I finally plucked up the courage to take my AKG K702's apart and have a go at the much talked about bass mod last night. I started out very cautiously but it ended up being a breeze and once I knew what I was doing it became a five minute job. There is a long thread on Head-fi discussing the mod, how to do it and what effects it has. Oh and as long as you are careful it's easily reversible, so no great danger of doing permanent damage.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/660408/reversible-akg-k701-bass-mod
Basically you just open up the back of each cup, take a few bits out and remove a small round piece of tape that's used to cover a port into the rear of the driver. Then you put them back together again and you're done.
My K702's started out relatively bass light but have been improving over the weeks as they have worn in and loosened up. When it came to rock or electronic music though, I would still reach for my DT990's.
So does the mod work?
Hell yes! I've been up all night listening to the modded 702's with a stupid grin on my face. High frequencies don't appear to have changed at all and the mids seem to have become even flatter than they were before but the bass, instead of rolling off once you go down below 100Hz, now continues rumbling down to 50Hz and remains above the original curve all the way down to 20Hz. The soundstage is still huge and detail is still great, so it's easy to pick out each instrument and voice. The mod doesn't turn the headphones into bass monsters, it's more a case of allowing the headphones to sound how they should have in the first place.
Here are some measurements and graphs thanks to one enterprising head-fier...
http://www.head-fi.org/t/582276/q701-appreciation-thread/6120#post_10398093
When I want to listen to rock or electronic music, I don't think I'll be reaching for the DT990's very often. I'm currently listening to "Heart of the Sunrise" by Yes and Chris Squire's bass playing sounds fantastic.![Smile :) :)](/styles/default/xenforo/vbSmilies/Normal/smile.gif)
http://www.head-fi.org/t/660408/reversible-akg-k701-bass-mod
Basically you just open up the back of each cup, take a few bits out and remove a small round piece of tape that's used to cover a port into the rear of the driver. Then you put them back together again and you're done.
My K702's started out relatively bass light but have been improving over the weeks as they have worn in and loosened up. When it came to rock or electronic music though, I would still reach for my DT990's.
So does the mod work?
Hell yes! I've been up all night listening to the modded 702's with a stupid grin on my face. High frequencies don't appear to have changed at all and the mids seem to have become even flatter than they were before but the bass, instead of rolling off once you go down below 100Hz, now continues rumbling down to 50Hz and remains above the original curve all the way down to 20Hz. The soundstage is still huge and detail is still great, so it's easy to pick out each instrument and voice. The mod doesn't turn the headphones into bass monsters, it's more a case of allowing the headphones to sound how they should have in the first place.
Here are some measurements and graphs thanks to one enterprising head-fier...
http://www.head-fi.org/t/582276/q701-appreciation-thread/6120#post_10398093
When I want to listen to rock or electronic music, I don't think I'll be reaching for the DT990's very often. I'm currently listening to "Heart of the Sunrise" by Yes and Chris Squire's bass playing sounds fantastic.
![Smile :) :)](/styles/default/xenforo/vbSmilies/Normal/smile.gif)