***AKG Q701 Official Owners Thread***

[smsmasters]

In reference to: AKG Q701 - Roughly £100 before duty

Post your experiences in here as your receive your pair ladies and gentlemen.

 

[smsmasters]

Lime, 1st wave drop.

Purchased: June 22nd, 2014
Shipped: July 8, 2014
Arrived: July 17, 2014


Obligatory shot:





MassDrop's bulk shipment:

Spoiler

 

[Ayahuasca]

gutted I missed the offer

 

[Ryanr1987]

You people that ordered are really lucky. On Amazon the black and also the White/Black are priced at £212-215 while the Green is £300!

Get yourself some 65th Annie pads and you have a phone that is 80% as good as the 65th Annie's! Which is in my opinion, the best AKG model they have made that isn't the K812.

 

[RavenXXX2]

gutted I missed the offer

It will be back, AKG made a some nice wonga in just a few days.

 

[Akagi]

Ahh I missed it?

I was sitting on the fence about it because I already have some Fidelio X1's.

Was going to go for a white pair, along with one of those headphone stands.

 

[^JP^]

Owned Black AKG Q701 since 07/29/2011

Before them I had the K701 for a good 5 or 6 years and before them the old DT880s.

I also have AKG K550 and K451 for laptop use.

Love the Q701 but can't help wanting to upgrade after 3 years with them so going to check out the K812 when I am back in the US later this year.

 

[Straz]

I was very tempted by the Q701, felt the lack of bass would be felt coming from the X1 which I really like. So got a set of Sennheiser HD650s and couldn't be happier. I might look at getting a pair of Q701s in the future purely for gaming.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

I hope this goes well, otherwise I'll be getting the blame when everyone dislikes their Q701's... runs and hides.

 

[RavenXXX2]

I was very tempted by the Q701, felt the lack of bass would be felt coming from the X1 which I really like. So got a set of Sennheiser HD650s and couldn't be happier. I might look at getting a pair of Q701s in the future purely for gaming.

What's the 650s like compared to the X1?

 

[Straz]

What's the 650s like compared to the X1?

Compared to the X1 the 650s have a little less low end thump, more punchy and prominent mids with similar highs with the 650 sounding a bit brighter to me. I am no audiophile though so just my impression.

 

[RavenXXX2]

Compared to the X1 the 650s have a little less low end thump, more punchy and prominent mids with similar highs with the 650 sounding a bit brighter to me. I am no audiophile though so just my impression.

So you prefer the 650 over the X1?

 

[Straz]

So you prefer the 650 over the X1?

Not by a massive amount but overall yes I prefer it.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

It's on a higher level than the X1.

The 650 is audiophile level the X1 is mid-fi.

It's like comparing high bit rate mp3 with flac.

Of course they have a different signature as well, so it's also like comparing 2 different songs in those different formats.

 

[RavenXXX2]

Not that a higher level, even straz says there is nothing in it as do many others on the forums, some actually prefer the X1. The 650 is comparable to the X1 with its warm sound and rolled off treble.

 

[Ryanr1987]

They are not even close in sound and quality IMO

The X1 is thinner, more dry with loose bass and extended treble. They are warm but the mids on the X1 sound very uninteresting due to the thinner presentation. They do have good overall bass response for an open headphone but they don't have a very refined and controlled sound.

I would describe the X1 as more of a open fun headphonee.

The 650 is warmer, lusher much more seductive with a creamy thick presentation. It's more natural sounding and is very refined and controlled as you would expect from a Senn flagship. The treble is less bright by a mile with no peakyness in the sound and are very smooth. The HD650 has a full textured bass but it does drop off a tiny bit quicker then the X1.

The HD650 has what I'd call a fuller stage. It's wide but there is so much in it, if that makes sence? I do thinl the X1 has a more evident stage but it also has a much thinner sound.

The detail and resolution on the 650 is higher then the X1.

The 650 gives the LCD2 a run for it's money and I prefer it over the HE500. The X1 is not my cup of tea but I still had to judge it on it's technical ability and I found it performing on a similar level or maybe slightly higher the the DT990.

The cheaper K612 was a better sounding headphone that doesn't get as much praise.

Some may prefer the X1 over the 650 or 600 for certain tracks but switching over you can see the difference in musicslity, and refinement of the hifi Senn.

 

[RavenXXX2]

We get it mate you hate the X1 you think it sounds like ****, well that's your opinion and you're entitled to it. Fact is there are plenty of other opinions out there that are the polar opposite of yours and the reason I went with the X1.

 

[Ayahuasca]

With £100 difference between the two it's hardly unsurprising if the 650's are actually better. It makes you wonder how many are giving the X1's an honest review and whether they've tried higher end headphones for a lengthy period of time to compare the two fairly. I think the X1's get a lot of credit simply because of the price/performance ratio.

I think I'm going to buy some X1's over my original decision to get 598's though.

 

[RavenXXX2]

With £100 difference between the two it's hardly unsurprising if the 650's are actually better. It makes you wonder how many are giving the X1's an honest review and whether they've tried higher end headphones for a lengthy period of time to compare the two fairly. I think the X1's get a lot of credit simply because of the price/performance ratio.

The X1 was getting good reviews at its launch price of $400. Plenty of positive youtube reviews out there of the X1, some actually saying it's a 650 beater. Higher Pricing does not always equal higher sound quality lol.

 

[Ryanr1987]

We get it mate you hate the X1 you think it sounds like ****, well that's your opinion and you're entitled to it. Fact is there are plenty of other opinions out there that are the polar opposite of yours and the reason I went with the X1.

I never said it sounds like **** I'm saying it's not on the level of the HD650 which it's not. One thing I'm not a fan of is it being over recommended by literally everyone for every application without people trying other things(Not related this thread) remember the M50 and AD700? Same issue.

Of course there's people who like them just like there's people who like the Beats Solo! But I've never heard an educated review mention them being Hifi or on that level.

Honest reviews are hard to come by, the V Moda M100 was a nightmare because every review basically licked it's arse because it's Val Kolton.