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Author Topic: K812 - AKG finally did something ....  (Read 15247 times)

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M-13

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Re: K812 - AKG finally did something ....
« Reply #50 on: February 03, 2014, 12:18:17 PM »
Just ordered these!  :)p7

I sold off my LCD-2/HE-500 after 2+ years of ownership. Wanted move into the more neutral territory without going full HD800.
I will probably be driving them from the lowly X5 (once that becomes available for purchase), either that or the DX90. For now the X3 will have to make due (sadly).
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funkmeister

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Re: K812 - AKG finally did something ....
« Reply #51 on: February 03, 2014, 12:59:00 PM »
Max, the report can be summed up this way. All humans prefer awesome sound to the Beats sound and no headphone has yet reproduced awesome but we pretty much now know what the target response curve should be for making awesome sounding headphones.

Also, other headphone flavors will still be wanted from time to time because people have different moods in their listening.

One interesting thing in that report is that there was one group (US Citrus College) who preferred the LCD2v2 to the HD800. So even though there are strong correlations among all people, there are some anomalies.

I'm not sure how much of this has made its way into the K812, but I'm guessing that only a little has. I think they're headed in a good direction.
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Kyle 491

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Re: K812 - AKG finally did something ....
« Reply #52 on: February 04, 2014, 03:36:25 PM »
What's wrong with the Beats sound? I'd take a Beats Studio 2013 in sound quality over most head-fi FOTM like the B&W P7 and NAD HP50. Heck, I'd take it over AKG's own K701, as it can actually do low bass along with good clarity in the mids & treble. p;)



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shipsupt

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Re: K812 - AKG finally did something ....
« Reply #53 on: February 04, 2014, 03:48:09 PM »
+1 with the Beats sound!
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Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

MuppetFace

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Re: K812 - AKG finally did something ....
« Reply #54 on: February 04, 2014, 07:54:48 PM »
The new Beats are surprisingly good. I wouldn't go so far as to say they're better than the NAD Viso HP50 tho...

Anyway.

Sent the K812 back to AKG today. It's a load off my mind, since that crack has only gotten worse over time (without my so much as even touching it), to the point where the entire band on the outside of the cup is basically split in two. Wild.

The US distributor says they'll be sending me a replacement in "a week or so," since it's backordered right now.

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funkmeister

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Re: K812 - AKG finally did something ....
« Reply #55 on: February 05, 2014, 01:39:55 PM »
I like the Beats MIXR but couldn't stand the Solo. Never heard the Studio. I think the Solo is the iconic "Beats sound" headphone. Nobody really knocks the Studios much.

So... back to AKG. Mupps, you had a crack? I'm blaming the arctic vortex.
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Tyll Hertsens

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Re: K812 - AKG finally did something ....
« Reply #56 on: February 26, 2014, 06:28:28 PM »
Sorry MF, these just didn't do it for me.

I will agree with a lot of your review however, there's something about the space and wholeness of the music that these cans do better than maybe anything I've heard before.

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/akg-k812-professional-reference-headphone
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Cheers,

Tyll (like on the floor only spelled different)

Marvey

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Re: K812 - AKG finally did something ....
« Reply #57 on: February 26, 2014, 06:36:14 PM »
LOL. Maybe you guys got different sounding units?


I wouldn't be the first time. I'm not kidding either. Way too many instances of people I know with good ears hearing different things. At the end of the day when we do get to measuring the actual units or other representative samples...
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Darth Obvious

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Re: K812 - AKG finally did something ....
« Reply #58 on: February 26, 2014, 07:11:14 PM »
Quote from: marvey on February 26, 2014, 06:36:14 PM
LOL. Maybe you guys got different sounding units?


I wouldn't be the first time. I'm not kidding either. Way too many instances of people I know with good ears hearing different things. At the end of the day when we do get to measuring the actual units or other representative samples...

Have you had a look at both measurements? I can honestly say that I am surprised how similar they look to each other... And even more surprised that a lot of people don't hear significant upper mids/treble roughness or peakiness. I mean - people complain about it all the time with HD800s but I have heard several worse headphones in this regard, including Q701, D7000 or even HE-400... Not really sure what is going on here - there is no way I wouldn't spot something as clear (see the measurements). Another thing is the bass distortion...

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AKGK812SN001130.pdf
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AKGK812SN002100.pdf

Basically, from what I've read so far, there are two groups of people:

1) Those who respect and enjoy K812 but don't find them superior to HD800s because of a bit less tight and textured bass and significantly less refined upper-mids/treble. They may not find upper-mids/treble problematic for them but they can definitely hear that HD800 provide a better resolution while being less peaky than K812 here. Soundstage-wise, they think both headphones excel but HD800 are a bit better in dimensionality and maybe in imaging as well.

2) Those who find K812 superior to HD800 and any other dynamic headphone out there. These people talk about complete smoothness of K812 in comparison to peaky nature of HD800. They also find K812 more resolving than HD800 and claim bass response as definitely superior due to more weight and "fun factor". Literally, the only think they complain about is a quality of construction/materials.

There must be something wrong... Could you please measure them at some time, purrin? CSD plots could tell us something important on the topic...
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MuppetFace

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Re: K812 - AKG finally did something ....
« Reply #59 on: February 26, 2014, 08:27:10 PM »
I'm of the mind that many people out there aren't hearing the HD800's full capabilities because they aren't amping it well enough. The HD800 is still one of the pickiest dynamic headphones on the planet when it comes to upstream choices. This is what I most commonly suspect when I hear someone say the K812 has a better bass response, more resolution, and better imaging compared to the HD800. Everyone seems to focus on the HE-6 being hard to drive from a sheer power standpoint, but honestly I think the HD800 is harder to "get right" from a synergistic one.

I do feel the K812 has an easier-to-listen-to treble than the stock HD800. I will stand by that assessment, and I'm more sensitive to treble these days than ever. The real plus point of the K812 however lies in its ability to sound like a reference level headphone to me even plugged into a Walkman. I think this is why it so readily inspires praise from folks, as it doesn't require the investment and dedicated system matching of the HD800.

Bass distortion actually corroborates peoples' subjective impressions that the K812 has more bass presence. The D7000 and TH900 FR would suggest otherwise, but when you see the distortion measurements for the bass on both, it makes sense that the D7000 is subjectively bassier because the TH900 has very clean dynamic bass despite the quantity.

When properly amped however the HD800 has a much more visceral and punchy bass to my ears. The K812 simply doesn't have the same slam and impact, and that contributes to its somewhat more distant character to me. I'm a stickler for well controlled bass.
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