Customer Reviews

AKG K702 Headphones

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The 702s are identical to the 701s except that the pads on the 02s are thicker which allows a more "around the head" speaker-like experience with regards to soundstage.....The 702s also have a detachable cable and do not come with the little stand that is supplied with the 701s...No biggie.....Now, Regarding the sound....I have as my point of reference Sennheiser 600s....so, in comparison, the 702s sound is much more defined and articulate which allows you to hear deeper into the music then the sort of sweet tho great sounding Senn 600s....I use my 702s with an Onkyo DX-7555 reference CD Player, and a Oppo DV 970HD player, along with a recent edtion of the now discontinued Headroom MAX headphone amp.....so, I am getting some serious Hi-end input into these cans and they dont disappoint.....I will tell u, should u decide to buy, that u must let these phones have at least 100 hours of burn in so that the drivers relax, and until this is accompished these cans will sound BRIGHT and without a lot of bass extention, but as the drivers begin to relax, then the glorius sound they provide just gets better and better.

The reviewer who compared these with La Scalas is in the right place. These things want volume to really shine. Those of you who have been asking "Can I plug this into my cellphone/ipod/walkman/thing-with-underpowered-headphone-jack and be happy", and have been getting these luke-warm "well maybe" answers, let me simplify it for you: don't bother. Yes, you can plug them in, and they will sound good, and if you have already decided you need to own a pair of K702's, you'll be ok with that. But they will not sound as good as less-power-hungry phones. Even my Audio Technica ATHANC7's, which I bought for quiet at work (and which sound great! but should not sound better than these) sound better than these coming out of a laptop or iPod. Save yourself some money.

Well then. If you're still reading, the 5 stars are for what you get out of a headphone amp, or dedicated headphone port from a proper AV receiver. I am really hearing stuff I've never heard. That could be good or bad -- I find myself emailing friends asking if they hear some kind of fuzzed out over-limit note at 3:21 of such and so song. These phones will reveal limitations of the recordings you play through them. And they are plain as toast -- although it's 20Hz--20Khz toast. I got them as an additional reference for use in mixing, and am 5-stars happy about that. They sound very close to what I get from my HR828 monitors. And I like how they're away from the ears, not at all fatiguing to listen for long stretches.

Now for the somewhat embarrassing part: I've seen the recommendations of "break in" times for these phones ranging from 100-800 hours (the party line seems to be 400). I really want to dismiss that as snake oil (along with how much better my sound will be if I change to an all-silver cable). But I have noticed that after my first 100 hours of use the bass has come up, and the high-end is mellowing a wee bit (the phones sound a little thin/harsh out of the box). I've been playing high-volume pink noise when I'm not using them, but am sure your autographed copy of No Strings Attached will do just as well.

First some necessary information for prospective buyers. The AKG 702 headphones need proper run in time before they can reach optimum performance. And I don't mean a few hours. More like 100 hours. Yes I know this is asking a lot considering how much they cost and how anxious new owners must be but I speak the truth! Out of the box the 702's sound rough around the edges. Don't worry though, when you have properly given all the "parts" time to congeal and become one so to speak the rewards are many. The AKG 701/702 are considered by many professionals, to be one of the best headphones in the world. Well, I haven't heard all the cans on that list so I can only speak of my experiences with the pair of 702's that I've had for a month now. I put them in a room and played them though a Headroom Total Airhead portable headphone amplifier for around 8 to 10 hours a day for nearly four weeks, just putting them on and listening for a few minutes at the end of each day. A spare dvd/cd player was used and it ran on "repeat all" for the break in period. This process was a total drag I must say but the experts tell me it's necessary and I believe them now because with some serious listening sessions, with music I know and love, the 702's have brought me to tears more than once. The high frequencies now are full and powerful, with no trace of "sizzle". Mid range and mid bass are present and all accounted for. Bass frequencies are reproduced with substantial authority. These cans are very balanced. They don't sacrifice one portion of the sound field at the expense of another. If however you are listening to a poorly recorded source, your going to hear it, poorly. The AKG's do not lie! One thing more, the sound stage is huge with these cans. Very much like listening to very good audio gear with expensive speakers. Your orchestra/band are not crowded inside your head but in full view front of you. Truly remarkable. I've read that the Sennheiser HD800's do this much better but they are 'considerably' more expensive. I would recommend that these headphones be driven with a good headphone amp to attain maximum performance. Sorry but a cheapo portable or an afterthought headphone jack on your receiver just wont do. If however your gear sports dedicated headphone circuitry you might be able to forgo a headphone amp, maybe. All in all I really love these cans and recommend them highly.

Source: Oppo SV970HD
Amp: Headroom Mirco Amp
Dac: Headroom Micro Dac

I won't bore you with a really long review, instead I will tell you what I have owned before these and how these compare.

I have owned or extensively listened to the following:

Audio Technica ATH-M50
Audio Technica ATH-AD700
Sennheiser 595 premiere

and with my taste ( since all sound is dependent on the user after all ) these simply blow away all of those headphones in every regard.

My first impression of these is WOW, the soundstage is absolutely the most wide and accurate I have ever heard! All of the frequencies are balanced, not to much bass or highs its just natural! Everything sounds amazing, I won't go into detail about how the highs have amazing detail or that I can hear things in music that I could not before ( of course all of those things would be true with these headphones ) but I am sure that all of the other reviews will tell you that, instead now I will compare individually to each of the headphones listed.

Compared to Audio Technica ATH-M50

First off this is kind of unfair since the M50 is a closed back headphone but with that out of the way the following still holds true. Soundstage, soundstage, soundstage! The M50 lack any form of a 3D soundstage everything with the M50's sounded smashed up against your face instead of natural not to mention there was too much bass and it lacked detail over all the frequencies.

Compared to Audio Technica ATH-AD700

The AD700's are the closest to the AKG 702's in overall performance. The AD700's actually retain a wonderful soundstage and nice mids and highs. Too me it sounded like the AKG 702's just made the soundstage a little bigger and added the bass that was missing in the AD700's not to mention a nice little detail boast throughout the range of audio. So better sound stage, better bass and more detail. Overall though for the $80 the AD700's can often be bought for they are not bad at all.

Compared to the Sennheiser 595's
I was expecting a lot from the 595's when I ordered them based on the great reviews not to mention I had owned older pair of Sennheiser that I liked. Wow was I disappointed with the 595's! Everything on them seemed like it had a tint or vial over it. Like they added overcast onto the audio and IMO lacked the detail level that even the AD700s had. Honestly that's the only thing that bothered me was the masked sound. But it REALLY bothered me so I would put these phones near the bottom of the list in terms of overall sound.

I hope this helped some people make up there mind. I am also sure there will be a lot of people who disagree with me, and that's fine after all whats "best" is up to the user and everyone has a different taste in sound. I am simply sharing my opinion. Also make sure that you have these headphones properly amped and that you have a good DAC or sound card.

This pair of headphones is marketed as the studio version of the K701. They are identical, except for the color and the fact that this one has a detachable cable. The reviews for the K701 are all you need. The official price is higher for this one, so be smart and shop around first; buy it only if you can find a third party seller for a price comparable to that of the K701.

These are great headphones; others have articulated that better than I'm able, but I wanted to leave a review to praise AKG/Harman's customer service.

I bought a pair of AKG K702's second hand and they worked great for a few months, but then developed a buzzing in the left earpiece, much to my disappointment. I contacted the guy that sold them to me, and got his original receipt, and contacted AKG for a replacement. After talking to their support tech, who referred me to their repair manager (all of whom are actual people with actual names) with whom I left a voicemail. He promptly returned my call, listened to my problem and my testing steps, and recommended I send the headphones in for repair. Absolutely no hassle.

Upon sending the headphones to AKG, I received a call from their repair tech who was actually repairing my headphones, to verify that I hadn't sent my cable to them, and to go over the repairs he'd performed as well as verify the warranty (which I'd forgotten to send along). Two days later I received the repaired headphones.

I wish I could receive such good, careful, and personal service from every company. I realize this is a specialty product with a smaller user base, but I've bought many other products that would fit into that category, and have never had such good customer service. Thank you!

These headphones have a love/hate relationship with a lot of folks. Not terribly unexpected after owning and listening to them for almost 6 months.

What I must say... generally, i like them a lot.

Pros:

1. Extremely wide soundstage. Some may say it sounds fake or overemphasized, but personally, I love it. It feels like I am sitting in the middle of the musicians and I can turn my head and hear every instrument separately. Very 3-dimensional.

2. Very detailed and controlled sound. Tight, accurate bass (no flab). Sparkling treble, sometimes a bit bright for my tastes. But I EQ down the treble to my liking.

3. Relatively good comfort. The bumps on the underside of the headband are sometimes annoying, but generally, the headphones are light and there in no vice-like grip smashing your skull. They fit even the largest of heads (mine). I sometimes I forget I am wearing them.

Cons:

1. Not a huge amount of bass response. It is there, but it isn't overwhelming. What is there is deep and accurate/controlled. It is nice. But it isn't thumping your eardrums to mush like a subwoofer would. I am sort of a basshead, hence the reason I own Beyer DT770s as well. I usually EQ my K702s to add a bit more bass to them, and I am content with that. But you definitely need to throw some wattage at these cans to get the bass response you want. Think heavy-duty stereo receiver or separate headphone amp.

2. Power hungry! These cans need juice. I run them from a Denon receiver and that seems to do okay, and also from a Maverick Audio DAC/Amp and that does better. But, I think, the more juice you throw at these cans, the better they will respond.

I paid about $250 for them new from Amazon. Not a bad deal for such a good set of phones.

Overall, a neutral sounding can, with sparkling treble (which my be too bright for some--- and fatiguing) and tight, accurate bass.

Source:

CD
IMHO all are beautifully recorded, mastered and played
Ottmar Liebert: Nouveau Flamenco
Sting: 10 Summner's Tales
La Quattro Stagioni: The English Concert, Trevor Pinnock

DVD Player
SONY DVP NS45P

Surround Sound Receiver
Pioneer Elite: VSX 09TX
This unit was a big dog in its day and does an excellent job of accurate reproduction. It is neither bright nor warm, whatever distortion exists is inaudible. The digital to analog conversion was done with the VSX, not the inexpensive SONY DVD player. I jacked the headphones directly into the VSX with no extension cable to eliminate connectors and cables.

Speakers
Klipsch La Scalas

Klipsch La Scala II Three-Way Horn-Loaded Loudspeaker, Subwoofer, and 2-Inch Composite Cone (Single, Walnut)

Break in time
Five hours

Headphone construction
Large comfortable ear cushions, large ball joints where they marry up with the visible speaker assembly, the headband is high quality leather, the spring for the sling is plastic and hopefully will not fatigue with repeated bending. All of the assemblies are plastic, I suspect to keep the weight down. The ear cups are connected with the silver plastic tabs and travel on a threaded cable system that appears to wind into the headphones as an auto adjustment.

My noggin is XL, these fit beautifully, my 10 year old is a small they fit her too.

If you are looking to block the sound of co-workers, the dishwasher, jet engines, or your significant other these won't do it. If you crank the volume up, you won't annoy anyone around you as the leakage is minimal. If you have someone in the cube next to you that needs absolute silence, these may not work for you.

Storage
I would not hang them from the sling considering the threaded adjusters. There is no factory storage case. I will be going out to one of the stores that sells lots of decorated wooden boxes from India, purchase one, and pad the bottom. I suspect that my last pair of headphones died in a dusting accident, pushed not jumped. So far, no witnesses have come forward, the investigation continues.

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Review

I played the music over the La Scalas, then listened to the same songs on the K702

Excellent clear undistorted detail in low, med and high range even with the volume cranked up.

Excellent low, but could not match the punch of my La Scalas. Nothing else can either, so no surprise. Two 15 inch woofers in 2 foot by 3 foot cabinets with the horns.

Sound Stage
There was definitely a L R and Center, and the sound was relatively seamless between them which has a lot to do with the mixing and original studio recordings. You can't put the quality into the sound after its recorded and mastered, only hope to reproduce it on your sound system.

IMHO these headphones will accurately reproduce the sounds that your amplifier source is feeding them with no audible distortion, the word "reference" is accurate as a description.

If I had a place to unpack and set up my McIntosh stack, and jacked the headphones into the pre-amp; I believe, that I would have reported the K702 as warm, replicating the sound of expensive tube units. Again, the K702 will reproduce what you feed it, no more no less.

Summary
These headphones very closely approximate the sound of $15K worth of high end stereo equipment.

If you have neutral source they will sound neutral, if warm they will sound warm. Again reference is an accurate description.

I don't know a lot about I-Pods, but the more compressed your sound is the more quantization error you experience which expresses itself progressively metallic sounding music with fading details.

If you were starting from zero and love music, I would suggest looking for a DVD player that does the D to A conversion on board and offers a headphone jack with volume control. I'm not familiar with the headphone amps out there but if they make a good one that does the D to A conversion and has a volume control I would buy it. Actually just took a peak elsewhere, and the amps run from $100 up to $1600 with reviews.

For $500, your music would sound like $15 to $20K; great way to start out at an affordable price. Plus your landlord won't evict you for cranking the stereo at all hours

Akg K702 Reference Class Open-Back Headphone.

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My first impression

When I jacked these in last night and played Sting, my feeling was that if I had my McIntosh set up, plugged the K702s into the pre-amp, and turned the lights down, I would have been moved to tears (figuratively speaking).

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Update Nov 2011

HEADPHONE AMPS

What are my choices?

* Headphone jack on my Integrated Amp
* Headphone jack on a pre-amp
* Dedicated Headphone Amp, portable or fixed
* Headphone jack on my PC sound card

I get tired of searching for amps to drive headphones with so I decided to put most of them here to at least give you a running start. I wish Amazon would create a category of Headphone, amps, cables, and accessories like cases and stands etc.

I noticed that several of the reviewers of the V-Can Headphone Amps mentioned that they also own Audiophile equipment and AKG 701s and 702. They were very positive on the sound quality of the V-Can (MK2 Just released)

Musical Fidelity V-CAN Headphone Amplifier

What is a class A amp?

"In class A, there is one output device. It is always on, or conducting. During quiescent conditions, it is biased on so that the output terminal (plate or collector) is at about 50% of the supply voltage. This offset voltage must be removed with a transformer or coupling capacitor so the output of the stage is 0V with no signal applied. As the input signal varies, the device conducts harder, toward saturation, or less, toward cutoff. As long as the stage is not driven into clipping, class A amplifiers can have very low total distortion, and NO crossover distortion, since they never turn off. Many audiophiles consider class A to be the best possible arrangement for audio reproduction. The biggest drawback is since the device is about half on even with no signal applied, the power dissipation is huge! You can always spot a class A amp by its mammoth heat sinks or its size. I've seen class A monoblocks about a cubic foot in size that only put out 15 watts!"

" Also, many audiophiles believe that class A gives the best sound quality (for their absence of crossover distortion and reduced odd-harmonic and high-order harmonic distortion) which provides a small market for expensive high fidelity class-A amps."

REASEARCH WEB SITES (that don't sell products)

Blogs on all things Headphones: Head-fi org

Also check articles out wikiphonia on: wiki faust3d

Amplifiers Explained: See Wiki Electronic_Amplifier"

User Boards: AudioKarma (excellent owner reviews)

User Boards: AudioAsylum (excellent owner reviews)

User Boards: ReviewCenter (excellent owner reviews)

User Boards: DIYAudio (excellent owner reviews)

User Boards: hificollector.blogspot(stories behind the equipment)

Product features to consider:

* Class A (or AB etc)
* Tube, op amp, solid state (more than one type of tube design)Part tech part religion.
* Cross-feed (blending the channels together)
* Integrated DAC (which chipset, in or out of the amp)
* Meters
* tech specs for the amps like distortion, and separation at low power and up.
* Portable or not portable
* Is my high end amp's headphone jack good enough?
* What is my source? I-Pod etc, PC, CD player, record player?

Review Web sites that don't sell products, all appear to be funded by manufacturer ads.

* dagogo (forthright reviews)
* AVguide
* Headphonista
* Headfonia
* Stereotimes
* audioholics
* Audio Review
* digitalaudioreview
* 6moons

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PC BASED SOLUTIONS (if you have a terabyte of music on your PC stop here)

My final destination will probably be using my PC as my:

* BluRay player (HDMI to Plasma, Optical to 7.1 Receiver)
* CD player
* Headphone Amp
* Digital Equalizer
* 1TB of loss-less music on hard disk
* DAC possibly front ending a Headphone Amp via RCA jacks
* DAC front ending my 1980's Mac Stack via RCA, driving Klipsch LaScalas
* Pioneer Elite 7.1 Surround Receiver via Optical driving my Klipsch surround speakers
* And possibly a Class A Tube Amp via RCA, driving the LaScalas

* For under $200, Creative and Asus have two good options for your PC

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD Internal Sound Card with THX SB1270

PCI version sold by Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Xonar-Essence-24-bit-192KHz-Interface/dp/B002UVME88/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t

PCI Express
ASUS PCI-Express x1 Sound Card XONAR ESSENCE STX/90-YAA0C0-0UAN00Z

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HEADPHONE AMP MANUFACTURERS (no particular order)

* Musical Fidelity: V-Can, V-Can MK2, M1-HPA integrated dac model. UK company

* PS Audio: GCHA Headphone Amp. RCA, Bal, USB inputs. Class A solid state. PSA makes lots of high performance stuff. Bolder Colorado (like Grace) Made in USA Currently 12/2011 at fire sale prices.

* Qinpu - A3, A-6000 MKII - Tube Integrated /Headphone Amplifier. Made in China

* ROLLS - Bellari HA 540 Class A Tube Headphone Amp. Made USA, company also makes professional studio recording equip.

* Creek - distributed by Music Hall, OBH-11 Headphone Amplifier.UK Design, China Mfg.

* FiiO - Several models. E9 Desktop Headphone Amplifier and Dock for E7 USB DAC

* Grado - same company that makes the headphones and best headphone cable. 3 models USA company and mfg.

* Firestone Audio - Cute BEYOND Lots of headphone amp products. Dutch Company, doesn't say where made, Holland?

* cayin - Makes lots of tubes amps, inc headphone. Made in Germany

* HiFiMan - EF5 Tube Headphone Amplifier, several models. Made in China?

* Rega - UK based mfg of full line of audio equipment.

* nuForce - several models

* Schiit Audio - Class A Headphone Amplifiers 3 models. Solid state and Tube Hybrid. DAC in the pipeline. Manufactured USA.

* Vincent Audio - Hybrid Headphone Tube Amplifier (expensive with good reviews) German company that makes lots of tube amps.

* Dared - Manufactures high end tube amps. EF-99 Headphone Tube amplifier & Preamplifier. Made in China.

* Wu - Tube Made in China?

* Head Room - Loyal following, has cross-feed capability. $350 several models. Mfg USA?

* Beyerdynamic - A1 Headphone Amp. German made.

* SPL (Sound Performance Lab)- Auditor and Phonitor (Industrial Headphone Amp) with all of the meters and knobs $2000. German made. Definitely read the manual before buying.

* Meier Corda - Symphony.2 Headphone Amp $1400. German?

* Grace Design - M903 (Industrial) Reference headphone amplifier, DAC, monitor controller $1600. Made USA

* McIntosh Labs - Lots of high end pre-amps. None are identified as Headphone Amps. Mine always sounds pretty good when I jack in. $3000+ Like Mercedes Benz, the factory will always refurbish the unit for you. Mine went to the factory for their 30th birthday gift. Made in USA.

* Peachtree - Music Bob, Integrated Headphone amp with I pod dock. $700. Made in Germany?

* Ray Samuels - Full line headphone amps. Made USA

* Tektron-Italia - OTL Tube Amp $2249, squeaky

* Burson Audio - HA-160D DAC / Headphone Amp / Preamp Made in Australia. I hope to get back to Melbourne someday.

* Headamp - several models of Headphone Amps. Made USA

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PRE-AMPS

For some reason, my searches always bring me to looking for an inexpensive (transportable) pre-amp with multiple inputs and tone controls.

If you search, there are a lot of pre-amps out there. Solid state and tube. New and used.

There is still the issue of a DAC.

This inexpensive Gemeni unit gets excellent reviews and keeps popping up. Does it sound like a $3000 pre-amp, probably not. But for $90 it may be a good start. Could be a good little headphone amp, solid state. Could also be used to front end an inexpensive class A tube amp with efficient speakers like Klipsch (check out the Klipsch Web site to identify more efficient models) most sold on Amazon.

Read the Amazon reviews, some have interesting uses for this unit including using it to front end inexpensive, but powerful solid state mono-block amps.

Gemeni (and others) also offers an inexpensive equalizer and crossover marketed to DJs. All have the rack ears built into the face plates. All are sold on Amazon.

* Gemini PA-7000 Professional Preamplifier Professional Preamplifier

Pyle and Behringer also sell a lot of inexpensive solutions. Or more upscale like Rolls, DBX (equalizers) and others that are used in recording studios. Most sold on Amazon.

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If I were on a budget, college student or just low budget, I would definitely look at this stuff.

For CDs
Buy a factory refurbished (or new)top of the line 3D Blu Ray player that supports 96 KHZ, you get a great player and a pretty darn good RCA audio feed for $90. The million unit manufacturers (Panasonic Samsung) are in a death match for control of the Blu Ray 3D space, so these players are as good as it gets bang for the buck. You also get multiple feeds RCA, toslink, HDMI.

Multiple sources?
A. switch cables from unit to unit
B. mechanical RCA switch, one with a good switch
c. Get a pre amp (Gemeni $100 up to a Mac $5K) or other high end.

Digital sources (I-POD)?
If you need an D to A converter, you need one. The question is then what do you do if you need multiple source D to A? External USB bridge or DAC with built in bridge?

Headphone Amp and or Pre Amp
Jack into one of the good, but inexpensive, class A headphone amps (tube or solid state, you decide); Some of these have RCA pre-amp out capabilities and can be used to feed an amplifier. I would get one with the pre-amp out feeds for future expansion to a high-quality low-output (20-30W) amp and buy some very efficient speakers like Klipsch. 2 watts on the good Klipsch 95db or better speakers will run you out of the room.

The amps and speakers might be my first job, or first decent paying job, gift to myself.

I still own and maintain equipment I purchased 30 years ago, the good stuff lasts forever if you are nice to it.

Audiophile on a Budget

AKG 702 $250
DAC $150-300
H Amp-pre $150-500
Blu Ray $90
I-pod $40 - 300

Total $650 and up

Or just drop $200 on a killer sound card for your PC and use it as the amp, dac, equalizer, and doc for your I-POD. Total $450

This is the first time I have posted a review - ever. Got these as an anniversary gift from my lovely wife (so no hope of upgrade even if I didn't like them#. I have a pair of Martin Logan speakers paired with PS Audio PCA/HCA combination which provides exceptional detail. On first impression - very detailed, stat like sound but linear response #evident even without the breakin). As noted, I can see the promised land is not far with a little patience. Contrary to many reviews, even with the slight edge, the sound is very pleasing. It is like the first few sips of a new wine, hopefully to open and reveal a myriad of flavors. Do NOT hesitate to purchase this headphone - especially for the price. Will follow up after the break in.

These headphones are truly amazing! When I was considering them I've read quite a bit about (1) how they are not worth the money without a decent headphone amp, (2) that their bass leaves a lot to desire, and (3) that they have an insanely long burn-in period. All of these criticisms are greatly exaggerated and obscure how wonderfully accurate and detailed these headphones really are.

On the first point, although plugging them into my iPod (as expected) did not produce spectacular results, they performed just fine and definitely better than what many reviews would have you believe. I have a pair of Shure's SE 535, and although I did not do a side by side A to B comparison (the Shures broke in less than a month of use and I sent them back to the company for service), I do not recall a striking difference in the sound quality between the two when playing out of the iPod. Although, for instance, the iPod driven Shures had somewhat better bass, the AKGs make up for it in other respects (i.e. sound stage). However, it was when I plugged the AKGs into my Onkyo (not super fancy, mid-class) receiver and listened to CDs and a records, they absolutely sung! The sound stage is nice and wide. You can really pinpoint the location of every sound in 3D space. When listening to vocals, it actually feels like you can reach out and touch the singer. Every sound is crisp, precise and easily distinguished from all others. For instance, you can pick out the separate layers of vocal harmonies, that can often be muddled and fused will lesser audio equipment. I should also add that when visiting my parents, I plugged these cans into my parent's Sony "space-age" looking, CD and tape (!) playing stereo, which was bought at Target or Walmart in late 1990's/early 2000's, is now relegated to the basement. When playing a CD, considering the source, the headphones blew me away! Although I don't doubt that a headphone amp would be nice, it is not absolutely necessary to realize the many benefits of these headphones.

On the second point, regarding the bass, I could not disagree more. Unless you like your bass so heavy that it muddles everything else, these headphones are for you. The bass is controlled, punchy and tight, and does not muddle the other frequencies. It is very natural. I listen to tons of electronic music (electronica, glitch, techno, minimal, house-- you name it -- all of which is considered bass driven), and I think these headphones are perfect. In fact they give you a perfect balance of bass, nicely transparent mids and crisp highs. I've listened to Senns HD 650 (which I do like) but actually prefer these, due to that clarity. BTW, other types of music sound great as well with these headphones. Besides electronic, I also listen to classical music, opera, rock, and jazz, and I think that they sound great with all. For a while, these cans will definitely be my go to headphones for everything I listen to.

Lastly, although it is widely publicized that these cans have a very long burn-in period, I was actually impressed with the out-of-the-box sound. I did not do a dedicated burn-in as some do (leaving them to play 24/7 somewhere in a closet). Rather, I just kept on having dedicated listening session every few days, and noticed them opening up right in front of my eyes. I love them now, but I am really looking forward to hearing what they sound like in few more months!

Overall, if you are dissuaded from getting these cans due to issues some have called out online, take those criticisms with a grain of salt. If you like detailed and precise reproduction of what your CDs, records and digital files really sound like, try these cans. I don't think you'll be disappointed.