AKG K271 MK II Chinese Review (Headphone)

[OneUsualUsername]

How can I differentiate which model I have? The one manufactured from China or Austria?

 

[Thomas_A]

How can I differentiate which model I have? The one manufactured from China or Austria?

Made in Austria is printed on the headphone, see the review of the Austrian version of Mk2. The Chinese one does not, but may come with a sticker, Made in China.

It seems as if the Mk2 version, there is unit variation which is significant. How much between Austrian and Chinese cannot be said since then you would need to measure several of them and give a standard deviation. Also, the Mk1 version may still differ since two earlier measurements show significantly better bass response.

 

[Thomas_A]

I guess the thing Thomas_A would be most interested in is finding a mk1 and have that one measured.

There won't be much of them flaoting around though.
The mk-II is a poor headphone but guess they can fulfill their purpose (monitoring not mixing nor music enjoyment).

At least we can say that there is no evidence that the Austrian- or Chinese-made Mk2 versions are very different, and that any differences may be explained by significant unit variation regardless of origin. The Mk1 that I listened to does have better bass than the Mk2 that one I once bought, which also seems to be confirmed by the two older measurements that I have linked to. And yes, measurement of the Mk1 version on the same rig as the Mk2 would be the experiment to settle this.

 

[OneUsualUsername]

Made in Austria is printed on the headphone, see the review of the Austrian version of Mk2. The Chinese one does not, but may come with a sticker, Made in China.

It seems as if the Mk2 version, there is unit variation which is significant. How much between Austrian and Chinese cannot be said since then you would need to measure several of them and give a standard deviation. Also, the Mk1 version may still differ since two earlier measurements show significantly better bass response.

Oh ok now I see the sticker that mentions "made in China". Thanks for telling me this!

 

[Jaimo]

Yep, thanks Harman for that. Thanks for closing the Austrian factory and losing all that accumulated knowledge. Thanks for downgrading just about every part of AKGs headphones, from the quality of the plugs, the cable, the hinges, the pads and clearly it seems, the drivers too. Thanks for shutting down the availability of spare parts for the 'pro' lines where you used to be able to ring a guy and get anything you needed, right down to the elastic suspension strings for any product, no matter how old.

I guess I’m going to hold on to my K240 Sextets even though I seldom listen to them.

 

[Chyżwar]

I think these headphones measured here were just broken.
I have the Austrian and Chinese K271 MKII and they sound pretty much the same. Not bad headphones actually, the midrange sounds realistic, they just don't have lower bass and a peak around 8-10kHz makes them sound bright (but not harsh like the Beyerdynamic).

 

[solderdude]

I think these headphones measured here were just broken.

I don't think they were.

 

[Chyżwar]

I don't think they were.

Based on what? I heard about 20 units of these headphones in the studio, and none of them had bass problems around 140 Hz like this one here.

 

[solderdude]

Measurements are far more reliable than peoples 'findings'.
Amir, Tyll, Oratory, Sonarworks all show very similar results. All different yet all broken in the same way ?

 

[Chyżwar]

Measurements are far more reliable than peoples 'findings'.
Amir, Tyll, Oratory, Sonarworks all show very similar results. All different yet all broken in the same way ?

It doesn't look like very similar results to me. Not in the bass region.

 

[solderdude]

How likely is it that both channels have a similar defect only at around 140Hz when other measurements also show this ?
Also Amir has different smoothing and the fixture is different as well.
Oratory has stated that particularly the K271 has a huge product variation.
It's simply a poor quality headphone. Well suited for monitoring in a studio though. That's what they are designed for.

 

[Chyżwar]

How likely is it that both channels have a similar defect only at around 140Hz when other measurements also show this ?

I'm guessing it might be a problem with the earpads, which are very poor quality and need to be replaced after a year or two.

 

[solderdude]

Quite possible, could also be an interaction between the test fixture and headphone/pad.
We will never know

 

[oratory1990]

Oratory has stated that particularly the K271 has a huge product variation.

All AKG headphones of that series do (K141, K240, K271, ...) because manufacturing plants changed multiple times, and parts & components were changed without documentation.
Most notably the foam for the earpads and the damping screens for the baffle changed multiple times.
Yes, these have quite a lot of unit variation.

 

[600_OHM]

While I don't own these, or doubt the validity of this review, in today's world, there is always the chance of counterfeit:

Counterfeit Warning

www.akg.com

And even if not, with the whole "free returns" thing, one can get a return that has been spiffied up, put in a new box, with new cables and sold off.

Only to find that "parts swappers" have swapped the drivers out of them to put in their older models and returned them. Or returned some user-mod version that went wrong.

Just sayin - I'd feel better if the reviews came directly off the shelf from authorized dealers.

 

[Thomas_A]

While I don't own these, or doubt the validity of this review, in today's world, there is always the chance of counterfeit:

Counterfeit Warning

www.akg.com

And even if not, with the whole "free returns" thing, one can get a return that has been spiffied up, put in a new box, with new cables and sold off.

Only to find that "parts swappers" have swapped the drivers out of them to put in their older models and returned them. Or returned some user-mod version that went wrong.

Just sayin - I'd feel better if the reviews came directly off the shelf from authorized dealers.

By looking at the other measured item (made in Austria) and other posters, I would say it is due to unit variation. This specific unit was bought new at Gear4Music, if that means anything.

 

[600_OHM]

Yeah, but are they "authorized dealers"? If they aren't, they are taking the chance like any consumer that somewhere in the distribution chain, what you are getting is not what you think it is.

Just saying - the storefront, if not authorized, does not mean deceipt. It just means there is a risk in the distribution path that can't be verified end-to-end, or some other business thing that doesn't jive with AKG. Endless free-returns? Dunno.

Imagine if I submitted a pair of Beyer's that I put a tiny pinhole in each driver in. Pretty sure arminm would catch it in measurements, but would he go so far as to do a tear-down? See where this goes?