[musikverein]

Imho TRUE upgrades are ...

HD800s
L700

Not more
Yet not less either.

 

[xeizo]

This might be a wrong thread to ask but, what is considered an "upgrade" from K712 Pro?

Been looking for a replacement for a while and I've yet to find a true upgrade from K712.

K712 is a very good headphone, I could easily live with it as my only headphone at home.

So what is better? It's not that easy, because headphones are never perfect but sounds different and they excel at different things. You won't find anything under 200$ new even on par with K712. A up/sidegrade will cost some. Yes, maybe K800s, or some planar phone for a different sound.

If I could be ambiguos with money I would go for Sony Z1R and a suiting amp.

If I had endless resources I would go to Japan and find the best Stax-combo.

Or maybe you should go for a different type of sound altogether, and go for a closed headphone?

K712 can still be upgraded with a better headphone amp, if you're not at endgame amps already.

 

[buson160man]

I have been an akg fan for a long time. I own a ancient pair of akg 701s from back in the days they were made in Austria . they have served me admirably for many years. I have a small stable of phones including an early lcd 2 pre fazer . I have a mr. speaker aon open back as well I bought last year at AXPONA 2019. Well after countless hours of use the headband of my venerable old 701s is falling apart the headband has separated and the foam padding is coming out. So I decided to bite the bullet last year and purchased the k 712. I have been using them and they are pretty much broken in by now. Though no where near the thousands of hours I had on my 701s. I had replaced the stock 1/4 inch plug with a furutech 1/4 inch plug to good effect on my old 701s which did improve the sound making it a bit more refined sounding along with better bass. I will probably do the same with 712 at some point. But with the warranty in effect not for awhile. I have to say that the newer 712 does improve on the original 701 sound signature being a bit more refined and with a bit better bass than my old 701. While retaining the excellent neutrality of the akg 701 sound signature. I have several phones but I have found that when I want to hear the original space where the recordings took place the akg is the go to phone for me. It just captures the original recording like none of my other phones. That is why the studio people use them.

 

[buson160man]

You really Need a amp to get the best out of the K712.
I own the 712 and have had the 7xx for a while and they are not the same headphones. As someone already said: Less bass, more refined mid and high, better vocals and a touch more Detail.
Again, without a good amp the AKGs wont Sound as good as they can

The akg 701 is even less sensitive than the 712 but you are right you need some juice to get the best from the akg phones. I am presently using my old reliable burson ha 160 and it does work pretty good with the 712s. My best amp though is far beyond what most anyone would even consider using exclusively for headphone use. I have a vintage concept 16.5 stereo receiver from the late 1970s. Of course it has been recapped. I have replaced the stock 7 amp fuses with iso clean fuses and replaced the horrible steel pin jumper plug used between the preamp and amplifier stage. I used a proper interconnect. (the fuse change was not subtle). The concept 16.5 was a classic high powered receiver from back in the days of the power ratings war . It produces 160 watts per channel and weighs in at 67 pounds. Not your average headphone amp to say the least. But it has considerable talents as a headphone amplifier. It separates things and has an authority in the bass that I just have not heard from any headphone amps I have heard. Including the high powered exotics. But getting back to the point the akgs do need considerable juice to get the sound they are capable of. They can sound a bit anemic without it.

 

[Oswolrf]

I have a problem with this headphones. I use them on a PC + SoundblasterX AE5 for gaming/netflix/spotify. The main problem i have is that after 2 hours of use or something like that I have a weird feeling inside my ear and
occasionally a little pain for 1-3 seconds after that the pain is gone. I am using the headphones at 8-10% volume so not is a high volume issue. Looking for information about my problem I saw that some people say that there are people that is more sensitive to some frequencies and that you can solve the problem by doing a correct EQ but I don´t know anything about this. These are my first expensive headphones so i don´t know too much about EQ or things like that.

Thank you all guys (and sorry for my english).

 

[Markolav]

I have a problem with this headphones. I use them on a PC + SoundblasterX AE5 for gaming/netflix/spotify. The main problem i have is that after 2 hours of use or something like that I have a weird feeling inside my ear and
occasionally a little pain for 1-3 seconds after that the pain is gone. I am using the headphones at 8-10% volume so not is a high volume issue. Looking for information about my problem I saw that some people say that there are people that is more sensitive to some frequencies and that you can solve the problem by doing a correct EQ but I don´t know anything about this. These are my first expensive headphones so i don´t know too much about EQ or things like that.

Thank you all guys (and sorry for my english).

Lol, I happen to have exactly the same setup. Its probably just about your ears being sensitive to higher frequencies, I remember having similar experiences when I started getting into more "trebly" headphones. Its something you can adjust to but using EQ probably works to a degree, even something like tube amps might work to tame the highs a bit. You can probably find some EQ-profiles from the internet to experiment with and SB-Connects EQ-software is pretty easy to use.

Just for example Metal571 from Youtube used this EQ for treble, worth trying:
11000 Hz, -7.0 dB
13000 Hz, +3.5 dB

 

[Oswolrf]

Lol, I happen to have exactly the same setup. Its probably just about your ears being sensitive to higher frequencies, I remember having similar experiences when I started getting into more "trebly" headphones. Its something you can adjust to but using EQ probably works to a degree, even something like tube amps might work to tame the highs a bit. You can probably find some EQ-profiles from the internet to experiment with and SB-Connects EQ-software is pretty easy to use.

Just for example Metal571 from Youtube used this EQ for treble, worth trying:
11000 Hz, -7.0 dB
13000 Hz, +3.5 dB

I am using a EQ for use Metal571 profile:
EQ Preset Preamp: -5.0 dB
20 Hz, +5.0 dB, Q 0.8
4000 Hz, +1.5, dB Q 3.0
6000 Hz, -6.5 dB, Q 2.0
11000 Hz, -7.0 dB, Q 2.0
13000 Hz, +3.5 dB, Q 2.0

My only doubt is 20,4000,6000, 11000 and 13000 ar all peaking filters? Or should i choose a different filter? I am using APO for EQ.

 

[xeizo]

One con with APO is it can't do Exclusive Mode or ASIO, I feel the sound is noticeably more clear in Exclusive Mode on Windows 10.

 

[Skyboy]

Not gonna lie. I'm not a fan of the stock pad fitment. Yeah, they're somewhat soft but for my narrow head the memory doesn't soak up enough to really seal well enough for me to fully enjoy them on my head.

So I ordered these and can't wait. I adore the sound of the K712 but to me the fit is a bit off and cheers to trying new things. Thankfully these are available. One and only Christmas gift I've bought for myself this year.

*stoked.

What's your impression on the YAXI earpads?
They look good but are they?

 

[dj1978]

Here are my unique modified AKG 712 Pro for 2 x jack 3.5 - XLR 4 pin balance. The second socket from the 3D printer. Custom Wireworld Platinum cable. They are amazing, great sound stage, perfectly arranged. Very dynamic with great bass and treble.

 

[Nicka84]

Hi,
Has anyone tried the k712 pro with the Fiio K5 Pro? I want them for 70% movies and 30% music. Iam searching for something that can bring out 100% of the soundstage that can produce these headphones.

 

[Skyboy]

Hi,
Has anyone tried the k712 pro with the Fiio K5 Pro? I want them for 70% movies and 30% music. Iam searching for something that can bring out 100% of the soundstage that can produce these headphones.

I have the k5 pro with k712 pro. But I can't give a subjective opinion as this is my first amp and first quality set of quality head phones.
I mostly use it for games and I can now pinpoint where other players are by sound, for music the sound stage is wide making it's easy to pick out different instruments.
When I plug the k712 directly into my galaxy S7 phone it sounds very dull and muddy with amost no bass, plugging it into the k5 pro really make the headphones come to life.

 

[Nicka84]

Skyboy Thanks for your answer! Do you think that the soundstage has big difference compared to a closed back headphone? Are you happy with this set up or would you like to upgrade to something better? I haven't heard before a open back headphone.

 

[Skyboy]

Skyboy Thanks for your answer! Do you think that the soundstage has big difference compared to a closed back headphone? Are you happy with this set up or would you like to upgrade to something better? I haven't heard before a open back headphone.

I think unless you use your headphones near other people or you really like heavy base, open back is the way to go. It has much better sound stage and it's not like the base is lacking it still has a kick just not overpowering(which some people like)
I can't imagine anything better with out paying x3 of the k5 pro + k712 setup

Also if you use peace equalizer and apply this profile https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq/tree/master/results/rtings/avg/AKG K712 PRO it sounds even better.

I have no question about the amp,the only thing is I would like to test a pair of hd6xx as it's in much the same price range as the k712 pro but I still think I'd like the wider sound stage of the k712 for my usage.

 

[Nicka84]

Skyboy A few users say that the k712 is very picky for amps and need to spend at least 500k and over to drive them well. Τhis scares me to make wrong choice.