[1-MiC]

I purchased my K7XX over 5 years ago, after my Q701 had a second driver problem right after the warranty ended. The K7XX has held up great.
This last year or so I didn’t give them much head time, I felt bored of them. I convinced myself that I only bought them because I needed them for mixing projects at night. I even bought the AQ dragonfly red to give myself portability and extra excuses to use them.
I just bought the Hifiman Ananda, which I loved instantly. Along with the Ananda I bought a new DAC amp combo, wanting to expand beyond my budget amps. I purchased the Marantz HD-DAC, both from fellow head-fiers. It is a great pairing.
I’m not ready to compare the two headphones, I’m having too much fun to do critical listening and note taking. One thing I would like to comment on is that this Amp upgrade is the most exciting thing I’ve done for the K7xx. My last favorite amp was the Matrix M-Stage (the original one, HPA-1). It had laid back, warm presentation, preamp outputs that I could use with my monitors, and was powerful enough to feed the K7XX. It’s broke a couple of years ago and I never got around to fixing it. I simply switched to another amp I had sitting around and called it a day.
This Marantz unit checks all the boxes for me. Has everything I loved about the m-stage, but sounds even better. The synergy is so good! I do believe, and recommend that any decently powerful amp with a warmer signature is the way to go for these cans. It smooths out some of the harshness, especially in lesser quality recordings. My mind is wandering to something like the Cayin HA-1A, but that’s would probably be total overkill for a $200 paid of headphones.

Edit: TL;DR: 5 years later I’m still loving these headphones. Warmer, powerful amps are seriously recommended.

 

[SnakeRoberts01]

I have a question i own these and would love to know if getting a pair of AKG K712 Pro's would be worth it and if there is any differences i often find the AKG K7xx a little bit lacking in highs and just a tad bit boomy in the bass. Have them paired on a Objective 2+Odac

I have k712 and k7xx. The k712 has a little more treble and slightly less bass. It is exactly as you describe...what you want. I don't notice any improvement in resolution or soundstage etc. And I use expensive dac and amp. Cheers.

 

[Nikonkit]

That's my feeling too, the K712 is a small step ahead against the K7xx to my ears and l also have both. For $150, the Drop Sennheiser HD58X sounds comparatively more coherent with a richer sound but a narrower soundstage which for nonclassical music offers the AKGs very strong competition

 

[SnakeRoberts01]

That's my feeling too, the K712 is a small step ahead against the K7xx to my ears and l also have both. For $150, the Drop Sennheiser HD58X sounds comparatively more coherent with a richer sound but a narrower soundstage which for nonclassical music offers the AKGs very strong competition

I agree. For a long time I much preferred the k7xx to the hd6xx. But once I actually listened to the 6xx, for awhile, I realised what everyone was saying about it. Those mids man. Treble too, just the whole sound is so coherent as you say.
I'm assuming the hd58x is very similar. Cheers.

 

[Nikonkit]

I agree. For a long time I much preferred the k7xx to the hd6xx. But once I actually listened to the 6xx, for awhile, I realised what everyone was saying about it. Those mids man. Treble too, just the whole sound is so coherent as you say.
I'm assuming the hd58x is very similar. Cheers.

I had the HD6XX but was underwhelmed enough to sell it, the 58X is more to my taste for the stronger bass and less closed in feel. I ran both with tube (Cayin) and transistor (Bryston) amps.