[jasswolf]

Does anyone know where I can find original pads for k371? I don't want to buy anything from Dekoni as they seem to change FR too much.

You can order them direct from your local AKG supplier if you contact them, I think the pricing is per pad.

 

[yage]

You can order them direct from your local AKG supplier if you contact them, I think the pricing is per pad.

I contacted AKG support and they said they don't stock them. They do stock the K371-BT pads though for some reason.

Their advice was to ask for an RMA if within the warranty period. If not, you're out of luck.

 

[jasonb]

The Dekoni choice suede is the way to go.



I think they are actually better than the stock pads.

 

[Elegiac]

That's what I'm getting. I hate the stock pads so much, but I like the sound.

 

[jasswolf]

I contacted AKG support and they said they don't stock them. They do stock the K371-BT pads though for some reason.

Their advice was to ask for an RMA if within the warranty period. If not, you're out of luck.

Contact AKG global then, and explain to them that your local supplier is refusing to sell stock pads. You don't need to RMA a headphone to get the pads replaced, that's ridiculous.

The category you're after is spare parts.

 

[yage]

I

Contact AKG global then, and explain to them that your local supplier is refusing to sell stock pads. You don't need to RMA a headphone to get the pads replaced, that's ridiculous.

The category you're after is spare parts.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'AKG global'. If you click the link labeled 'Parts' at the bottom of AKG.com, the address is 'parts@harman.com' so I sent them a message. Hopefully I'll get a different response than through AKG support.

 

[alxw0w]

I


I'm not sure what you mean by 'AKG global'. If you click the link labeled 'Parts' at the bottom of AKG.com, the address is 'parts@harman.com' so I sent them a message. Hopefully I'll get a different response than through AKG support.

Please share the reply when you get it.

 

[yage]

Please share the reply when you get it.

Well, I got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I just received a response from Harman. Here's the bad news:

Good day! The professional department team said they're not available as spare parts. (non-inventory item)

So, no, you can't get them directly from AKG / Harman.

I really don't understand why they elected not to have spare parts for these headphones if they're considered 'professional'. I can buy OEM earpads and cables for the Sony MDR-7506 without a problem.

 

[JW1234]

Well, I got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I just received a response from Harman. Here's the bad news:



So, no, you can't get them directly from AKG / Harman.

I really don't understand why they elected not to have spare parts for these headphones if they're considered 'professional'. I can buy OEM earpads and cables for the Sony MDR-7506 without a problem.

Unfortunately, this matches what I was told when I asked AKG a year ago whether replacement pads were available for the K371. I was seriously thinking about buying a pair, but I will no longer buy headphones if the manufacturer doesn't offer replacement pads - it turns the headphones into disposable items since I rarely have success with after-market pads. AKG seems as a general rule not to offer replacement pads; I had a different set of AKG phones several years ago but when it came time to replace the pads it turned out that AKG didn't offer them. I'm now using Austrian Audio phones, with both replacement earpads and replacement headband cushion available from AA.

 

[jasonb]

That's pretty crappy of them to not sell replacement parts as simple as pads. The Choice Suede from Dekoni will probably be everyones best bet though. They sound just as good or better. According to their measurements they appear to be within 2dB everywhere of the stock pads and are more comfortable and give a more consistent seal.

 

[jasswolf]

Well, I got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I just received a response from Harman. Here's the bad news:



So, no, you can't get them directly from AKG / Harman.

I really don't understand why they elected not to have spare parts for these headphones if they're considered 'professional'. I can buy OEM earpads and cables for the Sony MDR-7506 without a problem.

Unfortunately, this matches what I was told when I asked AKG a year ago whether replacement pads were available for the K371. I was seriously thinking about buying a pair, but I will no longer buy headphones if the manufacturer doesn't offer replacement pads - it turns the headphones into disposable items since I rarely have success with after-market pads. AKG seems as a general rule not to offer replacement pads; I had a different set of AKG phones several years ago but when it came time to replace the pads it turned out that AKG didn't offer them. I'm now using Austrian Audio phones, with both replacement earpads and replacement headband cushion available from AA.

I've been able to buy pads from my local AKG supplier, so I'm sure that's the case for almost everyone else.

Have either of you determined who your local supplier is and contacted them, or have you just been sending requests to AKG Global? If the former, go contact the latter via another relevant category so that they chase down the supplier with part numbers and quotes.

If the latter, spend the the 2-3 minutes figuring out who your supplier is.

 

[yage]

Harman (the parent company of AKG) says they don't stock pads. Who is your local supplier?

 

[The-One]

So I have just ordered an AKG K371, it arrives tomorrow from Amazon. It's a new "treat" for myself, hopefully the Harman sound will be good enough and it would very nice at my desktop pc where there is no subwoofer, and where I currrently only have a random $25 headphone.

What worries me is the number of used K371s in the Amazon Warehouse, meaning theres like 15 opened and returned ones I could have bought for a 30% of MRSP, but didn't. I mean, is this high number of returns a headphones thing? or an AKG K371 thing?

I know from reading that this model had issues when it was first released, but this is Sept 2023 now...

 

[The-One]

OK, so it appears that this thread is more or less dead. oh well, I'll just add my thoughts to any newcomers coming across this for the first ime.

My K371 arrived today and it's currently plugged into a Chord Mojo2 running optical / spdif out from a computer, streaming Amazon Music HD.

Physically, it's smaller than I expected. Fit on my head is good, with extra clicks to spare, cup goes all way around my ears. I think my ears touch the foam in one of them because the cups are not deep, but I don't feel "hot" or anything from touching foam. However, I think the enclosed nature means you do generally feel somewhat warm after an hour or so, room temp is currently 75f/24c. What worried me a little was a cracking sound when I opened them to fit around glasses, it happened twice but tension is still there so it appears no permanent damage. Seal is ok wearing glasses, mine are not thicc tho,

(edit: I think wearing glasses does lower the bass very slightly, just do A/B with the opening 5 seconds of Lavender Haze by Taylor Swift to test for general bass levels, but it doesn't affect the sound higher up)

Soundwise, initial impressions are that it's very well balanced. It has a very "studio monitory" sound, particularly in the mids / treble, so everything comes across as quite clear and the vocals pop out at you (play The Dance Floor by Silje Nergaard / Kurt Elling to immediately evaluate both female / male vocals). I say "studio monitory" because I actually have a pair of proper nearfield studio monitor myself. So I can see why this is marketed as professional headphone. It is tuned to the Harman curve by the same people that did the research and came up with it, as thats pretty much the selling point of this headphone, to be a reference for Harman. It is not what I would describe as a "warm" sound, and it's not a "basshead" headphone, however there are nicely controlled low rumbles when the track calls for it.

If I could nitpick about the bass, it's that it's not as well "defined" in the sense that notes dont necessarily jump out at you. I mean, it's an unfair criticism as my mental baseline for accurate bass is a room-eqed subwoofer that cost far more than this headphone. But still, extension is still better than on openback (big reason why I went this, to use at a computer without subwoofer, I want no roll off until 20hz). Speaking of open / closed backs, the soundstage on this K371 is not much better than an IEM. There is no sense of "bigness" or things "hanging in the air". HD800 or floorstanders this is not.

Overall, I think the performance and build is very well worth the price I paid for it. It is extremely competent imo at sounding natural and accurate, no eq needed. For my intended use case of in front of a computer where I can quickly slap this on my head, it is excellent. The limitations in the headphones comes from it's price point, EQ, and physics (closed back design). It is affordable, so don't expect $1k quality. If you know you don't like the Harman curve, this is not for you. If you want to be wowed by soundstage and presentation, don't buy a closedback.

 

[Knee Deep In Epoxy]

OK, so it appears that this thread is more or less dead. oh well, I'll just add my thoughts to any newcomers coming across this for the first ime.

My K371 arrived today and it's currently plugged into a Chord Mojo2 running optical / spdif out from a computer, streaming Amazon Music HD.

Physically, it's smaller than I expected. Fit on my head is good, with extra clicks to spare, cup goes all way around my ears. I think my ears touch the foam in one of them because the cups are not deep, but I don't feel "hot" or anything from touching foam. However, I think the enclosed nature means you do generally feel somewhat warm after an hour or so, room temp is currently 75f/24c. What worried me a little was a cracking sound when I opened them to fit around glasses, it happened twice but tension is still there so it appears no permanent damage. Seal is ok wearing glasses, mine are not thicc tho,

Soundwise, initial impressions are that it's very well balanced. It has a very "studio monitory" sound, particularly in the mids / treble, so everything comes across as quite clear and the vocals pop out at you. I say "studio monitory" because I actually have a pair of proper nearfield studio monitor myself. So I can see why this is marketed as professional headphone. It is tuned to the Harman curve by the same people that did the research and came up with it, as thats pretty much the selling point of this headphone, to be a reference for Harman. It is not what I would describe as a "warm" sound, and it's not a "basshead" headphone, however there are nicely controlled low rumbles when the track calls for it.

If I could nitpick about the bass, it's that it's not as well "defined" in the sense that notes dont necessarily jump out at you. I mean, it's an unfair criticism as my mental baseline for accurate bass is a room-eqed subwoofer that cost far more than this headphone. But still, extension is still better than on openback (big reason why I went this, to use at a computer without subwoofer, I want no roll off until 20hz). Speaking of open / closed backs, the soundstage on this K371 is not much better than an IEM. There is no sense of "bigness" or things "hanging in the air". HD800 or floorstanders this is not.

Overall, I think the performance and build is very well worth the price I paid for it. It is extremely competent imo at sounding natural and accurate, no eq needed. For my intended use case of in front of a computer where I can quickly slap this on my head, it is excellent. The limitations in the headphones comes from it's price point, EQ, and physics (closed back design). It is affordable, so don't expect $1k quality. If you know you don't like the Harman curve, this is not for you. If you want to be wowed by soundstage and presentation, don't buy a closedback.

I'm using my K361 right now with Dekoni Velour pads through a Mojo2... so I'd call this space more "dormant" than dead.

Totally agree about the "studio monitory" sound, although the K361 is particularly flat through the bass.

Listening to these this morning has made me decide that I don't think its worth moving much higher up the budget scale than these for closed backs (even though I already have been there... sometimes you have to travel far only to realise you were already at the destination). The K361 sound great and I don't think you can get a "much better" sound in closed back form without spending significantly more. At that point I would say budgets would be better dedicated to IEMs or open backs because from a pure "price to sound-performance" perspective closed backs can't compete with those other form factors... at least not yet.

Of course, If you can't wear IEMs due to discomfort and need the sound isolation that open backs can't provide, then of course you may look higher up the scale for a more high end closed back, but you'll always be paying a premium with closed backs and not getting the best sound available at that price IMHO. For example, I love the sound of the Focal Radiance, but if I had USD1600 to spend, I'd be getting a Monarch Mk2 or Arya Organic (or for an extra US$200, both of them).

So I guess this means my only sensible closed back recommendation for a closed back going forward will be the K361 (haven't tried the k371).