[Evshrug]

I do believe it was "jeremejevs" who suggested the driver hitting a wire being the culprit. One of the first things I thought when I noticed the rattle was that a hair had worked its way next to the driver.  I removed the pads and surprisingly found nothing of consequence.

I'm sorry I merged you two together.
If you were nearby I'd wonder if you felt the SQ was the same on my unit, because the AKG's are the most immediately attractive in their price range that I've heard (I haven't heard a Sennheiser HD650/HD600 yet, though FWIR your brain has to adjust to the sound signature of those before you appreciate them, that's what is happening for me and the DT880). I wish you luck, hope you find something awesome

 

[kman1211]

  Big thanks to everyone who provided feedback regarding the distortion issue.  I have decided to return my K712's to Amazon while I have the chance.  In addition to the bass rattle (which sounds a bit like the infamous grado-rattle) I have also heard what I think is some treble distortion.  I know there's a difference between "harshness" and distortion and I am pretty sure I have been able to make out some other distortion characteristics in the sound-sig.  This definitely makes me really appreciate the engineering that went into making the practically perfect distortion measurements for my NAD VISO HP50's (and they are closed cans!).
 
Perhaps these issues are just with my pair of cans but I am probably going to try a different manufacturer after these issues.  It's a shame really... the K712's did a LOT right sound-wise and were very comfortable.  Planned on making them a permanent fixture for my set up, but alas it was not meant to be.  Everything that takes place, for good or for naught, adds to your experience though, so with that in mind I am glad that I was able to own these headphones if only for a few brief moments.

I actually had a weird experience with my K612, in the first few weeks I had them, I noticed distortion when heavy bass played, I took off the pads while the distorted bass was happening, I noticed the drivers were crinkling when playing heavy bass, interestingly this crinkling driver problem went away with time and I can't distort them anymore. My K712 had no such problems. Given the similar design of the headphones and identical looking drivers and driver enclosures between the two headphones, I wonder if this is something that happens with some AKGs. I've also heard of this problem before.
 

I'm sorry I merged you two together.
If you were nearby I'd wonder if you felt the SQ was the same on my unit, because the AKG's are the most immediately attractive in their price range that I've heard (I haven't heard a Sennheiser HD650/HD600 yet, though FWIR your brain has to adjust to the sound signature of those before you appreciate them, that's what is happening for me and the DT880). I wish you luck, hope you find something awesome

That is true, headphones do take some time to adjust to. Setting aside sometime for a headphone helps one become used to it. It can yield interesting results when swapping from one headphone to another especially after using a pair for a while. It took some listening and swapping around headphones every few days and the like to realize my K712 is without a doubt my best headphones, at first I wasn't sure if they were. I took listening to all my headphones a fair amount in a rotation to realize this. I also realized the K712 is in a league above my second best headphone the K612 sonically.
 
I really like all three of my full-size headphones, first time I had this many headphones I really enjoy. It used to be there was just one headphone I liked and the others were ignored, but with the K712, K612, and HD 545. I can easily switch between them and appreciate each of them and not feel wanting. Now I just need to get a beefier amp to help bring out the potential of the headphones more.

 

[BillsonChang007]

So I guess only K812 get manufactured in Australia?

 

[HaVoC-28]

So I guess only K812 get manufactured in Australia?

 
ya handmade by koalas and kangaroos .
 
Austria

 

[BillsonChang007]

ya handmade by koalas and kangaroos .

Austria

The rest (other than K812) are by Panda *cough cough* Boweii

 

[theLiminator]

How do these compare with the LCD-2s? I like forward mids, but I've heard that the LCD-2's sound really lush with extended bass and sound really smooth, while these cans sound a bit more flat. I guess these cans are a bit colder, whilst the LCD-2's are a bit warmer.

Can anyone who has tried both of these give me some feedback on them? I'm going to be driving these with a O2-Odac combo.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Are you guys certain that it's not that the website pic has the other cup which doesn't say where it's made?

edit: Looking at the other image that shows both cups on the website, it seems it really doesn't show the Made in **** anywhere.

 

[kman1211]

Are you guys certain that it's not that the website pic has the other cup which doesn't say where it's made?

edit: Looking at the other image that shows both cups on the website, it seems it really doesn't show the Made in **** anywhere.

The K712 says Made in Austria on both sides. I thought they would at least keep the K712 made in Austria. We will see if this is confirmed if reports of Chinese made K712s start popping up in the future.

 

[HaVoC-28]

 
The K712 says Made in Austria on both sides. I thought they would at least keep the K712 made in Austria. We will see if this is confirmed if reports of Chinese made K712s start popping up in the future.

 
As the Older K70X/Q701 Did before swapping to PRC . All the production line of K7XX / Q701 serie is now in China . And as harmon Clown corp only care about money why keep two assembly line just for a logo ? Only keep it for the flagship K812 or failship don't know .

 
 
Bah , PRC AKG made should sound as good as their Austrian counterpart , never did a direct comparison soo ... I am saying this , but when i had one of the first K702 made in China i had the feel to be misleaded and returned it : / .
 
I hope that i am wrong but ...

 

[jeremejevs]

  I actually had a weird experience with my K612, in the first few weeks I had them, I noticed distortion when heavy bass played, I took off the pads while the distorted bass was happening, I noticed the drivers were crinkling when playing heavy bass, interestingly this crinkling driver problem went away with time and I can't distort them anymore. My K712 had no such problems. Given the similar design of the headphones and identical looking drivers and driver enclosures between the two headphones, I wonder if this is something that happens with some AKGs. I've also heard of this problem before.

 
Thanks for telling this! You say that it went away with time - how long did it take, approximately? A week? A month? More? And how heavily you were using them during that period? Just so I know when to start thinking about fixing/replacing them.

 

[kman1211]

Thanks for telling this! You say that it went away with time - how long did it take, approximately? A week? A month? More? And how heavily you were using them during that period? Just so I know when to start thinking about fixing/replacing them.

It took a bit over a week. I did heavy burn in with pink noise(a good 4-8 hours a day or more) and at higher volumes, a decent amount higher than I would listen to, uncomfortably loud but not ear bleeding loud or anything. I also listened to music here and there. There was some improvement within a few days. And it did improve more as the headphones got more use. This has been my experience at least.

 

[RXShadow]

Has anyone tried connecting the K712 directly to the Creative Sound Blaster Omni? If so, can you share your results? Just wondering how well does it do.

 

[Evshrug]

Has anyone tried connecting the K712 directly to the Creative Sound Blaster Omni? If so, can you share your results? Just wondering how well does it do.

I often do that for a simpler setup when gaming at my PC. I prefer using my tube amp and Schiit Bifrost when listening to music, but the difference that $550 of extra audio chain gear isn't as big of a transformation as I'd like.

The Recon3D USB definitely sounded like a flattened soundstage and a little etched if you plugged an AKG in directly, even without experience with an amp it felt a bit held back from it's potential. The newer Omni's Maxim opamp does a fair job (plus the K712 is slightly more synergy forgiving than the Q701) and will drive the headphones well at 20-30% windows volume. The extra gear mostly adds a little magic on high notes, a defined body to the bass, and distinct imaging which leads to better perception of depth; but while I may notice certain sounds brought to light with the audio stack, switching back to plugging the K712 straight into the Omni I can still hear those details.

I think it mostly comes down to what you are used to: if you have higher end gear already that you use often, the Omni is a step down (but you can appreciate what it can do for the original $100 asking price), but if you've only heard earbuds and gaming headsets before, then Omni + K712 should impress you and sound like an upgrade, but your brain might take awhile to get used to processing all the extra info.

 

[RXShadow]

I often do that for a simpler setup when gaming at my PC. I prefer using my tube amp and Schiit Bifrost when listening to music, but the difference that $550 of extra audio chain gear isn't as big of a transformation as I'd like.

The Recon3D USB definitely sounded like a flattened soundstage and a little etched if you plugged an AKG in directly, even without experience with an amp it felt a bit held back from it's potential. The newer Omni's Maxim opamp does a fair job (plus the K712 is slightly more synergy forgiving than the Q701) and will drive the headphones well at 20-30% windows volume. The extra gear mostly adds a little magic on high notes, a defined body to the bass, and distinct imaging which leads to better perception of depth; but while I may notice certain sounds brought to light with the audio stack, switching back to plugging the K712 straight into the Omni I can still hear those details.

I think it mostly comes down to what you are used to: if you have higher end gear already that you use often, the Omni is a step down (but you can appreciate what it can do for the original $100 asking price), but if you've only heard earbuds and gaming headsets before, then Omni + K712 should impress you and sound like an upgrade, but your brain might take awhile to get used to processing all the extra info.

 
Thanks for the info. I guess I underestimated the op-amp in the Omni more than I should.

 

[dedemouse]

I planned to buy this headphone. But i wonder if it can work properly with my Xonar Xense sound card?