I have K612 myself because out of all AKG K6/K7 series they were the most listenable by default and (funnily) they were the cheapest. Still they're bright, piercing and bass deficient by default, although no problems with upper mids, + that deficient bass is surprisingly good extended - K701/702 have less bass that's not extended at all.

>Could be that you're comparing to harman target?

Yes I do. I approve Harman target because that's how I understand the linearity of sound when I do a sine sweep, and that's the sweet spot where music is the most detailed and entertaining for me. K371 is not completely Harman neutral but it's close, and I prefer its sound over the whole AKG K6/K7 series. It's just not comfortable sadly because it's a closed back.

Harman is epic for everyday listening, and I would say it's great even for mixing. K6/K7 series is good for evaluating the cleaniness of the sound (is it artifact free? Does the space feel right?), otherwise they're not good both for critical listening and for professional work because they're very colored - bright and cold.

Yep, I take two pair: daily drivers and ER2SEs for the plane ride. But I guess if I was just driving somewhere I could bring my whole collection and it wouldn't really matter.

I haven't had any issues with mine, it's pretty young, since i bought it in August this year. They're not as well built as K712, if anything they feel cheap, but the sound is worth it.

I'm aware that some people had issues with right driver solder and i've seen a K701 demo unit with headband strings stretched to the point that they lost their use, but i would say that both of these problems are easily repairable. The headphone is not premium nor it has reputation of a durable one, but i would expect at least 2-3 years of perfect working order in caring hands.

As, again, they're bright, i'd recommend trying them before buying, and if you don't like them, return them while you can. I would first go for an amp, so that i won't have questions to the source, and then go for the headphones. It is very much to your personal preference, and if you don't like something it's absolutely is your right to, and the only way you'd know why some things are good and others aren't is experience.

Between this, the Elegia for $299 at Adorama, and the Clear OG for $839 at headphones.com, it seems like there have been some good deals on Focal lately.

So sad that the Meizu Dongle isnt available anymore :(

As K702 cult member, they're mid-forward, i don't like the word "shouty", partly, because i like them because of that. Perhaps we see "right sound" a little differently - if "right" is dead-on the target, then yes, K702 are not "right", and i agree with that.

They're not neutral, but they are a great pair of headphones with good tonality overall, despite the 2Khz, and they're outright phenomenal for someone who likes that exact kind of sound, aka me. I tried quite a few headphones, not enough to say that i tried everything of note, but enough to form my personal taste in sound signatures.l, and yet i still love K702. I don't do any work, i just like to listen to music, and maybe in professional setting they're not that good, but they are very good for listening.

Now, since you said "AKG owners", which is basically saying that all akg headphones are weird, have you tried K612? If K702 are mid-forward, then K612 are very much neutral, given their price, i'd say that it'd be hard to call it anything but "great".

>and they sound thin, because of obvious lack of bass

They do roll off a little early, but they're nowhere near "thin", if anything, for an open-back, they have great bass extension, especially within its price. Could be that you're comparing to harman target? Well i'll say that harman target is bassy, one step away from being dirty. It's fun, but it's not to my liking, as i like my bass flat or rolling off.

As of curiosity, what would be a point of reference for what you've said? Maybe, just maybe, you're not giving k702 the power they need, rendering them thin and overly bright, exactly my experience with them before buying a good amp?

Yeah it's a lot easier to find recommendations for open-backs so I just assumed they were the way to go but I think I might have to take a look at the 702's since they are cheaper and would open up my budget to get a better amp. Have you ever experienced issues with your AKG's? :)

Also, the more you take with you, the more you risk damage or loss, or even theft.

Just don't take the big and expensive stuff, use the more portable options.

Thank you so much for this! I'll definitely have to order these if the output from my phone doesn't sound good enough for me

What you're describing is technicalities vs frequency response. How "good" a headphone or whatever is; is down to a combination of frequency response and technical performance. But technical ability can't really be measured in as simple a way as frequency response, so it's more subjective. Also, how importantly you weigh one over the other is also subjective and down to your personal experience/taste. EQ is very powerful and I think everyone should use it, but it's also true that FR isn't everything. If it were, you would be able to make two audio devices sound EXACTLY the same with nothing but EQ, but that really isn't possible and that becomes obvious to anyone into the hobby for a while. The remaining portion is loosely described as "technicalities". There are ways to measure aspects of technical performance but like I said before it's a lot more subjective. I think most would agree though that technical performance is almost all down to driver type, material, configuration, surrounding assembly etc. Basically, the moving mechanical portions of the audio device that actually produce sound, and the parts that effect them. It's also worth noting technical performance doesn't necessarily mean the same thing as "detail", since the perception of detail can be greatly affected by both technical performance and FR.

There is way more to this topic so I would suggest you look more into the science and engineering aspects of audio if you want to know more.

For someone just trying to buy headphones though, the FR graph is a good way of understanding how their own preferences are visually represented, and how measured devices line up with those preferences.

I remember reading something about Schiit AMP’s frying headphone drivers in certain cases. Should I continue using the Magni H with my Sundara?

“That’s a lot of audio equipment for only a week!” I think as I’m literally on a Greyhound bus typing this, carrying 2 headphones, my IEMs, and my AirPods Pro

Hexa are a fair bit brighter, especially >10kHz where I'm a bit sensitive. If I'm coming from the Dusk directly the Hexa sound a little recessed in bass. Of course if I'm putting the Hexa on fresh it sounds fine generally, if a little lacking on some tracks. For the $$ you would really struggle to find a better performer technically though in the Hexa, great bang for buck.

If we're talking about open-backs, then AKG K702, which is my personal favourite, but they are bright and do require a good amp. Alternatively Sennheiser HD6xx is a killer deal, although I'd rather go for second hand HD600. Another good one is Beyerdynamic DT880, a little over budget, but second-hand would be ok. Audio-technica R70x has good reputation, but i haven't tried it, so i'm not shure about it. A little bit of a meme, but Koss ksc75, very cheap, amazing tonality. Good point of first contact, not that great compared to things above.

AKG K612 are as of note, they're very neutral and great piece overall, but i happen to not like it as much as K702. K712 are quite more expensive, have warm sound, and overall aren't to my liking.

Good closed-back headphones don't exist, as of my opinion. AKG K371 is decent, but i'm not a fan of harman target and combination of bass-boost and a 4Khz hole in upper-mids makes them OK as a headphone, while pretty good as closed back. If you're willing to get eq, dt770 could be ok, but i personally really don't like it.

Amps are harder, ~50$ isn't a lot, and i'm not aware of anything decent at that price. If you already bought K712, and looking to buy another pair of headphones with overall budget of 350$, i would rather go for ~150$ Fiio BTR5, BTR3 is an option, but i'd recommend going for 5 over 3, as it has more power, and a better choice in long run, not to metion that 5>3, so i's automatically better)

If you don't have any money currently, i would save for BTR5, to buy with or after headphones. Maybe someone else going through the comments will have more knowledge in that department, than i do.

Ooh, I’ll give $125 and pay for shipping; contact me here! 😛

>Headphones do sound different if they're properly powered, you're not saying that this statement is wrong, do you?

I do, because power has nothing to do with the sound quality, unless you don't have enough volume (because volume=power, and more volume is the only thing you get with more power). All my headphones sound the same from all my devices (RME, MOTU, Topping, FiiO, LG phone, Meizu phone, Realtek - I don't have obviously bad devices though).

AKG are shouty because of 2 khz and they sound thin because of obvious lack of bass. You can get used to it and use these headphones as a reliable tool for work, but it is not a right sound and it won't be right regardless the source you use. Doesn't mean they're bad - they're a decent instrument for studio.

This sub IS AudioScienceReview

https://www.amazon.com/Douk-Audio-Headphone-Amplifier-Desktop/dp/B08C2MKBGN/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=2JAUBRJX4X5HI&keywords=headphone+amp+douk+audio&qid=1672297168&sprefix=headphone+amp+douk+audio%2Caps%2C101&sr=8-3

The frequency response graph can give a general description of what the headphone is like. Being linear without any peaks is a sign that it will sound smooth without any parts of the music being over or underemphasized.

Frequency response is the easiest was to demonstrate how headphones will sound for someone who hasn't heard them. They are some of the only objective sound characterization of headphones. They are used to compare 2 headphones and see why they sound different. It's best to look at data about headphones relatively.

You can EQ the frequency response, but it won't sound the best. A headphone without bass adjusted to sound like a headphone which naturally has a lot of bass won't sound the same. (I'm not saying an EQ will make headphones sound bad)

Oh I see. Which amp is it if you don't mind me asking? :)

He's just wrong.

I have a similar experience. I got the 80 ohm DT 770 because everyone said it didn't need an amp, but then I was reaching 100% volume on my phone and laptop and still wanted more volume. I used my amp and it made a surprising difference, the sound quality improved, soundstage and imaging improved, bass sounded much better and wasn't weak anymore. I didn't expect it to make this much of a difference. The Fiio will be good enough to power these.

I think the 1266 TC isn't suited for EQ due to the high distortion

I have AKG Q701 which are basically K712, I got an amp for them because of how many people said you need one. When it comes to power requirement, they don't need that much power, a phone or laptop should be enough. But when I use them with my amp, I can notice a small improvement in sound quality and soundstage, and I don't have a crazy amp, it was $40 on Amazon.

That’s what I was thinking. The BTR and IEMs are plenty for a week long trip.