AKG K701 Headphone Reviews (China and Austrian Made)

[daftcombo]

Another audio myth debunked. The country of manufacture really doesn't matter, the K701 is just bad on its own. Thank you, Amir.

It sounds good to me though!

 

[restorer-john]

Some channel balance datapoints over decades.

K400:

K500:

K500(2):

K501:

K612:

K701: (Austrian)

K702 (Chinese):

K712 (Slovakian):

K7XX:

K812:

Small variations (~0.5-1dB) and low in frequency (where measurement errors manifest). Hardly the huge variations we are seeing wouldn't you agree?

 

[tdockweiler]

I bought the Q701 many years ago and thought it sounded much better. Slightly more bass.
Of course i've never been able to prove this, but many people have agreed too.
I've done the bass mod on mine and it's been in place for years. I love it.
Yes, I've read there is more distortion in the bass, but I don't hear it.
I imagine EQ is better or just as good. I never tried it.

I actually compared the Q701 bass modded to the AKG K712 and felt the Q701 was far better.
The K712 sounded like it had too much mid-bass. Sounded a bit harsh in the treble.
The 65th Anniversary was awful IMO and had different pads than the K712 (more like doughnuts).

Would be cool to eventually see NEW measurements of the Q701 or K702 with the bass mod.

I imagine the Q701 is discontinued, but it shouldn't be!

 

[Aperiodic]

Great to see this comparison I have been wondering about. On my way to work but will read in detail later.

 

[uwotm8]

Headband bumps which Amirm noted as "more comfortable" were a nightmare for me when I used Q701 as a main cans for a few years. You don't mind them for a few hours or days but after months you get dips on your head skin where those bumps press.
You can find some images illustrating how people remove them (headband bumps, not skin dips lol) with a paper knife etc. So yes, K701 make people mad.

Q701s are pretty much identical to K due to measurements and to my taste they definitely require EQing. Out of the box: bass-light, accented high-mids, 2 kHz area the main problem, the rest detailed and spacious. After EQ they stay spacious and detailed but became balanced and non-aggressive.

 

[daftcombo]

About channel imbalance, bass in my pair is stronger in the right ear, making it difficult to correct for channel balance mitmatch while digitalizing vinyl records. I have to check on speakers.

Otherwise, it is a very fine pair of headphones to work with.

 

[Veri]

Headband bumps which Amirm noted as "more comfortable" were a nightmare for me when I used Q701 as a main cans for a few years. You don't mind them for a few hours or days but after months you get dips on your head skin where those bumps press. You can find some images illustrating how people remove them (headband bumps, not skin dips lol) with a paper knife etc. So yes, K701 make people mad.

Oh yeah I cut those bumps out. Really hurt over time!!

 

[Helicopter]

Thanks Amir.

Help me interpret the data... is the Austrian one the bad one or is it the Chinese one?

 

[trl]

Oratory has measured two of my K702 and they also had the channel imbalance offset in the bass

Maybe this was intended by manufacturer, for a so called "better imaging" on some songs, although I do hope I am wrong on this one. I did EQ-ed my Austrian K701 (over 10 years old) to match my personal profile, otherwise I couldn't listen to it due to the rather poor sub-bass.

 

[fastfreddy666]

I have a Superlux HD681 ($50 give or take) in my collection that sounds better. I have to admit that the company "copied" some of the design features of the K701 because they look uncannily similar. The HD681 has more (deep) bass but there's a (narrow) dip in the FR at 4 Khz. (1)
I don't mind the dip in many situations (better than a peak at that frequency) of the headphone because some types of music can get a little "shouty" in the mids. But this is subjective of course. Every ear is unique. It also depends on the musical genre and the quality and mixing of the recording. Superluxx is based in Hong Kong. The "country" is now unfortunately "usurped" by China. It's a damn shame. Sorry. I shouldn't talk about politics on this forum. But the political feels personal to me.

The only thing the AKG has going for it are the softer pads and better build quality. But if you're careful with your equipment it shouldn't be much of a problem. I use mine quite regularly and it hasn't broken yet. Solderdude did an excellent "primer" on this headphone. For the die hard DIY who can handle a solder iron he even created a circuit to correct the FR of the Superlux. You can download the modification manual in PDF (2)

The AKG is five times more expensive so if you think the better build quality justifies throwing your money away is up to you.

(1) compare the FR here: https://www.rtings.com/headphones/t...perlux-hd-681/326/471?usage=19&threshold=0.10

Rtings uses a hybrid Harman curve which differs in the the treble range because they are using a different measurement device (dummy head). The treble is "diffuse field"

A graph is worth more...

(2) Superluxx HD681: https://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/headphones/measurements/brand-superlux/hd681/


Thanks Solderdude for all your hard work. I appreciate it. . We're not always seeing eye to eye on stuff but your website is an excellent resource.

He "complains" about the elevated treble (Sibilance >4 khz) but it doesn't bother me with most music at the volume (average 75 Db maybe less) I listen to. It also depends heavily on the genre but it could also be that the years of "abusing" my ears at clubs and concerts did a number on my hearing. Every night after I went clubbing (I was there almost every night) my ears were ringing like crazy (TIIIIIIIIIIII aka tinnitus). Luckily for me the ringing always stopped after a few hours and the damage might not be too bad. I recommend younger people to not be like me and avoid dancing close to the speakers for hours at a time and take a fifteen minute break every hour or so to limit the damage. YMMV

 

[Atratusnex]

Small variations (~0.5-1dB) and low in frequency (where measurement errors manifest). Hardly the huge variations we are seeing wouldn't you agree?

To quote him directly from his AKG k701 review, "Channel matching is excellent." here, But then we have the question: why are the measurements that much worse here? What does solderdude do that armirm doesn't or are we to assume it's all just product variation?

 

[Atratusnex]

Tylers measurements don't show this channel imbalance either, sample A sample B . Don't believe this is just because he averages 5 measurements of them.

 

[ted92]

Thanks again for all that work.
I based several choices of equipment on these reviews. The results satisfy me totally.

After this reviews, two questions come to my mind :
1 - Even manufactured based on the same specs, two samples have significant variations. Is it the same for two samples from the same manufacture ? Said in other words : are the manufacturer able to garantee and equal result for all the equipement they manufacture.
2 - Despite the excellence of your expertise, the quality of your equipment and the sophistication of your test process. Aren't there slight variations from one test to another that makes all that work and these results "questionable" ?
Sorry for my poor english.
Again, the idea behind these questions is not to diminuish all your efforts and expertise, but to better understand how to apply the results of the reviews to real life equipment purchasing.

My process when I want to purchase a new equipment is:
1 - Look at your reviews
2 - Look at other reviews
3 - Check comments elsewhere on the internet
4 - Test the system or an equivalent
5 - Confirm my choice
6 - Adapt it to my taste : correction, ....

Best regards.

 

[solderdude]

are we to assume it's all just product variation?

Most likely yes.

Below the seal being broken in various degrees (lightly broken to thick glasses with space between the skin and arms)

So unlikely to be a seal issue (maybe the pads were incorrectly mounted ?) no way to tell.

Perfect driver matching is like winning the lottery.
There will always be some differences between L and R. When you're lucky they remain small (below 1dB). (Like Tyll's version B)
The 5dB for the Austrian version is kind of high.
The 2.5dB found in the Chinese version is about the worst I found in the few AKG's I measured.

 

[Luke Lemke]

Thanks a lot Amir, great review as always!!

I'm more concerned about the channel imbalance (Which I'll probably be able to hear) than the distortion.

I'm planning to keep the Austrian version and fix the channel imbalance with APO Equalizer.

 

[Atratusnex]

Most likely yes.

Below the seal being broken in various degrees (lightly broken to thick glasses with space between the skin and arms)

So unlikely to be a seal issue (maybe the pads were incorrectly mounted ?) no way to tell.

Perfect driver matching is like winning the lottery.
There will always be some differences between L and R. When you're lucky they remain small (below 1dB). (Like Tyll's version B)
The 5dB for the Austrian version is kind of high.
The 2.5dB found in the Chinese version is about the worst I found in the few AKG's I measured.

Thank you for your response. I still think its quite odd that amirms headphones show channel matching issues that multiple others dont had. Seems unlikely or extremely unlucky that he received two units with not that otherwise this strongly seen matchig issues.
Since its both times on the same site ( that the right driver is much worse) it seems more like an methodology problem.

Crin s measurements and
Rtings measuremets dont show this either

 

[solderdude]

Amir also measured the K240, K712 and K7XX

K712 channel imbalance 1dB

K7XX:

No channel imbalance.


K240:

also no channel imbalance.

One could conclude that Amirs test fixture does not have trouble with this particular AKG design.
That leaves unit to unit variance.

 

[solderdude]

Crin s measurements and

It shows almost 2.5dB imbalance at 300Hz.

 

[Luke Lemke]

Amir also measured the K240, K712 and K7XX

K712 channel imbalance 1dB

K7XX:

No channel imbalance.


K240:

also no channel imbalance.

One could conclude that Amirs test fixture does not have trouble with this particular AKG design.
That leaves unit to unit variance.

I've bought both headphones used from Ebay and sent them straight to Amir. The Austrian AKG pads seemed to be more "worn out" than the Chinese one. Maybe that could explain the channel imbalance?

 

[Atratusnex]

Amir also measured the K240, K712 and K7XX

K712 channel imbalance 1dB

K7XX:

No channel imbalance.


K240:

also no channel imbalance.

One could conclude that Amirs test fixture does not have trouble with this particular AKG design.
That leaves unit to unit variance.

So we are to assume that everyone i have seen was extremely lucky or amirm extremely unlucky? if oratorys k702 does show up similar to amirms k701and both use the same measurements rig, others that dont show this dont. Maybe that is the difference?