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53 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A new contender from AKG doesn't disappoint, May 12, 2006
The AKG K701 is the latest headphone from AKG which takes place at the top of their line. Their previous top end headphone is the K1000 "ear speaker" which has now been discontinued. This headphone has some fancy new technical features, such as their new Varimotion diaphragm and flat wire coil, which is unique to this model and its baby brother K601, features that are supposed to give it better sound.
Let's get to the meat of this review. The two most important things: the comfort and the sound.
Comfort:
The headphone is very comfortable, the soft ear pads surround your ear. The headphone top headband is made out of leather, and self adjust to the size of your head. Even with my size 7 1/2 hat size, I find the headphones comfortable for more than 2 hours of listening, the clamping force is strong but not overly so. In comparison to the popular Sennheiser HD580/600/650, I find the clamping pressure to be more tolerable. However, I do find the pressure of the knobs under the top of the leather band to give the top of my head a burning sensation due to the pressure. The headphone is lighter than it looks, overall I rate this headphone among the top candidates for comfort, with only the headband issue detracting.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Sound:
This headphone has a very neutral "audiophile" sound, there is no part of the frequency spectrum that sounds overly forward, that is, the bass is balanced with the midrange, and the treble is not overly prominent or dominant. I do feel the bass is a tad bit light. If the recording is bass light, these headphones might sound a bit thin. The depth of bass is very good, the headphone has good bass response down to 25Hz as I verified for myself by running test tone sweeps, so the bass is there, just not as much "in your face". The midrange sounds excellent, and the headphone does vocals really well, especially female voice, with good body, airiness, and clarity. The headphone does a reasonably good job of handling sibilance, without emphasizing it unduly. This is the headphone's primary strength, clear luscious and fluid sounding midrange, it seems to work well for female voice and recovers the detail and texture in the singer's voice. If your recordings are harsh sounding, the headphone doesn't try to hide it, the headphone isn't really well suited for low quality MP3 listening. Unlike some of the Sennheiser headphones like the HD600, I find this headphone to have a more "airy", "lively" sound with cymbals with a more convincing metallic shimmer, but without too much treble energy that gives me a headache after long periods of listening. It's somewhere in between the Sennheiser and Beyerdynamic models for treble presence. Strings and acoustical instruments are very well rendered, with good details that lets you here every nuance of the music. Piano sound very realistic, carrying the richness of the harmonics very well.
Soundstaging/imaging is something that is quite contrived with headphone listening in general, but for the most part, there is less of that "in your head" feeling with these headphones. The performers seem to be more well spaced in good live recordings, and you feel like you are sitting further back rather than being right in the middle of the band.
The only real issue is that the bass is about 10% too lean from what I perceive as perfectly neutral tonality. Maybe turning the bass control up a couple of notches is all that is needed to get perfect sound.
As far as sensitivity, these headphones do require a decent amp. It might be too much of a stretch for some portable devices to handle the load, but out of an iPod even, the sound is still quite pleasant, altough it is a bit weak in volume. These are headphones that work better with a home stereo system or a separate headphone amplifier.
As this is a premium product, most people who aren't critical listeners might be better off with some of the cheaper and still very capable headphones like the Sennheiser HD580, but for a person who has a great high grade stereo system and takes their music listening seriously, these are the real deal. If most of your music is 128kbps MP3s, I say don't bother. I'd suggest that the rest of your system should be of a pretty high grade also, these capability of these headphones is a bit wasted unless you listen to good quality recordings regularly and have a good CD/SACD/DVD Audio player. Also look into buying an outboard headphone amp with this headphone.
Overall sound quality: 9 out of 10.
Conclusion: one of the best headphones under $500. If you are a discriminating listener, these are well worth it. I personally prefer it to any other dynamic headphone under $1000 (includes all the current Grados, Sennheisers, Beyerdynamic, Sony and Audio Technica models). Just
be aware that these aren't very bassy headphones.
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53 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best new headphone on the market, April 3, 2006
The competitive mid-range in stereophile headphones includes fine products like the Sennheiser HD-650 and the austere Beyerdynamic DT-880. The AKG K-701 fits between these two headphones sonically, and as you can imagine, each product has its vocal adherents. The 701 has enough outstanding points to deserve careful consideration when shoppoing for a mid-price headphones.
The K-701's white exterior has a white iPoddish look - which some may not care for - but the construction is solid. It's distinguished by the two radial adjusting bars along the top of the phones (making for an automatic fit), and a contoured leather strip underneath. The outside of the ear cups have a wire mesh center, allowing for some free flow of sound - and creating the phones' typically bright, crystalline sound signature. The cups are lined with a comfortable velour, which can be worn easily for hours without fatigue. Indeed, there are times when you forget you're wearing headphones, though there can occassionally be pressure on the top of your head. They come with their own custom headphone stand for easy retrieval. Their straight gray cable terminates in a 1/4" jack, though a 1/8" adapter jack is included for use with portable gear.
Because of their semi-open design, they aren't your preferred design if sound leakage is an issue.
Personally, I think the 701 are an extremely attractive headphone, but ultimately it's all about sound. These headphones require an unusually long break-in period of 300 hours (or longer) to achieve their best sound. (I just tossed them in a drawer for a few days with my iTunes collection playing through them.) At first, the 701s will lack bass articulation and smoothness, and will have some sibilance; with break-in, these faults gradually vanish as the phones settle into their mature sound.
Preferences for a particular headphone sound are as individual as a pair of ears. The AKG K-701 headphones have a sound that combines characteristics of the HD-650 and DT-880. It has a preferences for the upper range, with a sweet middle and an integrated bass sound. You won't get the smoky, deep bass feel of the Beyers, nor the visceral lows of he Senns; instead, there's a feeling that bass is an natural and integral part of the recording. Still, it's fair to say that confirmed bass-heads need not apply.
The 701 exhibits a respectable soundstage, pleasing but never "in your face."
The AKG K-701 have a nice balance out of the box, but profit handsomely from a complementary headphone amplifier. Favored amps include the Woo 3 tube amp, Larocco Pocket Reference II, and Meier Aria, all of which have proven synergy with the 701. As the 701 doesn't have a powerful output without some kind of amping, it's something you'll want to think about investigating down the line. On the other hand I'm listening through the sound output of my iMac (which has iTunes as an equalizer), and the volume is perfectly satisfactory. (Headphone amps not only increase volume, but increase articulation and punch.)
If you like a clear, sparkling sound with good articulaton and a somewhat light, integrated bass, the AKG K-701 may be the headphone you're looking for. Each headphone has a serial number, and there can be a waiting list. This limited supply only adds to the 701's mystique, and it's doubtful you'll ever find them in your local stereo store.
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34 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Phones, albeit a bit Bass Shy, May 11, 2006
The AKG K701's produce a nimble, well-balanced and well-integrated musical experience. The bass lacks some punch and slam, but it's there: deep, accurate and solid. For an introductory price of about $279 from Todd the Vinyl Junkie, the AKG's were well worth the expenditure.
I listen to the K701's through a SinglePower MPX3 headphone amp with NOS 6SN7 valves, and the RAM-modded Samsung HD-841. The 701's have both a delicacy and immediacy that most other 'phones I've listened to simply can't put together quite as well as the AKG's.
I do have comfort issues, mostly with the over-the-top-of-the-head leather strap, that presses down abit too much. I've had the (plastic) swivel joint creak abit, too, but not to the excessive degree that another reviewer notes. If they were offered in something other than white, say a gun-metal gray, I would rather they were another color. White only exaggerates their already conspicuous size. . . . and then there's the accute "headphone hair" effect of these bulky cans.
Contrary to what the disgruntled reviewer stated, the K701's, for me, definitely respond better--"rise to the occasion"--with better upstream components. Better (more detailed and neutral) with the Gilmore V2-SE than with the Pimeta Home; better (more expansive with better retrieval and reproduction of transient information) with the MPX3 than with the Gilmore.
Hopefully, someone will develop a worthy cable upgrade for the K701's to fully develop all their sonic strengths. I've owned the Sennheiser HD-600's, the HD-650's (both with the Cardas cable upgrade), and the Etymotic ER-4S canal phones, but I've used the K701's more than all of the aforementioned put together.
This was my first venture into the AKG line, but a fortuitous one.
UPDATE 07/12/06:
I just got the Moon Audio "Silver Dragon" (silver) cable upgrade for the K701's, which brings out more of what was already good with the stock cable, and more. You get deeper, more accurate bass, lots more detail, air and harmonic richness--the K701's really sing with the Silver Dragon upgrade! Moon Audio also offers the "Black Dragon" (copper) cable upgrade.
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