Expert Author Brian C Watkins
Hallmarked upon their initial Cheap Beats By Dre release as an extraordinary feat of Austrian engineering, the AKG K701 headphones have been a frequent point of discussion within the hi-fi community. So just how would they compare with other masters with the market? I was excited to jump proper in when I initial heard about them.
Initial Impressions
If you're comparatively new for the audiophile scene, the size of most high-end headphones will demand notice. These headphones are definitely no exception there. They are open-back headphones, using the body composed mostly of plastic for light weight. The stark white color is most likely a adore or hate sort of factor.
The plug is 1/4 inch by default, but comes with an 1/8 inch adapter. They also come using a stand consisting of a plastic and foam floor cut out to permit the headphones to stand on it perfectly. They even cut out the back left side for the cord.
Their Sound
In a word: detail. These headphones are amazingly clear and precise. Voices are incredibly present, snare drums are a slap within the face, and highs make themselves brazenly open.
Well-recorded vocal tracks will seemingly put you proper in front of the singer, and also the impressive sound stage will permit you to close your eyes and envision the entire band. These headphones are on the bright side, however. Some will discover this a boon, but other people may possibly find this fatiguing for extended listening. Their ruthlessly honest character can also make them sound a bit flat or mechanical rather than warm.
Possibly the 1 actual region I found any flaws is the fact that the K701s are pretty light on the bass. I'm surely not a bass-head listener concerned only with muddy thump, but the sheer lack of presence I found with kick drums and bass guitars was disengaging. I could listen and appreciate the music for its artistic merits, but I couldn't jam to it.
If you examine frequency graphs at internet sites for example headphone.com, you'll see that objectively there is indeed very a roll off inside the lower end compared to other Beats By Dr Dre studio Lamborghini headphones of this caliber.
I couldn't call this review total without having mentioning yet another in the most notable things you'll read about these headphones just about anywhere: the extensive burn-in. Several say that a regular usage of 20-80 hours breaks inside the driver to its maximum audio capacity. Most users agree these headphones need some hundred hours, likely as a result of their flat coil design that makes them, well, tighter.
Out from the box they sounded a little harsh on the upper finish to me, which loosened up with time. I kept waiting for the bass to grow to be much more prominent, but alas, that stayed fairly even.
Comfort
The cloth ear pads feel nice against the head without having getting too hot in the course of extended use. Their plastic makes them light, which you'd feel would make them comfy on the leading with the head.
The headband bears surprisingly small padding, consisting of a bubbly-rivet shaped pattern across it. It really is not almost soft sufficient, and appears to concentrate a whole lot from the wearing pressure on the crown in the head. This caused me a good deal of uncomfortable late night listening sessions. I did come across that bending and twisting the headband helped a little, creating it slightly more 'V' shaped. This distributed the weight far better, but still fell brief of what I would call comfy especially at this cost point.
Thoughts and Conclusion
For the price these are a solid choice, specially for the entry-level audiophile. They may be a bit less pricey than the other "big boys", but you will pay for that in comfort and bass impact. The K701s, not as opposed to other top-end contenders, will need to have proper amplification. These aren't intended for iPod listening or Beats By Dr Dre solo HD Red to become run straight out of a jack on a PC, for example. The common 1/4 inch plug isn't ideal for this, either.
In case you have a rounder head you might locate these more comfortable than I did, but beware that they're an open style. This implies they'll leak sound and can potentially bother anyone nearby. Outside noise is also allowed in, which can be a plus or an annoyance according to your circumstance.
Are these headphones decent for what they are? Tour Yes. They are an excellent headphone-don't get me incorrect. I do feel that if you've got the wallet for this amount of audio, however, you'd be very best served to spend somewhat more and get your self another brand using a warmer and a lot more involving sound.
--About The Author--
Brian features a background in on the web media, most notably centered on blogs and articles. Although at Effectur, Inc. he served as their main copywriter and developed press releases, informational articles, and authored a business blog. His editorial capabilities have been put to use in that job Beats By Dr Dre Detox too as in critiquing specialist essays.
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