AKG K702 Open-Back Over-Ear Premium Studio Headphones, Reference Grade Sound, Airy and Spacious Soundstage, Precision Crafted

I was having a hard time working out whether or not I should get these cans - most people love 'em, from what I can tell, and that's what swayed me - there was no way of auditioning them before purchase. From what I understand, and despite what people say, they do need a certain amount of 'burning in' to get them sounding their best. A bit about what I'm expecting from them. I'm a muso, and do a lot of recording. For tracking and mixing to date, I've largely been using a pair of AKG K271 Mk2 headphones, and I'm happy with them, although they're light on the bass, resulting in some rather bass-y mixes. I wanted to get some new headphones for mixing that had a flatter frequency response, and was going to go for a pair of Beyer DT880s. Thing is, from what I could tell from the response curves I've seen, they're bass heavy. The AKG's are flatter. I'd also read that they're VERY detailed and will show up any mistakes in recording. Well, they've turned up and I couldn't wait to unbox them. Packaging is good, although unlike the K271s, they only come with a single cable (as opposed to one straight and one curly) and no replacement ear pads. You need to attach the cable via the mini XLR plug to the headphones, and then you're good to go... They're quite comfortable, and the pads fit enclose your ears nicely. They weigh next-to-nothing. But they are open-backed, so if you buy them, please don't wear them on a bus or a tube, otherwise someone might want to gouge your eardrums out with a knitting needle or something... People WILL be able to hear what you're listening to! Plugging the headphones in to begin with, I'd say that they're not quite as bass-light as the K271s but not far off - certainly not what I'd expected from the graph I'd seen, but I've also been told that the bass response does improve after the burn in period, so for now I'm only giving them 4 out of 5. Maybe it's me not being fully familiar with them yet - that's always a possibility. But to relate the sound in layman's terms, the articulation is phenomenal. Playing Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here, I'd heard quiet synth sounds that I never knew were even there before. Playing 'Slave' off the Rolling Stone's Tattoo You album, it's like you're in the room with Charlie Watts while he's playing it - every detail of the reverb is there. Listening to 'Coma' by Guns And Roses, you can even hear the start and end of the 'heartbeat' sample. You can tell because there's some noise that they didn't get rid of altogether... (Tut tut, GnR!) Whatever music I've played through them so far, you can hear the transients on everything - the detail on these headphones is FANTASTIC!!! I heard a 'count-in' on one track I played and had to look around, as I thought someone was in the room with me. Well worth the money! UPDATE: Well, after a day or two more-or-less continual use, I wasn't so sure whether or not the sound had changed. Until I A-B'd them once more with the K271 Mk2's. The difference in quality is extremely noticeable, where I'm not so sure that it was before - the 271's sound boxy now in comparison; the 702's sound full and crystal clear. Highly recommended! So I'm upgrading my review to 5 stars...

I chose to buy the AKG Q702 headphones after a lot of research. Headphones are a difficult purchase because it's hard to audition them due to the difficulty of finding a retailer who stocks a wide range and also because retailers are reluctant to let people try them due to health and safety concerns around cleanliness. My research was threefold. Firstly I looked at reviews by hifi magazines and websites. Then I consulted hifi forums and lastly I looked at product reviews on sites like Amazon from people who actually had purchased items. All opinions gathered in this way have to be treated with some caution because the views are subjective and, to be frank, some people do have favourite brands. The opinions I took the most notice of were from people who like the same type of music as me, which is mainly classical. These came out heavily in favour of AKG headphones and the Q702s in particular. I also took price into account. I was willing to spend rather more than the roughly £250 the AKGs cost but there is a law of diminishing returns in hifi and everything I read made me think that, whilst I could get better headphones, I would probably be satisfied with the AKGs. Ok so they come in a nice enough box. There is no case but that is not a concern for me as they will only be used at home and I have a convenient shelf for them to sit on. They have a tubular metal framework with a leather strap which goes on top of your head. The bodies are made of plastic and they have foam ear-surrounds. They are pretty light, 360g on my kitchen scales, including the cable, which is detachable. They are "open back" which means that they don't insulate you fully from external noise nor indeed do they protect others from your music. So they are for use in private! I have found them very comfortable. As mentioned, they are light so there is no problem there and I didn't find that my ears got hot even after a couple of hours of listening. Some reviewers have said that they found the ridges under the leather strap uncomfortable but to be frank I didn't really notice they were there. (I wonder if people have been pulling the phones hard down onto their scalp?) In terms of sound quality this is an early review. Some reviewers say that they need hundreds of hours to "run in" but I found them excellent straight out of the box. Some reviewers also say that they are much better with a dedicated headphone amp but I haven't tried that. In fact so far I have only tried them using the headphone socket on my Marantz CD6004. I will in due course try them using the socket on my Marantz PM6004. I've listened to a wide variety of music but the main ones to talk about are: * Grieg Lieder - Ann Sofie von Otter, Bengt Forsberg - DG437 521-2 * Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto - Kyung Wha Chung, LSO, Previn - Decca 475 7734 * Allegri Miserere - Tallis Scholars - Gimell CDGIM 339 * Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds - Columbia DPCD96000 (I think!) * Jennifer Warnes, Famous Blue Raincoat -20th anniversary edition - Shout 826663-10490 * Prokofiev Symphony 5, SNO, Jarvi - Chandos 8450 The Grieg is rather special, being a Penguin Guide Rosette winner and a former Gramophone "record of the year". The performances by both singer and accompanist are outstanding and the digital recording is demonstration quality. It is a tough test for any piece of equipment. The AKGs shone here. Von Otter's voice was captured in all its beauty and in some ways even better the piano was beautifully reproduced, all the notes perfectly represented to my ears. The sound staging was also excellent and by closing my eyes I could easily envisage a live performance. The Tchaikovsky is a much older (1970) analogue recording and I included it in the test not only because it is a wonderful performance but also I wanted to be see how the AKGs handed a non-digital recording (albeit a well-regarded one) and how they would integrate a soloist with a full orchestra. I'm pleased to say that all was well and indeed it was so good I played it through twice. The Allegri is also an old analogue recording but you wouldn't guess that. This is also a really tough test because the key thing is to be able to reproduce the acoustic of the venue, actually the Chapel of Merton College, Oxford, and to set the voices properly in perspective in it. This is hard because the solo group and the main choir are located at opposite ends of the Chapel, so to get it right you have to recreate a huge 3-dimensional sound stage. The distant and often hushed voices of the main choir have to live in harmony with the much closer solo group and Alison Stamp's wonderful treble has to soar above everything. I was quite stunned at how good the AKGs were at achieving this. My KEF Q500s do it better but you would expect that as they have the whole volume of a room to achieve it in. To make it realistic with headphones is excellent. The "War of the Worlds" is an old favourite and includes some excellent sound effects as well as some punchy popular music, with the added bonus of Richard Burton's wonderful narration. Burton really came alive through the AKGs and indeed everything sounded great. The "unscrewing" of the Martian canister sounded fantastic, I won't say realistic because that would be the wrong word, and it conveyed a wonderful impression of what was happening. It was so involving that I listened to the whole CD rather than the first 10 minutes as I had intended. Jennifer Warnes is one of "the" voices of the late 20th century in my opinion and her versions of Leonard Cohen's songs are highly prized. As Cohen himself said of her singing "I stand by my original astonishment". I won't go through the tracks but the AKGs didn't stumble and of particular note they handled with ease the rather difficult live version of "Joan of Arc", which can sound dreadful on cheap equipment. I chose the Prokofiev because it is highly percussive and I wanted to see if the AKGs could separate out all the various percussion instruments that are employed. In addition I wanted to know if they could convey the great excitement and drive of the final movement. They could! I could identify all the instruments and when I closed my eyes it took me back to a live performance I saw in the Albert Hall many years ago. To summarise, the AKGs performed well on all the music I tried. They were particularly good at presenting a realistic sound-stage; the performers seemed to be there in front of you. The Allegri was particularly impressive. I have read reviews that say the AKGs lack bass. I don't think that is right. I think they are neutral and reproduce what is there. If you want bass to be boosted these are not the headphones for you! They are rather analytical, i.e. everything is separated out and put into place, and people who like a smoother sound might find that wearing. I simply think it is realistic and I think the more you listen to these headphones the more you will appreciate the analysis. Overall I am very pleased with my purchase!

OK,these are more or less ignored by the hi fi press, but loved by professional audio community. I would trust the opinion of somebody who spends days with these perched on their heads making the products the Audiophiles listen to rather than someone thinking up words like attack, warmth etc OK, the unboxing experience, mine arrived in a nice black box inside a simple cardboard sleeve. There were some inspirational words on 2 flaps (can't remember what they are, and couldn't care less), then the headphones are in a plastic bag, with the detachable cable tucked away inside another plastic bag. There, they arrived in a box: sorted. If they are truly aimed at professionals I am reminded how Canon pack their expensive semi pro video equipment. It comes in a plain brown cardboard box that you throw in the recycling. Just put it In a box! First visual impression, they are mighty ugly objects. Think two padded pan lids held together with a wire coat hanger. Those ear pads are massive. You could happily pop them on a baby elephant. Yep, there's a lot of plastic, but you could say the same for Grado cans too. The mini XLR plug happily slots into place with a gentle click, and stays put. The gold plated jack plug and 6.3mm adapter look to be well made, and are held together with a screw thread. The cord is thick enough for the job, nonmicrophony if you move it about. A 10 foot(ISH) length is ideal for moving around at a mixing desk or sitting near your hi fi relaxing. The cable can be easily changed for shorter ones at a variety of prices. The headband is supposed to be leather, but there's no residual smell. OK, they are not the most beautiful design, but, hey, are you going to sit and stare at them or put them on and listen to music? Comfort, well you can wear them for hours without discomfort. The velour ear pads don't seem to get warm like plastic or leather ones. I've not experienced the dreaded sweaty ears. You can listen to a whole CD without the dreaded headphones itch. They might look huge (and ridiculous, but the suspension system keeps them happily floating on your head. I've not found any discomfort from the headband at all, I don't even notice it. If the ear pads wear out, replacements can be purchased. Let's address one issue that people have with these cans. They are open backed. That means noise can pass through them. They really are transparent. I mean, with a really quiet music passage you can hear background noise as quiet as the water in your central heating radiators. If someone is having a conversation whilst you are in a listening session you will hear it. I tested this with a few tracks off Vangelis' Alexandra. You could hear background noise despite all those orchestral crescendos. They are far from ideal for isolating yourself or commuting. They are great for their intended purpose however. For me, they were bought so that I can listen to music at high volume late at night without thudding bass disturbing the neighbours. With that intended purpose they are excellent. How do they sound with a phone, well a bit quiet. The same goes for the headphone jack on my Marantz CD player. They really need a little bit more output. You need to crank them up a few notches compared to other 'phones. The downside to this is that you need to careful of this if you have an amp that switches straight to speakers once the headphones are unplugged. Bit of a shock as the higher volume burst out of the room speakers. My Marantz PM6007 amp and MR611 all in one happily drive them though. OK, the sound quality. If the track has plenty of bass, you will hear it, if it doesn't, they faithfully reproduce it. You can tell what that bass note is coming from, not some deep nondescript rumble. Mid range is excellent. As others have mentioned, the positioning of instruments in the sound stage is precise. Choir's seem made up of individuals, not a collection of voices smeared around.Treble: some have used words like harsh or brittle. I would say that percussion has a sharp and precise attack with incredible detail. Lengthy listening sessions are fatigue free. You can drive them to high volumes with no perceptible distortion. Female vocals, classical, acoustic guitars etc are all silky on them. Sound stage. Well, plenty of separation. An album like Suzanne Vega's 99.9F gives that a good demonstration as instruments and vocals hurtle around with high energy. In short, if you are in Europe or the UK where they have reduced dramatically in price recently consider them as a great step up from budget headphones for the sound quality if listening to quality hi fi with good recordings at home. Probably not good for vinyl, as you will hear all that crackle and hiss, they are really goodxatcshowing that up.

I have had these headphones a number of years now, and the best reviews for me, are from people who have used an item for a long time. These headphones are super comfortable out of the box and are amazing. Very flat response, I play and record a multitude of instruments, and the sound is just amazing. I have an ok setup, speaker wise for listening in the room, a decent Rega amp + Dali speakers, not the highest end I admit, but comparing the in the room sound (basic dampening) to the headphone sound, you get a pretty close match when mixing a wide variety of rock music. The separation is pretty wide, I found mixing a hard LR between two instruments makes your head turn nearly, an almost beyond a binarual sound, but it was pleasant. That's the headline, I also bought various mini xlr cables to have backups, and this is where you will see most of the issues, so not a knock on the headphones themselves. You can just buy replacements, although I would suggest buying a few backups if you find a decent brand + price. The two bad things about the headphones themselves are the foam cups themselves, and some of the internal wiring. While comfortable, they can be quite warm, and will cause you to sweat after long sessions, and because of the difficulty removing them, they will turn a nastier colour and smell quite bad, especially while worn. I would rather it was easier to replace them. I also ran into an issue, after a few years mind, where the internal wiring of either cup becomes a problem. The wiring becomes quite brittle, and the soldering job is basic on either cup, the two wire right cup, or the three wire left cup with the XLR jack. If you are having issues with the left or right ear cutting out, and replacing the xlr cable doesn't work, the grey 'vented' cover on either ear can be twisted counter clockwise (provided you have get enough purchase to do so, I recommend a very sturdy pointed pliers or a strong paper clip). This will give you access to the wiring below, which is very simple move, or resolder if required. Overall, even with those issues, I have gotten a lot of use out of these headphones, and repairing them was a doddle. I would recommend, purely for their sound quality, and their ease of repair. Absolutely worth the money, you get a big bang for the buck. AKG are more than marketing.

UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who found my comments below helpful. With this in mind I provide the following additional information as my journey with lovely headphones continues. Since the original review I have also bought and tested a number of other headphones, and the 702's remain joint first place for me. They are now equalled by the Beyer Dynamic DT990s Edition, which have a bit more 'oomph' and a more premium feel (both sets are incredibly comnfortable!) They beyers don't have quite the stereo sepration and clarity of the 702's, but only just. Both are amazing. I tried the AKG712's which also have a little more oomph, but the pads are a little less deep and my ears touched the driver which I found unpleasant. Without that problem I'd say they added a little bit more bass to the 702's whilst retaining all the positives. I have tried Senn 600 and 650, both great, but not as clear and beatiful (and lot more costly.) Again, they do both have more bass. Finally, for those worried about driving these without an amp-don't. Since my review I now use a galaxy s7 and that provides a lot more power than the note 4 did-such that you probably shouldnb't listen at full volume. I also now sometimes use an Oppo HA2 portbale amp. This isn't required for the volume, but it does add an intangible layer of extra detail. Would I spot this in an A/B test-probably, but it's marginal and I am often happy using these phones straight out of my phone. Finally, despite my comments on build quality the 702's are still 'as new' with no failure of any parts after more than a year. Definitely 5 stars! ORIGINAL REVIEW Background: I've been exloring decent headphones for a while now. I've owned AKG 550, Sennheiser HD 595 (like 598), and Senn 598 CS, as well as a range of cheaper phones. I listen to a lot of ambient, pysbient, prog rock, jazz, and occasionally more poppy stuff. I don't really listen to clasical. A lot of what I like has a good bass line. I've driven these 'phones directly from the headphones jack of a gaaxy note 4 (the quietest headphone jack of any recent device I've owned), and also from an ipad mini 2. I've also used the Dragonfly Black DAC/Amp via PC (and tried via Note 4) Sound quality: Volume: A lot has been said about how these headphones need an amp. They are quieter than all the other sets above, but still function well enough in terms of volume on most tracks with almost all music. Quieter older tracks may need me to take the note 4 right to the top of the volume control, but as these are indoor phones I'd suggest that listening at much louder volumes for long periods is probably entering the sort of volume that's not good for your ears! Soundstage: As many say these have the most open soundstage and seperation of all of my headphones, and in a really good way. Seperation of intruments and stereo seperation is really clear and exciting. I thought the 595's were clear, but these phones genuinely seem to have found details and clarity that I've not heard before. It's a cliche, but I'm re-discovering detail in favourite tracks. Bass and frequency: Having read a lot about how these lack bass, I was very pleasantly surprised. Track that push out bass such as All I Need by Caribou give plenty of bass and it is rich and chocolatey. So clear and pure and smooth. The bassiest phones I own are the 598 CS's, and these are a lot more rounded. If you think more bass is always better then these may not be for you. If you like bass that knows it's place then these phones deliver when it was intended--even when driven directly from a portable device. The dragonfly black didn't work via Android OTG, so I have only listenied via PC. Here the DAC/Amp does improve the sound still further, but the effect is more subtle than I was expecting. Everything (soundstage, clarity, bass etc.) probably sees an improvement I'd rate as 10% better. Volume with the amp via a pc was essentially unlimited. Comfort: The self-adjusting headband took a while to get used to. The phones are very comfortable in the pads and headbands. The velour pads are far preferable to the leather (effect) pads of the 550's, and seem to keep everything cool and comfy. No strong clamping (if anything they feel a little loose, but I prefer this.) It's a close call but I'd say the 595's are a shade more comfortable, but I don't see anyone having comfort issues with these. Build quality: Now this is where I wanted to deduct a star, but just couldn't bring myself to given how impressed I am with the sound which is what really matters. These sound like the best phones in my collection, but undoubtedly feel like the cheapest build. The AKG 550's have a heft and metal that feels premium. Even the cable of the 550's feels superior. Although both Senns are plastic, they look and feel more solid. My first impression of the 702's was that they look like a toy, or a cheap and nasty washing machine. What I mean is that the grills on the exterior of the cans is light, and so cheap to the touch. The 'silver' central circle looks like cheap faux silver always does. The self-adjusting headband feels like it is operated by elastic bands (it almost is!), and will fail in time. Conclusion: I paid £115 for these, and for that price the sonic bliss is astonishing. If I'd paid much more I'd still be impressed by the sound, but I'd feel a little cheated by the really cheap materials that house these amazing drivers. Although this is a very long review, my main purpose in writing was to re-assure those without an Amp that these headphones will work perfectly well straight from your portable device, and will still give a good representation of their sound signature. If you find the bass lacking on these I don't actually think and amp would change that, you'd be better of with more 'coloured' phones. Soundstage: 10/10 Clarity of performance: 10/10 Volume through portable device: 8/10 Build quality 6/10 Comfort: 9/10

I don't know if I am 'qualified' to give a review, so I will give what I personally feel about them and what I actually bought them for - and why. I had a superb set of headphones that were either Technics or some well known brand. They were very comfortable and I think - very good. Unfortunately being many years old the black glossy finish on the ear cushions started peeling off onto my ears. The headphones still worked perfectly though. Looked a bit of a twat walking down the road with bits of black stuck to my ears! On my TV I have (had) a superb high end 5.1 surround sound system. Unfortunately the holiday flat next to mine sold to someone who decided to live there full time and my world of cinematic full bodied sound came to an end with a lady at my door in tears begging me to turn the volume down. So, I decided to pay a grand price for a quality set of headphones. I read loads of reviews which were mostly gobble-de-gook and purely on all the comments surmised that these AKG K702 Open-Back Dynamic were the dogs....... I now watch most TV with these headphones. Do they sound any different to my old £30 Technics? No. Are they as comfortable as my old £30 Technics? No. In fact they are UNCOMFORTABLE. The black headband is annoying and seems to serve no useful purpose, other than press itself into my head. Also the tension on the tightness on the ear cushions is too much and after any anything more than 10/15 minutes the headphones make their presence felt. The weight of the headphones also makes itself known. All in all. I am disappointed. I am not sure what I was expecting. One thing is for sure though - I won't get black bits peeling off and sticking to my ears. I made sure when choosing the headphones that the cushions had to be foam. I am certainly suffering from buyers remorse. I feel the £135 could have been better spent. I am going to have to live with them, who is going to buy them used? My feeling is I may not be putting them to the use they were intended for, but for anyone who just wants a 'pair of headphones' save your money and buy something for a quarter of the price. I thought about it a great deal and gave 3 stars - which is probably slightly generous given the comfort issue, but I may have been too harsh on the sound quality which for me sounded no more and no less than any other reasonable headphones.

PRESENTATION 1. K702 arrive in a simple lightweight box that does not immediately convey the feeling of luxury, one would expect from a world-famous pair of expensive headphones (Picture 1). On the left-hand side there are six labels with praise by different online testing venues: all of them date back to 2009 and 2008. 2. I do like the clever wording: “Expect” on the front of the box, “and discover” on the inner cover (Pictures 2 and 3). 3. At long last, the box is fully opened and one can enjoy the view of the coveted headphones, sort of. They are inside a plastic bag that somewhat ruins the picture (Picture 4). 4. I wish AKG had done a better job of presenting K702. Back in 2008 this frugal style may have been good enough, but now with the likes of Beats (investing heavily in the looks and marketing of their products) and the Philips Fidelio’s of the world, AKG K702’s presentation is something of a let-down. One could argue that they were never meant to be a hugely popular consumer product, and, therefore, they are not marketed as one. Still, I cannot help, but feel a bit underwhelmed. PROS 1. Once out of the box and the cheap wrapping, AKG K702 look excellent in a reserved classical way. They are almost entirely made of dark blue plastic (Picture 5) with silver accents that emulate metal (Picture 6). The headband is made of real leather with blue stitching and adds a touch of luxury (Picture 7). 2. Because they are mostly plastic, K702 are extremely lightweight and very comfortable. You can wear them for hours on end without experiencing any discomfort. In fact, these must be the most comfortable headphones I have ever tried, which is the result of them being so light, but also the fact that the ear cups are quite big with an outer diameter of 11 cm and an inner opening of 6,5 mm (Pictures 8 and 9). Unlike Sennheiser Urbanite XL or Audio-Technica ATH-M50X , K702 are true over-the-ear headphones. It is also worth noting that the ear cups are wrapped in breathable soft velour (Picture 10). 3. Most importantly, K702 are hands down the best sounding headphones under £200. They are way better than any recent Beats of Sony model (for example, Beats by Dr. Dre Studio 2.0 or Sony MDR-1A Prestige ); they best the very popular Audio-Technica ATH-M50X (although the latter have stronger bass), and are superior to the modern classic Philips X2 Fidelio : – To start with, K702 sound much clearer and more transparent than any of the models mentioned above. Their audio frequency bandwidth of 10 to 39,800 Hz is truly outstanding. Even the excellent Philips X2 Fidelio sound muffled in direct comparison. – K702’s stereo picture seems to extend further left and right than that of any of the other headphones I have tested. Not sure how AKG have achieved that, but the result is quite stunning. – Many have mentioned that K702 lack bass, but the truth is that their sound is simply true to the original, with no part of the audio spectrum being accentuated. As AKG’s description reads, K702 have been engineered “for precision listening, mixing and mastering. They combine an extremely accurate response with agility and spaciousness.” Why is that important? Most songs are recorded and mixed to perfection in multi-million dollar studios by professionals with many years of experience in the field and the notion that you can “improve” on a song’s sound by boosting the bass or applying a few DSP effects to skew the audio picture one way or another, cannot be correct. What you want is to hear the song the way its author and producer intended it to be heard and AKG K702 does exactly that, adding no spice or colour of its own. – Likewise, a lot has been written about how notoriously difficult K702 are to drive with their rated impedance of 62 Ohms supposedly not telling the whole story, but frankly, I am using them on my desktop with excellent results and even on my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 they sound decent (although I do have to crank the volume up to 80% to get to a proper level of loudness). Would they sound even better with a good headphone amp? Sure. Do they absolutely need one? No. 4. The ear pads are removable, so it is easy to clean or exchange them for new ones (Pictures 11 and 12). 5. At £132 AKG K702 are very competitively priced, and are actually cheaper than all popular competing models. CONS 1. Many prospective buyers seem to lose sleep over the issue of where these legendary headphones are actually made. Let me put everyone’s worst fears to rest… by confirming them. Welcome to the brave new world, ladies and gentlemen, where Austrian headphones are in fact made in China or the P.R.C. (Picture 13). 2. K702 are exclusively produced from lightweight plastic. Compare this to the fact that Philips X2 Fidelio are entirely made of premium materials like metal and real leather (Pictures 14 and 15). Of course, steel is heavier than plastic, but it is also sturdier and does not necessarily make a pair of headphones less comfortable to wear. 3. The system for attaching the ear pads to the cups looks like something made by school children with a pair of scissors from a sheet of thin black plastic (Pictures 11 and 12). 4. The cups’ suspension system uses… thin elastics of the kind you can find in your mother’s sewing box (Picture 14). They will get slack with time. 5. At 3 m of length, the cable is too long for most practical purposes and terminates with a proprietary “professional mini XLR connector” (Pictures 16, 17 and 18). 6. These are open-back headphones (Picture 6) and everyone in the room will be perfectly aware of what you are listening to. 7. With a width of 19 cm and height of 23.5 cm (Pictures 19 and 20), K702 are nothing short of enormous and because of their size, the fact that they are made of plastic, the 3 m cable and rated impedance of 62 Ohms, they are clearly not made with today’s mobile generation in mind. A single drop to the ground could break or scratch and ruin them. 8. With some genres, artists and songs K702 tend to sound too lean. If you often listen to hard rock, heavy metal or are a fan of Rammstein, you may at times feel that these headphones are draining the life out of your music. They have been compared to the cold precision of a scalpel, cutting through the living flesh of your favourite song. It is not that the bass is completely missing, it has just lost its quality to excite… However, I do not subscribe to this opinion. To my ears K702 are clear and transparent, with an extended stereo image, perfect balance and enough bass to make for a competent and enjoyable listening experience. CONCLUSIONS + 1. AKG K702 are the most comfortable and overall best sounding headphones in this price segment. I returned Audio-Technica ATH-M50X , once I had a chance to directly compare them to Philips X2 Fidelio , and sent the latter back after a few days of testing AKG K702. The bottom line is that music connoisseurs feel passionate about the pure, faithful reproduction of the source audio picture, and this is exactly what AKG K702 delivers. 2. Please, note that there are more expensive and (allegedly) superior sounding headphones on the market if money is not an issue: Mr. Speakers Ether, Sennheiser HD800 , HIFIMAN HE1000 , STAX SR-009 , or the Focal Elear and Utopia models, to just name a few, although some of these models will set you back with the price of a small car. 3. AKG K702 are very competitively priced and unless you listen to most of your music on the go, they are a highly recommended buy. – 4. If you are addicted to thundering bass, K702 should not be your first choice. Both Audio-Technica ATH-M50X and Philips X2 Fidelio deliver accentuated bass and may suit you better. However, be warned that Audio-Technica ATH-M50X feel heavy, rigid and are uncomfortable to wear, while Philips X2 Fidelio sound muffled in direct comparison and have a narrower stereo extension. 5. K702 are, unfortunately, entirely made of fragile plastic (to the point of feeling toyish), and use proprietary cable connectors. UPDATE: I ordered a second pair of AKG K702 about a month after I bought the first one. However, the new pair was promptly sent back to Amazon. Why? 1. There was a creaking sound when moving the ear cups. 2. The right ear pad was thicker and visually bigger than the left one and also thicker and bigger than the ear pads of my “old” pair. Please, note that the thickness and size of the pads does affect sound quality. 3. The new pair sounded differently in an unusual way. To my ears the stereo extension seemed narrower. The overall audio presentation was a bit off, when compared to my “older” pair, but this could have been the result of the “new” pair not having been properly burnt-in (although some do argue that burn-in is a myth). These differences are very unfortunate, and in my opinion could lower the overall rating by a ½ star to reflect the ineffective Quality Control, exercised by AKG’s Chinese or Korean production facility.

My first review here. You might be wondering what do I mean by my title? You see with every headphones there's always a way to improve how they sound to your liking, but the lower the price the less you can do, at least that's what I found, well not anymore. These headphones can punch well above their weight if paired with a great sounding equipment, starting from the source, and moving on to the software (JPLAY, or MQN, or Foobar2000 with Wasapi on Event, and configured buffer to either 8 or less if your equipment allows, it makes quite a difference), then your DAC presumably connected by a USB which you can upgrade for better sound, all having an difference in sound (I'm telling from experience), then from your DAC a jack or RCAs coming out into your preamp/amp, again all these products having different sound from a company to a company... all this is worth for these cans, they just improve with your system, you hear them grow bigger, you hear the grow better with each bad part of your system replaced. Is it a bad thing? One would say yes, it's bad, because I need to spend all that money trying out different cables and equipment when I could just buy the senns 650 HD with a bit of coloration and more forgiving nature, but how many headphones allow you to change their sound so much with the equipment you use? Not only that, you can buy pads from K601s or K702s Annies and get the 3db bass boost you want if you find them bright, it's up to you. If you use WMP or iTunes than really that's where you should start first (I found Jplay sounding best, but there are new ones on the market already, and if you are looking for one that's free, foobar2000 with WASAPI on Event is great, it gives a more dark presentation somehow, plus bit-perfect playback, well sort of). These headphones demand quality, much more than you would expect in that price field, they can really be taken to great heights, and it's a journey that these headphones have put me on, and I'm liking it. They will sound very weird at the beginning not only because they need to settle in, but they are so detailed and especially transparent that what you hear wrong is your system's shortcomings being frown at your face. No Amp, no DAC? You buy these, you will start to save money for that equipment you researched or aditioned in a shop with your AKG's in hands and your head of course, if really low on money don't buy these otherwise, they will drill a hole in your wallet, but it's all worth it. If you want something even better than these, with a similar presentation but superior in every sense, then Stax is your final destination, or an lcd2, or lcd3 on the way, oh and the Senns 800 HD, plus some other flagships, nothing else beats these. I would also like to mention I had Q701's for a month and I liked K702s better as they had a wider frequency response and more detail, I couldn't settle with the Q701s. I hope I helped with your decision, and gave some stellar information on the way :)

Bardzo dobre słuchawki domowe, wokółuszne. Przestrzenne brzmienie, średnica i soprany bez zarzutów (naturalne i szczegółowe brzmienie). Jedyny minus to dość słaby bas. Można equalizerem zwiększyć jego odczuwalność (dodać mu kopa), ale wciąż bez rewelacji. Ogólnie K702 brzmią podobnie do Sundary, tylko bez basu. Wygoda, ergonomia na plus (nie mam zastrzeżeń).

Herhangi bir sıkıntı yaşamadım. Ürün kutusunda sıfır geldi. Kulaklığın sahnesi çok güzel yanlız. Hem oyun için hem müzik için piyasada alınabilecek en iyi kulaklıklardan.

Es un audifono muy plano, aunque le falten graves es ideal para mezclar. Los medios tienen mucho cuerpo y precision. Los agudos son extendidos y para nada fatigantes.

Already had an older K601 that was retiring so this was the replacement. This model is great for listening to jazz, blues and classical music. Heavy rock fans look somewhere else, perhaps Audio Technica or a similar headphone. The K601 was more demanding than this newer model but I still recommend some kind of headphone-amp together with it to get the most out of the headphone (or a hq connect).

Got my k702 yesterday, it works perfectly with my budget dac & amp. It's comfortable to wear, far more comfortable than the my grado ones. I'm not a audiophile so I am not able to describe the difference between it and my other headphones, but I can definitely hear more details with the k702 than grado sr60x or sony wh-1000xm4 (hope it's not just my imagination). It's an open-back, so the people around you can hear what you are listening, and you can still hear the nosie outside. So it's probably not a headphone to use for commuting or work. I saw other reviews point out this headphone might have quality issue and might stop working after few months' use. I hope it won't happen to mine.