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(More customer reviews)These headphones are one of the hardest things for me to review. I've had them now for several weeks and have used them with various music devices including my Iphone, Ipod, home stereo system and my Roland electronic drum set. My initial impression when I opened these up and tried them out was less than impressive. It required me to do a lot of research on these types of headphones so I could better understand what I received. Before I get into the performance of the headphones, let me first talk about the packaging and design.
The headphones come with 2 cables. One is a 20' cable with a 1/8" connector on the end and the other cable is a 10' cable with a 1/4" end on it. While I appreciate the inclusion of 2 cables, I find it strange that the 1/4" cable is the shorter one. For me, I would prefer the longer cable to be the one I can easily connect to my home stereo and the shorter one to be connected to my portable devices. You can always use adaptors but I was scratching my head trying to figure out why they come this way.
The headphones are very comfortable when you put them on. I have never had an expensive set like these before so it was a warm welcome to have something around your ears that feel so natural....until...that warm welcome became warmer and warmer. Yes, these headphones do not breathe very well so I found the ear muff like nature to be a bit too warm for me to use over extended periods. Plus, do to the size of the headphones and the open nature of them, these would be difficult to use on a train or plane without lugging them around and annoying the person next to you with whatever music you are listening to.
I have used several sets of headphones over the years including inner ear and standard headphones. Most were in the "more expensive than most people will spend money on" but "audiophiles will still laugh at them" categories. These include Sennheiser PX200 Collapsible High-Performance Closed Headphones (Black), Etymotic Research ER6i Isolator In-Ear Earphones (Black) and the Etymotic ER-4P Portable In-Ear Earphones and various other ear buds. For the most part, they have done well for me with my two favorites being the Senheiser for overall sound and the Etymotic ER4P for noise isolation and sound for an ear bud. The AKG Q701's really don't fit in any of the categories I've described. Their price point puts them well above the amount that most people will spend on headphones and audiophiles will give them a chance before recommending the $1000 set as being better. So I went into this with an open mind (and ears) and was expecting some incredible sound.
My first test was with my Ipod. Yes, not the best thing to use but it was in my pocket! I put on a good band/album to test out audio equipment (Porcupine Tree's Fear of a Blank Planet) and sat back and listened. When the music kicked in the clarity was amazing even at soft levels. Wanting to hear more, I went to turn up my Ipod but realized, it was at FULL VOLUME. I checked the connection and it was tight but no matter what I tried, I could not get decent volume out of my Ipod. I moved on to my Iphone (which I knew would be worse) and got the same result. I ended up moving to my basement and hooked it up to my 100 watt Yamaha receiver and played a CD. Again, without having my receiver near full volume, I could not get these cans to output a satisfactory level. I finally hooked them up to my Roland drum kit. This was the worst. All I could hear was my drum sticks hitting the mesh pads with very little volume of the drum sounds coming through.
At this point I immediately went to AKG's website and send a tech request to see what I was doing wrong. There was no way these $400 headphones were this bad! To date, I have not received a response, however, I know others that have had certain issues and they received e-mails back. Not sure why I didn't receive a response yet.
After that I decided to do some more research and I learned that these types of headphones, unless hooked up to a high end amplifier/receiver usually require a headphone amplifier. Especially if you are using them with portable devices. Without getting too technical, headphones with "high impedance and low sensitivity" usually cannot be driven by lower powered devices. OK....at this point I really didn't want to know anymore other than what do I need to get these to sound good. I began looking into headphone amplifiers and the results were anywhere from $25 to well over $100. Considering these headphones cost $400, I was reluctant to spend $100+ on another device to make these work. I opted for the cheap route and bought the FiiO E5 Headphone Amplifier amplifier. $22...can't beat that!
So I get my new headphone amplifier and give everything a try again. This time, the cheap amplifier gives it just enough power so I can get decent volume out of these headphones. Nothing earth shattering as I guess I would need to go with a much better amp but is adequate for my needs. Overall, the sound is just a clear as when I first tried them with the lower volume. They are truly great sounding headphones but be prepared to spend some extra money for additional devices if you don't already have top notch audio equipment that can drive them properly. For now, these reside in my basement with my home theater where I use them mainly for music listening on my Yamaha and playing Rock band on my PS3 and Roland drum kit.
Click Here to see more reviews about: AKG Q701BLK Quincy Jones Signature Over the Ear Headphone (Black)
Music producers depend on studio headphones for their success, and with an unprecedented 79 Gramm y nominations, no music producer has achieved greater success than Quincy Jones. Here at the home of AKG audio technology, we are proud to honor Quincy's long association with our brand by creating the Signature Edition Q 701 headphones, the most accurate and responsive headphones we've ever produced. Featuring the revolutionary flat-wire voice coils and patented two-layer diaphragms of their studio counterparts, the Q 701s deliver pinpoint imaging in an endless soundscape of unequaled realism. And they do it with all the style and élan of the man himself. 'These are the only headphones I've heard that bring out the true sound we were striving for on records like ‘Billie Jean,‚ ‘Thriller' and ‘Give Me the Night.‚ It's the best-quality sound I've heard, ever." - Quincy Jones
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