[491838]

That's an amazing deal. You can't get a better pair of headphones for that amount of money.

 

[swagadelic]

after talking to the guy it seems he was misinformed. they are indeed the Slovakian made. Still, 160 euro is still a great price for a new pair!! i paid 220 euro for mine
and above user is absolutely right.

there does not exist a better pair of headphones (new) for under 250 euro than the k712. and for 160 euro? its like a crazy good deal.

 

[skingg]

https://www.tradera.com/item/340269/322326599/akg-k712-pro-referenshorlurar

just thought id share. on sale on a swedish auction site (owned by Ebay) for around 160 euro. These are brand new in box, and is the AUSTRIAN model!
so I just HAD to share in-case someone wanted to get their hands on a NEW pair of Austrian made ones.

I wrote the user selling to add original pictures, of the box and more. lets see if he does.

The description after translation says "Developed in Austria and handmade in Slovakia. "

 

[SSandDigital]

Heh, never cared if it was made in Austria or Slovakia. Mine is made in Austria, but I highly doubt it would make any difference.

What is the serial number up to now?

Has AKG made any updates to the K712 Pro? Like how Sennheiser has continuously updated the HD600/HD650.

 

[SSandDigital]

Also I'm still surprised how much praise HD600 has gotten lately, but not the K712. HD600 seems to have gone through a revival, wonder why AKG has been missing out on the revival.

 

[swagadelic]

The description after translation says "Developed in Austria and handmade in Slovakia. "

yes he changed it after i talked to him .)

 

[swagadelic]

anyone have tested the APPJ with k712??
i have an opportunity to buy a slightly upgraded version (~$100 worth of new tubes) for just 100 euro.
its a steal so id thought if someone had good experience with k712 or the sound in general.


its this amp:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/any-opinions-reviews-on-gemtune-appj-pa1502a.780178/

 

[491838]

It might calm down the slightly bright\sibilant treble though honestly I find the K712 pretty tame compared to a lot of speakers.

 

[Lushy Brushy]

Also I'm still surprised how much praise HD600 has gotten lately, but not the K712. HD600 seems to have gone through a revival, wonder why AKG has been missing out on the revival.

I have both and I find the K712s a tad sibilant on some tracks, the HD600s pair themselves better with more genres and are a bit more laid back in my opinion, for me is just more musical and has more feeling to it, may be my amp pairing with the R2R though, I haven’t tried neither of them on other amps. Waiting for the little bear 2 disqe-mini tube pre amp, I’ll try them on that if I haven’t sold them by then. It’s true when they say that the K712’s have more sub-bass though but it doesn’t do it for me, I prefer the 600s mid bass although it can sound a bit too bloated and warm. Also I find comfort on par for both, although I prefer the tighter clamp.

anyone have tested the APPJ with k712??
i have an opportunity to buy a slightly upgraded version (~$100 worth of new tubes) for just 100 euro.
its a steal so id thought if someone had good experience with k712 or the sound in general.

With what I said before, I believe a tube amp would bring more life to the K712’s and make them more to my liking as tubes warm up the sound (according to most people who try them) so if that’s the case then the K712’s may be just perfect for me as I find the HD600s treble lacking in quantity just a tini tini bit, tube amps with that sub-bass and the great mids in the K712’s would just be stellar, but again I’ve never heard a tube amp just my speculation.

 

[swagadelic]

so heres the low-down. Its a bit of a wall of text but worth the read. TLDR at the bottom.

my friend who owns the amp was kind enough to lend it to me before purchase so I could check it out.

Before I go into Its worth mentioning I use cheap cables going from my UR22, into the amp.
They are gold plated but other than that, they are cheap.

Its also worth mentioning that the cables are balanced on the output from the UR22 - but unbalanced into the RCA of the amp (which doesnt have any balanced inputs)
My headphones are also obviously unbalanced.

Now then.

----


It sounds slightly better than the headphone out from the UR22.
Source is 32 bit float / 96khz digital audio. There exists no AD conversion, only the DA from the UR22 to the amp.
But yeah, difference is slight.

Its a tad bit clearer or "open". Touch warmer in the midrange. Sub bass I find is the same, maybe even slightly less sub-bass on the amp vs directly from the UR22. Treble is more pleasant using the amp.
The UR22 is much colder, harsher treble - but bass is near identical.


So what Im currently using is an old Hi-Fi amp from Philips ca 1979. The headphone out on that beats this amp. It honestly does.
Im beyond disappointed in this amp.



Now, Ive heard the Pro-Ject HeadBox (costs about 550 euro) and the difference was STAGGERING. I could not believe my ears. It was like I was listening to a different set of headphones. ( or rather - how they are ACTUALLY supposed to sound).
The sound was more open than anything Ive ever heard. The stereo field and the sound stage was incredible. It literally felt like the music was actually around me IRL.


But regarding this little Tube amp? No way! Dont buy it! It barely beats the puny 6mw from the UR22 . That is, in terms of sound quality. In volume - sure its leages ahead. The dial is maxed on the Ur22 at all times - so unusable. An amp is required. But level matching the tube amp to the UR22 - the improvement is so marginal I wouldnt even pay 50 euro for this amp.

Ill stick with my HiFi amp for now, which has even more volume than this amp does, btw. The dial is at 50% on this amp (at the Low impedance setting - the High setting sounds awful) while at 100% on my UR22 and 33% on the HiFi amp.

Now - the tubes used on this amp I have no clue of their quality. But they are upgraded from stock, so they supposedly sound much better than it does stock.

-------

TLDR

ur22 : low volume. unusable without amp. but level matched with the amp the sound is only slightly worse - a bit colder and harsher.

the amp : can go super duper loud but sounds terrible at the High impedance setting. More harsh there than on the Ur22. On the Low setting it sounds good. But only slightly better than the Ur22.
Volume wise the knob is at 50% matching the UR22's 100%.
sound is less sibilant treble, TINY bit more open and wider soundstage - but marginal at best - bass is near identical. In fact id dare say the UR22 produces slightly better bass. (!!)

comparison:
the tube amp VS ur22 hp out VS my hifi amp from 1979 VS ProJect HeadBox
its incredibly difficult to tell any difference from the tube amp and the HiFi amp. Between those two its so close I could prob not tell them apart in a blind test.
If I had to choose between the HiFi amp and the tube amp - Id actually prefer the HiFi amp because it has Bass and Treble controls and also a Loudness button when u want that super Oomph.
But just 'defeating' the tone controls on the hifiamp and not using the loudness button, its soooo close to this amp its no question that its not worth buying.

The HeadBox is beyond comparison here. Its like comparing the HD800s with ATH M50X.

 

[swagadelic]

I have both and I find the K712s a tad sibilant on some tracks, the HD600s pair themselves better with more genres and are a bit more laid back in my opinion, for me is just more musical and has more feeling to it, may be my amp pairing with the R2R though, I haven’t tried neither of them on other amps. Waiting for the little bear 2 disqe-mini tube pre amp, I’ll try them on that if I haven’t sold them by then. It’s true when they say that the K712’s have more sub-bass though but it doesn’t do it for me, I prefer the 600s mid bass although it can sound a bit too bloated and warm. Also I find comfort on par for both, although I prefer the tighter clamp.



With what I said before, I believe a tube amp would bring more life to the K712’s and make them more to my liking as tubes warm up the sound (according to most people who try them) so if that’s the case then the K712’s may be just perfect for me as I find the HD600s treble lacking in quantity just a tini tini bit, tube amps with that sub-bass and the great mids in the K712’s would just be stellar, but again I’ve never heard a tube amp just my speculation.

try the Pro-Ject HeadBox if you can. Or rather, dont. Because you will never be able to appreciate your K712 ever again, without getting that piece of equipment.
If ever something brings life to the k712 its that one. Get it if your wallet can afford it. Im going to save up for it myself. I was BLOWN AWAY by the sound it produced.

 

[491838]

You'll need a passive switch to hear them side by side in real time to be able to judge two amps. I tested my phone against my OPPO HA-2 at one point and couldn't really tell a difference but the HA-2 does measure really well and has a more powerful amp.

 

[swagadelic]

You'll need a passive switch to hear them side by side in real time to be able to judge two amps. I tested my phone against my OPPO HA-2 at one point and couldn't really tell a difference but the HA-2 does measure really well and has a more powerful amp.

wrong.
if thats what you need then the amps arent different enough worthy of telling a difference. if you A/B listen and A or B doesnt blow you away in terms of difference then whats the point.
besides it only takes about 1,5 seconds to pull the chord out and insert it into the other. so still fairly decent A/B experience.
but yeah, youre wrong.

you shouldnt have to A/B/A/B/A/B/A/B in rapid succesion just to hear the difference. then there might aswell be no difference.


if one doesnt stick out drastically, then whats the point. just go with either one. the HeadBox from Project.... it stood out man. you wouldnt have to passively A/B side by side in a matter of milliseconds to spot the difference. you could spot the difference on pure memory alone. and that to me is what the difference should be. if the difference is just minute details you cant spot unless you have a passive controller to rapidly switch - whats the point? if one doesnt stick out drastically, then they are basically equal.

remember that our ears are analog, and we percieve things analog. so if we need to A/B switch like crazy to be able to tell the difference then to me there is no difference.

think of it like this: compare the HD540 or the HD800s (which are similar) to the M50X. Do you have to have a passive controller to A/B them to tell the difference? no, its night and day.

 

[jarnauga]

try the Pro-Ject HeadBox if you can. Or rather, dont. Because you will never be able to appreciate your K712 ever again, without getting that piece of equipment.
If ever something brings life to the k712 its that one. Get it if your wallet can afford it. Im going to save up for it myself. I was BLOWN AWAY by the sound it produced.

Just to be clear, are you talking about the pro-ject head box ds2 b?

Because if you are talking about this one, oh, my body is ready. I’m trying so hard to find the right amp that delivers the current and power that my beloved akg demands and deserve. I have a wonderful lehmann audio linear that doesn’t have the guts but it has the quality and speed. But I need more current not only voltage. This unit shows current settings and gain settings (even 0db gain, as I am using in the Lehmann). The lehmann has worse SQ if you put 10db gain and it goes to the toilet if you put it at 20db gain.

If this is ‘the one’ for me I will buy a proper linear power supply afterwards.

Can you clarify the exact model please?

 

[swagadelic]

Just to be clear, are you talking about the pro-ject head box ds2 b?

Because if you are talking about this one, oh, my body is ready. I’m trying so hard to find the right amp that delivers the current and power that my beloved akg demands and deserve. I have a wonderful lehmann audio linear that doesn’t have the guts but it has the quality and speed. But I need more current not only voltage. This unit shows current settings and gain settings (even 0db gain, as I am using in the Lehmann). The lehmann has worse SQ if you put 10db gain and it goes to the toilet if you put it at 20db gain.

If this is ‘the one’ for me I will buy a proper linear power supply afterwards.

Can you clarify the exact model please?

correct. that is the one. it will animate your k712 to levels you didnt think possible.
btw, it has balanced dual-mono inputs so if your headphones are balanced (modded k712 or any other modded pair btw) its going to exponentially blow you away even further.
but even if your headphones are unbalanced, the way this produces the signal (from dual-mono) makes the soundstage something spectacular.
(imagine a full stereo signal in each ear)

and the fact that it has 3 seperate impedance settings, and 4 difference gain settings make it versatile even up to your 600 ohm pair aswell as your 62 ohm pair