Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Nov 8, 2017 13:57:25 GMT
One that I’ve been very quiet about and owned since just after it came out, I think is the K702 and I noticed that nothing has been mentioned on here about it.
Fact is that at the moment, I’m the UK, this is selling for £123.90 and I have to be honest, it’s not far removed from the K712. It has a lot going for it and I’m su re the re must people quite a lot of people who have this one.
The pads are a bit firmer than the K712 and hold the cones a bit further away. Bass is a tad lighter. Not by a massive amount and the top is slightly more prominent. Sense of space is quite amazing in a headphone at this price and placement is pretty good. It still has good impact and attack in the bass though. There’s no ‘bleed’ into the mids so it sounds extremely clean.
Cable is fixed the same way via a mini xlr so changing them is easy.
Anyone feeling that the K712 is a bit expensive, this one is pretty close at nearly half the UK price and I find it a really enjoyable listen.
One thing has always puzzled me with the K701. I found that very difficult to get on with due to something wrong in the very high treble. Almost like some kind of ringing fuzziness. I don’t get the same feeling with the k702 or K712 and I’ve always wondered whether I had a duff K701.i have it away because I hated it so much. It felt almost like a plasticky, none resonant sound with a nasal quality, like it was being held back. The K702 doesn’t give this feeling to me and is one of my favourites along with the K712.
Last couple of days, I’ve been using it just to listen to soundtracks from my audio recorder or camera and the space and sound placement are absolutely astonishing to be honest.
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Post by lobalwarming on Nov 10, 2017 2:39:43 GMT
The 702 soundstage, while a bit unnatural, is impressive. Something about the upper midrange dip/peak and lean lower midrange just made the 702s a little fatiguing for long term listening for me. Not as bad as the 701s, 601s, 501s, oh... my long and sorted history with AKG phones....LOL!
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Nov 10, 2017 7:58:04 GMT
Funny that I couldn’t listen for long to the K701, yet the K702 seemed slightly better for me. They are a bit more toppy than than the K712 though which is almost Senn like in presentation.
I nearly bought a K501 at the end of their run, but tbh, I think I’d have missed the bass end too much.
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Post by ronzo56 on Nov 10, 2017 20:12:57 GMT
I have a K701 as well Ian. It is sitting in a box. Has been for a long time. You don’t have a duff unit. The high treble is off. I tried to like them. But my brain and ears got fatigued so quickly I found myself pulling them off before making it through just one album. And the bass just kind of rolls away. I have tried them on every amp I’ve owned or was loaned. I even took them to my first headphone meet. They sound crappy to me on everything. Still not sure why they got such a good review in Stereophile.
I have never heard the K712. I have heard others in the AKG line. We just never could get along. Almost always they become fatiguing very quickly. For me that usually indicates treble issues.
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juke
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Post by juke on Nov 10, 2017 23:41:59 GMT
I bought a K701 not that long ago after reading that (very old) Stereophile review online.
Didn't like it much so just used it for listening to late-night movies and it was OK for that.
I then built a Kameleon filter for it and I now quite like it for some types of music.
Frans said it wasn't possible to correct it well but I think he did a great job.
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Post by ronzo56 on Nov 11, 2017 0:32:23 GMT
Funny you mentioned using it for late night movies. That's what I ended up using it for late at night. Until I bought the HD650's. The black version. Long ago when they first came out.  Glad to hear the filter is working for you. |
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Post by Mr Trev on Nov 11, 2017 3:57:59 GMT
You guys referring to the stock model or the anniversary edition? From what little I've gathered, the annies are supposed to be even closer to the 712s
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AKG K702
Nov 11, 2017 13:58:08 GMT
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Post by marveltone on Nov 11, 2017 13:58:08 GMT
Pretty sure they're referring to the classic 702. The Annies/7XX/712 tend to sound a bit more balanced with the raised bass balancing out the treble. The piercing highs can be tamed a bit by adding toilet paper or felt in front of the drivers. The pads are stupidly easy to remove and reinstall.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Nov 11, 2017 14:48:35 GMT
Does the anniversary edition look any different. Mine isn’t one of the first ones, but I’m not aware of it being an anniversary one either and wouldn’t know one if it smacked me in the head!
The one that I have sounds quite similar to the k712 with more top end bite. Not massively so though. I quite like it actually.
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AKG K702
Nov 11, 2017 17:11:43 GMT
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Post by marveltone on Nov 11, 2017 17:11:43 GMT
They're black with black outer rings and blue inner rings. The upper perimeter around the ring says "65th Anniversary Edition". Hard to miss.
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Post by Mr Trev on Nov 11, 2017 17:57:39 GMT
I remember reading on Head-Fi quite a discussion about what the Massdrop versions are. Seems a whole lot of folks claimed the 7xx sound pretty much like the annies and the 712 (like you mentioned)
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Post by Cranky on Apr 14, 2018 20:46:20 GMT
I just bought myself the AKG K702 for £116.00 from Gear4Music and don't understand why people are claiming it to be bass-shy. Judging by what various people have been saying in various forums about them, I was expecting the bass to be only just appearing over the horizon; but not so, because it's there in abundance, although the sub-bass is rolled away nicely and all music is being reproduced in a somewhat balanced manner. However, they sound more hifi than I expected with recessed mids, and I'm suspicious that the pair I have is producing more bass (and lower mids) than they're supposed to. Furthermore, I've not so far noticed the sound-stage to be unnaturally wide, at least no more than the DT880.
With these headphones I'm noticing the speech on studio-based BBC online broadcasts is coming across as quite woofy whilst others are not so much, and the speech from LBC (a UK-based talk radio station) constantly sounds as if they're not applying a much-needed high-pass filter.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Apr 14, 2018 21:30:00 GMT
The LBC sound is rather fat. That’s the way it sounds and as far as BBC audio goes, it sounds kind of ‘chesty’ I think. Radio 3 might well give better spoken audio to test. Radio 2 is awful with a Radio 4 giving that Chesty type sound. Not deep bass but a focus on the upper bass and lower mids. In fact, a high pass might well improve the lot!!
The K702 isn’t too bad at all. It is a bit sharper than the K712 in the treble and seems more lively generally. Some people like that I think. For me, it’s not quite as even as the K712.
Did you find the pads a bit spiky?
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Post by Cranky on Apr 14, 2018 22:19:18 GMT
Yes, I see what you mean about Radio 3. Perhaps the idea there is to give it a more relaxing sound considering it's primarily a classical music station. Classic FM is similar, albeit with a bit less low filtering, which causes some subtle plosives. So it's not my headphones then  . Does my description sound like the response of your headphones? I'm surprised at the amount of bass response and how hifi they sound; not coldly clinical at all, and not as much midrange as expected either. Definitely a bit of a mid-scoop, which is a little disappointing. By "spiky" do you mean abrasive? The velour pads on these headphones are very soft and comfortable. |
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Apr 15, 2018 7:15:27 GMT
By ‘spiky’ I mean a bit itchy on your head. I take the off and need a good scratch!!
Radio 3 uses less compression than the other stations. At one time, on DAB radios you could actually set the amount on receive. Classic FM has more compression too. Not only does the sound get crunched up, but bass response seems to increase as a result. The average volume goes up so we perceive more bass. I am always very light with compression on my films because of the effect that it can have on both noise levels and on the bass frequencies. Over compressed audio can sound muddy and boomy.
Your description sounds about right to me. I’d say it is slightly more ‘u’ shaped than the k712 with a more ‘rubber band’ type bass and a bit of an edge in the top. That means that the mids are a little back in the mix.
I quite like it actually, which is strange because I hated the K701 which had some annoying kind of ‘ring’ in the very top of the treble. At least the top of my hearing. It actually niggled me so much I gave it away.
I bought the k702 out of curiosity to see what they had done. I don’t get the same ringing with them and it is more pleasant on the ears to me.
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. Does my description sound like the response of your headphones? I'm surprised at the amount of bass response and how hifi they sound; not coldly clinical at all, and not as much midrange as expected either. Definitely a bit of a mid-scoop, which is a little disappointing.