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Author Topic: AKG K812 Measurements  (Read 27439 times)

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ultrabike

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Re: AKG K812 Measurements
« Reply #80 on: March 14, 2014, 05:09:33 AM »
Dunno. Marv had a good "Hotel California" recording playing to test plankton (background, detail, and ambiance) retrieval. This particular K812 went blank on some of the more critical sections of the track, while the particular HD600 did a fairly good job. It could be the somewhat rougher treble FR of the AKGs, their somewhat higher nonlinear distortion in the lower treble, the current global warming situation, or all of the above, but it certainly felt like this particular AKG struggled with microdetail.

Bass is IMO more extended and cleaner on the K812 though.

I have a somewhat narrow head, so no comfy problems with neither set of cans.
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Marvey

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Re: AKG K812 Measurements
« Reply #81 on: March 14, 2014, 05:25:20 AM »
Quote from: Maxvla on March 14, 2014, 04:31:01 AM
It's a little slower and smoother than I'd like and not terribly detailed, IMO. I'd rate the K812 a tier or two higher than the HD600 for sure.

Do a direct comparison, and with a resolving amp. I thought from memory that the K812 would be better than the HD600 in terms of retrieval of low-level information, but it wasn't. It wasn't even close. I don't disagree the HD600 stage width is narrow. I'm really surprised you didn't find any hole-in-middle issues with the K812.
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Maxvla

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Re: AKG K812 Measurements
« Reply #82 on: March 14, 2014, 06:05:45 AM »
Quote from: marvey on March 14, 2014, 05:25:20 AM
Quote from: Maxvla on March 14, 2014, 04:31:01 AM
It's a little slower and smoother than I'd like and not terribly detailed, IMO. I'd rate the K812 a tier or two higher than the HD600 for sure.

Do a direct comparison, and with a resolving amp. I thought from memory that the K812 would be better than the HD600 in terms of retrieval of low-level information, but it wasn't. It wasn't even close. I don't disagree the HD600 stage width is narrow. I'm really surprised you didn't find any hole-in-middle issues with the K812.
Can't direct compare unfortunately. I only heard them at a meet a couple months ago. K812 has decent center, but as I said initially it doesn't come close to HD800 soundstage coherence. I felt that if the K812 had angled drivers like the HD800 they would be quite close overall.
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Anaxilus

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Re: AKG K812 Measurements
« Reply #83 on: March 15, 2014, 02:27:40 AM »
I think where AKG did well with the 812 is the bass performance and wider SS that's more open and spacious.  I can see why people using the HD800 with a crappy amp/source would prefer the 812 and consider it a competitor.  Plus if you listen at low volume, troubling peaks tend to get mitigated a bit.  Shame they aren't more reasonably priced.
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N

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Re: AKG K812 Measurements
« Reply #84 on: March 15, 2014, 04:34:33 AM »
Quote from: marvey on March 14, 2014, 05:25:20 AM
I'm really surprised you didn't find any hole-in-middle issues with the K812.

Was that not also an issue with the K701?
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Marvey

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Re: AKG K812 Measurements
« Reply #85 on: March 15, 2014, 09:39:24 PM »
I never really had any serious staging issues with the K701.

The K812 is a little different for me because the drivers are essentially suspended in air surrounded by a mesh (similar to HD800) away from the ears. It's too bad AKG didn't suspend them slightly angled and in front of the ears like the HD800.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the K812 does have a similar open and diffuse effect (probably overly diffuse for some people) as the HD800. Unfortunately because the drivers aren't angled and in front, but rather very far off to the sides, I get this really super-wide diffuse stage which causes a hole-in-the-middle effect. Some recordings sound like it's out of phase / out of my head, or how OB speakers set up way to close to the back walls.

Normally, I don't notice these kinds of things because I don't have any kind of staging expectations for headphones (unless a headphone just sounds way too closed in), so I hate to sort of pull of a "maxvla"
 :)p13
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Maxvla

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Re: AKG K812 Measurements
« Reply #86 on: March 16, 2014, 12:21:36 AM »
 p:0
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sszorin

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Re: AKG K812 Measurements
« Reply #87 on: August 23, 2014, 06:21:29 AM »
Quote from: ultrabike on March 09, 2014, 08:29:15 AM
So here is my take on 'em:

Sound

I really like the bass these phones produce. I feel the low notes got more presence and overall better than my HD600s. The midrange was good. No obvious wonky stuff. The problem area for me is the upper mids and lower treble. It can be fairly glaring indeed. A quickie youboob Alizee track sort of brought that up to me:



On the HD600 it's not too bad. On the AKG812 it can be a little painful. Tamborine recordings are perhaps best avoided when rocking with these cans. Other than that I liked what I heard. Wojciech Kilar's "Love Song For A Vampire" (and many others) was plenty nice w the AKGs.


That is an album with shrill treble from Hell, ..an abortion of a recording, mixing and mastering job. No top headphones having fully present treble will sound good when playing this album.
« Last Edit: August 23, 2014, 06:45:17 AM by sszorin »
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Anaxilus

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Re: AKG K812 Measurements
« Reply #88 on: August 23, 2014, 06:48:12 AM »
Quote from: sszorin on August 23, 2014, 06:21:29 AM
That is an album with shrill treble from Hell, ..an abortion of a recording, mixing and mastering job. No top headphones having fully present treble will sound good when playing this album.

1-Please introduce yourself in the appropriate thread and read our charter before posting anymore.  Thanks.

2-Please review your post formatting so it's more clear and comprehensible in future.

3-Critical listening and analysis of audio gear is not dependent on perfect recordings.  As matter of fact, the opposite is often true.

http://www.changstar.com/index.php/topic,2.msg2.html#msg2

4-The 812 is an astonishingly deafening phone in the sibilance zones at moderate to loud SPLs.  While that youtube track has flaws, it is not troublesome to the point of permanent hearing loss on my speakers or other audio gear.  The 812 is ferocious where it hurts (in treble and distortion) and has no excuses. 

Tbh, as much razz as the HD700 gets from many here, the 812 sounded far worse to me based on my preferences.
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ultrabike

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Re: AKG K812 Measurements
« Reply #89 on: August 25, 2014, 05:19:10 PM »
Quote from: sszorin on August 23, 2014, 06:21:29 AM
That is an album with shrill treble from Hell, ..an abortion of a recording, mixing and mastering job. No top headphones having fully present treble will sound good when playing this album

I suppose one could feed really old jazz and some old 50s to 60s music and things might be fine with the 812 ... since there is no significant treble on those. Modern jazz is out of the question.

Poorly recorded music tend to offend faster on offending headphones (depending on the issues). It may take longer otherwise to properly asses an overpriced POS like this (maybe not a POS if it was like $150). The treble issues with well recorded music would eventually have me storing these somewhere in the garage until sold.

Maybe you missed this, but I also heard the 812s against the 600s using a well mastered version of the "Hotel California" by the Eagles and others at Marv's before he released his impressions:

http://www.changstar.com/index.php/topic,1482.msg39467.html#msg39467

http://www.changstar.com/index.php/topic,1482.msg39470.html#msg39470

The 600 in that comparo was mine BTW.

Indeed, detail retrieval was abysmal.

... and I like Alizee's song, though IMO she can't sing live and the mastering of her song is awful. Such is life.
« Last Edit: August 25, 2014, 05:31:33 PM by ultrabike »
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