to my head, feels more punchy and tight. K712 more soundstage but seems loser, each better for certain different albums.

 

[491838]

There are areas of the bass region where the HD600 distort less, so that's not surprising. However, the K712 hits deeper and distorts less in the lower sub bass regions.

 

[swagadelic]

What about a dedicated old hifi amplifier? Like a 90s class aa technics or something? They have tone control to increase bass...
Wouldn't this be better than for example sonarworks? One less vst fx on the master buss would mean more headroom when mixing

 

[swagadelic]

I work at a second hand shop and picked this bad boy up for cheap. Didnt expect its headphone out to be powerful enough and was contemplating a way to connect the phones to the Speaker out on the back. But I tried and was pleasantly surprised. The headphone output is super ultra loud! Cant put it past 11 o'clock or I hurt my ears.
With this amps Loudness button pressed, the bass becomes super nice. Will still have to EQ it a little in the box but thats fine. The bottom end just opened up and it feels a little like mini subwoofers in my ears now, really useful when mixing kickdrums and basslines.

So im fairly happy now I suppse I dont think they sound as big as I expected from reading online about them, though. I feel the sound is actually pretty narrow, and its very diffictult to percieve anything sounding "far away", everything sounds like its coming in the middle of the head, and i suppose I was expecting a speaker-like experience from reading online.

Anyway, I rather like my new headphones

 

[swagadelic]

I tried the Sonarworks plugin and it was a great plugin, but their profile sounded ok. It sounds like "make your k712 into sennheiser" type of profile. They became steely and a bit hollow. I ended up throwing it out again unfortunately. Im convinced though that a custom profile would work better but the average one; not so much. Plugin looked great tho and the EQ sounded great.

I ended up throwing a Ozone Equalizer 8 on the master bus and low-shelved the bass up by a few dB from 170hz and downward. This in conjunction with my "new" hifi amp - Im quite content now!
Low end for days now!


And my review for the headphone:

Sound
low end: lacking alot of punch and oomph; but with the above 'tweaks' im quite content. Even though now there is too much sub-bass while still lacking a bit of punch- this is something that I suspect cannot be remedied, and I imagine i would need Planar magnetic phones for that kind of punch.

the mids are OK, a taaad muddy but still OK. The highs are great. On the sharp side of things but still great. It could use a touch of EQ in the 16khz+ range for that extra airyness; and maybe a touch lower in the 2, 4 and 8khz ranges - for certain type of music that can become sibilant. But they still sound pretty decent completely stock.


Overall - the detail could be better. I guess for ~220 euro Im quite happy.
Soundstage is fine, but far from what I expected.
Image is ok too, nothing special.

Comfort, Build Quality, final thoughts
Comfort is average, but much more on the comfort-side than anything else. They fit a touch to loose. I would want a tiny bit more clamping force.

Build quality is great. They feel heavy to me; and dont feel at all like cheap plastic. I am pleasantly surprised on this aspect.

I have about 40h burn-in with pinknoise, and logarithmic sine-waves - for whatever its worth. Im not a firm believer of burn-in.
I also suspect I will become more and more accustomed to the sound the more I use them - and the more the pads get stuck to my head.


But the best thing about the sound is hands-down how revealing they are. I immediately hear exactly whats wrong with a mix. And this is honestly the most important aspect of this headphone. They truly are for mixing!
So because of this, I am more than happy with the headphone even though its far from perfect!