Little PSA: There are some major differences between AKG headphones.

Submitted by EinfachNurSitzen t3_10movmy in headphones

I recently bought a K612 and a K702 to test against each other and the K702 stuck out like a sore thumb. The K612 had a much better bass response, better mids, was a lot less biting in the highs. The K702 sounded tinny, aggressive, anemic and all around terribly. I wondered where the good reviews where coming from and checking some frequency response charts, it was clear that these two headphones shouldn’t be that far apart. I suspected that I got a faulty unit. And I was right.

I bought a second unit and the difference is literally night and day. The bass is fuller and clean, mids are neutral with a great timbre and although the highs are still a bit more present than in the K612, they’re reigned in by a lot. Other than maybe really just driver QC issues, I’ve also noticed that the better K702 unit of the two had a more flexible and less rigid headband and that the earpads of the bad K702 seem smushed together, although both are factory new.

So just a little FAQ: Before returning an AKG, be sure to get a second unit if the comfort is to your liking already, you could get a completely different headphone.

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Comments

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heyyoudvd t1_j64oeti wrote

Out of curiosity, did one of them say Made In Austria?

AKG moved production from Austria to China a while back. I believe the K702 changed both in terms of the earpads and the headband changed from having ‘bumps’ to just being a piece of leather. And the price dropped around that time, as well.

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rajmahid t1_j65iwjc wrote

I have two K701s and two K702s. One of each is made in Austria and one in China. They’re all indistinguishable in build and sound quality. Only issue I had was the Q701 from Austria developed a short in the left channel which was easily remedied with a small Philips screwdriver & soldering pencil. Do I love the K70x sound signature or what? Lol!

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EinfachNurSitzen OP t1_j64qhuy wrote

Nope, I don't think you can get a brand new AKG Made in Austria anymore sadly, but even if so, both my units were made in China :)

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RB181 t1_j65je3c wrote

Yeah, sadly, AKG's QC went pretty much down the drain following the Samsung acquisition.

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rajmahid t1_j66ci9j wrote

Just curious, have you ever really had one, or just passing along anecdotal nonsense?

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RB181 t1_j67tiqh wrote

I do, in fact, own multiple AKG headphones.

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blorg t1_j67de67 wrote

I have an original made in Austria K701 from well before the Samsung acquisition, it does have some redeeming features with great soundstage and good "punch" but it is also somewhat harsh and piercing. The HD600/HD650 which it competed against at release are far better tuned, and there's a reason they still get more attention today despite being even older headphones.

I also have "sound by AKG" Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro, Buds 2 and Buds 2 Pro, all of which are absolutely excellent and probably about the best tuned BT TWS in existence (AKG's own N400NC TWS being another contender).

I have a AKG NC700M2 over-ear BT headphone, from after the Samsung acquisition, which is also tuned extremely well, fantastically for a BT over-ear. Samsung probably helped out with the electronic side of this, as that all "just works" as well.

Samsung brought Harman and AKG together and if anything actually significantly improved AKG's ability to tune headphones properly.

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RB181 t1_j67tv27 wrote

I'm not saying the sound quality got worse, I'm saying the build quality and QC got worse.

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what_that_thaaang_do t1_j66e9u3 wrote

I wonder if the sound of the bad K702 could be attributed to the squished earpads

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omarccx t1_j65ewyy wrote

Try this EQ on the K702

https://i.imgur.com/ELAEvJU.jpg

The pair I had sounded tinny due to the push at 5khz so I could not stand to listen to them without EQ. But man can they hold an EQ without distortion. The bass is much better with this EQ than they were with the sticker mod (don't even bother, it ruins bass detail/texture and makes the treble way harsher).

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BionicSammich t1_j659f0k wrote

Whats funny is that the K612 pro and K702 are probably the closest of all the AKG headphones in terms of frequency response. I could swear I read somewhere that they are basically the same internally.

If I could make a suggestion for the K702s, go to crinacles website and find the graph tool. Select the K702, click the Equilizer tab and hit AutoEQ. Then hit export and load that text file into Peace using the import button. This takes away all the tinnyness.

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