AKG N700nc m2 Measurements

[Hephaestus]

Here is measurement shared by @Sean Olive:

I have adjusted mine with the AKG app:

I have small ears - no problem with the fit. I find these headphones way superior than flawed Mark Levinson 5909.

 

[GaryH]

Here is measurement shared by @Sean Olive:

View attachment 290951

That picture is the original N700 (not M2), so I'm not sure if the measurements are of the M2 either. This looks like it definitely is though:

 

[PeteL]

That picture is the original N700 (not M2), so I'm not sure if the measurements are of the M2 either. This looks like it definitely is though:

View attachment 290957

so 139 or 190? It's a significant difference, I be more forgiving with this pricing.
Edit. Oh, n700, not n700nc. Different headphone then.

 

[thewas]

Just some input as these are mine.

The DSP is active when powered in wired mode. I'm 99.9% certain, and can double check it when they get back.

They have an app with headphone stored EQ. The UI isn't great, but you can dial in a correction and save it to the headphones and it works across BT and Wired. I cleared it out before I sent to Amir.

My subjective experience is more inline with Crincle's measurements. The bass is a little pushed--it may just be as @ROOSKIE said, the graph needs to move up a few DB.

I settled on this EQ and have been very happy with the headphones:

View attachment 290941

In edit mode, you can actually set your filters at any frequency and control the dB cut or rise.

Funny EQ app which shows the gain to have more than one different values at the same frequency

 

[GaryH]

so 139 or 190? It's a significant difference, I be more forgiving with this pricing.
Edit. Oh, n700, not n700nc. Different headphone then.

No that is the M2. It cost $139 in 2020 when that measurement was taken.

 

[MatthewS]

Different headphones, but same app: https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/uqdku5
when you drag the points around you see exact dB adjustment and frequency of the point. When you make a really narrow Q it renders it funny.

 

[Robbo99999]

The UI draws it really weird. In the edit mode it is less strange. It is a shelf about 200hz to bring down the bass a bit and I want to say the other one is up around 8k. I based it off existing measurements and some A/B testing. It is easy to turn the EQ on and off and listen to the impact. You could probably skip the high frequency filter and just put the bass shelf in. I'll play with it more when they are back based on Amir's measurements and see what the sound is like.

I have these: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ds/truthear-x-crinacle-zero-iem-review.37380/

So I can do some side-by-side with very compliant (though in-ear) headphones.

The 200Hz Shelf sounds fine, but that 8kHz peak EQ looks massive (you didn't say how much) as well as really sharp and narrow, I can't imagine that making any sense at all, and I'm a bit concerned for you on that one (I'm not sure how healthy that could be for your ears especially if you've got it wrong and instead are just creating a massive peak in the headphone at 8kHz). I still don't know how you worked out your EQ, because I don't see anything at all in the measurements (from the 3 sources of Amir/Resolve/Crinacle) that justify such a large sharp filter at 8kHz - be careful with that I'd say.

 

[Robbo99999]

Funny EQ app which shows the gain to have more than one different values at the same frequency

View attachment 290959

Ha, I know, I noticed that too, but you'll notice the x-axis is sloped up slightly from horizontal, which is why it looks like it falling back on itself, but in reality it's not, but it's still a crazy old peak filter, lol! (I think he's used a camera to photograph a screen, pic is not level)

EDIT: actually, I'm wrong, the X-axis is perfectly horizontal, so yes that's a crazy old peak falling back onto itself - crazy EQ app! And that's not the only thing wrong with those graphs it's throwing out! Terrible design of software.

 

[MatthewS]

Ha, I know, I noticed that too, but you'll notice the x-axis is sloped up slightly from horizontal, which is why it looks like it falling back on itself, but in reality it's not, but it's still a crazy old peak filter, lol! (I think he's used a camera to photograph a screen, pic is not level)

EDIT: actually, I'm wrong, the X-axis is perfectly horizontal, so yes that's a crazy old peak falling back onto itself - crazy EQ app! And that's not the only thing wrong with those graphs it's throwing out! Terrible design of software.

Please don't read anything into that graph. The way it renders it is bananas. It is probably a 3db lift if that. I frankly can't remember the center frequency. I can't look it up until I have the headphones.

 

[Robbo99999]

Please don't read anything into that graph. The way it renders it is bananas. It is probably a 3db lift if that. I frankly can't remember the center frequency. I can't look it up until I have the headphones.

Ok, as long as that's the case!

 

[GaryH]

Different headphones, but same app: https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/uqdku5
when you drag the points around you see exact dB adjustment and frequency of the point. When you make a really narrow Q it renders it funny.

It isn't a proper functioning parametric EQ, see here. Also this comment on that Reddit post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/uqdku5/_/i8rd004

 

[GaryH]

Looks like the original was better.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1173317766767448064

 

[Robbo99999]

It isn't a proper functioning parametric EQ, see here. Also this comment on that Reddit post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/uqdku5/_/i8rd004

Ah, right, I see, (it's right at the end of that link) - the user draws ("freehand") the EQ Curve they want on the screen, then it just takes a fixed 10 band graphic EQ and tries to approximate the hand-drawn EQ curve using it's built-in 10 band graphic EQ. Yeah, it's not a proper functioning parametric EQ.

 

[MoreWatts]

I'm curious as to what percent of Bluetooth headphone purchasers would ever use them in wired-mode? I saw this and said oh good, a wireless headphone measurement. Guess again...

This question is almost worth a poll, since the propensity here seems to be to measure BT phones in wired-mode. (Although, I do understand this is because the measurement gear is designed for wired designs, primarily). My completely unsubstantiated guess is that about 1% of BT headphoners use them hard-wired. I see the time spent on wired measurements of wireless headphones as somewhat pointless.

How well do BT and wired performance equate, in general? I'll admit, I don't follow most headphone disussion here, because most is about wired 'phones.

Remember, ASR tries to be helpful to others. This quick, problematic, inconsistent with others, measurement, really didn't need to be a front-page discussion point. It may shy buyers away from what may be a perfectly fine, not expensive, BT headphone. Despite our Harman headphone bashers, AKG is a renown headphone brand. Half the daily traffic here is new visitors that look for information about specific devices. Hopefully, they read that is was measured wired, which is not a natural assumption to be made when looking for info on wireless headphones.

 

[ROOSKIE]

I had the version 1 of these.
Actually had two pairs but I sold them due to not using them. Not because they were not good rather I hardly use headphones and ultimately end up using smaller even more packable ones.
At the time these were purchased specifically for airflight then COVID hit and I went nowhere. Had I been traveling I would have surely used them more often.

I think they were only $39-$59 new a pair on clearance. The Harman clearance prices are often no joke, really deep discounts.

EDIT, just looked back at my receipts they were $24.99 and $35.99 (purchased at different sales) man what a deal that was as they were retailed @$300.

 

[PeteL]

No that is the M2. It cost $139 in 2020 when that measurement was taken.

OK, but not the headphone reviewed here correct? no "nc" mean not noise cancelling version?

 

[GaryH]

OK, but not the headphone reviewed here correct? no "nc" mean not noise cancelling version?

No, that is the same headphone as reviewed here (it just isn't always written with the 'NC' on the end), there's no version without noise cancelling.

 

[amirm]

I'm curious as to what percent of Bluetooth headphone purchasers would ever use them in wired-mode? I saw this and said oh good, a wireless headphone measurement. Guess again...

I routinely test wireless phones that way when I know EQ is applied in that mode. In this case owner assured me wired mode was the same. And online search showed only one measurement.

Wireless testing is a pain because my analyzer can't control the test signal. This means you won't get the distortion vs level graphs. In addition BT codes vary on their impact on the signal so you are never sure what you are seeing. This is why I liked wired testing when the difference not there.

 

[jhaider]

A typical example of a Harman group headphone with as expected quite good matching to their target curve but some drawbacks in quality, channel matching and wearing comfort.

The channel match surprised me. I should find my miniDSP EARS and see how my 2 pairs measure in wired and wireless. That’s not a reference grade fixture of course, but can provide useful relative data. I haven’t noticed any issues but who knows if I’ll have to eat crow on that.

I bought a second pair because they get tonality right and have a more spacious sound than any other closed cup headphones I’ve heard.

As far as comfort, I find these super comfortable, every bit as comfortable as HD800, more so than HD650, and much more so than K371BT or NAD HP50/HP70. The fit is certainly strange, with the upper part of the outer ear fitting into a recess between pad and baffle. But it works, for me at least. Even when worn mostly continuously for long plane flights, such as DOH to ORD.

 

[CedarX]

I believe the N700NC M2 was meant to replace the N700NC (non-M2), but either the later outlasted it, or it was re-introduced at some point… In any case, what you usually find for sale is the non-M2 version. Main differences: USB-C, SBC/AAC on the M2 vs. micro-USB, no audio-codec (A2DP, AVRCP only) on the non-M2.