AKG K701 Headphone Reviews (China and Austrian Made)

[Robbo99999]

Hello do you know please where can i find replacement earpads for K701. Thomann are a bit expensive.

Is there something from ebay or amazon that is original and same as the default?

Thanks for all!

Have a look at this following post of mine:

*NEW* AKG K702 has been measured by Oratory!

No, the 702 has angled pads, not drivers. No? I have no idea about the 712. Oh yeah, you mean the K702, yes that one has angled pads....I thought you had been referring to the K712 which has flat pads. Thanks for the info @Robbo99999 and @Jimbob54. I'm looking for a headphone with a wider...

www.audiosciencereview.com

These are really good earpads for K702, and I understand that they're the same as the K701 pads. They measure very similarly to the stock pads, and have a look at that post for some more detail. I'd definitely recommend those pads.

 

[Deckard01]

Have a look at this following post of mine:

*NEW* AKG K702 has been measured by Oratory!

No, the 702 has angled pads, not drivers. No? I have no idea about the 712. Oh yeah, you mean the K702, yes that one has angled pads....I thought you had been referring to the K712 which has flat pads. Thanks for the info @Robbo99999 and @Jimbob54. I'm looking for a headphone with a wider...

www.audiosciencereview.com

These are really good earpads for K702, and I understand that they're the same as the K701 pads. They measure very similarly to the stock pads, and have a look at that post for some more detail. I'd definitely recommend those pads.

Thanks Robbo as I read the post they look really promising. I hope to exist in the stock color of the 701 and not the black of k702. It will look strange this black-white

If there is something else too with the gray color and have been tested from any user would be grateful!
Edit: I see that these are the same with the gray color. I think I will give it a try.
Premium Velour Ear Pads Compatible with AKG K701

A bit strange that there are so many replacement pads on ebay and amazon but most of them seems to be the same as the stock one, even now that the k7xx has been moved to China. I thought that would be easy to find a good replacement, as the stock one are too much expensive.

 

[Robbo99999]

Thanks Robbo as I read the post they look really promising. I hope to exist in the stock color of the 701 and not the black of k702. It will look strange this black-white

If there is something else too with the gray color and have been tested from any user would be grateful!
Edit: I see that these are the same with the gray color. I think I will give it a try.
Premium Velour Ear Pads Compatible with AKG K701

A bit strange that there are so many replacement pads on ebay and amazon but most of them seems to be the same as the stock one, even now that the k7xx has been moved to China. I thought that would be easy to find a good replacement, as the stock one are too much expensive.

Yep, those Beige ones are the ones I actually measured in that graph, but they measure the same as the black ones (I have sets of both), but yeah those beige ones are the ones to get to match your K701 properly. Very good pads in my experience & also from the measurements.

 

[Dok]

Would anybody rate either K701 or K702 as a good buy brand new for under $150, for critical listening (checking mixes)? Seeing some sales on both. I already own a pair of K371s which I quite like for tracking and checking certain frequency ranges for mixing - these would be for even more detailed mids and trebles and I am fine with the so-called light bass.

 

[trl]

It's bass shy, so not sure you'll love it; also, check the measurements from the first page. Also, do check "Sound descriptions" from https://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/headphones/measurements/akg/k701/ as well.

If you're OK with subbass lacking, open cans than lacks almost all the sound on the outside, are rather hard to drive and needs a dedicated headamp (can't be properly used with the built-in headamp of studio interfaces) then go for it.

 

[solderdude]

When you take the treble and upper mid bumps into account and do not mix on them (without EQ) you can use them to check mixes.
The sound signature is 'bright' which could help with detecting 'brightness' issues in mixes.
When you were to use these to mix on as is you will end up with a mix that will have a good bass and pleasant treble simple because you will turn up the low bass in the mix and will be reducing sharpness in the recording to make the mix sound 'pleasant' on those headphones.
So for that purpose or to check for 'details' in the recording itself (which it highlights) they can be useful.
The uneven treble response, however, can result in making incorrect (but overall correct) EQ decisions when ONLY using these headphones.

But then again you could do that with many other headphones as well and the AKG are not particularly better suited for that.

 

[Dok]

Yeah, these are just for checking details - I have a well-treated/tuned room with good mains, subs, acoustic panels, and Sonarworks to top it off. I've never owned a set of open cans before so thought these would provide a useful perspective. @solderdude anything you'd recommend that is better suited for that in that general price tier? At this stage I'm really looking to resolve masking issues aka instruments in competing frequency bands. Thanks!

 

[Dok]

If you're OK with subbass lacking, open cans than lacks almost all the sound on the outside, are rather hard to drive and needs a dedicated headamp (can't be properly used with the built-in headamp of studio interfaces) then go for it.

You don't think a MOTU 828es could drive a 62 ohm pair of K702s? Seems like it would be a pretty reasonable ask for an interface like that. But yes I'd prefer sub bass lacking - very sensitive to those frequencies in cans and I have subwoofers for that.

 

[solderdude]

Yeah, these are just for checking details - I have a well-treated/tuned room with good mains, subs, acoustic panels, and Sonarworks to top it off. I've never owned a set of open cans before so thought these would provide a useful perspective. @solderdude anything you'd recommend that is better suited for that in that general price tier? At this stage I'm really looking to resolve masking issues aka instruments in competing frequency bands. Thanks!

When you have invested in treated rooms, good mains, subs and use something like Sonarworks then investing in a good headset (< $ 500) would be a logical decision and not to keep the limit at $ 150.-

Of course, there are options like IEM's but don't use those for a few reasons.

The difference between open and closed should mostly be determined by few considerations:
A: You don't need isolation from outside noise or don't want it (open is the choice)
B: Open headphones usually have less seal dependency issues. (open is the best option, semi-open is still better than closed in many cases)
C: Bass extension is not a priority (Closed is usually better but semi-open can also offer good extension)
D: Open headphones are easier to make with a good tonal response in the bass-mids. (when that is important)
E: Treble quality/tonality (lets say above several kHz) is not so much determined by the choice of open or closed. But rather personal HRTF and driver/pad effects. What's good for the goose may not be good for the gander. What measures well to some standards/methods may not be what one hears.
F: Closed headphones can easier be made to comply to 'Harman' bass # (see C).

# Personally not my thing, while impressive with music enjoyment/playback and compensating for the lack of tactile feel it will lead to anemic recordings but in a studio could be used to gauge how it would sound in home audio conditions. That said ... not many people will have the sub-bass extension that can be had from headphones.

There are some suitable headphones for that purpose and you can make some more suited by using EQ.
Aspects to look for:
a) Gradual downwards slope in the bass or 'flat' (non sloping) response, not Harman bass as that requires a small dip in the lower mids and is not what you need in a studio.
b) no dips nor bumps between 50Hz and 1kHz.
c) You may want a small bump (but not narrow band) between 1kHz and 3kHz which accentuates voices and instrument 'details' but 'flat' response also is not wrong. You don't want a dip there. A dip there is more desirable for reproduction of sound (takes off some brightness).
d) Between 3kHz and 8kHz some extra energy is welcome for checking details but less desirable for music enjoyment. There you want 'flat' response.
e) Treble response should not have dips and peaks (impossible to say something about this on most industry standard measurements, except BK5128). A little elevation is desirable as long as it is not too ragged.

Some headphones I think are suited for the job (not using EQ), the ones towards the top would be my pick and are ones I have experience with.
HD490 PRO (mixer pads, not producer pads)
Austrian Audio Hi-X60 (closed)
OLLO S5X (may have fit issues, can be solved by bending the headband if needed)
DT1990 PRO (A pads)
early HE-6
older DT880
FiiO FT3 (pleather pads)
HD600/HD580 (original)
HD400 PRO (HD560S early ones)
DT900 PRO X
Custom One Pro
ATH-R70X (open), may have some fit issues due to silly construction.
AKG K701/702
Focal Clear
Grado 60/80/125
RH-A30

 

[Dok]

@solderdude thank you!

 

[CedarX]

F: Closed headphones can easier be made to comply to 'Harman' bass # (see C).

# Personally not my thing, while impressive with music enjoyment/playback and compensating for the lack of tactile feel it will lead to anemic recordings but in a studio could be used to gauge how it would sound in home audio conditions. That said ... not many people will have the sub-bass extension that can be had from headphones.

There are some suitable headphones for that purpose and you can make some more suited by using EQ.
Aspects to look for:

Studio mixing is not my day job, not a hobby either, but headphones are...

For studio mixing why couldn't you use any 'reasonably good' headphones and tailor them with a few different EQ profiles depending on the task, the details, or the overall balance you want to check as a Studio Engineer?
I understand that things such as bass extension or excessive distortion/spikes can't be EQ'ed out, but if a K701, HD490 or Xi-X60 fit you comfortably to wear it the whole day, why would you look at another pair of cans and not use a different EQ profile instead?

 

[solderdude]

You can but it is not always an option to EQ headphones.
In some cases you just plug them in and it would be annoying if it sounded quite different from the EQ'ed output.

 

[trl]

You don't think a MOTU 828es could drive a 62 ohm pair of K702s?

Exactly! On the MOTU 828es, with it's 80mW near clipping, you could barely pass over 110dB SPL (peaks) with the K702 and you'll be out of juice on the gain too, so it will be tight if your environment is not perfectly silent (given the open headphones and the lack of power gain). However, a small external headamp will help you driving these cans much better.

 

[lewdish]

Would anybody rate either K701 or K702 as a good buy brand new for under $150, for critical listening (checking mixes)? Seeing some sales on both. I already own a pair of K371s which I quite like for tracking and checking certain frequency ranges for mixing - these would be for even more detailed mids and trebles and I am fine with the so-called light bass.

I own plenty of headphones that are far more objectively better and more expensive and I still think the K701 is a treat to own. I think its one of the only headphones in its price range that actually soundstage very well and I like the 701's response more than the K712,702,7xx. The Q701 is also a decent can if you can get over the crazy electric green. I have several backup pairs of the 701 because its been discontinued now and they're getting rare. Some resellers ive seen started selling them for like $300+