[KetchupNinja]

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Well, there's the k701, k702, q701, and k702 Annies So why not make the k712's look exactly like the rest of them... I'm sure they sound the same as the Annies but with a more robust bottom end. That may not exactly be a bad thing but yah, its time to mix things up a little bit. 
 
 
 
Thanks,
 
 

I hope this is clarified soon.  If the Annie's are the same, I'd buy them right now.  If there is more bass I'd be willing to wait. 

 

[chicolom]

Quote:

 
I'm sure they sound the same as the Annies but with a more robust bottom end.

 
 
I doubt they're ANY different apart from the color.  It makes sense that AKG played around testing the pads and headband with the K702 anniversary - and that it was a lead-in for the K712.  The K712 then takes over as the regular version with the same changes but a different color.
 
I think the low end boost they're talking about is just the same as what the anniversaries had. 
I think it's unrealistic to expect them to sound any different -  when they are conveniently coming out right as limited anniversary run is ending and look nearly identical.  Coincidence?

 

[Currawong]

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IIRC the K70X series have ports in the design which can be adjusted (if you can get the headphones open) to tune the amount of bass. As well, it's not impossible that they have improved the drivers (similar to what Audio Technica did recently). Or it could just be another re-badge. I'm not so cynical to think that first off though. It would imply that AKG fired all their headphone engineers or something equally crazy or directed them to working on testing headbands and paint mixes instead. 

 
lol.
 
I somehow doubt it - this coming a couple months after the release of the Annies. How much "work" could they have done on the drivers in such a short time? Not to mention they look identical. I do love the color scheme, though.

 
How do you know that they haven't been working on the drivers for much longer? Companies don't work on one thing at a time (except Stax that only has one engineer for all their products). They work on many things simultaneously and release complete products based a number of factors beyond just whether they've finished the design.
 
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so these are believed to be annies with a different number and appearance?
 
honestly, i wish AKG would stop playing around with the K70x sound and re-releasing the same **** over and over again, its about time they come up with something new and better. (id love to see a k1000 re-release or some sort of 1k+ flagship, maybe they could troll sennheiser with a K800 or something 

)

 
Maybe they feel that the design doesn't need radical change and it is pretty much fine as it is beyond tuning of the frequency response. Change for the sake of change can be worse. I don't disagree though that the worst case scenario is that they have taken the K701/2, opened the bass ports slightly and given it a different model number and paint job. But, then again, maybe that is what a lot of people want!
 
They will almost certainly be at the Fujiya Avic show in a month so I'll see if I can't secure a loaner pair of the K712 and K612. 

 

[bracko]

No one appreciates logic around these AKG releases, especially THIS kind of logic 

But really, this is exactly what's happened. The other big manufacturer's released new headphones. AKG is just changing cosmetics and keeping the same old driver production going. People suddenly start lining up! Doesn't make sense to me. 

The other big nanufacturers don't change anything at all. Senn HD650 has been around for 10 years. Hd600 for 15. And they cost exactly as much as they did when they were released. The same goes to the Beyer headphones in the same league.

 

[elwappo99]

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The other big nanufacturers don't change anything at all. Senn HD650 has been around for 10 years. Hd600 for 15. And they cost exactly as much as they did when they were released. The same goes to the Beyer headphones in the same league.

 
 

 I wasn't talking about the HD650, HD600 or any of the DT line. I think they're all great headphones. 
 
I was talking about these other manufacturers releasing totally new headphones. AKG puts a different color plastic on the K701 and says 'voila! new headphone'. Except in german, so they probably aren't saying 'voila'

 

[Currawong]

Until someone pulls them apart and compares them with the K70X series (like Tyll did with the HD-600s) then we wont be sure of that.

 

[roguegeek]

I've owned the K702 (non Annie) for several months now and have enjoyed them immensely. With the recent dip to under $400 on the Annie, I just purchased those as well. I know the headband gets a lot of flack, although it's never been something that has bothered me. I'm able to able to do 8+ hour gaming sessions with no problems. It's nice to see AKG finally address the headband issue that everyone has talked about for years and years and years, but there is some thing to be said for it taking so long. What's more concerning and really quite surprising to me is no one really mentions (at least no where near as much as the bumps) the elastic bands creating the tension on the head band. Those things stretch and loosen so easily. I look at them and think, "exhaust port on the Death Star." Once they snap or loosen, the whole physical integrity of the headphone is compromised. And here we have a new version and this problem, in my opinion, still exists? Maybe it's just a big issue to me, I suppose.

I agree with MLE in that they've started with something so good and have simply refined over the years. It's a good plan for an already great can. My wish list just happens to include some sort of countermeasure for those elastic bands too.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Well, there's the k701, k702, q701, and k702 Annies So why not make the k712's look exactly like the rest of them... I'm sure they sound the same as the Annies but with a more robust bottom end. That may not exactly be a bad thing but yah, its time to mix things up a little bit. 



Thanks,


:evil:

Again, no. They won't sound like the Annies with more bottom end. They will sound like Annies, which already have more bottom end than the standard K70xs. This is the assumption that makes sense just from personal experience of the Annie, K701, and Q701.

People need to stop spreading highly illogical rumors. The site says a 3d boost. It's logical to assume its a 3db boost of the STANDARD K70x line. If it was a 3db boost over the Annie, they would have clarified that much. All the others are the same, with different color schemes (the only reason I found the old K701 different was due to the slightly different pads which altered SQ compared to those of today) K701, 702, and 3 Q701s. Thats 5 standardized 70xs. Why would anyone believe they're talking about improving upon the very limited Annie run? It's been proven that the Annie = 70x with pads that add bass. What do you think? All the sudden they decided to add another 3db bass with new drivers or magic? If that were true, that would effectively turn the K712 into a basshead can. The Annie already has very rich bass, slightly emphasized if you ask me, though in the realm of neutrality, bass-wise. I definitely do not see AKG wanting to turn them into a basshead can.

Common sense. The 3db bass boost is exactly what the Annie has over the other 5 70xs.

All this talk about having more bass than the Annie is just causing confusion for those who wanna buy a headphone now.

The design = Annie with a new color. That's not shared with the other 5. If they would have changed the sound yet again, they would have done something to further differentiate the K712 to the rest, design-wise.

 

[PiNa.cz]

MSRP 670,- Euro for K712 PRO must be a joke. 
 
"Sowohl der AKG K612PRO als auch der AKG K712PRO sollen nach Angaben von AKG bereits ab Mai 2013 im Fachhandel zu finden sein. Das Unternehmen gibt für den AKG K612PRO einen unverbindlich empfohlenen Preis von € 269,- an. Das Schwestermodell, der AKG K712PRO ist da schon etwas kostspieliger. Dieser Kopfhörer soll nach Ansicht des Unternehmens zu einem empfohlenen Verkaufspreis von € 670,- erhältlich sein."

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Let's not forget, this is the same company that sells the K271 MKII and K272HD... which is the same exact headphone, with two different prices, with the cheaper K271 actually being better due to detachable cable, and extra pads...

 

[wink]

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"Both the AKG K612PRO and the AKG K712PRO should already be found from May 2013 for retailers, according to AKG, the company gives the AKG K612PRO one suggested retail price of € 269, -.. At Its sister model, the AKG K712PRO is . as a bit expensive, these headphones is a recommended retail price of € 670, according to the company - will be available. "

 

[Impulse]

An orange ring like the 65 would be fine (although the blue is cooler), but the orange is plastered all over the K712 and it looks like the whole cable is orange aside from the plug.

Plastered all over? Besides the ring, it's on the band stitching (barely noticeable) and then on the metal rods. What's wrong with orange anyway? It's not like it's neon orange, though it's hard to tell from the renders... I think it looks better than any of the Q editions, then again I think the white one is one of the ugliest headphones out there and some people love it. Cable's removable, who cares about that.

AKG keeping mum about pricing isn't very encouraging tho, but we'll see.

To continue: Look at MrSpeaker Mad Dogs. He's had, what, 3 pad swaps now? Each one improving the sound slightly. Are people complaining? No. I guess it's okay when a small business does it, but when a major company like the AKG does it, it's a problem? Yes, we can look at the price premium being a bit ridiculous, but you are paying for more than just a pad swap. You're getting a fully new finish, brand new headband design, and some premium pads over the standard K702. The pads alone are expensive on both the Mad Dogs and Annie/712. The premium is justified.

If AKG sold the Annie as something like a standard K702 with nothing new but a pad swap, then yes, the price hike would be a bit bloated.

Can the price go down? Absolutely, but it's still a legitimate method of improving headphones.

Pads can make or break a headphone, so if you think pads aren't as important to a headphone as the drivers, you need to do your homework.

A premium is justified, but not a 100%+ premium... One thing is what's just and another thing is what the market will bear tho.

Three's enough wiggle room under $400 that they can realistically do whatever they want and milk a higher price point for a year or two. Hopefully the K712 settle down much lower than that, at least in the US. They're hardly the only ones milking a stagnant mid-fi market tho, Senn's gotten away with the 600/650 enforced pricing because of the same market conditions, AFAIK those models were as cheap as Beyer's 880/990 at one point.

I don't blame AKG for rebranding the 7xx line half a dozen times, specially when there were significant changes like the pads... Beyer and Senn have made a ton of subtle changes to the HD600/650 & DT880/990 over time and it's impossible to identify then unless you open them up or know what year they were made in... That's not any more consumer friendly tbh. Even Hifiman has tweaked the HE-400 drivers like 3x during it's relatively short life!

I do hold it against AKG that it took this long to swap in a cheaper yet more comfortable headband, and I can't rationalize how that's worth a premium after all this time, never mind a color palette swap. They should've just swapped the headband as a rolling change years ago, period.

 

[RustA]

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Again, no. They won't sound like the Annies with more bottom end. They will sound like Annies, which already have more bottom end than the standard K70xs. This is the assumption that makes sense just from personal experience of the Annie, K701, and Q701.

People need to stop spreading highly illogical rumors. The site says a 3d boost. It's logical to assume its a 3db boost of the STANDARD K70x line. If it was a 3db boost over the Annie, they would have clarified that much. All the others are the same, with different color schemes (the only reason I found the old K701 different was due to the slightly different pads which altered SQ compared to those of today) K701, 702, and 3 Q701s. Thats 5 standardized 70xs. Why would anyone believe they're talking about improving upon the very limited Annie run? It's been proven that the Annie = 70x with pads that add bass. What do you think? All the sudden they decided to add another 3db bass with new drivers or magic? If that were true, that would effectively turn the K712 into a basshead can. The Annie already has very rich bass, slightly emphasized if you ask me, though in the realm of neutrality, bass-wise. I definitely do not see AKG wanting to turn them into a basshead can.

Common sense. The 3db bass boost is exactly what the Annie has over the other 5 70xs.

All this talk about having more bass than the Annie is just causing confusion for those who wanna buy a headphone now.

The design = Annie with a new color. That's not shared with the other 5. If they would have changed the sound yet again, they would have done something to further differentiate the K712 to the rest, design-wise.

 
This all and the rest of your posts are just your personal opinion (sorry, I must post it here as well as in the Anniversary's topic)... I doubt you have anything in common with AKG's engineers and I would seriously stop making such a strong assumptions, like the ones highlighted above and anothers.
 
I say that we should wait until everything is clear... Annies are still going to be around (at least here on head-fi, you can be sure that there will be many people selling them in order to fund their K712 purchase), as well as the new K712 pro which are very unlikely going to be worse. Actually, they could very well be even better. Of course, if people have enough funds, buy K702 Anniversary right now, wait for K712 and buy them as well, then sell the one that is worse.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I can't argue with that. The headband should have went years ago. The pads were always comfy though. Memory foam actually a teeny bit more sweat inducing, but if it's for the sake of better bass, more warmth, it's fine. Infinitely better than cow skin, synthetic or not.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

This all and the rest of your posts are just your personal opinion (sorry, I must post it here as well as in the Anniversary's topic)... I doubt you have anything in common with AKG's engineers and I would seriously stop making such a strong assumptions, like the ones highlighted above and anothers.

I say that we should wait until everything is clear... Annies are still going to be around (at least here on head-fi, you can be sure that there will be many people selling them in order to fund their K712 purchase), as well as the new K712 pro which are very unlikely going to be worse. Actually, they could very well be even better. Of course, if people have enough funds, buy K702 Anniversary right now, wait for K712 and buy them as well, then sell the one that is worse.

Like I said, its a logical assumption. I said as such.

However, it is LOGICAL.

The other...isn't. But okay, wait for the obvious to happen.