AKG K371 Review (closed back headphone)

[Robbo99999]

Welp, just got it. Only listened to a few tracks on my mobile phone. Tonality wise, it's flawless to my ears. I am very happy now! Waiting for an open back headphone that can reach as close to the Harman Curve (without EQ) as the k371 does.

Philips X2

Yeah, that's a good shout (all 3 suggested headphones compared):

 

[Daiyama]

Welp, just got it. Only listened to a few tracks on my mobile phone. Tonality wise, it's flawless to my ears. I am very happy now! Waiting for an open back headphone that can reach as close to the Harman Curve (without EQ) as the k371 does.

Probably the Audio Technica ATH R70x?
Frequencey response looks promising.
Can‘t wait to see it tested here.

 

[ZENERGiA]

Probably the Audio Technica ATH R70x?
Frequencey response looks promising.
Can‘t wait to see it tested here.

Been thinking about the R70X, but I am going to stop where I am now I guess... I have 4 headphones and a headset now, also 3 dacs, and one standalone amp.

 

[Daiyama]

No worries, we are all like-minded here.
Some would say a bit crazy, but I wouldn't go that far.

 

[Jhify]

I tried the k361 with great success. Impressed for the price. They became one of my go to to compose on the go or play piano at home. But they were uncomfortable and I had to take a break after 2 hours. My ears touch the drivers and get sore such as the top of my head with the headband. I replace the pads with the angled brainwavz and they became very comfortable. But the sound... Way too much bass, lots of details are gone I suppose the drivers are too far from my ears. Any ideas what pads to fit on that won't screw up the sound ?

 

[Oluv's Buddy]

I ended up biting the bullet and got myself a pair of k371. I tried them this afternoon and first impressions couldn't be better. It took me a few tries to find the perfect fit but once I found it...I was in heaven. I put some go-to tracks, mainly modern electronic music I believe is mixed & mastered to perfection, and I could hear what the hype was about. It was not just how much joy I was getting from this listening session but also how comfortable they felt: I literally did not want to take them off! After this session I put the DT250s on and I have to say I still love them but you could tell they lack a bit of that gorgeous refinement/definition which makes sense considering the age of their drivers. The DT250 sounded a bit rougher/crunchier (is that an acceptable analogy?) in comparison, but they are still great sounding closed-back headphones and I am very happy to have a pair. I have yet to compare them to my Yamaha HPH-MT220 (will they manage to keep up?) . Another thing that I really liked about the k371 is that even when I was running them from my crappy Samsung cellphone the sound was impeccable and loud enough.

Thank you all for your messages. I would love to try k612/K712/k702/Hifiman in the near future but for now I need to spend some time with my new and my not so new buddies

What do you do for earpads on the DT-250? I like the sound it just crushes my ears. Is my head too big or something?

 

[solderdude]

The clamping force of the DT-250 is very high.
It's meant to be used in studios.

 

[parnarules]

What do you do for earpads on the DT-250? I like the sound it just crushes my ears. Is my head too big or something?

So far, I find them comfortable to wear but I have only used them for short periods of time. The earpads don't bother my small ears at all but I have noticed the clamping force you mention and will report back when I get to spend a few hours with them on.

 

[Oluv's Buddy]

The clamping force of the DT-250 is very high.
It's meant to be used in studios.

I suppose the clamping force is to stop sound leakage and block outside sound?

Can altenative earpads be used to reduce the clamping fore? If so what kind of pads would you suggest?

 

[solderdude]

Clamping force comes out of the headband. Perhaps try to bend it outwards. I assume this can be done (haven't got one) and it may just be a steel spring inside the headband that can be deformed (in small steps).
Changing pads will change the sound signature most likely.
The clamping force will just be spread over a larger surface if you can find wider pads that don't change the sound too much.

 

[Oluv's Buddy]

The clamping force will just be spread over a larger surface if you can find wider pads that don't change the sound too much.

Can you recommend any pads with such features?

 

[solderdude]

I usually do not recommend pads unless I have measured what they actually do.
Personally I would bend the headband.

 

[Oluv's Buddy]

I am experiencing terrible microphonics with the AKG K371.

When I wear a shirt the cable rubs against the collar too much.

I think I need some right angled mini XLR male to mini XLR female connector.

I've seen something like that on Amazon but not for mini-XLR.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/MagiDeal-Balanced-Premium-Microphone-Speakers/dp/B0746D9WP2

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sharplace-Degree-Straight-Microphone-Connector/dp/B07596789H

https://www.amazon.co.uk/picK-me-Female-Degree-Microphone-Extension/dp/B087M3HZTJ/

 

[JJB70]

I felt guilty about these. A non-audio enthusiast friend asked me if I could recommend some good headphones for a price which while probably considered cheap by people here was a lot of money to spend on headphones for this person. I suggested checking out these based on the Harman curve representing a preference most like and AKG having being a pretty solid manufacturer. I will say my friend loved them but after about half a year the headband snapped in two. As he pointed out the cheap headphones he replaced may not have been great for sound quality but they lasted years without falling to bits. He ended up with Bose QC35II headphones after a well known website by refunded him which he loves. His view is interesting as he went for an the 371 because he was interested in trying to do the audiophile thing but after comparing the 371 and Bose is very much of the opinion that the convenience of wireless, comfort and ANC far outweigh any sonic advantages the 371 might have had. Which aligns with the way the market has evolved.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

The clamour increases for a special edition of the K371s, with the build and comfort of the DT990s.

 

[Blake Klondike]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the AKG K371 closed-back headphone. I purchased this last summer and it currently costs US $149 on Amazon including shipping.

Note: our company, Madrona Digital, carries various Harman brand products although not the AKG products.

The K371 is made out of plastic but has a nice finish which belies its cheap structure:

View attachment 107868

I especially like the feel of the pads. They are not huge but big enough to fit around my ears. Inside height of the pad is 2.51 inches. Inside width is 1.62 inches. With no depression, the pad depth to the driver is 0.8 inches. Outside diameter of the pad is 4 inches by 3 inches.

Three different cords are supplied which terminate into a 3-pin mini-XLR:

View attachment 107869

Let me warn you about something I hate about these headphones: the headband adjustment mechanism. It either gets stuck and doesn't move at all. Or all of a sudden moves a bunch of notches. I also see reports of the mechanism failing which means you have to send them back to Harman/AKG for repair (you pay shipping even under warranty).

Clamp pressure is a bit much especially if you wear glasses at first but gets better with some use. When I take them off, the pads are quite warm so likely in summer, they will not be comfortable if your room is not cool.

Note 1: The measurements you are about to see are preformed using standardized GRAS 45CA headphone measurement fixture. Headphone measurements require more interpretation than speaker tests and have more of a requirement for subjective testing as a result. In addition, comparison of measurements between different people doing it using different configurations requires fair bit of skill. So don't look for matching results. Focus on high level picture.

Getting the K371 seated did not require much work and indeed, measurements track some of the others I have seen using same fixture as I use.

AKG K371 Measurements
As usual we start with frequency response of K371. They are said to follow the Harman target. Let's see if that is the case:

View attachment 107870

This looks to be closest we have gotten to the target. Indeed in sub-bass where vast majority of headphones fall off, the K371 actually overachieves a bit. Then again the Harman fixture is a bit different than what the rest of us use so maybe in their fixture that was right on the money. Either way, during equalization and listening tests we will investigate this further.

Following down the curve, we have a dip around 3.8 to 3.9 kHz. It is a shame as past that the response envelop more or less follows our target.

We can subtract the response from the target and see the deviations:

View attachment 107871

Distortion is better than average:

View attachment 107872

The 94 dB line in blue shows extremely good performance. That keeps up even at 104 dBSPL.

Edit: forgot to include the absolute measurements:

View attachment 108584

Group delay gives us some clues to things going wrong with manifested in frequency response graph:
View attachment 107873

We get similar clues in impedance versus frequency:
View attachment 107874

This is a very sensitive headphone so don't need much horsepower to drive it:

View attachment 107875

AKG K371 Headphone Listening Tests & EQ
First impression was a very good response albeit, with a tad too much bass and a bit of exaggerated highs and harshness. You really had to listen to find these though. I also found the vocals to be a tiny bit recessed. Overall, you could listen to these headphones and be perfectly fine without any equalization.

But we, at least I, want perfection so let's apply a bit of touch up as instructed by the frequency response:
View attachment 107876

I first boosted the lower treble and while that opened the sound up and nicely increased detail, the sound became somewhat bright. So I went after one of the peaks at 6800 and pulled that down. That fixed most of that. I initially had the bass pulled down some as you see in Band 1 crossed out above. I turned that off as it nicely countered the slightly sharpness that was left. Once there, this headphone was absolutely delightful to listen to. I could only find the slightest amount of harshness left (which could be magnification of what is in the music).

It was such a pleasure to listen to music with deep bass with and without EQ and hear those notes resonate in my ear even at very modest playback levels. Tracks like
Nachtschwärmen, by Regen:Tropfen were stunning in their impulsive bass notes:

And so was the rest of the spectrum. Notes come from every end of spectrum at no time do you say, "oh, why is that too high or too low." It is all balanced to near perfection.

Spatially without EQ the experience is fine. My boost of the lower treble however helps a lot here to get very good "soundstage" and layering of instruments. Mind you, it is not crazy nice like that if Sennheiser HD800s and such but it is "correct" and satisfying.

Conclusions
Some of you have been asking, even demanding to see a headphone that does the job without EQ. Well, the AKG K371 is it. My equalizations of it are subtle (but worthwhile) so you could indeed live without it. I do however highly recommend that you deploy EQ if you can.

You could say I am rubber stamping the Harman research and approach to headphone tonality. But such was not the case. I went into this review critically and thinking hard about what rating to give the headphone. I almost notched it down one step to avoid accusation of bias. But at the end, the truth is the truth. Years of research by Harman has resulted in creating headphone tonality that matches what I dream about getting out of best speakers in the world. To the extent their research goes after that sound (tonality of a good speaker in the room), it is natural that Harman and I land in the same spot.

Note that my strong positive recommendation for AKG K371 is for sound only. Physically, this headphone may not do it for you. It may get too hot around your ears, and the adjustment mechanism may annoy you or break. I leave that to you to decide.

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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

Does anyone have any thoughts re: how more expensive AKGs would fare by comparison? What would you get for more money from the same company?

 

[Bleib]

Does anyone have any thoughts re: how more expensive AKGs would fare by comparison? What would you get for more money from the same company?

Well, I've had K701 and I thought they lacked lots of bas

 

[Joe Smith]

Does anyone have any thoughts re: how more expensive AKGs would fare by comparison? What would you get for more money from the same company?

I actually like the sound from K361s better than 371. Great sound for under $90.

 

[Jimbob54]

Does anyone have any thoughts re: how more expensive AKGs would fare by comparison? What would you get for more money from the same company?

If measurement led reviews of headphones has taught us anything its this:

1. Price is no accurate guide to sound "quality" (however we choose to define that) and
2. Brand is likewise no real guide. Especially the bigger manufacturers. The highest tier AKG (812/872 I think) by all accounts measure terribly and are pretty much scorned by objective and subjective commentators alike. With some of the smaller maufacturers there is a more coherent goal in terms of sound etc but for the big boys like AKG, it seems a little slapdash.

 

[Robbo99999]

Does anyone have any thoughts re: how more expensive AKGs would fare by comparison? What would you get for more money from the same company?

AKG K702 is more expensive over there in the USA than the K371, and the K702 is my joint favourite headphone with my HD560s.....I EQ all my headphones to the Harman Curve using measurements from Oratory. Over here in the UK, the K702 is actually cheaper than the K371, which is a bit strange. Amir's reviewed the Drop AKG K7XX and he didn't give it a very good review:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/drop-akg-k7xx-review-headphone.24732/
I'd quite like to see Amir review the K702 to see what he thought, he might pan it though for distortion even though that doesn't bother me, but it's a very good soundstage headphone. Oratory has measured a load of different AKG headphones, but nothing particularly expensive I don't think, but I'm not intimately familiar with them all:
https://www.reddit.com/r/oratory1990/wiki/index/list_of_presets
I suppose there's the K712 Pro that Amir could measure sometime, which is more expensive, but not by a lot. The K712 was the headphone that was actually used to simulate the other headphones in Harman's preference studies, so it's got that interest factor. There's not really any expensive headphones from AKG anymore, I used to think they did an AKG 800 series, but they don't seem to be for sale and Oratory hasn't measured any of those. Ah, I've googled it and there's the K872 closed back (https://www.thomann.de/gb/akg_k_872.htm ), and the open back K812 (https://www.thomann.de/gb/akg_k_812.htm ), they're both around £800, and for some reason they weren't listed on the AKG UK website, but they are available to buy from Thomann. I really don't know anything about those two headphones.