I've owned these headphones for about a year now. So basically reception for these headphones is divided, and I can see why. His criticism regarding its "quickness" is very real, in that the headphones can be exhausting to listen to after even a few minutes. I found the inside of my ears kind of twitching in response to how penetrating the sound is. I would attribute this to the headphone's treble extension. Also, his comment about the bass having good extension while being recessed is very accurate. You'll be able to hear your bass, and even frequencies that you hadn't heard before, but you won't be satisfied. It's like having a tiny sample of an amazing desert. I'd also say that the soundstage is like a surgeon in that all the sounds are sort of dissected from one another, contributing to why this headphone is so cold and analytical-sounding. I've described it as being a headphone where the music sound exactly like the sum of its parts, never greater. As a reference headphone I can see how these cans are absolutely stellar. But now after a year, it's clear to me that if you want to really ENJOY your music, then you're better off skipping this purchase. Then again, there seem to be people who absolutely adore this headphone, so there's a gamble if you're seeking one!

Got a pair of the K701's myself. First pair of headphones that I got excited about in the past 25 years.

If only AKG knew that people would still be willing to buy the regular K701 because of an Anime.

Always a pleasure to read or watch your work, Tyll.

a decent vintage tube amp ads a lot of warmth and fullness to these headphones. I was able to get a pretty good sansui tube amp from a thrift store for 40 bucks. Another source would be like the bottle head amps. It all depends on how much you want to spend, and what kind of audio source you have.

Good old times ...:)

@tabeikou I like the warmer, smoother sound of the 600 and 650. The Q701 can be a bit lean in the bass.

The Q701 came in second place in the May 2011 Hi-Fi News group test. They placed behind the $1599 Sennheiser HD800 but ahead of the $899+ Denon D7000, $1000+ Grado GS1000i and $900+ Audio Technica W1000x.

I just found out these are now made in China and not Austria. Some people are still getting the Austrian version from Amazon, but those are probably left over inventory.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as they say. What others might find ugly we others find beautiful

I wanted to move to an open headphone after using the absolute hell out of Beyerdynamic DT-770 Pro's for 10 years through multiple driver repairs (thousands of hours as a reference can, producing, and general listening) and from my preference in sound signature it was either the Q701 or the DT-990 Pro. I finally decided on the DT-990 and I'm glad I did, as I'm admittedly biased towards Beyers colored sound, but I still would like to hear these.

This is by far the most mature, balanced and not biased review of any product I have ever watched. Thank you.

Yes, they have a wide sound-stage (great for directional accuracy), for a better cinematic experience maybe consider the Beyerdynamic DT880 or the Sennheiser HD600 or HD650 as they all have stronger bass. Do note that all these headphones, the AKG Q701 included, will require amplification for optimal sound quality.

For production you don't want accentuated bass, if your headphone has a lot of bass, you'll misjudge how much is in the mix and you'll end up with a track that has very little bass. Same with the mids and treble. You want something neutral, something that shows exactly what's on the track. I haven't tried them yet, but from what I understand, the K701/K702/Q701, and the Sennheiser HD600 would all be fine choices. I can personally recommend the HD600 though, as I currently own it.

I love how he doesn't talk about how difficult they are to drive, run kitties run and buy these can to use in amped with your I pods

@Reticuli Most people on head-fi forums tend to prefer Q701 to HD650, because they sound more opened and brighter, even though HD650 sound more realistic imho. They sound more like speakers, without overly bright treble and too weak bass, although most people people would call them dark sounding.

@PrintHelloWord Source, and amping will make the largest difference in quality. Unless you have a well tuned ear, you won't be noticing any difference in cable quality.

Q701's are open back so it has more sound stage. The k550 has more bass from the close back design. I have them both, just go with the q701's in my opinion they have a beautiful soundstage.

HD600 is rather dark sounding compared to the Q 701. If you want to hear the details in the upper mids and highs, I would pick the Q 701 any day over the HD600 or HD650, which to me had the "Sennheiser veil".

Thank you for the great review. Recently purchased the K7xx thru Massdrop. I already own the Sennheiser HD600, Alpha Dogs and Grado 225's, plus some others. I been looking for this sound for over 10 years and have finally found it. These are, by far, the best I've heard.

...you wouldn't. I am pretty sure that the guys who designed them at AKG didn't intend them to be used with your iPod on the bus. There are pleanty of other models by them that are though.

Well i think it does depend on the amp you are using, after all these cans are notoriously difficult to drive! Having owned these cans among others including sens and grads, I would deffo agree there is more bass out their but properly driven these cans produce a wonderfully balanced sound. Of course with all thing audio everything is up to personal taste, but the sound stage, wonderful mid range, and crisp highs of the K701's offer a more complete package than any of it's rivals

@InnerFidelity: DT 1350 isolates little bit more and is more comfortable to wear. But iit's sound is a little bit "dark" in comparision to HD 25-1, which I like more regarding sound. - ** TIAD **

@james3579 I think the bar has been raised significantly over the last few years with the likes of the HD800, LCD-2, and HE-500. Also the IEMs are very good: SE535 and JH13. So appetites are wetted. And I agree with you that the less assertive sound of the K601 is preferable in some ways, but are a bit slow.

@BboyJuNg Yes. It's a tough call, I like the K601 as well. The 701 has faults of being a bit too bright, but the 601's failing is that it's a bit too dull ... kind of boring sounding.

Bought these recently for 160 GBP brand new inc postage. Having tried them through a dennon amp and through the Asus Xonar Essence STX, personally the difference is ever so slight, so if money is tight don't worry. If you're gaming i suggest you google search: 'Modmic' - a HQ detachable boon mic that allows audiophile grade headphones to double as headsets. It's Clear, crisp, and has a fantastic soundstage, but definately not for people who want over pronounced bass.

Well the DT990 was made for more bass and more treble than the DT880 and K701. The Q701 to me had more mass than the K701/K702 but the DT990 has more bass but the soundstage was smaller. I would recommend the Q701 over DT990 because the DT990 is complicated for newbies since they have 32, 250 and 600ohm. Keep in mind both of these headphones (Q701 and DT990) will require a good amp like OTL Little Dot or if you like SS for Q701 try the Matrix M Stage. Remember to get a good DAC and great amp!

if you go to the website, there is a picture of the old k701 for the link to their personal audio lol

I was referred to this review here from another forum because quite frankly I'm rather disappointed with my pair of AKG K702s. I only bought them because I wanted headphones and found out these were originally $539 but were less half price for about $260. At over 500 dollars they were said to beat anything except a $1400 pair of Sennheiser HD 800s. My expectations were sky high, but honestly they don't sound so great. First and foremost complaint; there's a complete lack of bass.

My point was, a quality pair of headphones should sell themselves and not need the endorsement of any given pop / hip-hop / rap artist. The K701's were a fantastic pair of headphones before AKG's marketing department started wondering what the hell they could do in terms of advertising and marketing to sell more units.

@55stevieboy2010 I'd go for the SHure SRH840, Denon AH-D2000 or Audio Technica ATH-M50

FYI I recommend you get a nice AMP and a DAC for those cans.

Ahmed soliman Go with stax you can't miss there, However they are open headphones and quit pricy

you're the only headphone reviewer I trust

Our product is only USD56.99 but which is very high performance studio sound headphones with BT

In theory, yes, but they won't sound as good as they possibly could. You'd need a decent amplifier to get the best out of them with an iPod.

DT860 - no.880 - neutral, clean sound, great bass and highs, slightly recessed mids, small soundstage, not very opened sound, but very clean sounding. 990 - lots of boomy bass, lots of sharp highs, nothing in the mids, Unless you listen to electronic music 90% of the time, run away from them. Q701 - big soundstage, airy sound, pretty balanced, decent bass, very good mids and highs. HD598 - best soundstage and imaging of them all, best mids of them all, great highs and good bass, very engaging.

If you listen to a lot of jazz, classical and instrumental music then Q701 or HD598, you wont go wrong with either, but Q701's is ultimately a slightly better headphone, and needs a better amplifier. (598 NEEDS it too!). If you listen to lots of vocal music, acoustic, soft rock, choirs, and similar, then HD598's all the way. They have by far the best vocals of any headphone you mentioned. Even better than HD650's in my opinion. DT880 if you listen to everything, from classical to hip hop.

They are probably good for gaming, but you can find other better alternatives. This is a reference headphone compared to a fun sounding one. Things like explosions wont sound loud and shocking and since these are open eared headphones, everyone will be able to head what is going on in the game. I would recommend some Sennheizers if you want clear sounding, fun gaming audio.

@ManicMindTrick Sorry you didn't like it, mate. Try the Sennheiser HD600 if you can find one; they're warmer. For monster bass --- at a monster price --- try the LCD-2 from Audez'e. Killer bass.

The Q701 and K702 are great for jazz.

@taigila If you're getting new models, then Q701 / K701 and K702 are identical in terms of sound, they're all very flat in frequency response, maybe too flat, maybe too analytical. Great for mixing, mastering in studio because they play everything exactly as it is, maybe a bit too "boring" for listening to music. Generally, flat headphones are boring, colored headphones are fun to listen to. It depends on what you want.

Probably not the user you're asking but, I've been reading up around places and the Koss KSC75's are rather respected and only $20 on Amazon, not sure if they will fit small ears though. they're designed for portable players and on-the-move stuff, these AKGs are rather designed for Hi-fi home listening.

@VictorAlxYork Love the Todd the Vynil Junky TTVJ Slim and HeadAmp Pico. Both are portable and have USB input options.

exactly what im considering! Hd598's Q701's DT 860 880 990 OMFG this is killing me!

It is an audiophile headphone, I would place them into mid-range (lower mid, mind you)

@1lastsoldier That's tough, they're both pretty good. I'd have to do a listening test side by side to say.

This word "real" is purely opinion. Generally studio monitors should have a very flat frequency response. Consider the fact that the headphones you are thinking of probably did not exist 20-25 years ago, and that recording studios in nearly every music category have been fine with headphones raging from $70-500 for years. It's simply excess that you're speaking of, and the margin of difference between these and a pair of HD800 is ridiculously small in relation to the difference in cost.

The AKG q701's are actually Excellent for gaming, because of it's soundstage and clairty. They will pair well with an astro mixamp and a fiio e9. Read Mad Lust Envy Gaming headphone Guide post on headfi. If you want to the akg q701's for gaming do not pass them up. Get htis with a clip on mic. But you will need another external amp as the astro mixamp cannot push these bad boys to it's full power.

Great review! Thanks! Thinking whether I should get these or the Hifiman Sundara

in short, you don't. I own the k701s and the open back design is really a 2 way street. everyone can hear your tunes and you can hear everything outside the headphones. plus, the cable is freakin long man, so you'll need to bundle it up and stuff in a pocket. lastly, the have 62 ohm impedance so you really need an amp to drive them. using these with an ipod/phone etc is just wasting your time and will leave you feeling ripped off. these are meant for lounge sessions, free from distractions.

I went with the Q701's in the end, unfortunately I can't give you any feedback since they haven't arrived yet.

How do these compare to the sennheiser HD598 in terms of comfort and sound quality?

Shure, they are...they are just very balanced (not like the bass hevy crap from beats). Strong bass covers many flaws of the sound quality of audio equipment. If you want to have more bass, just use an EQ...the headphones are capable of rendering it! But you won't have the music expereience,the artist wanted to create!

I'm not sure why I haven't seen these before, but I'm really loving the green and it's really making me want a headphone that I already knew was great. Going to have to sell a pair if I want to add these to my collection... The Q701 is closer to the K702 rather than the K701, isn't it? I thought the key differences between the K701 and 702 were the permanent/detachable cable and colors.

@DoNultima A "complete" lack of bass? Measurements don't show that. But I admit they are bass shy. I think what you are finding is that there are damned few headphones that really sound good.

Audiophile headphones will always be the best choice technically if you're going to game. But you can also go buy a turtle beach px5 if u don't want to go through the process of spending money on an astro mixamp with a fiio e9 and the headphones. But i've gamed with the akg 701's with my fiio e9 and astro mixamp;. and i must say there is no "Headset" < that performs better than the akg q701 in sound quality and sound stage. Another alternative will be the sennheiser pc360, or hd598

yea, even if its sponsored by Quincy Jones, STILL is not fooled by Singer/ Rapper endorsed products. people buy Rapper/ Singer endorsed products for image... not the quality

I think you're glossing over certain deficiencies of this headphone when you say "non accentuated bass" or "slightly lean". I have the k702 and i find that it lacks quite quite a bit of mid/low bass and noticeably thin/lean sounding. I find it to be a bit too analytical as well. I think you're being a too kind to it. But i due agree with great soundstage and it being great for acoustic/jazz.

Explains why they went for QJ's endorsement. Nice Review!

@Seabass078 Creative Aurvana Live! Not colapsable, though. For on-ear have a look at the Sennheiser PX 200-II. Fods up like a pair of sunglasses and about the same size; sound is great.

@taigila i dont own any of these 3 but from what i heard, q 701 is your pick.

@qnoobcakep Yes amp affects sound quality very much, but even without an amp, they're gonna sound better than beats.

I have no idea who Quincy Jones is. But the piano player vkgoeswild uses these so they're probably pretty good.

@TheMrlipsyncer Sennheiser HD 650. I think they're about $500.

You don't. The same reason I don't take my Alessandro MS1i's outside. I instead have a pair of ATH-M50's for that.

you are either not paying attention, playing low bit-rate mp3s or haven't really tried any other of the headphones he listed. I own a pair of m-50s myself, and as an other review will say, they do reproduce plenty of bass, slightly uncontrolled even.

I love Quincy Jone's headphones, his wife and his daughter.

Sir, if you would be so kind to do a comparison and let me know your thoughts; People have own both q701 and k701 has been reporting noticeable difference between the two headphones, due to foam used and as well as other tuning were done to q701. Thus is why I doubt this is a simple rebrand-recolor.

I think they look good compared to anything. Except for the green, not really into that colour for headphones.

sorry all my music is either uncompressed or lossy. Try checking your EQ the m50s are no where near uncontrolled

While I do agree with you that the latter headphones sound much better than the M50, I don't think that the M50 has uncontrolled bass, for its price. The other headphones that you mentioned costs a few times more and by right they should provide better sound.

@InnerFidelity it's cool. I really enjoy your vids and website, really informative as I am looking to upgrade from my m50's.

I really liked your review. Just subscribed after watching this.

Thats because unlike Beyerdynamic, Sennheiser, Stax, etc, who are their own companies, AKG is owned by Harman, who obviously doesnt care much for high end headphonesI wish AKG would be a standalone Austrian company as it once was, when they were really making excellent stuff.

@MusicTriggerHappy Like ice picks in my ear drum. Bright and little bass.

I cannot find AKG 701 headphones in the stores anymore.

Q701 sounds a bit different than the k701/702 The Q701 has more bass and making the headphones more balanced where as the K701/702 are brighter phones

@InnerFidelity I appreciate it, I'll grab some 840s.

@JabaJamzRecords Sennheiser HD 650; Denon AH-D2000; Audeze LCD-2; Beyerdynamic DT1350

True tyl true.Celebrity does bring many people to buy their headphones

The most beautiful headphone I've ever seen.

They are both great but I would go with these.

good review but i'm still greatly disappointed in AKG for discontinuing some of their most legendary headphones. the 240DF's was their best work for studio headphones and makes headphones like the hd800's seem overpriced for how precise and accurate AKG made them right next to their K1000 and K501 of headphones. even my older K240 sextett LP's i have is very impressive and better then the current studio offerings AKG has out in my opinion. i wish AKG atleast bring the 240DF's back.

He's talking about Transient response

@InnerFidelity They have them at my local hi-fi store so I can go have a listen there. They also have Denon AH-D5000 and D2000 amongst others, those are supposed to be bass monsters while still keeping their audiophile appeal and natural sounds etc... Those could be a better choice?

@DoNultima Not really a suggestion, but more an observation. I've got the B7W P5 and it's a colored can, with great lows. I love them with movies, oddly enough. The have them at Apple stores, maybe you shouls go have a listen?

They're probably lean sounding because apparently they require an amp to run correctly. A headphone amp that is.

can I wear these with glasses without much irritation and pressure to them?

I'm wearing my M50s now and I can back him up as them not having much bass. It's there but it's not something I bought them for.

They were probably not using an AKG microphone when shooting this.

@MessiMovement sennheiser hd20pro are only $100 bucks and theyre awesome, unless you dont like the coiled cord they have

what, in your opinion, are the best headphones for an individual who spends all of his free time listening to music?

wish they mixed AKG Q701 with beats pro and made ¨quincy. dre pro¨ or dr quincy pro

Excellent review!! I have one question - will i get good/quality sound if i plug this into my laptop? I do not own any amplitifer and the only other device i have is an Ipod classic. I want to know the answer badly. Thanks a lot.

@PrintHelloWord Probably not.

I can, since AKG hails them as therir flagship headphone. Now we have the 65 Anniversy 702 headphones.. How long will AKG milk these things? Beyer/Senn/Stax/ etc have all released state of the art headphones, why not AKG..

I came to comment about how awesome your shirt is, But others beat me to it.

@jacob856921 Xb1000 and Q701 really arent in the same league. First of all, Q701 cost twice as much. Second, they're opened headphones with balanced sound, while XB1000 is a closed bass oriented headphone. My guess is Q701 sound much better with anything except hip-hop or techno music.

Quick question, I know you've done a review on the V Moda m100's and this model of AKG. I was wondering which you preferred. There are no large stores around me I can test either of these out. I was just looking for something mainly for mainstream songs, a little bit of rock, then I'm also going to buy a third party mic and doing some gaming on them. Thanks for taking the time!