[VISAVIS-GER]

I also had the AKG K701 last month ago just for testing when comparing them my Sennheiser HD 560 Ovation I. The AKG K701 are really beautiful headphones with a nice wearing comfort, good material quality and also stressfree sounding. So it was very hard for me to take out the winner in this race. 
 
The K 701 had the better bass (more defined, deep and dry), sound was overall very neutral -studio like- with reserved highs. The soundstage was wide, but not as wide as the HD 560 Ovation.
 
So If you sell your HD 560 in good condition youll get also about 150-200€ and then its only a question of personal taste which one you prefer.
 
The AKG K701 is not Austrian Made anymore. Since last year they were manufactured in China. So you will find a sticker on them (Made in P.R.C) and not the old "Made in Austria" Printing. That was a point I cant accept so that I kept my good old Sennheiser. 

 

[Mjolnir125]

  I also had the AKG K701 last month ago just for testing when comparing them my Sennheiser HD 560 Ovation I. The AKG K701 are really beautiful headphones with a nice wearing comfort, good material quality and also stressfree sounding. So it was very hard for me to take out the winner in this race. 
 
The K 701 had the better bass (more defined, deep and dry), sound was overall very neutral -studio like- with reserved highs. The soundstage was wide, but not as wide as the HD 560 Ovation.
 
So If you sell your HD 560 in good condition youll get also about 150-200€ and then its only a question of personal taste which one you prefer.
 
The AKG K701 is not Austrian Made anymore. Since last year they were manufactured in China. So you will find a sticker on them (Made in P.R.C) and not the old "Made in Austria" Printing. That was a point I cant accept so that I kept my good old Sennheiser. 

 
Honestly, country of origin doesn't really matter in terms of sound quality... My K702's are made in china and the only issue is that the headband elastic on the right side is a little bit looser than on the left. Other than that, the made in china version has a flat headband instead of the annoying bumps that everyone complains about.

 

[VISAVIS-GER]

The only reason that you can still enjoy your old Sennheiser headphones even after 30 years, is their long life build quality Made in Germany.
 
I dont see a reason to buy a chinese Product for 200€, when I can get for almost half of the price a german made Beyerdynamic headphone like DT-990 Pro
 
Thats a policy I dont support.

 

[vid]

I found the K 701 overpriced in the context that the 25-euro HD 530 performed almost on the same level and the (modded) 15-euro Yamaha HP-50 was quite a bit better in all aspects but soundstaging. In other contexts the K 701 aren't priced too bad I'm sure - like if you don't like modding or buying old, used headphones.

 

[Mjolnir125]

  The only reason that you can still enjoy your old Sennheiser headphones even after 30 years, is their long life build quality Made in Germany.
 
I dont see a reason to buy a chinese Product for 200€, when I can get for almost half of the price a german made Beyerdynamic headphone.
 
Thats a policy I dont support.

Who says chinese products are inherently inferior to German or Austrian products? You have no idea what quality control standards are being upheld in the chinese plant where AKG manufactures their products. Just because they are made in china doesn't mean that AKG is reducing the standards for them. You are assuming that they are of inferior quality simply because they are made by chinese workers instead of german or austrian workers. That is what we call RACISM.
 
And Sennheiser build quality isn't any better than anything else. My HD280's died due to a broken cable between left and right drivers, and the headband attachment system is severely flawed and starts coming apart almost by design. My HD540 II's have had the same issues with the horrible, faulty contact spring that the later HD580 and HD600 had; how long did it take Sennheiser to fix that? I am not even sure it is completely removed as a problem today. Compare this to the K702, which has a robust mini XLR connector.
 
I have no problem with people judging products made in china to be of inferior quality if they ACTUALLY ARE of inferior quality, but saying because something is made in china it MUST Be of inferior quality is pretty close minded.
 
Labor prices are lower in China. Therefore, if a chinese headphone costs more than a headphone made in Europe, where did the cost savings on the EU made headphone come from? It could be that there are compromises elsewhere in terms of materials or something else that are not present on the chinese made product. Or the chinese made product could just be overpriced. Either way, you should judge a product based on how it is made. I can understand choosing to support products that are made in your own country because of more nationalistic reasons, but assuming that quality is inherently worse in other countries is not really fair.
 
Tons of headphones in and above this price range are made in china. And the fact that you can get a beyerdynamic headphone for "half as much" doesn't mean ANYTHING; what $100 beyerdynamic headphone can compare to the K702 headphones in terms of sound quality? The DT880 costs just as much as the K702 does, at least in the US.

 

[Claritas]

  Who says chinese products are inherently inferior to German or Austrian products? You have no idea what quality control standards are being upheld in the chinese plant where AKG manufactures their products. Just because they are made in china doesn't mean that AKG is reducing the standards for them. You are assuming that they are of inferior quality simply because they are made by chinese workers instead of german or austrian workers. That is what we call RACISM.

 
Don't cry racist over something stupid like this.

 

[VISAVIS-GER]

I see we have two different types of idelology in Germany and America, so it would be hard for me to decline on that discussion, also for the reason that english is not my native speaking.
 
Most of the Germans do have a more emotional thinking when it comes to the origin of the product, cause we know and thats what we are very proud of - that our products are world class standard -
 
You Americans have a bit more rationalized thinking in that way I think, so that you only argue on the economic analysis, withouth thinking on the consequences for the environment , product quality and your local employment market, when produced in China
 
So we dont have to fool ourselves, cause we know that most of the chinese products are rubbish and that has nothing to do with racism. The quality standards are definitive not the same as in Austria or Germany. You want some evidence how your AKG is now manufactured?
 
 
Thats how AKG headphones where made in Austria a few years ago (including the K701) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LbsQRaQD6A
 
 
Thats how they are produced nowadays: http://sergeydolya.livejournal.com/55293.html
 
 
Maybe this will open your eyes and you will reconsider your uncritical way of thinking.
 
PS: The Beyerdynamics DT 990 Pro costs about 130€ in Germany and plays on the same level as the more expensive chinese made AKG K701.
 
You want some evidence: http://www.testberichte.de/test/produkt_tests_beyerdynamic_dt_990_pro_p10963.html

 

[Mjolnir125]

   
Don't cry racist over something stupid like this.

Why? I see this sentiment echoed over and over about how the chinese made AKG must be inferior to products made in europe. I know that facts and scientific studies are frowned upon on head fi, but I think we should agree that something as simple as dismissing a product as of inferior quality solely because of its country of origin is a bit prejudiced.
 
Again, I don't have a problem with someone choosing to buy a product from a certain country because of other reasons (like ethical concerns such as worker conditions, or wanting to buy products from your own country), but decreeing rather arbitrarily that the physical quality of the product is lower because of its country of origin is not really fair.
 
 
 
Anyway, this is a thread about the HD540 II; I apologize for getting a bit off topic there...

 

[o0CosmoMemory0o]

There are skills all across the world. Most places have something good to offer if you are open-minded enough to seek it out. It's the design considerations and quality control procedures of a product that make the difference between a high quality product and a low quality product. Country of origin soon becomes rather meaningless. I used to buy "Made In Ireland" HD250II headphones (where the design originated in Germany) and they all sounded great. Skills are everywhere and we do ultimately live in a global economy. Best to try and exercise a little patience with one another because I know I don't particularly enjoy being verbally criticised for every little thing that I say about headphones like the HD540II. I'm not an expert and I don't pretend to be so I will be trying to keep my language simple to try and get ideas across to others without being too inaccurate.
 
Back to the HD540II, the velour pads do not seal. When I put the velour pads together on the HD250I sealed-back headphone when music was playing through them, I still heard the music clearly coming through the pads. When I put the pleather pads together on the HD250I, I could barely hear any audio leakage at all. My conclusion therefore is that the pleather keeps the sound within the enclosure, which is going to result in more internal sound reflections before absorption (wave interference etc). With the velour, more sound waves leave the enclosure quickly than those that are reflected so any reflections that do happen are less significant and on a much smaller scale. The porous nature of the velour would increase the radial spread of sound further outwards; a more natural dispersion. Look at the material of the earpads on the HD800. Many HD800 users praise it for excellent imaging; I wonder why...

 

[GREQ]

 
Thats how AKG headphones where made in Austria a few years ago (including the K701) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LbsQRaQD6A
 
Thats how they are produced nowadays: http://sergeydolya.livejournal.com/55293.html

Completely different factories where the first produces high end AKG headphones, and where the second produces consumer-grade-garbage. 
This is apples and oranges.
 
Quote:

PS: The Beyerdynamics DT 990 Pro costs about 130€ in Germany and plays on the same level as the more expensive chinese made AKG K701.
 
You want some evidence: http://www.testberichte.de/test/produkt_tests_beyerdynamic_dt_990_pro_p10963.html

This proves nothing. There are a few SUBJECTIVE opinions here. Nothing more - and certainly nothing that constitutes evidence. 
 
(I have nothing against Beyerdynamic or AKG.)

 

[moriez]

Grado's presentation (extremely front row), not Grado's signature (brightness).

 
I see. Love to hear any impression at all about whatever type of Grado vs the 540 (II).

 

[Mjolnir125]

  I see we have two different types of idelology in Germany and America, so it would be hard for me to decline on that discussion, also for the reason that english is not my native speaking.
 
Most of the Germans do have a more emotional thinking when it comes to the origin of the product, cause we know and thats what we are very proud of - that our products are world class standard -
 
You Americans have a bit more rationalized thinking in that way I think, so that you only argue on the economic analysis, withouth thinking on the consequences for the environment , product quality and your local employment market, when produced in China
 
So we dont have to fool ourselves, cause we know that most of the chinese products are rubbish and that has nothing to do with racism. The quality standards are definitive not the same as in Austria or Germany. You want some evidence how your AKG is now manufactured?
 
 
Thats how AKG headphones where made in Austria a few years ago (including the K701) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LbsQRaQD6A
 
 
Thats how they are produced nowadays: http://sergeydolya.livejournal.com/55293.html
 
 
Maybe this will open your eyes and you will reconsider your uncritical way of thinking.
 
PS: The Beyerdynamics DT 990 Pro costs about 130€ in Germany and plays on the same level as the more expensive chinese made AKG K701.
 
You want some evidence: http://www.testberichte.de/test/produkt_tests_beyerdynamic_dt_990_pro_p10963.html

As I said, buying from a certain country because of ethical or environmental concerns is ok, but don't try to justify it by saying that all products from other countries are crap because they are made in other countries.
 
In the US the DT990 cost the same as the K702. AKG claims that their quality standards haven't changed when they switched production to china.
 
Anyway earpads definitely do make a huge difference in sound, which is why I am trying to find the best replacement pads for my HD540 II's. I tryed some of the cheap generic HD 250 pads on ebay and they were awful; they made the sound very muddy and seemed to seal too much.

 

[vid]

  cheap generic HD 250 pads on ebay and they were awful; they made the sound very muddy and seemed to seal too much.

 
Break the seal. The pleather HM5 pads were good for my HD 530 when mounted loosely, but sounded muddy if completely sealing over the baffle.

 

[o0CosmoMemory0o]

The best alternative to the original velour I have found so far is the HD560 velour pads. Just have to remove the HD560 plastic backing ring and replace it with a HD250/HD540 backing ring, for it to be attachable. This velour earpad has a backing plastic though, that the velour attaches to. This is a reflective face for internal sound reflections and constricts the imaging as the radial spread is reduced as well. I will keep my eye out for an alternative.

 

[Mjolnir125]

  The best alternative to the original velour I have found so far is the HD560 velour pads. Just have to remove the HD560 plastic backing ring and replace it with a HD250/HD540 backing ring, for it to be attachable. This velour earpad has a backing plastic though, that the velour attaches to. This is a reflective face for internal sound reflections and constricts the imaging as the radial spread is reduced as well. I will keep my eye out for an alternative.

Do you have to cut back the plastic on the pad to get the ring to fit in the back of the pad?