[Lushy Brushy]

You may call me crazy but I think my K712s sound better with my Cayin N3 than with my R2R-11, with the R2R the bass is too boomy and the highs get piercing some times, it has a bit more soundstage though, with the Cayin however they sound more musical and holographic with smaller soundstage, which I prefer, it's so much smoother and laid back, the N3 can actually push them too loud on some tracks. Could it be, maybe the K712's don't have much synergy with R2R? They are 62 ohm though, makes sense I guess? They sound so much more agile with the N3, with the R2R is like a big ball of mass, heavy and slow. It feels as if the N3 used more parts of the driver and the bass was tighter, highs also don't get piercing.

 

[491838]

K712 is far from holographic. They sound too in your head. I very rarely get a vivid sense of where instruments sit and it's pretty much always in my head or very close to it (i.e. it lacks depth.

 

[prymortal]

Mine a bit different its left/right of the centre, never centre though & never "3d" sounding even though it has a soundstage that can extend quite far, It fakes imaging is how i'd put it because it has good rear sound, but little to no under the ear sound/downward sounds. Sounds almost always always start at mid height & go up or down from that mid spot depending on tone/tones in the song, they also come close with the tone/s but never go further than they start..... Its pretty consistant with different genres & Dac/amp's. So yeah i don't find them holographic (3d) eaither, But it does have some depth to it.

 

[491838]

I've been listening to them outside a lot lately and now that I listened to them again inside, where it's quiet, I do hear a lot more depth. I do get a sense of the "room" with reverb and stuff but it's not that 3D. It's still quite shallow but you do notice the openness of the sound quite easily.

 

[Me x3]

The perception of soundstage is listener and recording dependent.
Different setups can play a role too.

High quality binaural albums typically provide some of the best results in this regard.
You can check this samples for reference:
http://www.hdtracks.com/sessions-from-the-17th-ward-binaural-281464

 

[Lushy Brushy]

Yes, not so long ago I thought the K712s had too much soundstage for my linking, I've also noticed the way we perceive sounds is psychological, if you give more meaning to the music it sounds better and you pick up more details without even trying. The N3 also sounds airier for some reason, maybe just the sound sig of the player, now I wonder how the K712s pairs with other amps and what a good synergy may be, I believe something with less bass, good mids and smooth highs. With the N3 I feel I traded bass compared to the R2R for more liveliness in the music, and the R2R is said to be musical. Now I have portable K712s, too bad they are too open

 

[peter123]

I've had these wonderful headphones for about a week now and I enjoy them a lot. Recently I've been using my (bass modded) Q701's quite a bit and the stiff pads gave me discomfort so I picked up a pair of the K712 hoping that they'll be better in ergonomics and they are so that's great.

I do think that the sound from the Qs and the K712 are really similar, the Qs may actually have ever so slightly more subbass impact but apart from that they're almost identical. This (except the subbass) was pretty much what I expected though so it's OK.

Just like the Qs I find the K712 to be slightly on the warm side (compared to the HE560 and maybe even the HD800S). I also don't find them to be particularly amp sensitive as long as they're getting enough power. Based on sound alone I'd probably pick the Qs but the small difference and the much better ergonomics on the K712 does still makes the a great purchase for me.

I'd probably rate the K712 on par with the HD58X (the Fidelio X2's will probably also for in there but I haven't used them for a long time now) and only beaten by the HD800S, HE560 and Onkyo A800 among the headphones that I have.

I really like the way these headphones feels like on ear speakers (in the same way as the HD800S does) in the way they're presenting their sound.

 

[SilverEars]

I've had these wonderful headphones for about a week now and I enjoy them a lot. Recently I've been using my (bass modded) Q701's quite a bit and the stiff pads gave me discomfort so I picked up a pair of the K712 hoping that they'll be better in ergonomics and they are so that's great.

I do think that the sound from the Qs and the K712 are really similar, the Qs may actually have ever so slightly more subbass impact but apart from that they're almost identical. This (except the subbass) was pretty much what I expected though so it's OK.

Just like the Qs I find the K712 to be slightly on the warm side (compared to the HE560 and maybe even the HD800S). I also don't find them to be particularly amp sensitive as long as they're getting enough power. Based on sound alone I'd probably pick the Qs but the small difference and the much better ergonomics on the K712 does still makes the a great purchase for me.

I'd probably rate the K712 on par with the HD58X (the Fidelio X2's will probably also for in there but I haven't used them for a long time now) and only beaten by the HD800S, HE560 and Onkyo A800 among the headphones that I have.

I really like the way these headphones feels like on ear speakers (in the same way as the HD800S does) in the way they're presenting their sound.

So these maybe the Slovakians? Anybody know what is the difference from the "pro?"

Although subjective impressions of the K712 or the pro seems better, the graphs have a bit of a weirdness in the mids, and doesn't seem as smooth in tonality as the K70X. I don't like the mids bump as I've heard mids bump headphones, and makes the voice sound like megaphone tonality.

 

[Beagle]

K712 is far from holographic. They sound too in your head. I very rarely get a vivid sense of where instruments sit and it's pretty much always in my head or very close to it (i.e. it lacks depth.

That's the way headphones are. If you want real space and imaging, get loudspeakers.

 

[SilverEars]

That's the way headphones are. If you want real space and imaging, get loudspeakers.

True, and we should limit the expectstion of what people mean by imaging on headphone.

It's not real imaging like speakers, but certain headphones tend express recordings depth and holography in an interesting way due to being near the ear and the way the cups are designed. That's the way I understand headphone imaging when people refer to it with the obvious difference of how the speaker is positioned for headphones and speakers (as speakers have outside the body directionality).

 

[Beagle]

True, and we should limit the expectstion of what people mean by imaging on headphone.

It's not real imaging like speakers, but certain headphones tend express recordings depth and holography in an interesting way due to being near the ear and the way the cups are designed. That's the way I understand headphone imaging when people refer to it with the obvious difference of how the speaker is positioned for headphones and speakers (as speakers have outside the body directionality).

Space and imaging on headphones mostly comes from two distinct factors....matched drivers, and how far away from the ears the drivers sit. So headphones basically create their own imagining, depending on how they portray each of these factors. I always believed that (matched) drivers that sit on the ears are giving "accurate" reproduction of headphone "imaging" and "soundstage" which is recording-dependent. Pulling them away from the ear creates artificial enhancement of that.

 

[SilverEars]

Space and imaging on headphones mostly comes from two distinct factors....matched drivers, and how far away from the ears the drivers sit. So headphones basically create their own imagining, depending on how they portray each of these factors. I always believed that (matched) drivers that sit on the ears are giving "accurate" reproduction of headphone "imaging" and "soundstage" which is recording-dependent. Pulling them away from the ear creates artificial enhancement of that.

When I was watching the Focal Clear discussion with Jude, Focal pointed out the concept of "room." And they see the inside the cup as a room analogy to a real room space (for speakers) besides the obvious differences.

The way we hear from speakers is effected by the interaction of our upper body. With cupped earphones, only the ear, and the obvious directionality differences. So, an ear inside the cup has a space from the ear speaker, but with speakers our whole body is in a room with two point sources.

 

[Beagle]

When I was watching the Focal Clear discussion with Jude, Focal pointed out the concept of "room." And they see the inside the cup as a room analogy to a real room space (for speakers) besides the obvious differences.

I would buy that only if the speakers were positioned on the side walls facing outward toward the middle of the room, and one sat between them.

 

[peter123]

So these maybe the Slovakians? Anybody know what is the difference from the "pro?"

Although subjective impressions of the K712 or the pro seems better, the graphs have a bit of a weirdness in the mids, and doesn't seem as smooth in tonality as the K70X. I don't like the mids bump as I've heard mids bump headphones, and makes the voice sound like megaphone tonality.

Yeah, my pair is made in Slovakia. I'm not sure if there even exists a non-pro version, maybe someone else has an idea?

They do most definitely have a great midrange presence but the quite impact full (with enough power) subbass and well extended (and textured) highs makes them sound a lot less mid centric than for example the HD650.

That being said going from the the K712 to the A800 definitely makes the AKG sound more mid focused in comparison. I've said before that the A800 is a great upgrade from the HD58X and I actually feel the same about them when comparing the them to the K712, they're really a severely underrated pair of headphones imo.

 

[HungryPanda]

Mine are Slovakian with the exact same markings just says K712 but they are most definitely K712 Pro