[supracrazy90]

Hello! I'm a noob, but wanted to share my thoughts on my transition from the m50s/LE to the K701.

My setup: Tidal/Foobar (flac) > optical S/PDIF > JDS Labs Atom DAC+ > Little Dot Mkii (GE JAN 5654W tubes) > headphones

One decade ago the headphone was the m50. Review after review shouted its praises. For a long time, I did the same. Not anymore.

Since 2012 I have used the same pair of M50s. I've gone through multiple sets of ear pads, a cable, and a driver. They have been thrown into back packs, tossed into my pedal board bag, gigs/practices, and bouncing around in my zx6r's storage compartment. I think this qualifies them as a durable headphone. For the most part I liked the sound too, but that changed when I first listened to the K701.

Comparatively, the M50's treble is extremely harsh and fatiguing, the mids are recessed, and bass is disconnected and large. When I'm playing the bass with a band live, I can hear the low-end, fingers hitting the strings, and the punch of slaps and pops. All the sounds are together as one instrument. When listening to the M50s it sounds like the low end and highs of the bass are separated and not the result of one instrument. Hopefully that description makes sense. The sound stage is claustrophobic. I thought they sounded great because my only references were gaming headphones and cheap ear pods. Its not hard to impress when the bar is set low.

I do not think the k701s are as durable. The construction is light weight plastic, and my least favorite shiny metallic plastic material on the grills. I hate the way these things feel in the hand. Definitely desk queens that couldn't last a day in the conditions I put my m50s through. With that being said, they are insanely comfortable. The light weight is nice, comfortable clamping force, and best of all, my ears are not confined by the pads and driver covers like the m50s. I can and have worn the k701s all day while I work/study. I need frequent breaks when wearing the m50s.

The sound quality is amazing. Overall very detailed and that sound stage, wow! They are not forgiving to poorly sourced music (bad mastering or low bit-rate). Treble is smooth and sparkly, zero harshness. The mids make me never want to go back to a V shaped headphone. The bass was a big concern to me. I like bass, I like loud subs in my cars, I like annoying the neighbors on a Saturday night. Many reviews I read stated that the sub bass and bass are recessed. I disagree somewhat. Out of the box its not bloated like the m50s, but the bass is there, and it sounds detailed and clean. After some very slight eq'ing, it sounds perfect to my ear. My opinion is this: Its easier to make a flat sounding headphone nice than to try and fix a colored, v-shaped headphone.

With the K701 I notice parts of my music that I haven't with the M50s. I thought I just didn't like headphones when in reality I just didn't like the M50.

M50s/LE
Pro
-durable
Cons
-harsh and fatiguing
-bloated bass
-closed soundstage

AKG k701
Pro
-detailed
-smooth treble
-clean bass
-great soundstage
-comfortable
Cons
-chrome plastic
-cheap plastic
-plastic

Hearing this big of a difference, makes me want to try out other headphones.

Thank you for reading.

Edit: My headphones have the reversible bass mod.

 

[Redcarmoose]

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/akg-k701-studio-headphones.11862/reviews#review-15007

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/au...monitor-headphones.13120/reviews#review-14918

I reviewed both headphones years ago. The k701 I still use today. What you say is true. Though I do have a couple questions for you? I am surprised that you don’t find the k701 bass lacking in any way? I mean I sincerely love the k701, but still maybe I couldn’t live with it as my only headphone? Maybe I could?

The AKG k701 was a profound learning experience for me. I spent a year with them as my primary headphone, and I really do feel I understand the playback. Though at times I really feel they are not always well rounded. That said there was so many attributes which I took away from them which stylized my future trajectory into the IEM world.

I slowly graduated to mainly IEM listening in 2017. The thing is I would read IEM reviews and it seemed at times they were talking about the sound of the k701? Strange as it seemed I actually think I have found (in a way) the IEM equivalent with the Noble Encore IEM.

It doesn’t exactly have the same frequency response but much of it is parallel. The Encore has the big soundstage. The Encore offers a “hidden bass” and there is a form of the k701 treble spike too. But it seems slightly warmer to me? It’s also an IEM response which does imaging different than a full-size headphone. Also it seems to offer slightly better bass? But the single main thing both AKG k701 and Encore share is an ability to do fabulous midrange!

Still today the k701 is my TV watching and TV concert watching headphones. And....I agree they are extremely comfortable! Also I love them for movies as they have a great dialogue ability! They also offer a special soundstage! But....they are not for every situation as they can be extremely amp dependent. I mean I purchased a Woo 5LE due to trying to find bass with them.

I’m happy to read that there still is a fan base for them, I agree they are a special addition to a collection, and could be maybe someone’s favorite headphone! I also do view the k701 as a correct, even......and complete frequency response (except for a slight bass loss) and way better in every way compared to the wacky M50!

Cheers!

 

[supracrazy90]

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/akg-k701-studio-headphones.11862/reviews#review-15007

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/au...monitor-headphones.13120/reviews#review-14918

I reviewed both headphones years ago. The k701 I still use today. What you say is true. Though I do have a couple questions for you? I am surprised that you don’t find the k701 bass lacking in any way? I mean I sincerely love the k701, but still maybe I couldn’t live with it as my only headphone? Maybe I could?

The AKG k701 was a learning experience for me. I spent a year with them as my primary headphone, and I really do feel I understand the playback. Though at times I really feel they are not always well rounded. That said there was so many attributes which I took away from them which stylized my future trajectory into the IEM world.

I slowly graduated to mainly IEM listening in 2017. The thing is I would read IEM reviews and it seemed at times they were talking about the sound of the k701? Strange as it seemed I actually think I have found (in a way) the IEM equivalent with the Noble Encore IEM.

It doesn’t exactly have the same frequency response but much of it is parallel. The Encore has the big soundstage. The Encore offers a “hidden bass” and there is a form of the k701 treble spike too. But it seems slightly warmer to me?

Still today the k701 is my TV watching and TV concert watching headphones. And....I agree they are extremely comfortable! Also I love them for movies as they have a great dialogue ability! They also offer a great soundstage! But....they are not for every situation as they can be extremely amp dependent. I mean I purchased a Woo 5LE due to trying to find bass with them.

I’m happy to read that there still is a fan base for them, I agree they are a special addition to a collection, and could be maybe someone’s favorite headphone!

Cheers!

The reason I somewhat disagree, and conflicted, is that the bass is definitely there. Its clean and detailed. I agree they do lack some punch, but, wow the detail. Maybe Little Dot could be adding the missing bass? I do notice that my UM2 and Marantz receiver lack the amount of bass I like. My excuse was that the UM2 is a cheap audio interface, and my Marantz receiver might not have enough power to properly drive them. I could be wrong, Maybe with a different amp the lack of bass could be more apparent. I'm likely biased too with my previous experience and my own taste. I'm sure my opinion will change as I listen to other equipment/setups.

Edit: A note that I forgot to add is that the previous owner did the reversible bass mod. Not sure how much of a difference that makes. I will remove it to experiment at some point.

 

[Redcarmoose]

The reason I somewhat disagree, and conflicted, is that the bass is definitely there. Its clean and detailed. I agree they do lack some punch, but, wow the detail. Maybe Little Dot could be adding the missing bass? I do notice that my UM2 and Marantz receiver lack the amount of bass I like. My excuse was that the UM2 is a cheap audio interface, and my Marantz receiver might not have enough power to properly drive them. I could be wrong, Maybe with a different amp the lack of bass could be more apparent. I'm likely biased too with my previous experience and my own taste. I'm sure my opinion will change as I listen to other equipment/setups.

Edit: A note that I forgot to add is that the previous owner did the reversible bass mod. Not sure how much of a difference that makes. I will remove it to experiment at some point.

Yes, I was going to do that mod too. The actually have two pairs of k701s and I was going to do that mod to one of them. Then I decided to leave them be. Well, bass is subjective. And yes, the k701 have a unique bass ability, where it’s defined and placed well. I have them normally hooked up to receiver type amp too.

I haven’t heard the bass mod, so I don’t know what it’s like. We could be talking about two different headphones now?