[armyowalgreens]

I owned a pair of AKG 271 MKII's for almost two years and loved them. 
 
About three months ago some ******* broke into my apartment and stole about 1000 dollars worth of stuff. Including my 600 dollar motorcycle helmet, stereo and, of course, my AKGs. 
 
I've been getting by on an old POS pair of Panasonic RP-HTX7's. Well I ruined the plug a few days ago and now it is time for me to shell out the cash for a good pair of headphones. 
 
I picked up a pair of Philips Citiscape Uptowns at Best Buy because I listened to them and they sounded good. For 149.99, they are 10 dollars more than the AKG 271 MKII's currently for sale on Amazon. This was more of a test than anything else and I have 30 days to return them. 
 
Well, it seems that pre-burn in, the Philips suffer from a metallic, shallow sound. I'm not too concerned about that and expect them to improve. 
 
However, due to the fact that I don't have my AKG's, I cannot compare the two cans side by side. I'm also afraid that I've lost my ear over the past few months listening to crap headphones and that any improvement will be mistaken as proper sound quality. 
 
I know the AKG's have an MSRP of almost 300 dollars. Although I've never seen them for sale over 150. I'm wondering if they are really worthy of the 300 dollar class. 
 
Does anyone have any advice or knowledge of the comparative performance? 
 
Any help would be much appreciated.
 
I don't give a ***** about anything but sound performance and relative build quality. Accurate sound reproduction is definitely more important to me than punchy bass. I know AKG's are hard to match in that category. 

 

[armyowalgreens]

Oh also, there is a third option. 
 
That is, suck it up for now and save enough money for the AKG K550's. I've read that they are very good. I'm sure I would not be disappointed. 

 

[armyowalgreens]

Bumping this for any advice anyone can give. 
 
Also forgot to mention that I run a Head Room Total Bithead portable amp. 

 

[electropop]

The K550's are not that much better than the K271's and even have some traits some dislike. Same tunefulness is there, but they're sharper and at loud listening volumes more painful. I don't listen to too loud so that's not exactly a problem for me. 
 
Here the K271's are half of what the K550's are. I wouldn't hesitate to go for the K271's, especially on a budget. 
 
Can't comment on the Phillips, since I haven't heard them, but would be very cautious. 

 

[armyowalgreens]

That's weird. I've heard nothing but good things about the k550

 

[electropop]

Quote:

That's weird. I've heard nothing but good things about the k550

 
I've almost nothing but good things to say about the K271 as well 

 ... Owning both. (Well, the K272HD version, which isn't better but might actually have worse quality control. I had a chance to compare the two and that time the K271mkII was the better one.)

 

[roBernd]

That's weird. I've heard nothing but good things about the k550

We call this phenomenon hyping... hyping crap

 

[electropop]

I wouldn't call the K550 crap, even if the other anti-hyping end can't get over the treble resonance. Down from there, they distinguish musical information very well, were it melodic pitch tunefulness or phrasing details from rhythmic instruments. 

 

[manveru]

Quote:

 
Can't comment on the Phillips, since I haven't heard them, but would be very cautious. 

 
I own them, and think they are actually very good. Since he already has them though, electropop can maybe decide for himself if he likes them enough. Unfortunately I haven't heard the AKGs so can't compare.

 

[electropop]

Quote:

 
I own them, and think they are actually very good. Since he already has them though, electropop can maybe decide for himself if he likes them enough. Unfortunately I haven't heard the AKGs so can't compare.

 
Damn! I read op's first post way too fast. Of course he already has the Philips ones. ... Well, if that's the case I don't know what we can do. I would think design philosophies behind the two brands and their current products are quite different however. Though it's pointless for me to comment on the Philips at all. 

 

[manveru]

Quote:

 
Damn! I read op's first post way too fast. Of course he already has the Philips ones. ... Well, if that's the case I don't know what we can do. I would think design philosophies behind the two brands and their current products are quite different however. Though it's pointless for me to comment on the Philips at all. 

 
Wait, what the heck...I just realized that I wrote your name in my post. I meant to say armyowalgreens, hahaha. The two headphones are definitely designed/marketed for different purposes yeah.

 

[armyowalgreens]

Quote:

 
Damn! I read op's first post way too fast. Of course he already has the Philips ones. ... Well, if that's the case I don't know what we can do. I would think design philosophies behind the two brands and their current products are quite different however. Though it's pointless for me to comment on the Philips at all. 

I can still return them. This is only a test of the Philips.