The AKG K7XX Massdrop First Edition Thread
Jan 3, 2015 at 3:56 AM Post #1,081 of 4,580
  Can these K7xxs beat HD600s?

  Shipped on 17th, received today, I'm in France.
#490 in drop, #1332 received (I don't care at all).
No customs whatsoever.
 
First impressions on sound, compared to my HD600 :
- brighter, without any doubt
- high mids / highs have kind of grainy aspect. Fun, but maybe fatiguing...to be tested on more long runs.
- a bit more bass extension
- better soundstage
- less body / "oomph"
 
Very (very) comfortable.
No angle on the pads.
Build quality a bit cheap...not very confident with the tiny bungee ropes holding the headpad on both sides.
Strong "new item" smell, coming from the pads (glue ?)
 
Ali

They are in the same league but different.
 
K7XX have better soundstage, more dynamics, and are more engaging ond rock/pop/electro.
HD600 have more subtlety, better decay, more body on the voices. All around better cans for classical music.
 
HD600 is more reactive to amplification, maybe because of their impedance curve :

You can turn them in something more engaging with a high Zout amp.
 
Ali
 
Jan 3, 2015 at 4:04 AM Post #1,082 of 4,580
"HD600 is more reactive to amplification"

I do not know whether it is more reactive. It may be, but the K7.. is quite reactive to current and thus amplification, unusually so.
 
Jan 3, 2015 at 11:08 AM Post #1,083 of 4,580
"HD600 is more reactive to amplification"

I do not know whether it is more reactive. It may be, but the K7.. is quite reactive to current and thus amplification, unusually so.


I have to agree, the K7(and K6 series) series are the most sensitive headphones to the system and source I have owned. The HD 600 while revealing of the system and scales like a champ doesn't change quite as dramatically from system to system and source to source as the K7 series.
 
Jan 3, 2015 at 11:14 AM Post #1,084 of 4,580
Any input on the Apex Glacier and K7XX? Listening right now and I have no idea what they should sound like. There's sound, I'm happy. Maybe that's all that matters. Just that I would like to know if I'd gain anything if I upgrade my source. I'm perfectly happy with the FR. Close to my ideal actually.
 
Bass is tight, tactile, present but doesn't creep up in the mids at all.
Mids have great presence, a tad warm but great presence in the upper mids.
Treble is airy and extended, good detailing.
Imaging and soundstage are good. Was expecting some kind of miracle compared to iems or closed cans but there is definitely a limit to the soundstage even if the edges are kind of blurred out into a nice, black background.
All in all, I'd say that they sound realistic to my ears. Harsh with poor quality music. Otherwise not really anything to complain about so far.
 
Just my first impressions. I guess it's time to start buying CD's and rip. Spotify just won't cut it anymore and poorly mastered music is more of a pain to listen to than enjoyable.
 
But if anybody has any input on using the Apex Glacier as a source for the K7XX I'd love to hear your comments. I don't consider "pay $500 for X to get more bass or a warmer sound signature" an upgrade. But if the Glacier doesn't have sufficient power compared to other amps in the same price class, feel free to chime in.
 
Jan 3, 2015 at 11:19 AM Post #1,085 of 4,580
Anyone using the Schiit Fulla with their K7XX headphones, or any AKG K7-Series for that matter? I'm having a big RF interference problem that only occurs with this pairing as detailed here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/737642/fulla-by-schiit-news-photos-thoughts-impressions-etc/630#post_11185134
 
Would like to know if this is unique to my unit(s) or a more generalized compatibility issue.
 
At first this led me to believe I had a problem with the K7XX, but now I realize that the distortion I was hearing in the right channel was this RF interference and NOT a problem with the headphones. I wonder if others reporting distortion "problems" with the K7XX are actually experiencing an RF noise issue resulting from headphone/amp compatibility difficulties.
 
(NOTE: this is NOT the same as the bass rattle some are reporting when playing low-freq test tones at extremely high levels, which in my opinion is not a defect but users pushing the headphones beyond the design specs). 
 
Jan 3, 2015 at 5:10 PM Post #1,086 of 4,580
  Any input on the Apex Glacier and K7XX? Listening right now and I have no idea what they should sound like. There's sound, I'm happy. Maybe that's all that matters. Just that I would like to know if I'd gain anything if I upgrade my source. I'm perfectly happy with the FR. Close to my ideal actually.
 
Bass is tight, tactile, present but doesn't creep up in the mids at all.
Mids have great presence, a tad warm but great presence in the upper mids.
Treble is airy and extended, good detailing.
Imaging and soundstage are good. Was expecting some kind of miracle compared to iems or closed cans but there is definitely a limit to the soundstage even if the edges are kind of blurred out into a nice, black background.
All in all, I'd say that they sound realistic to my ears. Harsh with poor quality music. Otherwise not really anything to complain about so far.
 
Just my first impressions. I guess it's time to start buying CD's and rip. Spotify just won't cut it anymore and poorly mastered music is more of a pain to listen to than enjoyable.
 
But if anybody has any input on using the Apex Glacier as a source for the K7XX I'd love to hear your comments. I don't consider "pay $500 for X to get more bass or a warmer sound signature" an upgrade. But if the Glacier doesn't have sufficient power compared to other amps in the same price class, feel free to chime in.

Looking at the specs the Glacier seems to put out about 2v into a 62 ohm load.  The AKG seven series is notoriously infamous as being particularly current hungry.  While I'm sure it will produce good sound at that output I think most of these will shine with at least twice that amount on tap, especially with highly dynamic HD recordings...  The Objective2 was designed with the K7 series in mind and has something like 5v available, for example.  IF you are dissatisfied (or merely can afford to be curious) there are relatively cheap amps out there that are capable of providing more of what this type of headphone really thrives on.  Just my US$0.02 worth :wink:
 
Jan 4, 2015 at 12:09 AM Post #1,087 of 4,580
Well... something just weird just happened to my pair of k7xx. i received my unit 2 days ago and the first thing i did was the bass test because couple of people are reporting rattling drivers. When i first did the bass test, it sounded perfectly fine, no rattling to be heard anywhere. Just moments ago, i tested the bass again and heard the rattling from the right ear cup. It was audible from 10hz to 40hz and i immediately tried to mail massdrop about the bass rattling issue. Just as i was about to send the email, i tested it again...and the rattling was gone.
Now i'm just sitting here trying to recreate what just happened and no matter which frequency and volume i tested it with. No rattling.
Now i'm debating with myself on whether to mail them about this problem or just pretend it never happened and avoid the hassle of returning it.
 
Jan 4, 2015 at 12:59 AM Post #1,088 of 4,580
Hmmm thats weird. Is there any possiblility for any device to maybe ouput random spikes in which it can cause this rattling issue?

Ive been using my K7XX with a sound blaster z and have not heard any rattling from either driver.
 
Jan 4, 2015 at 1:15 AM Post #1,089 of 4,580
Hmmm thats weird. Is there any possiblility for any device to maybe ouput random spikes in which it can cause this rattling issue?

Ive been using my K7XX with a sound blaster z and have not heard any rattling from either driver.

I've been running it from my computer to my monoprice dac/amp. I've never had any audio problem from this setup other than a static noise when i turn the volume knob up or down if that counts for anything.
 
Jan 4, 2015 at 1:44 AM Post #1,090 of 4,580
  Well... something just weird just happened to my pair of k7xx. i received my unit 2 days ago and the first thing i did was the bass test because couple of people are reporting rattling drivers. When i first did the bass test, it sounded perfectly fine, no rattling to be heard anywhere. Just moments ago, i tested the bass again and heard the rattling from the right ear cup. It was audible from 10hz to 40hz and i immediately tried to mail massdrop about the bass rattling issue. Just as i was about to send the email, i tested it again...and the rattling was gone.
Now i'm just sitting here trying to recreate what just happened and no matter which frequency and volume i tested it with. No rattling.
Now i'm debating with myself on whether to mail them about this problem or just pretend it never happened and avoid the hassle of returning it.


I also received my K7XX two days ago as well, and like you had an issue with my right ear cup. When I first used them, instead of rattling it felt like something was ``missing`` from the right. As a result the center stage felt shifted to the left. I initially thought it was the left cup distortion, but after some time I realized it`s really not... Something`s wrong with that right cup.
 
At first I thought it was wireless interference from my wifi adapter (next to soundcard), but after an hour of fiddling with turning off/on the adapter and playing music it suddenly fixed itself. I thought it was a wireless interference problem and somehow I solved it. Heavenly music follows.
 
Today I use the K7XX again, again something's missing on the right. I let it burn-in and shoveled snow for an hour, come back and it feels like the right cup opened itself up (sounding like yesterday after solving it). I leave it, have dinner, come back and same problem comes up. Play just even a minute of high current volume and it fixes itself again.
 
I have no idea what's going on with it 0.o
 
Jan 4, 2015 at 2:18 AM Post #1,091 of 4,580

Try the following track:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9ibShNIALg&spfreload=10
 
Distortion around 00:40 through 00:50....
 
I experienced a very similar sounding rattle in my K712's.  From what I understand the K7XX should be very similar.
 
I didn't notice distortion at first either, but it is VERY obvious when playing complex rumbling tracks.  Before I returned my K712's I thought I could begin to discern treble distortion as well.
 
Jan 4, 2015 at 2:38 AM Post #1,092 of 4,580
 
Try the following track:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9ibShNIALg&spfreload=10
 
Distortion around 00:40 through 00:50....
 
I experienced a very similar sounding rattle in my K712's.  From what I understand the K7XX should be very similar.
 
I didn't notice distortion at first either, but it is VERY obvious when playing complex rumbling tracks.  Before I returned my K712's I thought I could begin to discern treble distortion as well.

I hear no rattle or distortion from my k7xx...Now I am really hesitant on whether I should return it back to massdrop for repair or just leave it as it is to avoid all the hassle.
 
Jan 4, 2015 at 3:01 AM Post #1,093 of 4,580
FWIW, all of the K6/7xx series headphones have always bottomed out in the low bass at mid-to-high volumes for me, which causes very audible distortion in the rest of the frequency range.
 
But the distortion always occurred in equal levels in both channels.  If the distortion/rattle is only being heard in one channel but not the other, then that is a different problem and the headphone is probably defective.
 
Jan 4, 2015 at 4:57 AM Post #1,095 of 4,580
 Massdrop:  "....To make sure that the channels are synced up and well-balanced, each transducer is individually tested and paired to a transducer with the closest possible sound signature. To see just how well the channels match, look at the below graph featuring an overlay of each driver's...."
 
lol
biggrin.gif
 
 

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