General Asylum: REVIEW: AKG Acoustics K701 Headphones by rbeverjr@nc.rr.com General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories.

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Model:	K701
Category:	Headphones
Suggested Retail Price:	$399
Description:	open-back dynamic headphones
Manufacturer URL:	AKG Acoustics
Model Picture:	View

Review by rbeverjr@nc.rr.com on September 05, 2006 at 08:16:25 IP Address: 66.15.91.80

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A good home stereo system can be bliss. The proper equipment, properly adjusted in an appropriate room, can provide the greatest pleasure.

A quality headphone system provides unsatisfactory imaging. There is no bass that you physically feel. In every other way (such as tonal accuracy, transients, decay, and resolution), the headphone system can be superior to the traditional home equipment. That’s why you find them in recording studios as monitors. However, these strengths can never make up for their weaknesses, in regards to pleasing music – at least to me. Furthermore, the restriction and discomfort of the wired headphone system are more disadvantages. Still, headphones allow private or semiprivate listening, and the system is relatively compact. This allows you to listen to it without disturbing others in your home and at the office. You can carry a system when you travel or workout. For this reason, I listen to a headphone system more than anything else.

I compared a group of headphones using the following equipment (purchase date): the Eastsound CD-E5 (7th generation, 2006) with a Headroom Maxed Out Home Headphone Amplifier. The CD-E5 rests on 3 Black Diamond Racing Mk III cones. The Headphone Amplifier rests on three soft sorbothane Panda feet. The Amplifier was set with the processor on, the filter at bright, and gain at medium. I used a simple 15 amp cable of 14 G wire, with a ferrite core filter for power wires (2006) and a set of Analysis Plus Solo Crystal Oval interconnects (0.5 m, 2004). I compared the following headphone systems: AKG K701 (2006), Etymotic Research ER-4P (2005), Sennheiser HD 545 (> 5 years old), stock ear buds from a Rio Karma (2005) and Apple iPod (2005), and Stax Professional system with the SRM-1/MK-2 (apx. 15 years old).

I listen to the following tracks to critically evaluate musical equipment:

Classical genre – Track 5: Mozart Piano Quartet in G Minor, K. 478, Rondo (Allegro) from Sterophile Editor’s Choice sampler and test CD. The piano is very difficult for musical equipment to reproduce convincingly to me. Also, the violin was present which can make a very annoying sound when not accurately reproduced.

Vocal jazz genre – Track 3: The Raven from Rebecca Pidgeon’s The Raven. This recording was made by Chesky Records using 128x oversampling high resolution technology. The human voice is another challenge to reproduce convincingly to me.

Jazz – Track 7: Hot House Flowers from Wynton Marsalis’ Hot House Flowers. Wynton won a grammy for best jazz instrumental performance, soloist for this. Trumpets are very annoying when not reproduced accurately. So, I include this track for evaluation.

Hard rock – Track 6: Back in Black from AC/DC’s Back in Black. This track was put in to test a very different genre of music, and reveal how the system handles bass and inspires the head to bob.

The K701 dynamic and the Stax electrostatic system were very close sonically. I slightly preferred the K701 system. The Stax seemed slightly forward and slightly lacking in bass – not necessarily drum beats but more the sustained bass as from the bass guitar. On the other hand, I think the Stax may have been very slightly superior with transients and accurate decay of cymbals. Both the K701 and Stax system were clearly superior to the other headphones. The HD 545 represents a good value. It does music acceptably, but is clearly inferior to the K701 in every way. I preferred it over the ER-4P. The ER-4P was too bright (inaccurate), but it did provide better resolution than the HD 545. The ER-4P piano sound was a little tinny, and the violins were a little screechy (unlike with the HD545). It seemed to lack in bass, AC/DC sounded awful with these earspeakers. Of course, the ER-4P were superior to stock MP3 player earspeakers, but the ER-4P should have been better for the price they ask. The stock ear buds from the Rio Karma were simply garbage – the iPod stock ear buds are a little better form of garbage.

Complaints: The K701 are very uncomfortable. The piece that fits over my head causes my scalp to ache. If you choose these headphones and your scalp doesn’t have calluses, be sure to look for something to pad the headband. I fitted some memory foam to my headband, and that helped immensely. The leather ear muffs of the Stax system drip with sweat on my head after only an hour of listening. The HD 545 is splendidly comfortable; however, the headphone wire has problems. A channel will cut in and out sometimes and wiggling the wire restores the sound. I’ve heard that this is a common problem with Sennheiser. There are after market headphone cables available, but they cost as much as some of the Sennheiser headphones. Why can’t Sennheiser get the wiring right?

Note: the ER-4P has advantages for use with an iPod. It is very sensitive, very light and compact, and will also more effectively filter out noise than even the noise-cancellation type headphones of which I am aware. Noise filtration is especially important during travel on jets. Still, I’d shop around for some other earspeaker systems may offer passive noise filtration and provides better sound.

The K701 gives great sound when combined with the iPod without an amp. I *may* even prefer it to the Stax system for bass music like hard rock and metal. Otherwise, the Stax system (includes an amp and headphone set) easily beats the K701 without an amp. However, you must turn the iPod’s volume very high to power the K701. The battery probably won’t last long. The ER-4P is much more sensitive than the K701; so, the battery will last longer with them.

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Product Weakness:	Uncomfortable
Product Strengths:	Accurate in every way: frequency response, transients, pace, etc.

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Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Headroom Maxed Out Home Headphone Amplifier or Stax SRM-1/MK2
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	None
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Eastsound CD-E5
Speakers:	Headphones, see review
Cables/Interconnects:	Analysis Plus Solo Crystal Oval
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Various, see review
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	None
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

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