AKG Pro Audio 2458X00190 (K702) Over-Ear, Open-Back, Flat-Wire, Reference Studio Headphones,Black

After having owned the Grado RS2e (with upgraded "G Cushion" Over-Ear pads............when I mention the RS2e, just know that I am referring to them WITH these pads on, not the smaller On-Ear stock pads they are boxed with), I thought I had come to the conclusion that the incredible "neutral but fun" sound the RS2e offers is what I'd always wanted. Are they the best headphones I've owned yet? Yes, because after going through so many mostly closed-back and a few open-back headphones, these took things to the next level for me that even the open-back Sennheisers I'd owned (HD 598 & HD 598 SE) in the past couldn't match. But there was always something appealing about the AKG K702 to me (as I've had it on my headphone list for a while now), based on info & advice from others, pro reviews, and its looks as well. You see, the first time I was ever really "blown away" by a pair of headphones was back when I listened to some songs in the Magnolia section of my local Best Buy on the closed-back AKG K550 they had on display there using a cheap portable amp (not even a DAC/amp really, just an amp). Besides a wide selection of rock songs, including some Meg Myers, one of the songs I listened to was Fleetwood Mac's "Crystal" (using my phone as the source), and the first chorus of that song, and even more so the outro part (3:15), just had a really "epic" sound to it. For the most part what I mean there is, the soundstage seemed really wide (especially for closed-back 'phones), but also, the drums had such a "punch" to them...........weighty, but very lively! Almost like they were being played on and amplified from outer space. It was so cool...........but over the years, I wanted to be open to other kinds of sound signatures, so after owning the K550 for months, I sold it, and went on to own many other headphones thereafter. This leads me to now. For 6 months now, I've really enjoyed the Grado RS2e, but I wondered if maybe the also open-back K702 could somehow match or beat it, at least to me. I knew this wasn't all that likely given the RS2e runs for $495 (not including the $45 upgrade pads), while the K702 just recently went down in price from around $220 to $162 here on Amazon. But seeing that price drop made me think "why not"? So I did.................and here is my short review: Design/Layout/Comfort: Where normally I would talk about the unboxing experience here, I'm just going to forego that. The experience for both was satisfying though. No complaints. The RS2e's ear cups can be rotated to make the headphones lay flat, while the K702's can't (which means the K702 needs the bigger box). While I would prefer it that the K702 could lay flat, I'm really fine with how it is. The RS2e comes with beautiful wooden ear cups, and the standard on-ear pads, which are not all that comfortable really, especially for long periods, which is why I got the G Cushions. The G Cushions offer more treble and a wide soundstage, as well of course as added comfort. The K702's ear pads are labeled as "comfortable, specially shaped 3D-foam ear pads", which feel like velour to me. They are super comfortable, definitely more than even the Grado G Cushions are, which are more like a regular upgraded styrofoam. The headbands on both are fine, but I prefer the K702's because it adjusts to your head, where the Grado's are manually adjustable, but don't lock into place like many of the Sennheiser ones do. They just kinda slide into place, but the problem is, they can easily slide out too sometimes. So I find myself constantly re-adjusting them. Many won't mind this, and I didn't really for the most part, but it's still something to note. Sound Quality: **Note: These headphones both have neutral enough sound signatures to where a custom EQ for either pair would be highly unnecessary. Therefore, please read on knowing that the EQ setting in my Poweramp app was turned off. The amp/DAC used was my trusty iFi xDSD, which utilizes a semi-wireless setup. Also, this comparison was done over a period of 2 weeks, and was comprised of 4 separate listening sessions that lasted at least 1-2 hours each time.** Bass - While the Grado and the AKG both render bass very well, they DO handle it differently. The AKG offers a more powerful and "present" bass sound than the Grado, yet it doesn't sound bloated or bleed out over the mids and treble at all as far as I could tell. Both have much bass detail though. For me, I preferred how the AKG rendered it, especially on "Crystal" during the outro section, which features that great sounding drum part. Mids - Both headphones were fantastic with the mids. Hard to say which one was better. For me, I'd say it was equal. Every detail I heard regarding vocals etc on one headphone I could clearly hear on the other as well. Highs - This is where I have a minor issue with the Grado. Using the G Cushion Over-Ear pads for the added (and for me, necessary) comfort, I noticed a slight spike in not only soundstage, but also treble too. This wasn't an issue when I first bought them really, but later on it slowly became so. At times, this would also add in a bit of unwelcome sibilance to the sound (aka, that high-pitched "sssss" sound), which can be somewhat fatiguing after a while. The AKG however didn't have this issue at all. Though both generally sound great and this is more of a minor issue which doesn't happen often at all really, I still prefer how the AKG rendered the highs in this case. Soundstage - Both headphones offer an incredibly wide sounding soundstage. It's POSSIBLE the AKG's might be slightly wider, but honestly, to me, they were both equal here as well like with the mids. Volume - Due to the K702's impedance/sensitivity rating vs. the RS2e's, I found that the K702 required a little more power to hit the same volume that the RS2e does at a lower power setting. But it wasn't much of a difference really. Conclusion: This had to have been one of the toughest of my MANY headphone comparisons that I've ever done. Where in the past I've had some real easy comparisons to judge, these two headphones really DON'T mess around! Based on the comfort, and more pleasing (to my ears anyway) sound signature of the AKG headphone, I have decided to keep the K702 and sell off my Grado RS2e and the upgrade pads as well. Maybe it's not all that surprising, given how much these remind me of the AKG K550, though these are definitely on a higher playing field! Though this wasn't an easy decision, in the end, it made the most sense. The fact that the K702 is only a fraction of the cost of the RS2e + the G Cushion Over-Ear pads made it even more impossible to merit keeping the Grados. Again, I really believe though that if you generally prefer a more "fun" sound signature, that perhaps the Grados with those pads would be better suited to your musical taste actually. But if not so much, though you still want a very enjoyable and more "epic" sound signature like I apparently do lol, then the K702 is the one for you!

I personally have very sensitive hearing (obviously not like, professional-level or anything), and using AKG headphones for years have spoiled my little ears to the point that I pretty much refuse to use anything else. I've owned and tried quite a few headphones, but none really give you that soundstage that these have. Some cons I have that don't really affect my review: - What happened to the 20 ft cord? I can't seem to find it, but it's not a gripe bc I use 5mm extension cables anyway. - VERY quiet. I almost always keep my computer volume at max for these, and sometimes I'll use 3rd party programs to boost it even further if I'm watching an extra quiet movie. - You do need to break these in. I'd blast loud music through these whenever you're not using them for the first few weeks, since the audio quality doesn't actually shine until you've used these a while. - Not comfortable. It's getting better, since this current model doesn't pinch my temples like the AKG Q701 did. However, don't expect the lush feel you'd get from leather or memory foam earpads. However, you can switch out these pads for better ones if you choose to. For my head shape, I find that wearing these for hours on end don't really cause any trouble. - Leaks noise like a speaker--this is important for the soundstage aspect of these headphones, so I don't really consider this a con. I'm buying these headphones for the SOUND, not the portability or privacy. However, if you listen to anything other than a quiet volume, chances are the person next to you can hear it, too. So remember that before you blast something inappropriate in the presence of others. It's no problem in the privacy of your own room, though. - Lacks fancier features like Bluetooth or noise cancellation. If you use this for gaming, expect it to be bare bones. There's not microphone attached, no Bluetooth compatibility or wireless function. There aren't wireless verisons of this since it relies on its cord for some of the sound quality. - Finally, THE WIRING INTERNALLY IS FRAGILE. THIS IS IMPORTANT IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO SOLDER. Every single pair of headphones from AKG I've owned CONSISTENTLY fails after about a year. This personally isn't enough for me to knock off a star since I know how to solder, and I usually just go in and repair it. It's honestly pretty easy to learn how to solder, and these headphones are pretty easy to take apart if you have the right tools. The quality of sound doesn't suffer post-repair, either. It's just that the thin wires in the actual headphones (not the cord) tend to come loose after about a year if you're not OCD about handling it. I drop my headphones pretty regularly and kinda just dump them on my table after use. I'm not gentle with them at all. Regular wear and tear generally ends up knocking a wire loose. HOWEVER, if you're not tech-savvy or just plain don't own a soldering kit, EXPECT this to stop working after about a year or two, which SUCKS. Repairs are about the price of buying a used version, so I'd recommend either DIY or straight up replacement. Okay, after that huge warning, here are the pros and why I don't really use anything else: - The sound. I am PHYSICALLY soothed by certain noises, and these headphones bring out all the best (and worst) properties of every noise. It doesn't buy into the bass fad, and instead has very balanced sound that doesn't prioritize any frequency. You can still hear the bass! Yes! But you can't expect it to shake your body or anything. You're just listening to the true sound of every audio track. It's caused me to stop pirating music (seriously!) because I can actually hear differences in compression, and it's just not worth sorting through files anymore to find the highest quality version of what you want to listen to. - Oh my god the soundstage. The soundstage is vast, like you can feel the sound extending farther outside your head than the sound of all the other headphones I've tried or owned. If I plopped in some Apple buds right after listening to music with these, I almost feel claustrophobic with how limited of a space earbud sound occupies. Am I sounding crazy? I'm not even talking about the quality of it, just how far of a physical space the soundstage seems to occupy. The soundstage in these headphones is like actually having a small band play right next to you. It's fantastic. Gamers, rest assured. These will not only help you hear where other players are, I find that I can actually hear how far they are and even their exact POSITION up to a certain extent JUST from their in-game footsteps. I can tell if a player's above me, below me, in front of me, or even behind me--they all sound different and these headphones really help bring out the differences in those sounds. I honestly kind of feel cheap whenever I guess correctly someone's exact position--wallhacks, anyone? Seriously--I don't get the same precision in other headphones. The soundstage is just too small for me to accurately pinpoint distance. - Easy to repair. The biggest issue with these headphones that I've mentioned above is easily cured in like half an hour with these. If you get an issue with the cord (which is usually just a problem with the cord's connection to the headphones), it's a lot harder to fix, but certainly not impossible. There's a lot of forums with people who mod these headphones, too, which isn't surprising since these can ostensibly just pop open with the help of a needle. This is a great advantage if you're pretty good with technology, since you can always mod these headphones for louder bass (if you love that shake), Bluetooth compatibility, and more, essentially negating all the drawbacks. I know virtually nothing about this stuff past just soldering wires, but even then when my cord failed, I just melted off the part where the cord was supposed to attach and instead resoldered the cord directly to the internal wiring. Sure, I can no longer detach my cord, but I never really did that, anyway. Now my headphones can last another few years. - The price. These are reference headphones, and the price (kinda) follows suit. I say kinda because these have actually 1. dropped in price over the years (the old Q701s were about 500 MSRP so I used to just get them used) so now I can afford a new one since they're only about 200-300 now, and 2. this isn't really that bad of a price for THE headphones of your life--considering that every other high-end pair of headphones is around the same price range (think Bose or Beats, which don't nearly have the same sound quality). The 1k pair is obviously not for someone like me, who doesn't professionally work in music, but the $300 pair has jaw-dropping quality that makes me surprised it's not already the highest quality pair. Every pair of headphones has its upsides and downsides. I make sound quality and price my only priorities, so these are the best for me, personally.

Really good sound. Gives you a big sound stage and I am enjoying it. Other reviews are saying the bass is low, but I think its fine. Have not "burned them in" yet but I am going to use them regularly without, this is because I don't really believe in that stuff. Sure the sound should change with continued use because of flex, etc, but I don't think its necessary. Can hear a lot of details and at higher levels there isn't distortion. I haven't cranked them at max, though on occasion, from switch to speakers to headphone I did not adjust the volume and got a whiff of the blast. I listen to blues, pop, rap, electronica and they all sound damn good. If you want more thump just pump up the EQ for more bass if thats is your sort of thing. Construction is solid by AKG although its made primarily of plastics. This is not really a con as most headphones are constructed this way to save money. My previous headphones were the HDJ-2000 which was constructed with metal hinges and felt more sturdy. I am going to continue to use the HDJ-2000 as portables. Made in Austria, if that means anything to you. I watched a video of them making the headphones and its pretty cool, nice craftsmanship. The design is well done. Self adjusting to fit your head, flex near the hinge to bend and conform to your head. Removable cable so if you damage the wire you won't be screwed. The wire is also very long so you can move about and not feel like a dog on a short leash. Speaking of moving around...(I suck at transitions) These headphones are not portable. You could use them with a portable mp3 player but you will need to crank it max and then it will still not sound that great. This is because of the high impedance. Maybe if you had a portable amp. The other problem is it is an open headphone, so riding the bus and listening to Justin Bieber will get you weird looks. Not that I listen to JB or wear this on the go; if you take the headphones off you will be able to hear the sound playing at a decent level. Pretty sure this headphones were designed for studio or home use by the included fat input jack screwed over the standard 3.5mm mp3 jack. The HDJ-2000 was more comfortable because of the plush headbands and pads. The headband for the akg 702 as most noted is very uncomfortable. Those nub on the band dig into your skull and they start hurting after 10 minutes or more of use. I did a mod to the headphones using bubble wrap and some electrical tap. This was done to add some cushioning to the middle area of the band where most of the force to support the band is at and also where the top of your head rests with the band. If you have a rounder head then myself, this modification will probably be not required. (I guess I am a pinhead :D) I think if they removed the nubs the headphones might be more comfortable, I am not sure. The nubs do flex when you press on them but they are still too hard for comfort. Probably a large part of this pain is the design of the headphones where they adjust automatically to the size of your head and the headphone rests at the apex of your head- the part where most reviewers are feeling the pain. The pads are very comfortable and go over your ears while not causing irritation around the circumference of the ear. I would recommend these headphones but you should try these out for yourself and see if comfort and sound is to your liking. I contacted Amazon and you can try these out as long as you keep your box and etc before 30 days of use. Short breakdown: Pros: -Great sound(pretty damn accurate) -Big sound-stage -Great detail -Accurate have not heard distortion -Comes with 3.5mm jack and bigger jack that goes over it. -Looks slick though I am just wearing these at home. Cons: -Headband hurts. Gives boo boos on the top of your head. Feels like the skin is getting rubbed and pressed.(Can be fixed with mods to headband to add comfort) -Cost: Cost is high, but cheaper at Amazon with fast shipping. The cost seems justified because of great design and sound quality. These are the higher end AKG headphones and are still made in Australia. -Not portable at all. It is not the size of the headphones that make them not portable, it is the impedance. You will need an amp because they don't sound that great even if you turn the nub to max. -Questionably construction strength, I accidentally sat on it and I felt the band flex. I examined it and nothing was damaged but it was the plastic construction that had me worried.

i was super ocd about what i wanted in my next set of headphones as I am a music industry professional (producer/engineer) working with club/rave music and trap/hip hop so a lot of bass heavy material, i'll unload my thoughts on these after owning them for about 3 weeks, forgive me for tangents i may stray off on. I wear cans for about 8 hours a day so i naturally became very picky about my headphones, and these are definitely my favorite pair of cans, and AKG proves that in the audiophile game $1000 dollar headphones dont always equal better, the super low price threw me off as i was looking to spend around 500, but i've seen these elsewhere for 300 usd, i was shocked they were so low and some others have commented that the k701s listed here are counterfeit, the comments didnt seem to have any stories with this model so i bit and purchased them, was choosing between these and the hifiman 400i since they were planar and my last set purchased was the oppo-pm3 and i wanted to stick with the planar sound but the reviews on these convinced me to try open-back/dynamic and wow AKG is on their A game, these are for studio use and i would definitely not wear these in public as being open back of course the entire plane or bus will hear your music, and the size, they are quite large and i feel like i'm about to signal in a navy fighter jet in top gun when i put them on, but oh so light! i see why they had to make them this light at this size. The size quickly became a non issue once you hear the sound stage on these, the stock pads are great but they do allow more air to escape being a breathable material and i purchased the brainwaves XL (make sure you get xl) pleathers which fit perfect and i notice much more low end now, they keep your ear from touching the driver which i love, makes the sound stage much more immersive. About the bass issue, these are definitely tailored to the engineer/producer demographic, the bass is there and plenty of it if the track was produced to be sub heavy, i work with a lot of dubstep and trap and the low 808s you can feel vibrating your temple, house/trance sounds fantastic where the emphasis is a punchy kick, I did perform the sticker mod on these (youtube akg bass mod) that does make difference for sure. With that being said, if you are purchasing these be aware that even at 62 ohms you still need a decent amplifier for these, i thought my fiio a3 could handle it as it does a decent job on the pm3 but those are 25 ohm, these it does ok but you still feel the cans are begging you to go louder, got an objective2 from jds labs for 100 bucks and it has enough drive to get them cranking, was going to go with the magni3 from schiit but was too impatient to wait for backorder for a month, but im sure that one will sound great too as the two are often compared. From my experience portable amps won't be able to drive these to the best potential you'll need a proper desktop amp with an output impedance of less than 1ohm imo to get these singing.The clarity/soundstage on these are so accurate and detailed it will reveal stuff about your music that you didn't notice before, example for me was that i could now hear compression artifacts a lot more noticeably on mp3's especially in the low end, i thought initially the 702's were not able to handle certain low frequencies but upon listening to the same song in flac vs mp3 it was night and day, you can crank it LOUD without distortion just make sure your source music is lossless for best experience, but yes that does mean i'm looking for all my tracks in flac to replace my mp3 collection, i've never really heard about this "burning in" myth but 3-4 weeks in i definitely hear a difference as far as tracks that were a bit hot/distorted when i listened 3 weeks ago at a loud but capable level are now cleaner and can take the same volume levels, might be placebo who knows, the china move to have these made over there from Austria must be why the price is so low as they do initially lightweight and "plastic" but keep in mind these are meant to be used in studios not thrown in backpacks and worn on public transportation, the brainwaves pads added some weight that makes them feel more "expensive" in a way, however the key component, the driver seems to not have been compromised for cheaper parts like the housing/build as i a/b tested these with an Austrian built pair my buddy has and it is exactly the same, as is the q701 and 712 driver, anyways enough of my ramble, for this price these destroy anything similarly priced imo, the site lists them at about 350 and that would be a price i'd still say is a steal for the performance of sound they deliver. GET EM!

honestly, i dont think theres a better headphone out there for $260. though it is neutral, so if you like pumping bass, look somewhere else, but if bass volume isnt the main concern, but rather moving bass, this is way more moving than beats or any other bass heavy headphnes, they are "fast" meaning something my drums rather than gradually coming in and ending its more like a switch, like tonguing on an instrument, so you get the awesome feeling of heavy music without destroying the mids, and with the treble being equivalent in volume to bass and mids, so if you have a bright (more treble than mids or bass) amp or dac, you the amp / dac is low quality, the treble could sound a bit harsh, however with a warm amp, lower quality music (as long as its mastered to not have white / colored noise) will sound great. comparing these to my last cans, the V-Moda Crossface LP-2 (version 1) for $200 msrp or $140 on amazon atm, i must say the extra $100 is MORE than worth it, these are beautiful for all music in my opinion, the may not scale perfectly with electronic music or other more popular music without sound stage and a lot of instruments, but they're only $250 for build quality, the elastic bands wont break any time soon, akg isnt stupid, elastic only breaks when you over stretch it, ive had hair bands last a year without breaking until i stretch it just a little too far and it snaps, but the elastic bands on these cant over extend unless you make them, the only real build quality problem here is the clear plastic part that holds the headband in line, which isnt even necessary, its been an entire year, and now its just got these faint white lines (like when you bend plastic) running through them, i can see them lasting another 2 years without interference, but i taped them anyways to reduce stress, once it breaks ill simply remove them all together. I've also heard before than the 2 bands above the leather strap are cheap plastic, on the contrary, they are solid metal with a plastic shell, these are not a build quality concern, one is right channel audio, the other is ground. If your sound goes out in one can, simply remove the center plastic grill, i used a stable (stick 2 staples in, one on each side of the same grill, both prongs in) and turn counter clockwise, this will remove the cap, and you'll see one of the lines has broken off, simply solder it back and its as good as new, as long as you dont make a huge mess, akg wont even be able to tell you did it, i recommend a long thin soldering attachment, and any solder you can get, have a friend hold the headphones, and the cable, while you solder it. simple fix. (note that this wont happen to everyone) the cable! I LOVE THIS CABLE MAN, LOOOOVE, it may seem cheap, but as long as you take care of it, it wont break from use, be weary of running over it with a rolling chair or squishing it in drawers, ive done both plenty of times, ive got a few flat spots on the cable, but nothing too bad. why is this cable so good? its very bendy, and the part where the connector turns to the cable, the rings, most people probably dont know what those are for, its not too obvious on most cables, because they're cheap, but this ones rings make it more obvious, it prevents the cable from making too sharp of a bend, and because the cable isnt horribly stiff, but the rings are moderately stiff, and go an entire inch into the cable, the cable doesnt make any sharp turns, and so it will last much longer! also, if you only use MP3's, dont bother, the quality of sound wont scale as well, id go for a lower tier pait like the k142s

I am the previous owner of both the AKG K601 And K240. And this review is for a product I have had less than 1 hour, so please take this in to account. I feel compelled to leave a review now because I am somewhat dismayed by some quality issues I have noticed, given the price of these phones. I still have my K601's and they are just barely hanging on (literally wiring/design flaw). The sound is okay to decent, probably because the drivers are new, so I really can't fully qualify the sound, but it sounds 7/10ish currently, where despite degraded wiring I would rate the 601's around a 9/10. Now to the big issues I have with this product, firstly, the head band is horribly stiff, probably because it's not broken in, but it is worth pointing out IMO. Secondly, the ear pads for this product (my real gripe) are absolutely horrible. Yes, they feel like Styrofoam wrapped with cloth, I am so disappointed in these pads, I am so sure knock offs on ebay would feel much better than these. Two thumbs down for the ear pads, I have promptly replaced them with my ratty 601 pads, I will not put those things around my ears, I can't believe they are as stiff as they are. Thirdly, the banding which connects both ends of the foams doesn't seem as 'sturdy' as my 601's, but it's nearly the same diameter, but still seems to lack a certain quality about it. Now, extra information about AKGs, firstly the plastic pieces which hold the leather (real?) to both ends of the phones do break over time, this is something I thought AKG would have solved over the last 7+ years which I owned t he 601s, but they have not. AKG should redesign that aspect of their product line as they don't live long, and it looks like crap. A year or two ago I took to adapting elastic to replace those parts, which didn't look half bad. One of the reasons I chose the 702s was because of the detachable chord, which is a big design flaw on the 701's/601s. The strain on the chord causes the wiring in the inside to eventually become distorted and weaken, to eventually fail, which is the principal reason I am replacing my 601s, despite the ratty appearance. So, if the drivers really never work out for me, I will probably swap in my 601s (rework/solder them in), not a bad set of phones if AKG decide to ditch those ridiculous ear foam pads. These cans cost over 200$, people should not have to deal with rigid foam pads around their ears. *** Update, just like the K601, the plastic bits on the side which hold the head band broke, and broke and then broke again. These things were designed to take zero abuse. Not happy with the quality of the plastic, the price is far too high for a flimsy set of cans. (1 year , 3 months after purchase) ... Not even bothering with warranty service, I don't care for this brand anymore, their design is horrible and has been horrible for many years. These people need to get a grip and realize how poor the construction/reliability is.

Best soundstage and probably best frequency response for classical/instrumental until you start going to the HD800S level which is of course 10x more expensive and rather unreasonable for most people. Start getting to those price ranges and for most people a 2.1 studio monitor setup is better anyway, actually cheaper for better quality overall as long as you don't need to worry about bothering neighbors. I've never had another pair of headphones with such incredible scaling---people say DACs can't improve sound, but they can, you just need the rest of the chain and to listen to high res music with great quality, then these shine, in classical and other instrumental pieces that are complex and have that layered presentation. It also becomes clear which music wasn't recording with a strong central image---you can notice that hole with these as the soundstage is wide. It's still headphones though, so it's more subtle than a quality speaker setup. But still, once you've listened to the K702 with a high quality chain and recordings, it's very difficult to ever go back to anything of lower quality. I've seen other reviews saying it has bad quality, and I thought mine were going bad but they seem overall fine. The build is actually a lot sturdier than it looks, it fits really easily for me and doesn't seem like it falls apart easily. It's plastic, metal, velour (whatever the earcups are). The plastic though works well that way it's used. The headband is the common faux leather, works great for what it is. For me it's comfortable and I don't really feel it, I know people with bigger heads have had issues, but I have a regular sized head, so I don't feel any bumps or anything and it just stays secure for me. I'll update if they do break or have serious issues. I did have some popping, but I think that was a poorly seated headphone cable, I'm not sure how that happened but reseating it seems to have fixed it. So maybe that's a concern. At anything below $200 or so I think these are a great value. Honestly, I really don't know what headphones beat this for instrumental, classical, general soundstage and detail retrieval at any type of reasonable cost (I'm sure the Utopias and HD800s are better, but those are thousands of dollars, too much for my taste for a pair of headphones, or really any audio honestly, although I have spent a lot in the past for gear and now just don't believe it's worth it for my use case).

Update 11-26-12 Hfi580's and DT990's have had substantial burn in and the DT990's are amazing. Usable extension to subharmonic frequencies and on par with the akg's with the detail they manage. The Low frequency detail from the dt990's is superb, much more abundant bass than the K702's and more extension. The K702 soundstage is in another league than the dt990's but the 990's frequency response and output make short work of the 702's. I can still hear the wood wind players take their breath and hear the pick as it releases the guitar strings, but i had to add 3db @ 500 4dB @ 800 and 3dB @ 1K to pull the recessed mids out at first, but after some burn in the treble (5Khz+) calmed down to be silky smooth and in no way harsh or to prevalent. After 30 hours I was ablr to cut the eq needed in half and now the dt990's sound so good its hard to take them off. For the price, they are simply spectacular. The HFI-580's on the other hand turned into a gift for the wife to listen to her kindle on..... *update* 11-20-12 After more burn in, the left can warmed up to a totally different sound stage and freq response than the right, I thought maybe it was an issue with my source, confirmed it was not, turned my attention to my bellari ha540, tryed an old pair of sony's I had laying around and both channels were even and clear as a bell, thinking it may still be the bellari somehow, I picked up a Bravo V2, same thing... Thought well maybe its my luck and the tubes arent up to par to run the 702's so I rolled tubes on both amps and still the same thing. My last effort to verify the phones were the issue was to pick up an Audioengine D1... It was the cans. They were scheduled to be sent back today and I have the hfi 580's and dt990's on the way. Sad thing is, both of those have better ratings, and combined only cost $20 more than these... The bass never came out like I thought it would, and by the time I had eq'd the bass to my spec (not a bass head mind you, I'm a reference/audiophile guy, the drivers were distorting trying to keep the extension low enough to use the cans for good ambient media... I was very disappointed these cans let me down, I really liked their imaging and flat response but below 80Hz they were not present as if the freq's were crossed out of the media. *Old reveiw* Out of the box they were atrocious so I cranked up the Bellari HA540 Pure Class A Stereo Headphone Amplifier and let them set for 3 hours, listened again and it was easy to hear the difference below 50Hz and the sound was warmer and smoother than at first, They will be on non stop for the next 4 days and I will update with my conclusion, but just after 3 hours of near rms power they are the best sounding headphones I have personally heard, I expect great things. I am a mobile hifi guy with many installs capable of subharmonic f3's and these were able to put pressure on my ear drums as low as 25Hz enjoyably but below that they roll off quickly. As is I was able to get enough low end to please me and everyone else listening by adding .7dB @ 50Hz and 6dB @ 30Hz to flatten their pre burn in response and even though the low end was boosted I didnt hear any affect on the 8kHz+ range like you'd expect from low end headphones. They are a bit heavy, I found my neck fatigue after around 30 minutes and I'n no stranger to weight on my head being a motorcycle enthusiast. As is, even if post burn in doesnt lower their f3, a good eq is all its gonna take (and luckily I have one handy) to add reference level sub 35Hz extension. I'm pondering a full studio setup just to run them to their sq limits to see what they are capable of but im on the fence about that lol. Best Eq overall at this point was -.7@4kHz, +1.4@250Hz, +.7@50Hz, +6dB@30Hz (no matter what music type I played through them, their reproduction was very detailed and clear. The drivers are very fast.

Bardzo dobre słuchawki domowe, wokółuszne. Przestrzenne brzmienie, średnica i soprany bez zarzutów (naturalne i szczegółowe brzmienie). Jedyny minus to dość słaby bas. Można equalizerem zwiększyć jego odczuwalność (dodać mu kopa), ale wciąż bez rewelacji. Ogólnie K702 brzmią podobnie do Sundary, tylko bez basu. Wygoda, ergonomia na plus (nie mam zastrzeżeń).

Herhangi bir sıkıntı yaşamadım. Ürün kutusunda sıfır geldi. Kulaklığın sahnesi çok güzel yanlız. Hem oyun için hem müzik için piyasada alınabilecek en iyi kulaklıklardan.

Da ich meinen geschlossenen Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro in letzter Zeit öfters mit diversen halboffenen und offenen Kopfhörern verglichen habe und er mir zunehmend zu dumpf und wenig räumlich geklungen hat, bin ich nun endlich umgestiegen. Und ich muss sagen, ich bin mehr als zufrieden mit meiner Wahl! Wollte mir eigentlich ursprünglich den offenen BD DT990 zulegen, aber da die Bewertungen diesbezüglich auch eher durchwachsen sind bzw. die typischen spitzen Höhen von Beyerdynamic (der berühmte Beyer-"Peak") auch bei diesem Modell auftreten, hab ich mich bei AKG umgesehen. Hier findet man zum großen Teil Modelle mit offener Bauweise und eher neutralem, linearem Klang. Nachdem ich mich mehrere Wochen durch diverse Rezensionen und Erfahrungsberichte gelesen habe, bin ich schließlich beim K702 gelandet und wurde alles andere als enttäuscht. Bereits beim allerersten Test fiel mir die lineare und unverfälschte Klangsignatur auf (verglichen hab ich sie wie gesagt u.a. mit den Beyerdynamic, der 5xx-Serie von Sennheiser und einem halboffenen Superlux ). Der Klang ist für mich weitestgehend "neutral" (bin kein audiophiler Profi oder ähnliches, sondern eher ambitionierter Genusshörer) und auffallend dynamisch. Die Räumlichkeit bzw. Tiefenstaffelung würd ich im Vergleich zu Beyerdynamic wirklich als überragend bezeichnen. Die Bühne klingt schön weit offen, unangestrengt und äußerst präzise. Die Ortung und Präzision der einzelnen Instrumente würd ich auch auf einem sehr hohen Niveau verorten. Bei den oberen Mitten (ca. 3 - 5 KHz) hatte ich anfänglich den Eindruck, dass manche höheren Frauenstimmen (z. B. Simone Simons von Epica) etwas "schrill" und vordergründig klingen, aber der Eindruck hat sich relativ schnell gelegt. Ansonsten klingen Stimmen einfach nur traumhaft, da ich generell viele weibliche Interpreten höre. Die häufig zu lesenden Berichte bezüglich der etwas "dezenten" Bassfrequenzen kann ich subjektiv überhaupt nicht bestätigen, im Gegenteil, ich finde den Bass angenehm präsent, ich würde ihn vor allem als "trocken", "knackig", wunderbar "präzise" und "neutral" (sehr nahe an der Originalaufnahme) bezeichnen, also nicht so wuchtig wie bei Beyerdynamic (ist nicht mehr so mein Geschmack), nicht so dumpf und matschig wie bei Audio-Technica oder Sony und nicht so dröhnend wie z. B. bei der 5xx-Serie von Sennheiser. Für Leute, die einen künstlich überbetonten Bass gewohnt sind, könnte daher etwas im Klangspektrum fehlen. Der Tiefbass klingt für mich schön druckvoll und in ausreichender Akzentuierung. Die Mitten klingen wie bereits erwähnt natürlich, detailliert und luftig. Vor allem bei komplexeren Metal-Titeln mit klassischen Elementen kommen etwa Chorstimmen äußerst gut zum Ausdruck, ohne dass die Gesamtkomposition etwa unpräzise oder anstrengend klingt. Bei den Höhen (z. B. beim Klang von Hi-Hats) könnte man bei manchen Musikgenres (hauptsächlich bei Pop/Rock und Metal) vielleicht kleine Abstriche machen, aber wirklich nur im geringfügigen Maße. Gerade beim Symphonic-Metal-Genre (das ich persönlich sehr schätze) wirken die teilweise sehr komplexen Kompositionen äußerst aufgeräumt und detailliert. Insgesamt würde ich das Klangspektrum einfach nur als wunderbar präzise, sehr gut aufgelöst und beeindruckend räumlich beschreiben. Die offene Bauweise unterstützt natürlich den räumlichen Klang und die tiefe Klangbühne umso mehr. Von der Verarbeitung würd ich den K702 als zufriedenstellend einstufen. Da ich allerdings keine Vergleiche mit anderen AKG-Modellen hab, kann ich hier nur meinen spontanen Eindruck wiedergeben. Für mich wirkt er jedenfalls gut verarbeitet, der Komfort beim Tragen ist ähnlich wie bei Beyerdynamic, also ein recht bequemes Tragegefühl. Und durch sein geringes Gewicht spürt man ihn auch nach mehreren Stunden so gut wie gar nicht. Ich finde es auch praktisch, dass das Kabel abnehmbar ist, ich brauche nämlich kein 3 m langes, sondern werd es demnächst gegen ein kürzeres Kabel (1,2 m) ersetzen. Als Fazit würd ich den K702 vor allem für Leute empfehlen, die eher neutrale, ausgeglichene und natürlich klingende Klangsignaturen bevorzugen und Musik hauptsächlich so genießen wollen, wie sie ursprünglich aufgenommen wurde. Vom Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis her gehört er für mich in dieser Preisklasse (bis ca. € 150,-) ganz klar zu den besten Studio-Kopfhörern, die man für Geld bekommen kann!

Kanon lurar haft 701 innan

Got my k702 yesterday, it works perfectly with my budget dac & amp. It's comfortable to wear, far more comfortable than the my grado ones. I'm not a audiophile so I am not able to describe the difference between it and my other headphones, but I can definitely hear more details with the k702 than grado sr60x or sony wh-1000xm4 (hope it's not just my imagination). It's an open-back, so the people around you can hear what you are listening, and you can still hear the nosie outside. So it's probably not a headphone to use for commuting or work. I saw other reviews point out this headphone might have quality issue and might stop working after few months' use. I hope it won't happen to mine.