Contrebombarde.com Concert hall

Where "Good" and "Cheap" Belong in the Same Description - A Headphone Love Story

2015-01-07 - Cool Gear

Here at MIDIWorks, we've long been fans of the AKG k700 series of headphones; specifically, the K701, K702 and Q701 headphone models.

I had such a visceral reaction to the K701 the first time I tried them that I have loved them ever since. Brett Milan and I were at a trade show and he had a beta version of the Notre Dame de Metz organ on his machine. I really wanted to hear it. So, he loaded it up and slapped the headphones on me.

I liked what I heard but told him I wanted him to turn off the speakers so I could hear only the headphones.

He told me the speakers were not on.

I was so convinced that the speakers were on, and that he was messing with me, that I took off the headphones to better rebuke him...

The speakers weren't on.

Ever since then I have loved the K701 and the similar K702 (detachable cable) and Q701 (allegedly a little more bass optimization).

HOWEVER

For a long time, they were a minimum of $250. More often more like $350. Currently, they run somewhere around $200 on Amazon (less expensive ones possibly because they're refurbished) which is a little easier to swallow or $349 brand-new from a pro audio retailer.

In many ways, the pricing is right. They're fantastic headphones and you really get what you pay for. The attention to detail is superb. If you've got the money, they're well worth it. You'll never be sorry you bought these.

In other ways and for other people, that's a lot; especially if you're in a position where you're building up your Hauptwerk instrument or studio setup bit-by-bit.

I recently found some great headphones available at a fantastic price.

The Superlux HD-330 headphones are a fantastic sounding set of ear cans that retail for, get this... under $100.

What Superlux has done is to put audiophile quality drivers into pretty average-quality architecture. So, they don't look and feel as luxurious as the AKGs but they sound great.

They have a similar, open-back design as the AKGs and a similar frequency response range (10Hz-30,000kHz). At first, they sound a bit extra loud in the low end. However, that evens out after a couple of hours of use. One Head-fi blog post mentions that they took about 5hrs of use to break in. I found that to be pretty accurate with my own usage.

Here is a pic of the K702 (left) and the HD-330 so you can have a look at the difference in construction.

Some people don't like the pleather ear coverings and so they spend an extra $20 or so buying some Beyerdynamic DT770 ear covers. I didn't mind them as-is personally.

I have seen the HD-330 available in Europe but I haven't seen them available in North America so much. I have seen other models available. However, the HD-330 is their top of the line. So, I wouldn't go with the other models. We will have them in stock at www.MIDIWorks.ca fairly soon because we believe in them and no one else seems to be stocking them. I talked with the distributor about them and they said they were having trouble selling them because people couldn't believe they would sound good at that price... Funny, that's what people used to tell me about Hauptwerk at tradeshows... that is, until they sat down and heard it. :)

UPDATE: These are now in stock. Get them here

Darryl