just bought AKG 518LE at Texas for $100.

Sound: Good low-mid bass, lack of clarity. i have to use an amp, but nevertheless i travel a lot, bringing amp everywhere would be a hassle.

Comfort: Too bad, its too small for my ears, i have telinga kuali, wearing it for 5 minutes gives me pain on every sides of the ear, the wire looks like made of normal grade rubber, seems would be damaged after 1 year.

o hai, I'm late into this thread.

I'm an owner of the K142 HD.

First thing to talk about is comfort. It clamps on your head like a teenager squeezing that pimple that won't pop: IT HURTS. even after about 8 months of usage, it is still quite tight.

Details and timbre are good for its price range (i bought this pair in July 2011 for about RM550 in Sweden. "Made in Austria" version ) I notice nowadays they are made in China and significantly cheaper. I would like to comment that "made in china" does not equal low quality, but I dare not comment about their sound because I haven't tried any of those before.

The sound on this pair (fully burned in) is very gentle. It does not hiss and high vocals are carried out smoothly and with great texture. However, I feel the low bass is slightly too strong and boomy, that it muddens up the entire spectrum a little bit. This is bad for me because I prefer it to be colder and analytical. Maybe it's because of the semi-open design? It feels more open than closed, in my opinion. But it does not leak a lot of sound unlike well-known open-backed phones like the AD700 or MS1i. Despite that, I have learned to enjoy how it sounds so deep yet very detailed, and the sound signature has an elegant feel to it. Audio is a weird world to live in.

Recently I visited Jaben SS15 to check out the K701 and learned quite a lot about it thanks to yuheng. That thing about enough volume but still not enough power to bring out the full balance of the k701. Then he suggested a couple of amps to go with it. Crazy lah! I didn't expect to spend that much when I thought to audition the K701 so I gave up and decided to listen to music instead of sound and do not buy headphones until I'm much richer. Suddenly, BAM sky high bundles. Now I really want to audition the beyer T70. I hate you Jaben.

This post has been edited by flurkoneko: Mar 22 2012, 11:04 PM

mesti yuheng poison u with Rudistor amp, Govibe portatube or Graham Slee solo...haha...

RudiStor NX-03 with K701 really shiok

This post has been edited by xEDynamics: Mar 22 2012, 11:14 PM

He let me use the portatube, but I duno lah, I think I'd prefer a more mobile setup. Maybe get a less-power hungry pair that would give me all the cold details I like. Any recommendations?

same situation here. want to sell it cheap

Just got my K550 today. Test running for the first few hours.
Setup: Sony NWZ-X1060 LOD + GoVibe Martini/FiiO E11
Crappy short review I must say, please excuse me lol.

Gorgeous packing. But that's all. No accessories others than the 6.35mm adapter is included. I'd be very much happier if they could include a carrying case for it (It's AKG though, I didn't expect much. *Looking at K702*).

First impression, solidly built and light weight. The isolation is alright, leakage is minor. Earpad is a comfortable but not recommended for long period of usage, it'll "suffocate" your ear lol. Headband is very nicely built, the metal headband and cushion feels great and the adjusting mechanism is as good as it can be, clicks better than the HD800. The specification and description kind of indicates that the K550 can be a portable headphone, doesn't required amping, can be driven straight out of portable media players, but what the hell, the cable's thickness and the size of the can definitely suggested the otherwise. There is no way in hell I will consider this anything close to the words "PORTABLE".

Sound quality? A little bit warmer than K701, but not as warm as DT880, somewhere in between I'm guessing. Clarification is above average but nothing impressive. I do notice the high losing control at times though when it's paired up with Martini, and the treble can be too aggressive and ear-piercing. Soundstage is very awesome despite being a closed-headphone, comparable to K701/DT880, but no where as good as HD800.

Presence of bass is somewhat better than in K701, but weaker than DT880. Definitely not a strong point of K550, but still, the quality is alright. Pairing up with E11 makes the headphone even more warmer and bass boost increases the presence nicely, some treble roll-off but a justified trade-off for certain genre of music or song, ie R&B, trance etc.

Overall..The K550 is mediocre at best, not necessary bad but I'd say it's alright for what it is, being a closed-headphone and whatnot, but..imo the retail price doesn't justify it (250GBP).
I picked mine up at 195GBP, I think that's what it actually worths. A passable substitute to K701 at the very least, so I'm happy with it.

This post has been edited by awyongcarl: Mar 24 2012, 04:03 AM

Hi,
may i know whr 2 get AKG headphone in penang?

nice review there bro...

my Q701 had pass 300 hours mark, so it ready for review again....



It not much improve from 100 hours mark.... Q701 voice weak compare to K701 at the same volume. Q701 bassy characteristic hide some detail that I can hear in K701. I don't get it, why people said Q701 is improve from K701 ???? If in term of bass, yes I agree. But it hide the detail!!!

I not impressed with Q701 at all. Sound quality still same with K701 but bassy. When people said, "Q701 is improve version of K701!!!!!!". It bugs me.... So I decided to get a pair of Q701 and compare it myself....then after hear the sound quality, I disappointed. Will sell my Q701 and buy a HD800 maybe

This post has been edited by xEDynamics: Mar 25 2012, 12:22 PM

If you can go to straits quay, tanjung bungah there u can find yuheng/walabies store there on the second floor. Jaben. But be careful haha they damn good at poisoning xD. Anyone knows which amp to pair wif k702 ? I running it with e7 + e9 now. Yuheng said the refinement not there in e9 and recommended the slee solo. I was like "wtf" at the price =.="

Great and honest feedback. marked your words

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Added on March 25, 2012, 12:58 pmhahaha.. well the K702 deserve that price of AMP, doesn't it?

This post has been edited by Lennox: Mar 25 2012, 12:58 PM

Tqvm.
Btw,wat is the best price for k701 & q701?

This post has been edited by JSpec2: Mar 25 2012, 01:05 PM

Hmm, last I asked at jaben, it was round rm1800 but they havent discounted yet. I bought at ebay india through global shipping from the states bout rm1300.

@Lennox Kinda geli the slee, bout 3x the price of a k702 haha. but really nid something to bring out the bass in the 702 =.="

I bought all my cans from overseas... K701 cost me RM10xx and Q701 cost me RM9xx from amazon.com (all inclusive shipping)

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Added on March 25, 2012, 1:19 pmK701, K702, Q701 need amp that is at least x1.5 its price.

This post has been edited by xEDynamics: Mar 25 2012, 01:21 PM

he mean the K701 and Q701 need high end amp to drive it "properly".

buy from amazon.com cheaper...also 2 years worldwide warranty

This post has been edited by xEDynamics: Mar 25 2012, 06:38 PM

New happy owner of AKG Q460





My second AKG set since K702 early last year

any impression to share?

portatube is definitely a good pair for the AKG K/Q701.
seriously I've tested before.
the warmth,the sound.its just stunning.

there's a but here lah.
get some really GOOD cables oh and btw don't go for DIY cables.
really sucks and stinks for GOD sake .

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Added on March 27, 2012, 10:05 pmtoo bassy in the Quincy Line.

i don't see improvement actually after the so called improved cables were implemented.

actually it reverts back.maybe this line wants to challenge the Dre series.HAHA

the details were different.vocal laidbacks were damn obvious in this.

anyway u've got some good portable cans that anyone would drooled.

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Added on March 27, 2012, 10:15 pmbro u go racun2 people around like crazy lah.

wait for my review on cheap amp.

i think on my govibe ppk got juice that jizzed my ears but with some proper upscaled volume lah.

true story there bro about the Q701.nevertheless i enjoyed them pretty much.the bass are undefeated but the vocals + details were full of disappointment.
after some trials on the K701 i guess this can deserves a medal.
a true legendary cans which is distinctively not very far from the worlds best headphone as per appointed by Sennheiser which is the HD800.

K701 lacks the bass while the Q701 lacks the vocals + details.
buyers out there,its your call.do choose the cans wisely.

This post has been edited by propf: Mar 27 2012, 10:15 PM

get your facts right!

maybe if using cheap amp like Fiio la.... I don't find it "lack of bass" using my RudiStor...

This post has been edited by xEDynamics: Mar 27 2012, 10:25 PM

your amp is too much lah.

i tried with yamamoto amp at Jaben last week i found them the K701 got an adequate amount of bass.

suffice for the ears.

i'm pretty sure your cables are neutral.

still the K701 is unmatched for the Q701 bass right?

Haha ok maybe noob 2 cents impression...

Last month I decided to get a portable cans to replace my portable use Sony EX500 IEM(they are not broken, just kinda irritated that I won't be able to hear people calling me when I'm listening music with it, especially in college). These are possibly one of the best portable can(if not the best I have tested) straight out from the box. The sound is very direct, exciting and the bass is just sufficient to me. It's a bit tight at first when I started using it(my head is big, lol), but after awhile I got used to it. Love the ear pads. Damn airy, soft and comfy on ears.

Before I bought this, I have audited AKG Q460, K450, Beats Solo HD, Klipsch Image One and Fanny Wang's 1000 series(all have gone through 200 hours burn in). End up loving both Klipsch Image One and AKG Q460 because of their ability to perform at a pretty good overall standard playing straight from my portable devices(Samsung Galaxy Note and Sony A846) without really needing a portable amp to boost(lazy to bring amp around actually..). The reason I choosed Q460 instead of Image One is because of the replaceable cable because my headphones mainly spoils because of cable issue, I quite careless with my stuffs haha.

I find it slightly better from K450. Bass aside, everything sounds 1 step better too no matter how many types of songs I try(acoustic-kpop-clubsongs-jazz...)

But the warmth, soundstage, vocal clarity, details... still cannot compare to my K702 though when I compare both on Foobar software and plugged in to my Asus Essence STX sound card. Honestly, size really matters

Might try Bowers and Wilkins P5 if got chance next time and compare

Thanks bro.
The bass level is just up to my liking. Beats Solo HD is another world level of bassy already haha. But anyway I still choose Q460 because of the mid and high tone is much better than Solo HD, which is kinda important because I also listen acoustic music quite often other than Kpop Jpop