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AKG K371 Impressions

solderdude

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I liked the K371 better... so I modified the K361 to be more like K371 but without the sub-bass boost.
below the stock K361 vs modified k361.

freq stock vs modif.gif


The differences in sound appear to come from front damping. Driver itself looks the same.

K371 vs K361 baffle.JPG
 
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Zerohour

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Bummer... while adding a K361 page to the diyaudioheaven website everything went blank.
Website seems gone... I hope its temporary. Looks like an error on the wordpress site.

and below the differences between K371 and K361

View attachment 61142

just saw that the site was down, any idea what happened?

also, does this mean we can expect a K371 modding guide:D
 

solderdude

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Is fixed now, a bug flagged the site as violating ToS.

No K371 modding guide. There was an explanation as to what I did to the K361. Hoping within a few days everything is back to normal.
 
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solderdude

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More neutral perhaps, not better sounding. Treble is a bit too coarse for my liking.
Probably because of the front damping paper.

The K361 cable is annoyingly microphonic.
A bit more so than the mini-XLR on the K371 but admittedly used a homemade cable I made for the DT1770 (same mini-XLR).
It is possible the original cable on the K371 is about equally microphonic.
Why didn't they design the cable entry to be a bit more forward pointing instead of straight down ?

At Thomann K361 is 85 Euros and the K371 is 109 so 25 Euros more.
I would say excellent for monitoring, for mixing the 4kHz dip is not ideal.
For hifi enjoyment I would pick the K371 over the K361.

P.S. I have put this headphone up for sale (sorry E.U. only) because it is modified I can't (won't) return it and have too many good headphones already.
 
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Hemicrusher

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I read that the plastic parts of the K371 are rubberized. Are they rubber or that rubber like coating that you see on older cameras and some electronics? Just curious because if it what it sounds like, I have had bad luck with that coating getting sticky/tacky over time.

Asking because I might pick up a pair if it isn't.

Thanks!
 

solderdude

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There is no actual rubber on it. The pads and headband have a rubbery feel.

I have had quite a few 'rubber painted' devices as well which after many years becomes a sticky hard to remove mess.
The cups are normal plastic, have no idea how the pads and headband will do over time. Most soft pleather pads tend to fall apart after a few years.
Can't say how these will do over time.
 

Hemicrusher

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There is no actual rubber on it. The pads and headband have a rubbery feel.

I have had quite a few 'rubber painted' devices as well which after many years becomes a sticky hard to remove mess.
The cups are normal plastic, have no idea how the pads and headband will do over time. Most soft pleather pads tend to fall apart after a few years.
Can't say how these will do over time.

Thanks!

I'll wait until I can handle a pair before I make a decision.
 

SilverEars

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I liked the K371 better... so I modified the K361 to be more like K371 but without the sub-bass boost.

View attachment 61143

The differences in sound appear to come from front damping. Driver looks the same.

View attachment 61144
Has many of you heard the headphone? If so, wouldn't you say the above measurement doesn't reflect what is heard? I'm very sure it's one of the most upper-mids emphasized dynamic driver I've ever heard, but the measurement doesn't reflect that. But, I can find others that do. Solderdude, I have seen many of your measurements that do not agree with what I hear of the headphones. Do you feel that your measurements do align with what you hear? Or do you believe you are reading the graphs not explaining the sound of what you actually heard?
 

maxxevv

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Has many of you heard the headphone? If so, wouldn't you say the above measurement doesn't reflect what is heard? I'm very sure it's one of the most upper-mids emphasized dynamic driver I've ever heard, but the measurement doesn't reflect that. But, I can find others that do. Solderdude, I have seen many of your measurements that do not agree with what I hear of the headphones. Do you feel that your measurements do align with what you hear? Or do you believe you are reading the graphs not explaining the sound of what you actually heard?

Franz's measurements are without the Pina simulated response. So they will not be exactly like you would hear there.

But his description are how I hear my K371 one too. Its about the only headphone I have so far that I can listen to for hours without issues. Of course I would have preferred plusher pads and maybe velvet pads that breathe a little better against the skin without changing the sound as it is.
 

solderdude

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Has many of you heard the headphone? If so, wouldn't you say the above measurement doesn't reflect what is heard? I'm very sure it's one of the most upper-mids emphasized dynamic driver I've ever heard, but the measurement doesn't reflect that. But, I can find others that do. Solderdude, I have seen many of your measurements that do not agree with what I hear of the headphones. Do you feel that your measurements do align with what you hear? Or do you believe you are reading the graphs not explaining the sound of what you actually heard?

The measurements you linked to are not of the K371 b.t.w. but a stock K361 and modified K361.

My measurements are an amateurs attempt to measure headphones. There is nothing professional about it. It is clearly mentioned on the website.
I do measurements to satisfy my own curiosity and use it to create filters or Kameleon EQ and post my results so others get the info for free.
The reasons why I use a flat plate coupler without Pinna are outlined in the description on the website.

I can hear the upper mid/lower treble dip, could well be the 4-5kHz dip. I also have issues with the microphonic cable and feel the treble quality is at its pricepoint level.
It is a well balanced headphone though, but do not use it because of treble quality and microphonics.

You are certainly not the only one disagreeing with my measurements. There are even people who find Tyll's measurements to correlate how they sound. Go figure that. How one perceives headphones may well depend on ear shape, experience with listening and personal taste as well.
When you don't agree with my measurements, methods or conclusions I would say simply ignore them and use Oratory, Rtings or other folk's instead. I would never EQ on these findings for obvious reasons. Just take a look at Rtings in ear measurements of real people to understand why.

Pinna gain is real (see Rtings as well) and in some cases more severe than others and Pinna shape dependent. Its the reason why I never EQ near the 3kHz band unless I measure a peak there. Let's call it measurement error just like HATS also have measurement errors and speaker measurements also have errors. That is the downside of measuring electro-mechanical-acoustical devices with microphones. There can be errors exceeding 10dB !

I am mostly interested in finding treble peaks above 5kHz and for this I am quite certain my method is far more accurate than a HATS for obvious reasons. Measuring something through a buch of variable filters and afterwards using different filters (designed for different measurement methods) absolutely does not make sense to me. Regardless if someone made it into a reference. That reference certainly won't correlate with all ears and the correction is not based on HP measurements either.
I rather measure directly what comes out of the driver to look for problem areas.
The only compensations I use are for microphone and bass correction. I don't want to add filters and then try to partially undo these filters with different filters and expect an accurrate measurement in return.
I realize I may be one of the few that thinks this way. My measurements are based on that premise not on a standard others assume is correct.
 
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SilverEars

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Anybody seen this review? It's obvious his measurement is wrong, yet he chooses to analyze the sound based on false measurements because he believes in it. If anybody had experience listening, they should be more difficult to be fooled, but not with this reviewer apparently.
 

solderdude

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The eyes are a powerful thing. One should listen FIRST and then measure.

B.T.W. I have seen many reviewers getting a LOT of things very wrong and they did not even have to show any measurements.

Regarding the K371, it is very good for the money, good tonality but its not perfect. For that reason I would agree with the reviewers title: ALMOST excellent.

The plots in post #161 are not of the K371 b.t.w. but the K361.
 
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Zerohour

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"very bassy" and "you'll like it if you're a basshead", now that's something I'd never thought I hear about the K371.

metal571 and wheezy reviewed these, much in line with what I heard of the K371.
 

solderdude

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He probably forgot to switch of the bassboost while listening and measuring :D
 

michicaust

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By the way, I have to say the K872 are, subjectively, my favourite headphones of all time, whatever closed or open backs. Still, I never found any measurements of these.

This, same here. And... could you dig up any measurements of our precious' yet? I didn't have any luck with that, either.. ^^
 

Mesk

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More neutral perhaps, not better sounding. Treble is a bit too coarse for my liking.
Probably because of the front damping paper.

The K361 cable is annoyingly microphonic.
A bit more so than the mini-XLR on the K371 but admittedly used a homemade cable I made for the DT1770 (same mini-XLR).
It is possible the original cable on the K371 is about equally microphonic.
Why didn't they design the cable entry to be a bit more forward pointing instead of straight down ?

At Thomann K361 is 85 Euros and the K371 is 109 so 25 Euros more.
I would say excellent for monitoring, for mixing the 4kHz dip is not ideal.
For hifi enjoyment I would pick the K371 over the K361.

P.S. I have put this headphone up for sale (sorry E.U. only) because it is modified I can't (won't) return it and have too many good headphones already.

Hi, I'm quite new to the world of sound and while I have read and watched way too many reviews I still don't understand some things. My goal is to find a pair of headphones for mixing music that don't need an amp or that combined with an amp still are below 150€. I have heard people say that headphones in general aren't ideal for mixing but I don't think I can find a pair of studio monitors for that price (even used) plus I don't have a treated room. So, my question is, when you say that the 4khz dip is not ideal, is there any other headphone that would be better for mixing in this price range ? or should I just give up trying to find headphones and continue "mixing" in my sennheiser earbuds until I can afford something more expensive?
 

Asylum Seeker

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I sold my K371. My IEMs simply have better tonality and are more enjoyable and convenient.
 

solderdude

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Hi, I'm quite new to the world of sound and while I have read and watched way too many reviews I still don't understand some things. My goal is to find a pair of headphones for mixing music that don't need an amp or that combined with an amp still are below 150€. I have heard people say that headphones in general aren't ideal for mixing but I don't think I can find a pair of studio monitors for that price (even used) plus I don't have a treated room. So, my question is, when you say that the 4khz dip is not ideal, is there any other headphone that would be better for mixing in this price range ? or should I just give up trying to find headphones and continue "mixing" in my sennheiser earbuds until I can afford something more expensive?

The dip around 4kHz could lead to harsh sounding recordings. The reason is that in order to let an instrument sound realistic you use your ears and knowledge of how that instrument should sound. A possible way to use it is to either EQ it in (filling in a dip is generally not a good idea) or to realize that when you are EQ'ing in something to give it more 'bite' that you really shouldn't when it is in the targetted frequency range.

When you want cheap and 'neutral' and closed the K371 or K361 may be a logical choice.
In open headphones there are some other options but most of them have roll-off in the lows. This isn't problematic when mixing because you end up with a meatier/bassier end product.

Tonally the K371 is hard to beat at that price point. The fact that some people prefer a different tonality (more suited for hifi enjoyment) and consider that different taste/preference as 'more tonally correct' is more of a personal preference or listening level thing than being correct in an absolute sense.

The K371 and K361 may well not be the best choice for hi-fi listening enjoyment (the microphony completely destroyed it for me).
So while very good in certain things, not so good in others.
It's a trade-off. While excellent for it's price it is not excellent in absolute performance.
 
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