So what's everyones beef with the K701's?

[laxx]

I like my 701's as well, just only use them to listen to certain types of music.

[aerius]

It made all my music boring and quite lacking in emotion. Music which should be moving, epic, and emotional do nothing, I might as well be listening to an automated voicemail machine reading back the digits of Pi. That's about how fun it was to listen to a K701.

[mypasswordis]

I think that might be slightly more interesting than watching paint dry so it could be worse, I suppose.

I'd like to hear a properly amped, properly wired K701 someday.

[morphsci]

I'd like to hear a properly amped, properly wired K701 someday.

That can be arranged if you come to Canjam'10

[mypasswordis]

That's what I'm planning on doing. If I make it, which I will definitely try my hardest to do, I can only go for the weekend, though... including Friday night.

[HiWire]

I tried a pair of K 701's and they were pretty lifeless compared to my Grado HP-2's. They were supposed to have had more than 1,000 hours of burn-in and the amplification setup was decent, but they just couldn't rock.

It's too bad - I really wanted to like them when they were released. Do the new K 702 or K 272 share the same sound?

[Pars]

Of the headphones that I have listened to large scale symphonic on, the 501/601/701s get my vote for best sound and truest to the recording. As a caveat, there are many high-end headphones that I haven't heard.

[Voltron]

My balanced and re-wired K701s with dual-entry Black Dragon cable are really great-sounding cans. Many K701 haters have listened to them at meets on the SDS-XLR and suggested that maybe the K701s aren't all that bad after all. They can be made much better by avoiding the single-entry wire as morpshci suggested earlier, and by improving the cable. They have much fuller bass and more life to the sound than the stock configuration, but they are still quite accurate. All of that said, however, I have lots of other cans I reach for first, so they don't suddenly displace other top cans by making those changes.

[Chekhonte]

Now that the fun of getting a new pair of cans is starting to wear off I am beginning to see what some of the gripes are that you guys are talking about. They have such an exceptional headstage and instrument separation that I was dazzled like I was in an episode of trueblood and couldn't see it's shortcomings. This is the first set of headphones that have the neutrality required from a studio monitor and I can see how it can suck the fun out of music that needs a more forward presentation to drive in order for you to be able to "rock the fuck out" to it. I still like them for music that has gone through little or no post production like a well recorded symphony or chamber music, particularly if there is a lot of room ambiance in the recording. I guess I'm still a little beadazzled by the headstage.

[AmanGeorge]

No headphone is going to be all things to all people, and the K701's strengths and weaknesses are perfectly straightforward. The K701 does well-recorded acoustic, vocal, and instrumental or orchestral music very well (when it's well-driven, it does these things better than anything I've heard in its price class). It does not rock. Even with well-recorded rock, it doesn't sound great, and it sounds like crap with bad recordings or other things that have been really heavily produced.

[forbigger]

i saw lots and lots of question over at HF asking what portable can drive this headphone. I owned 701 and headsix. Obviously it cannot drive it. I tried various Ray Samuels, Ibasso none can drive it too. Havent tried Larocco, Lisa and the likes, but from what I read, no luck on that either.

Can the experts here once and for all agreed that it is not possible? At least with the portables out in the market currently?

[guzziguy]

Hey Budi, what's up? I hope things are going well for you.

I think that most people here would agree that portable amps can not do an acceptable job of driving K-701s.

[grawk]

An m3, a marine battery, and an inverter?

[guzziguy]

You forgot the cooley to carry it all.

[Chekhonte]

I've found that amping out of a portable only reveals how crappy your source is with these headphones.

[grawk]

Conveniently, some newbie listed a 701 portable amp today

[luvdunhill]

Can the experts here once and for all agreed that it is not possible? At least with the portables out in the market currently?

If you have to have a portable, I'd give them a shot with the Millet Tube Portable. This thing can drive orthos, which says a lot.

[Fungi]

Now that the fun of getting a new pair of cans is starting to wear off I am beginning to see what some of the gripes are that you guys are talking about. They have such an exceptional headstage and instrument separation that I was dazzled like I was in an episode of trueblood and couldn't see it's shortcomings. This is the first set of headphones that have the neutrality required from a studio monitor and I can see how it can suck the fun out of music that needs a more forward presentation to drive in order for you to be able to "rock the fuck out" to it. I still like them for music that has gone through little or no post production like a well recorded symphony or chamber music, particularly if there is a lot of room ambiance in the recording. I guess I'm still a little beadazzled by the headstage.

The K701 almost got the opposite reaction from me. The huge soundstage confused the crap out of me, being diffuse and hard to grasp, but after a week or so I got used to it and came to embrace it.

[atothex]

I think K701s are just fine as is. It definitely performs well for the price, and amping it isn't toooo difficult. If you get your hands on a nice Dynalo or M3, I'd say the vast majority of dynamics can be well-amped reasonably cheaply.

[blessingx]

Listening with the K701s today (w/GS-1), The Band sounded about as wrong as Alison Krauss did oh so right.

[Chekhonte]

I'm starting to discover this too. A decent part of my music collection is 60's rock or early 20 era jazz and man do these headphones reveal the recording technology. The only headphones I've owned that sucked this bad with that music were the original black sr325's and that was because of sibilance. I don't find these headphones to be all that sibilant but makes it sound so thin and lifeless it's unlistenable. I'm definitely need another pair of headphones if I'm going to keep these. I wish I would have kept my ms2is now. The k701s make Bartok and Ligeti sound so amazing that I can't get rid of them but man does Billy Holiday sound awful.

[AmanGeorge]

Listening to Brubek through my pair now (after having set them aside for a week in favor of my CD3K), and continuing to be impressed by the spatial presentation. They really put you in the room with the band.

[dreamwhisper]

I'm starting to discover this too. A decent part of my music collection is 60's rock or early 20 era jazz and man do these headphones reveal the recording technology. The only headphones I've owned that sucked this bad with that music were the original black sr325's and that was because of sibilance. I don't find these headphones to be all that sibilant but makes it sound so thin and lifeless it's unlistenable. I'm definitely need another pair of headphones if I'm going to keep these. I wish I would have kept my ms2is now. The k701s make Bartok and Ligeti sound so amazing that I can't get rid of them but man does Billy Holiday sound awful.

yeah I feel the same with with bad jazz recordings and my k340's

but when you find a well mastered/recorded one, like kind of blue the effect is nothing

short of stunning

[Chekhonte]

Oh man, I haven't listened to miles yet though these phones. I have to check out sketches of spain as soon as I get home.

[K3cT]

I'm not sure how I dislike the K701. There is something weird about its midrange that I cannot put in words which is actually not too different with the "honky" midrange that some ATH cans exhibit.